Clarification of Basic Concepts of V5

[JEB]

Folks,

I have been watching the Forum avidly for the past months and trying to absorb as much as I can about V5.

Not being technical I am happy to leave all the testing and discussion to those of you who are clearly very able to contribute during the Beta process. Consequently I have only dabbled, timidly, with V5 up till now. I have also been reading the excellent tutorials that are beginning to appear. (Incidentally I agree that it would be great help if these documents, together with their comments could be posted at one central point)

I do however have a number of thoughts that I would appreciate someone clarifying for me and perhaps for other lesser mortals, if they can spare the time.

It was always my understanding with V4 that one of its great strengths was its small file size (i.e. we could work with very small image sizes 200 Kb-ish!). If I understand things correctly we are now talking about enormous original image sizes (i.e. Mb’s).

I can understand that a panorama is clearly larger than a standard image but surely only proportionally.

I can also see that objects and actions are going to have an impact on file size.

I also understand that a much larger image would be required in order to retain quality if zooming was being used.

I assume and please correct me if I am wrong that where PAZ is not being utilized we will continue to use small image sizes.

Comments on above would be appreciated.

It came like a bolt out of the blue recently to me that Objects could be regarded as Layers in PS. - Please don’t tell me I’m wrong!

If I am correct, would it not help to also have a graphical illustration like the Layer stack in PS as an option to the present method which as far as I can make out could become confusing unless clear titles are given when these objects are being created.

Views please.

Regards to all you dedicated people and in particular to Igor and his team.

John

[jevans]

Folks,

I do however have a number of thoughts that I would appreciate someone clarifying for me and perhaps for other lesser mortals, if they can spare the time.

It was always my understanding with V4 that one of its great strengths was its small file size (i.e. we could work with very small image sizes 200 Kb-ish!). If I understand things correctly we are now talking about enormous original image sizes (i.e. Mb’s).

If you want to pan an object across the screen or zoom in to an object, it is obviously better to have the object size greater than the screen size. I think there has already been some discussion on this in the thread on Version 4 Beta#2. So yes the file sizes will go up if you use these features.

I can understand that a panorama is clearly larger than a standard image but surely only proportionally.

I can also see that objects and actions are going to have an impact on file size.

I also understand that a much larger image would be required in order to retain quality if zooming was being used.

Not sure what you mean by "panorama being only proportionally larger", since it is likely to be a larger file than a standard image. See comment above regarding PZR actions.

I assume and please correct me if I am wrong that where PAZ is not being utilized we will continue to use small image sizes.

Yes, my understanding is that you will be able to use Version 5 in just the same way as Version 4.48 and not use the PZR faciltites if you do not want to. Again I think Igor has referred to this in previous postings.

Comments on above would be appreciated.

It came like a bolt out of the blue recently to me that Objects could be regarded as Layers in PS. - Please don’t tell me I’m wrong!

If I am correct, would it not help to also have a graphical illustration like the Layer stack in PS as an option to the present method which as far as I can make out could become confusing unless clear titles are given when these objects are being created.

Views please.

In the new Bet#3, adding objects into the editor results in them being added with their original file name. So added objects are automatically given a label. The objects are listed from the top, in order of their addition (initially), with the top object being at the back. Unfortunately this is the reverse of "Layers" in PS but you soon get used to it. The order of these objects can be manually changed to meet user requirements, just like "Layers" in Photoshop. It is probably more informative to have the "layered" objects named rather than represented graphically and is also probably more processor efficient than using graphical objects

Jeff

[alrobin]

Hi, John,

I won't profess to be able to answer all of your questions, but I have inserted a few comments as I see it:

Folks,

I have been watching the Forum avidly for the past months and trying to absorb as much as I can about V5.

Not being technical I am happy to leave all the testing and discussion to those of you who are clearly very able to contribute during the Beta process. Consequently I have only dabbled, timidly, with V5 up till now. I have also been reading the excellent tutorials that are beginning to appear. (Incidentally I agree that it would be great help if these documents, together with their comments could be posted at one central point)

Yes, v.5 is quite technical in concept, so the sooner you and others get your hands "dirty" and start experimenting with it the better off you will be in the long run.

I do however have a number of thoughts that I would appreciate someone clarifying for me and perhaps for other lesser mortals, if they can spare the time.

It was always my understanding with V4 that one of its great strengths was its small file size (i.e. we could work with very small image sizes 200 Kb-ish!). If I understand things correctly we are now talking about enormous original image sizes (i.e. Mb’s).

v.5 is no different in that respect than v.4. However, if you want to add "pan", or "zoom" effects to an image, it's best to start with one larger than the screen size. But if all you want to do is add a touch of motion, it needn't be more than 10 or 20 % larger.

I can understand that a panorama is clearly larger than a standard image but surely only proportionally.

If you are panning horizontally, for example, you would use an image the same as usual in height, but larger in the horizontal direction.

I can also see that objects and actions are going to have an impact on file size.

correct, but only if you are adding additional images as objects, and these could be quite small..

I also understand that a much larger image would be required in order to retain quality if zooming was being used.

Yes, but the amount larger is dependent on how extreme a pan or zoom you want to use..

I assume and please correct me if I am wrong that where PAZ is not being utilized we will continue to use small image sizes.

Yes, PZR effects need not be utilized, in which case the image sizes would be the same as for v.4.

Comments on above would be appreciated.

It came like a bolt out of the blue recently to me that Objects could be regarded as Layers in PS. - Please don’t tell me I’m wrong!

That is one way to look at objects. They behave somewhat like layers in that when one object is over another, it blocks the view of it, unless the opacity is turned down.

If I am correct, would it not help to also have a graphical illustration like the Layer stack in PS as an option to the present method which as far as I can make out could become confusing unless clear titles are given when these objects are being created.

This option is available already - you're right in that it does help to label them correctly as you add to them.

Once you have climbed the learning curve, I am sure that you and others will find that PTE v.5 has a goldmine of new capabilities, and although more technical, and more demanding in terms of computer horsepower, offers much more than before in terms of creative excitement.

I see Jeff beat me to the punch, but I'll leave my comments here as well.

[JEB]

Jeff, Al,

Thank you both for taking the time to reply to my post. That has deffinately cleared up a number of doubts in my mind.

Regards

John