Collecting resources for backup of show

[Anthraquinone]

I have been using Proshow for a long while but it is getting old and Photopia is much too expensive in the long run.  I have looked at PTE but have a problem.  My shows are used to give illustrated talks and can contain up to 250 images.  With Proshow I added the images from folders on my hard drive and, at first, the Proshow files points to these individual folders BUT the if I use "collect" function the program puts all the files into one folder but IMPORTANTLY changes the pointers in the new .psh file to point to the new location leaving the originals in their original place.

It seems PTE has a similar function in the zip backup which collects all the files together but this does NOT update the pointers to these files when they are extracted to a new folder. 

 

The only way round this I have found is to temporally re-name my main "Photographs" folder to say, "Photographs-xyz".  Then when PTE cannot load the images I can tell it to look in the new folder extracted from the backup zip file.  Then I have to change  "Photographs-xyz"  back to "Photographs".  This is cumbersome, to say the least and something I really do not like doing.

An alternative may be to first collect the images into a new folder but that is also cumbersome for the number of images I want to use.  It also assumes that I know at the start what images I want which is not usually true and may change as the talk developes.

To put it simply (I hope) I want to pick images from across my comutter (using PTE's file tree) to create a talk and then be able automatically collect them into one folder together with a new .pte file. This .pte file will then use the images from the new folder leaving the originals in place.  ie duplicate the "collect" function in Proshow.

Have I missed something.

John

 

 

 

[SeismicGuy]

This doesn't really answer your question but my travelogue shows are often 200 to 300 slides which are mainly jpg with some mp4.  What I do is create a separate folder and copy all of the jpg and mp4 files I want to use into that folder and keep the originals intact in their own folders.  I do this for 2 reasons.  First just to better organize things and secondly I may want to make modifications to the jpgs and mp4s for the purpose of the PTEAV video using software like Photoshop or Movavi. 

Doug

[jkb]

The easiest method to do what you want is to Create a Template.

This 'collects' all of the images/videos/sounds along with the .pte file & creates a new .pt Folder.

The advantage of using a Template over a Backup.zip file is that all of your Templates are accessible within PTE without having to unzip.

It is best to do this once your show is complete.

See Main Menu/Templates/Manage Templates & Create Template for this show

I leave all of my images etc in their original Folders but create a new folder for each show so I can keep the .pte files as I am working & building up the show.

Keep saving with a new name so you can always go back if needed. E.G. MyShow1, MyShow2 etc.

Once I am happy with the show I then create a Template.

You can then easily transfer this Template Folder to another computer or Backup Drive for safe keeping.

Jill

 

[davegee]

What Jill said.

https://docs.pteavstudio.com/en-us/11.0/how_to_v11/templates?s[]=template

DG

[Anthraquinone]

Thanks for the template suggestions.  Unfortunately it does not do what I want.  The .pte file in the template still points to the original location of the images and as I said originally these can be scattered over various folders.

I am thinking of this work flow as a possibility but have not yet tried it.

1) copy all the files I may need onto an external drive (from 2 weeks in Tanzania there are many thousands in folders allocated to different days)

2) build the show - until I start doing this I do not know what slides I will eventually need - as I said I will use up to 300 or so

3) save a zip or template

4) copy this to my main hard drive in an appropriate folder

5) disconnect the external drive

6) run the .pte file and then point it to the new folder - hopefully that will rebuild the show with all the rsources collected neatly together in one folder.  I can then alter the originalls if I need to without creating any problems. 

I wonder how hard this would be to build into PTE.  Once the template is created all that is necessary is to point the .pte file to read the images from the template folder not the original locations.  Having said that I am not or ever have been a programmer. 

Looking at the .pte file which is just a plain text file the path to a typical image is

ImageName=G:\! PTE AV Studio\Shows\Falkland Islands\Resources\Images\Assencion Island.jpg

it would have to be changed to something like

ImageName=THIS FOLDER\Assencion Island.jpg

with PTE being able to interpret THIS FOLDER.  The new folder with all the resources could then be moved anywhere

AQ

 

[jkb]

Templates do work, I use them all the time.

Just click on Main Menu/File/Templates & you will see the show listed. Click on it & the project will open with all the resources there.

To copy to another drive or Computer then copy the .pt folder

As long as you have the same name for the Templates Folder on both computers/backup drive you can then easily open the show from PTE on the other computer or drive.

Jill

 

[denisb]

Hi John,

I use zip method to do what you want to do without problems.

If after unzip, you look at the .pte, your are right, the .pte file in the folder still points to the original location of the images.

But open the .pte, change only one thing, save and examine the .pte file, you will see the new location.

Denis

[davegee]

1 hour ago, Anthraquinone said:

Thanks for the template suggestions.  Unfortunately it does not do what I want.  The .pte file in the template still points to the original location of the images and as I said originally these can be scattered over various folders.

 

 

This is not correct.

Having created your Template you need to open the project from within the File/Templates in order to do any further work. You will then find that the references are to the location which is defined in Settings/Preferences/Templates.

If you add images to the Template then you need to created a new Template - using the same name will over-write the previously saved Template. Once you have created the Template you ignore the original .pte file - this will reference the various folders you refer to.

If you need to transfer the Project to another computer or drive then you need to use "Save a Backup in Zip".

DG

[jkb]

52 minutes ago, davegee said:

If you need to transfer the Project to another computer or drive then you need to use "Save a Backup in Zip".

I never use Backup Zip & always use Templates.

I transfer the .PT folder directly to a backup drive & then to another computer into it's Overall Templates Folder.
As long as the Overall Templates Folder has the same name (path doesn't matter) & it is referenced within PTE then it will be picked up.

E.G. All of my Templates are stored in  /PTE-Files/PTE-Templates on all computers & backup drives.

I can then open them easily within PTE.

Jill

[Anthraquinone]

Thank you for that.  I had obviously not understood the use of templeates correctly.  I will have a look at them in more detail. 

[AleAle5025]

After creating the slide, I create a zip archive. Then you can delete all the materials you have worked with. Also delete the pte file. Create a new empty folder to unzip the zip archive into the created folder. Navigate to the new folder.  run the pte file. All work materials will be in one new folder.

I save the style and zip archive.

[AleAle5025]

The created style. Contains all the slideshow files.