Complete Newbie to PTE

[Spudger]

Good Morning - i am completely new to PTE - until about 1 hour ago - I didnt even know what it meant - let alone know where to start looking for it.

I am a member of the PSP forum and have been wanting to do a "flipping book" show for a few weeks and havent been able to sort things out - over the past couple of days I have downloaded the Doms book - but got stuck cos I didnt know what to do and how to open the PTE file part of the project. I have been directed to this site by another member of the forum and have watched the fantastic show of the book by JPD - this was exactly what I was looking for when trying to create a show for my sister-in-laws 40th surprise party, but wasnt able to complete it in the way I wanted.

My questions are:

1. Do I need to buy a special programe (ie Like Proshow Producer)

2. If so, where do I go to buy this programe

3. Is this programe quite PTE Challenged friendly

4. Could anyone help me with the programe

5. What else does a PTE do????

Sorry to sound like a complete numpty... but as I say never even heard of PTE until about 1 hour ago.

Regards to anyone who answers

Sharon

[Ken Cox]

Sharon

5. What else does a PTE do????

if you go to the presentation section

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showforum=3

there are entries there that will give you an overall view of what p2e can do

if you go to

http://beechbrook.com/pte/

Bill Hines hosts +- 100 shows including tutorials and demos --- some made with early versions as well as the current beta 5

version 4.48 is the last conventional version

beta 5 introduces pan and zoom as well as many other features planned

you have a steep learning curve ahead of you so please take your time

if you make a show with ver 4 series you can open it with ver 5 but not the reverse

if you make a show with version 4 save it with a different name than the same name made with version 5

not enabled in ver 5

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....0&hl=navbar

CONTAXMAN'S SITE

http://www.bishopthorpe-camera-club.com/Re...s/resources.htm

has some tutorials for

Pictures To Exe

about the program

take your time

and ask

ken

[ksf]

Good Morning - i am completely new to PTE - until about 1 hour ago - I didnt even know what it meant - let alone know where to start looking for it.

I am a member of the PSP forum and have been wanting to do a "flipping book" show for a few weeks and havent been able to sort things out - over the past couple of days I have downloaded the Doms book - but got stuck cos I didnt know what to do and how to open the PTE file part of the project. I have been directed to this site by another member of the forum and have watched the fantastic show of the book by JPD - this was exactly what I was looking for when trying to create a show for my sister-in-laws 40th surprise party, but wasnt able to complete it in the way I wanted.

My questions are:

1. Do I need to buy a special programe (ie Like Proshow Producer)

2. If so, where do I go to buy this programe

3. Is this programe quite PTE Challenged friendly

4. Could anyone help me with the programe

5. What else does a PTE do????

Sorry to sound like a complete numpty... but as I say never even heard of PTE until about 1 hour ago.

Regards to anyone who answers

Sharon

Hi Sharon,

Welcome to the forum and to PTE.

I agree that the Doms demo of a "flipping book" is very good but it is not what I would regard as being within a beginner's capability to produce if they haven't already got some grounding in PTE. The Doms demo has been produced using the latest BETA test version of the software and contains some complex effects using masks and shadows etc. I think you need to begin with something a little more basic - but something that can still look impressive and something that I am sure your sister-in-law would be equally pleased with, without you having to jump in at the deep end.

My advice would be to download version 4.48 and learn the program first before jumping in with v5 which is still being tested and as such doesn't have all the functionality switched on.

PTE is fairly easy to pick up and there are plenty of tutorials and advice available from the forum. You will also need some knowledge of other software as well, such as photoshop and either audacity or audition for the music, which you haven't mentioned.

You do not need to go to the expense of Proshow Producer - you can achieve all you want in PTE. Look at some of the shows other peple have produced and you will soon appreciate the power of PTE - it's only limitation is your imagination.

Good luck,

[alrobin]

Good Morning - i am completely new to PTE - until about 1 hour ago - I didnt even know what it meant - let alone know where to start looking for it.

I am a member of the PSP forum and have been wanting to do a "flipping book" show for a few weeks and havent been able to sort things out - over the past couple of days I have downloaded the Doms book - but got stuck cos I didnt know what to do and how to open the PTE file part of the project. I have been directed to this site by another member of the forum and have watched the fantastic show of the book by JPD - this was exactly what I was looking for when trying to create a show for my sister-in-laws 40th surprise party, but wasnt able to complete it in the way I wanted.

Hi, Sharon,

Welcome to the Forum!

As you are aware by now, PTE has some clever features and by far the smoothest transitions for assembling professional-type sequences of still images. And it is affordable by anyone.

To answer your questions, as Ken & Kieth have already mentioned, start slowly, as the learning-curve for any program with this many features and capabilities is very long and steep. You can learn enough to put together a simple show in an hour, but the rest will take weeks of searching the Forum, watching other people's demos, downloading and watching other shows (for example those on www.beechbrook.com/pte .) But it is certainly worth all the effort.

I would start with version 4.48 as it is the most recent "official" version - version 5 offers pan, zoom, and rotate capabilities, but it's development is not yet finished. But it is fun to play with.

A long time ago I put together a "basic" tutorial, PTE-101 available on Beechbrook, or from my website: www.alrobinson.com/pte101.zip . This might help you get started. It is a little out of date, but the basics still apply. Many of the features described are not yet available in the new beta.

My questions are:

1. Do I need to buy a special programe (ie Like Proshow Producer)

No - it is all-inclusive. In fact, the new version will also have the capability to burn a DVD of your shows.

2. If so, where do I go to buy this programe

www.wnsoft.com

3. Is this programe quite PTE Challenged friendly

Everyone is "PTE Challenged" at first introduction to the program - but anyone can learn how to use it if they are persistent with it.

4. Could anyone help me with the programe

Post your questions here and there are lots of people to help you get on your feet. But try experimenting with the program first - you can't hurt anything by trying out the different features. And read all the past Forum postings. They will seem confusing at first, but if you follow them in the order in which they were posted, they will start to make sense.

5. What else does a PTE do????

Everything, except make the morning coffee (it even has a piece of toast! - inside joke) Best of luck!

[JEB]

Hello Sharon

It is not so long ago that I was in exactly the same situation as you find yourself in at this moment.

Let me say straight away this is a wonderful forum made so by the members who give so freely and generously of their time to help newcomers such as yourself and indeed each other, as nobody knows everything about this fantastic product (except Igor and his team of course!).

In my view and I am sure many will agree the biggest problem for newcomers is identifying where to get precise answers to your questions particularly when often you don’t really know what question to ask!

All the sources that have been suggested in earlier posts will undoubtedly provide the answers but it can be a bit daunting wading through the debates that have taken place in the past. Fantastic as the various tutorials that have been put together by all these diligent and generous people they don’t cover everything and sometimes make assumptions regarding the users basic knowledge.

This will sound like an advert but presently I am putting together a number of lectures for a small group within my camera club who are interested in “getting into” AV using PTE. I have been racking my brains as to how to structure these lectures and have just found the solution, which I think, could be of interest to you.

Barry Beckham has put together a fantastic DVD for PTE5, which in my view is put together in a very logical and clear manner, and I would strongly recommend you get hold of that. I confess I only received my copy three hours ago and have only watched a few lessons (videos) but from looking at the contents and knowing his Photoshop tutorials I can see that this is every bit as good if not even better. With his permission (and after this how can he refuse?) I will be using this as the centrepiece of my lectures.

Good luck and have fun.

John

www.beckhamdigital.co.uk

[Peter S]

Hi Sharon,

I would second John's suggestion that you look at Barry Beckham's tutorials. It may, however, not be immediately obvious as to where to look. Go to the Tutorial section and look for Digital Audio Visual. The tutorials on the earlier (non Beta) version start with one called Digital Audio Visual and then carry on with a series called Tips & Tricks. You can review the contant on Barry's web site. You should also be aware that you get discounts if you buy more than one CD.

There are some excellent free tutorials, several on The Dom's site but some searching is required.

Peter

[Spudger]

Wow - I just want to say a BIG BIG Thank You - to those who have answered this thread.

I didnt realise that you would all be so kind and encouraging, and it is lovely that I have found the forum and will be visiting often from now on.

OK - this is what I have achieved this afternoon (during a well earned tea break - extended of course...!) - I have downloaded the zip file for the trial version of PTE, but havent opened it yet.....

I have looked at the Beechbrrok.com and trawled around the site - unfortunately when I tried to view the presentations - the zip file wouldnt open - then the machine crashed.... grrrrrrrr.

Up and running again - (and running out of time) came back to the forum and re-read all the email responses. Now it seems that I have a choice of version 4 or 5 but you think that 5 is not wholly tested yet... so suggest that I download version 4.

Peter -I will go to Barry Beckhams site this evening after work, and take your advice.

John - Thanks for being understanding - yes it is difficult to find threads cos you really dont know what you are looking for or asking for - it also is hard to understand the acronyms too. I dont know if perhaps there is an index to all of them used, would be a big help if there was.

Just to give you a bit of back up - I have been making shows from ProShow Gold for some time and at christmas I bought myself a present..... cough.. cough... and purchased the upgrade to ProShow Presenter - I have made a couple of shows with PSP and have been really happy with it. I have photoshop CS and have been a subscriber to Digital Photographer for about 2 years and try and keep up to date with the cd tutorials - so I am quite confident with that program.

"the flipping book" idea came from me wanting to produce a "This Is Your Life" type show for my sister in law - As you know I couldnt work out how to do it so produced another show - which everyone was delighted with. But I have now caught the bug and cant get enough of the presentations.

I expect there are a lot of us out there all the same. My husband now thinks he is a PSP widow and says that I ought to do a show of me, sitting in the lounge - just sitting and watching tv - then he can play it and think that i am sitting with him...... he also reckons he would get more sense out of me that way...

Anyway - Tea Break Over - better get back to the grind .... roll on retirement .....

Sharon

[alrobin]

Sharon,

The RPS have an AV section, which sponsors excellent demo sessions and tutorials, etc., throughout the UK.

Maureen Albright, a regular contributor to this Forum, has created an excellent website for the Society, and I am sure she would be happy to point you in the right direction regarding other resources in your area (she knows everybody!). Unfortunately (for you, not for her), she is about to depart for Australia where she will be helping to judge an international AV competition, so she may not have time to help you out much at this time. The website is well worth investigating, however, if you haven't already done so.

http://www.avg.rps.org/

[Ken Cox]

Sharon

see

toast Al refers to

Everything, except make the morning coffee (it even has a piece of toast! - inside joke)

ken

[ronwil]

Sharon

Although East Sussex is not a million miles from me in Surrey, where I would willingly give a practical demonstration of PTE, I am sure there must be a Camera Club near to you, where someone is interested in AV and be able to help.

Ron [uK]

[Lin Evans]

Hi Sharon,

First, welcome to the PTE forums! As I told you on the PSP forum, there is no reason with the tiny financial investment in PTE why you shouldn't be able to use both PSP and PTE to create superior slideshows.

I will take a little different approach with my advice than most. With the full agreement that you should download, learn and use the latest release version of PicturesToExe (4.48), I believe you should also download the latest beta of 5.0 and begin to use it as well.

I assume you were drawn to PSP by the upgrade features over PSG. I've used and followed Photodex's products (I was a beta tester for Proshow before Photodex released their first product) since their inception and PSP offered major features advantages over PSG. It's a wonderful program with myriad features, but also, in my opinion, plagued by numerous bugs perhaps caused by a rush to market. There is a bit of a different operational philosophy with PicturesToExes which leads the developers to allow everyone the opportunity to beta test this very fine product and provide their input which is carefully considered and often incorporated. This has resulted in a fairly lengthy beta test cycle which is nearing completion, but also results in a very bug-free (as free of bugs as any software can be) product!

As others have said, there are still many features which have yet to be introduced but the majority will find their way into the beta 9 version. But even without these features, the present beta is quite capable of producing superior presenations as you have or will undoubtedly see very soon. So since the very things which probably prompted you to upgrade from Gold to Producer are present (unlimited layers, complete control of opacity within a layer, etc.) are included in the present beta, I believe you will be better served by jumping in and begining to learn the tremendous features available in the version 5 betas.

PicturesToExe has always been a "nuts and bolts" approach as compared to the feature rich but "canned" approach of the Photodex products. Let me try to explain what I mean by this. With Photodex products, you get a wonderful menu of choices which let you have a broad range of tools - but these tools are fixed. With PTE you get a "tool" which will allow you to build your slideshow presentation and achieve the effects you desire but make it possible to do this the way "you" want rather than the way the developer thinks you should. It's often been said that a machine shop lathe is the one tool which is indispensable because with it you can build all the other tools and also any tool which you might envision. PTE is like the lathe, it's a tool which allows you to build and use other tools.

So there is a place for each approach. Your PSP is a wonderful program with myriad bells and whistles but limited in its flexibility. PTE is a program which doesn't have all the built-in bells and whistles of PSP, but lets you achieve the same end and beyond by virtue of its extreme flexibility.

As you questioned on the PSP forum - why is PTE so powerful and so inexpensive? The answer is that every so often a true value comes along in the software industry where the developers are not driven by "only" the profit motive but rather by the pride of producing the finest product of its kind available. Obviously Igor and his development team would also like to make a nice income - don't we all? But they believe that by producing a truly remarkable product at a very fair price they will attract those who recognize a true value when they see one and that the numbers of such people will provide them with a sufficient market share and that everyone will then be happy and its a win/win situation.

So by all means download the beta as well. Read the numerous get-started PDF tutorials and AV tutorials and soon you will become proficient with both PSP and PTE and between the two there is little you can't achieve in the way of presentation slideshows. As others have said, there are many things which are just easier to do in PTE than in PSP and for those things it's the superior tool. Don't feel bad for investing in the PSP upgrade over PSG because PSP offers a world of new innovation. But don't miss the opportunity to purchase what I think is the best deal available in software today - PicturesToExe. The forum members are both willing and able to help you over the bumps and get you started on the road to success in your goals.

Right now your goal seems to get this project you have on the drawing book accomplished and to that end you don't need to be learning how to do complicated things and waiting until JPD and theDom have their templates ready. Since PSP allows drop in movie clips, you may want to possibly look into this program and perhaps use it if suitable to quickly achieve your goal. Meanwhile, by all means pursue PTE because in the long run it's going to be the product which works best.

Here's a link:

http://www.outerspace-software.com/bixphot...k.html#examples

Best regards,

Lin

[ronwil]

Sharon

Earlier I suggested you making contact with a local camera club. Try this site http://cameraclubs.photopro.co.uk and key in your postcode. Good luck

Ron [uK]

[cottage]

I have looked at the Beechbrrok.com and trawled around the site - unfortunately when I tried to view the presentations - the zip file wouldnt open - then the machine crashed.... grrrrrrrr.

Sharon

Welcome Sharon,

There is so much to learn from this good forum. Take your time and enjoy the knowledge! What presentations would not open for you on Beechbrook.Com?

Regards,

Bill

[leonard]

Hi Sharon,

As a fellow novice I know how you must be feeling right now. You are surrounded by experts in P2E who know this software inside out having accumulated many years experience on version 4 and now version 5 beta. In fact, although they are extremely helpful and will try and point you in the right direction on every occasion, they have no appreciation of the difficulties faced by the absolute beginner.

No doubt, like me, you will expect to be able to obtain a 'user guide' or 'manual' that you can read and re-read to absorb the basic principles before venturing into the unknown. This is common practice I believe in the software business. Not so in P2E. There never has been one and as far as I can tell there never will be. The 'experts' do not consider this a shortfall or indeed a hindrance, after all what benefit would such documentation be to them!

So you will be faced with replies that contain endless links to many websites to witness masterpieces produced by these experts, and you will be expected to learn and master the intricacies of this new software from their efforts.

I don’t doubt you will pick up the basis techniques by trial and error. Here are some tips from my recent experiences:

1. Expect the learning curve to be steep. Steer clear of version 5 until you've mastered version 4.

2. Be prepared to have to search endlessly over the wide range of subjects on this Forum (accumulated over at least 5 years) to find the answers to your many Q's.

3. Avoid, at all costs, posing Q's in the wrong area as you stand the risk of not getting a direct response.

4. Access the Forum several hours per day to ensure that you don’t miss a vital tip.

5. Avoid asking difficult and searching Q's as this may delay the development and completion of version 5 beta.

6. Be prepared for criticism from some of the membership if you persist in asking awkward Q's

7. Or alternatively, visit the Barry Beckham website and purchase the excellent Tutorials on this subject. You will learn more in a few hours viewing than you will from several weeks searching for answers on this Forum.

I don’t doubt that eventually P2E version 5 will be a 'must have' piece of software for those photographers wanting to produce amateur slideshows. It is a great pity that the same high level of knowledge and expertise wont be applied to producing the associated documentation.

I wish you Good Luck in your new venture.

leonard

[ronwil]

Shame on you Leonard, be reasonable. How much did you pay for PTE? How much would it cost to produce a manual for an ever changing programme? I know that there are devotees in your neck of the woods who probably would give hands on instruction in PTE. I have offered similar and pointed Sharon in the right direction. Mike has taken up the advice that I have given. Good luck.

Ron [uK]

[alrobin]

........In fact, although they are extremely helpful and will try and point you in the right direction on every occasion, they have no appreciation of the difficulties faced by the absolute beginner.

Not true! We were all "absolute beginners" at one time!

No doubt, like me, you will expect to be able to obtain a 'user guide' or 'manual' that you can read and re-read to absorb the basic principles before venturing into the unknown. This is common practice I believe in the software business. Not so in P2E. There never has been one and as far as I can tell there never will be. The 'experts' do not consider this a shortfall or indeed a hindrance, after all what benefit would such documentation be to them!

Something not quite right with this logic! I wonder how the "experts" learned the system.

So you will be faced with replies that contain endless links to many websites to witness masterpieces produced by these experts, and you will be expected to learn and master the intricacies of this new software from their efforts.

As has been pointed out many times, the new software, v.5, is still in its "beta" development stage, and so cannot be expected to contain any help or documentation files. However, we are so fortunate in having a developer who is willing to release the program to us at this stage so that the more-experienced aficionados of the program can "have a go at it", and help in the production of a superior, working product. And we are also fortunate in having so many experienced members willing to devote time in bringing the newcomers like yourself up to speed, even though this level of assistance is not normally available at this stage of development in a software product.

6. Be prepared for criticism from some of the membership if you persist in asking awkward Q's

There is no need to be insulting! - the Forum is full of examples of assistance to the most inexperienced of newcomers, and many of the more-experienced members have devoted many hours in producing helpful tutorials and documentation on how they have produced various effects with the new v.5 betas.

[stevehurst]

Well said Al!

[Peter S]

I don’t doubt that eventually P2E version 5 will be a 'must have' piece of software for those photographers wanting to produce amateur slideshows.

I think you badly underestimate PTE if you think it is just for amateur slide shows. There are quite a few professionals who use this excellent product.

I doubt if there is any other forum anywhere where you can get more people willing to help with almost any question you might raise including the developers where necessary.

In terms of value for money it is unbeatable.

Peter

[ksf]

Leonard, It rather sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder about documentation and I thoroughly endorse the views from Ron, Al, Steve, and Peter. There is a wealth of knowledge and helpful people in this forum - In fact I don't know of a better forum and nor do I know of a better product at this cost and I certainly wouldn't think of alienating or insulting anyone.

I started learning PTE 2 1/2 years ago as a complete novice and, yes, it was a bit of a struggle at first but looking back I can say it has been relatively easy to pick up and in some respects the 'get your hands dirty and just try it' approach has been far more fun and educational than reading a book. In any case to produce suitable documentation would probably be equal in effort as creating the software and I for one would rather Igor's time was spent refining his already excellent product than writing about it - and then translating it into umpteen different languages (a measure of the popularity of this product).

When I first saw PTE it was at a public show given by a 'local' AV group. I joined the club even though I have to travel 15 miles to get to it, but they have been extremely helpful along my learning curve and I now help to run some of their workshop days - I'm sure there must be one in the Bath area you could join.

Sharon - I hope you aren't put off by any of Leonard's comments and that you will ask as many questions as you need, there will always be someone willing to answer them.

[leonard]

Gentlemen - Thanks to those of you who found the time to respond. It is always interesting to note how quickly you rally round the flag to defend the ‘status quo’.

I would like to make several points so that you may all appreciate why I am so concerned, and also to clarify the situation as far as I'm concerned personally.

1. I agree wholeheartedly that with the help of many dedicated and highly experienced user’s the newbie/beginner can rest assured that help is at hand (practically instantaneously) to answer P2E queries from the very basic to the most complex.

2. You may be surprised to learn that personally, I have no problem with P2E, but then I consider myself to be computer hardware/software savvy with over 20 years experience.

3. For the last few months I have endeavoured to put myself in the position of the newbie and try to represent their interests. On most occasions I have been deliberately provocative in an attempt to identify what I firmly believe is a major weakness in this product, namely documentation support. And for that reason I make no apology for my persistence in this matter. By documentation I mean pdf files not hard copy.

4. For the life of me I do not understand how you can still continue to deny that for the absolute beginner this is the logical place to start. Nor can I see the sense or logic in perpetuating a situation in which many of you find it acceptable not to insist on this kind of information from the outset. The fact that this has been allowed to exist for over 5 years I find quite incredible.

5. Forum’s are established for a number of reasons, in the main to help and support the membership and by and large this Forum must rate amongst the best. But I believe it should not have to ‘bend over backwards’ to overcome this shortfall on the part of the Company.

6. As I see the situation currently the membership will need to provide even the most basic of tuition and education support to newbies for many years to come. A task that I suspect many of you look forward to and thoroughly enjoy.

May I make a suggestion. Would it not help beginners like Sharon if the Forum included a Heading named, say, Getting Started? This could include a number of links to sites on which may be found relevant material to assist the beginner. Food for thought. It might make life a little less stressful for some members.

Finally, it has been suggested that to include this information would make the product more expensive. Personally, I would prefer to pay a reasonable price for a product that included a software/documentation bundle. Furthermore, on the question of cost, I think Version 5 should not be free.

leonard

[ronwil]

And what do you estimate the price should be? Look at the price of Photoshop and in particular any upgrades.

You say "But I believe it should not have to ‘bend over backwards’ to overcome this shortfall on the part of the Company." How insulting can you get after the excellent way in which Igor and his colleagues have developed this programme, aided and abetted by members of this forum.

You have been very verbose in your condemnation and I am sorry that you feel that way.

As regards "I think Version 5 should not be free", Igor has indicated already that there will be a charge for the full version.

Ron [uK]

[Maureen]

Hi Sharon

Welcome to the Forum !

You'll be amazed at how versatile Pictures to Exe is and the range of help and advice you will find here. With regards to Leonard's remarks I've decided to answer them elsewhere as this is a thread to help you get started in PTE rather than let Leonard feed you incorrect information here.

We're all willing to help whenever you need it and however silly and basic the problem is. We've all been beginners at some time and I would say that the vast majority of people learn by having a go and making mistakes. We remember those hiccups and hopefully don't keep making the same ones again!

Good Luck with your slideshow. Hope your sister-in-law enjoys it !

Best wishes

Maureen

Hi Keith

– what happened to that "Beginners Guide" you had at Wilmslow !

Stop hiding under a bushel and tell everyone about it !

Catch up with sometime soon….

Wilmslow Guild – distinctions day in April?

Love Maureen

[Spudger]

To All At The Forum Who Have Answered My Original Thread...

First - I would like to say that i am sorry that I have taken so long to come back to the forum and have only this morning been able to return to read the thread. There have been other very pressing issues in my life...

However, they are now dealt with and I am again less stressed and can concentrate on this passion I have developed

Secondly, I managed to finish the PSP show for my sister in law and took on board the advice given at the beginning of the thread to go with what I know while i only had a short time to complete the show. She was over the moon with the show - and it went down with love and happy tears - which (lets face it) is the reason why I do it. I have only made a few shows but have a guideline - that they have to move me either to tears (happy) or make me laugh out loud - if neither of these occur then I havent finished the show and leave it until I get inspiration. Maybe not the right way but it works for me.

Now down to the PTE in hand - I am a TOTAL BEGINNER - I dont know what to do - I dont know what the acronyns mean - but what I appreciate is the 100% commitment you have given me - be it that you don't all agree with each other. I am going to spend today going through the links and start downloading the program -

Q1. Do I download PTE for $24 or $30?

I have been on the link for the tutorials and I think that I can follow them - so will let you know later today if I get stuck.

Maureen - what is this BETA and is this something that i have do download and learn together with PTE? Perhaps I could email you with regard to some help?

It would be absolutely fantastic to have a BEGINNERS section - but it is very easy for us "newbies" to have everything done for us - I must admit I would love someone to sit me down and say you do this, you do that and take the effort out of it - but we wouldnt learn half as much that way - the culture of it all being laid out in front of us and making it easy is one that didnt exist when we were kids - we got off our "bums" and worked at things learning as we went. So what is different today - I will ask as I go along and hopefully you wont think that i am a nuisance. One step at a time eh???

One day soon - I will post my first show - and look forward to it with much pride and anticipation - because it will be all of you (and some input from me) that would have help me get that far.

Gosh - what a speech - never done anything like this before.... what are you doing to me...?

Love to ALL

Sharon

[ksf]

Hi Sharon welcome back, glad you haven't been put off by the furore kicked up by Leonard.

Anyway, you may class yourself as a 'total beginner' but you have already hit on one of the key things that we should all bear in mind - that we make sequences to either move ourselves or others. AV is a powerful media for providing education, enjoyment, sharing,... all manner of emotions and pte is the perfect tool for making it all happen. A good AV should always carry some feeling or message with it even if it is just a holiday documentary - the audience will either want to go there as well because the place looks so inviting, or they may decide never to go there because it looks so awful. In either case the sequence will have worked.

The version I think you should start with is v4.48 downloadable from the front main page of the forum. The BETA version everyone is talking about is version 5 which is still under development and has only been released via the forum for others to test and request enhancements to. We are all lucky that we have such understanding developers (Igor and his team) working on it for us.

Version 4.48 is in itself a complete product allowing you to make shows of varying complexity with numerous different effects. The key difference between that and v5 (Beta) is that v5 introduces animation effects using image layers and to be honest you probably don't need to worry about these at this stage.

Look forward to more questions and seeing your work.

[Ken Cox]

v5 introduces animation effects

maybe wait at least a week before you try it

you are going to want to try it so you might as well give it a go

and then as things come up in the forum you can try it

ken