UGH!! Slide show skips

[Sandee]

jimnshell

I think you should definately try resizing your images. All you really need to do is make sure they're all 72dpi.

There seems to be tons of problems with larger sized images and sound.

When I had to go back and check each image (150 of them) size, I actually caught a few adjustments that were needed that I didn't catch the first time! (Color correction, curves, levels etc) I do use Photoshop 7 for all my image work.

Good luck and let us know how this all works our for ya.

[ronwil]

Sandee, I am not sure that you are giving the correct instruction by suggesting that the image resolution be reduced to 72 dpi. I scan my images in at 3200 dpi and reduce the Piixel width dimension to 1024 the height is adjusted for a 3:2 format to 683 by Constrained Proportions. The resolution remains unaltered. After saving to *.jpg my file size averages 150 to 200 Kb. There has been some useful input on this by Guru in recent threads.

Ron [uK]

[JRR]

Sandee:

I agree with Ron, reducing to 72dpi (ppi?) is not necessarily the best way to go.

As Ron says this has been discussed in several threads over the past few months. Most recently in "paramter Incorrect"

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...ct=ST&f=2&t=651

look for postings particularly starting May 10

[nobeefstu]

jimnshell,

My best guess at this moment is that your copy/burn process is creating the issue.

As a TEST : Try downloading a PTE SHOW (or two ) from the BEECHBROOK SITE... these SHOWS are made by other PTE users/creators. Do your normal COPY/BURN routine as you did with your own creations. Test with these other SHOWS to verify if your ISSUE still persists.

Beechbrook Site

http://beechbrook.com/pte/

NOTE:

TEMP Folders created by PTE for SHOW/PLAY are usually rewriten per each instance/execution. Therefore if a PTE_tmp folder is not auto deleted due to some closing/error/etc ... a new instance should not normally use the old existance anyway.

However during your BUILD stages and using PREVIEW MODE of your Show ... Im not sure if ( I would have to verify) ... PTE does or does not rewrite the TEMP files used on each instance.

[think(box)]

Stu - I was under the impression that folders like pte_tmp1073, pte_tmp2799 were created just to store the mp3 and other music files (a .cfg file too as I recall), so I tested a show without music. Indeed it created an *empty* folder pte_tmp6575 for as long as show ran. Normally these are cleaned up, but not after Windows lockups, etc. I have been using a "Cleanup.bat" file that activates with the "Exit" button in my separate, custom P2E "show" music player to delete contents and folder for ANY pte_younameit folders left around in the Windows temp folder.

Igor recently told us he planned to stop using the Windows temp folder for expanded music and just play it from the P2E .exe file, so maybe the only use is for music. The need for a pte_tmpxxxx folder and associated cleanup efforts may well be going away soon.

Thanks for the tip. I checked the case you mentioned and found that every time you do a preview PTE opens a new-numbered pte_tmp5720 (e.g.) folder. Every time you end a preview show that folder goes poof, gone. The folder appears to never be reused on subsequent show preview.

Cheers,

[Sandee]

ronwil - I apologize for my ignorance! I can only say what worked for me. I'm not technically inclined, so I should really zip the lip....LOL

JRR - Thanks for the link!

[ConnieMcDearmid]

Hi--I just posted a question regarding this same issue of music and slides "skipping". I have made many slideshows successfully--I too am a professional photographer. For some reason, I can't get the dang thing to work right now! I have 3 computers, one of which is a laptop, and it does the same on all of them. The last time I tried redoing the whole show from start to finish, and when I run the preview before adding music, it runs fine. When I then add 2 or 3 songs (MP3 from hardrive), it starts skipping--before burning to cd, running from preview. Does it matter what size the files are--I'm using Canon 10D, jpg. about 1.5 mb, at 72 dpi. I have about 150 images in the show. I'm using only the dissolve effect, and I'm checking the synchronize to music box. I want the music to end at end of slides. I've done this successfully at times, and other times, it just won't work. Also, I have problems sometimes with the autorun. I have to go to the CD drive, and click on the exe. file to make it run. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Connie

[alrobin]

Hi, Connie,

Sounds like your image files are too large. Of course it depends on your pc resources (especially processor speed), but jpegs up to around 1024 x 768 pixels in size, compressed at a factor of 50, seem to perform more than adequately. These would be typically no more than 150 to 200 kb in size. 1.5 mb would most likely be too large for most P-3 or P-4 processors to handle, and still be able to play the music properly.

Other things you could try are:

- make sure all other programs running in the background are turned off.

- make sure you have plenty of spare space on your hard drive(s). (if space is tight, you could try defragmenting).

- if you have access to a system monitor program (one comes with Win ME, & XP), you could let it run to check on the pc resource utilization. This might give you some clues as to what is wrong.

However, since the problem is common over 3 computers, it is most likely a file-size problem.

[ConnieMcDearmid]

Hi, Connie,

Sounds like your image files are too large. Of course it depends on your pc resources (especially processor speed), but jpegs up to around 1024 x 768 pixels in size, compressed at a factor of 50, seem to perform more than adequately. These would be typically no more than 150 to 200 kb in size. 1.5 mb would most likely be too large for most P-3 or P-4 processors to handle, and still be able to play the music properly.

Other things you could try are:

- make sure all other programs running in the background are turned off.

- make sure you have plenty of spare space on your hard drive(s). (if space is tight, you could try defragmenting).

- if you have access to a system monitor program (one comes with Win ME, & XP), you could let it run to check on the pc resource utilization. This might give you some clues as to what is wrong.

However, since the problem is common over 3 computers, it is most likely a file-size problem.

Thanks very much for your input. I think the file size might indeed be the problem. I guess changing the resolution to 72 dpi doesn't solve the issue? What is the best way in your opinion to resize images coming from the camera (Canon 10D) Sometimes I crop the images, but not always. Does that make a difference?

Thanks for your help!

Connie

I have plenty of hardrive space, and do turn off other programs

[alrobin]

Connie,

Digital camera software is usually designed with prints in mind - hence the reference to "dpi", and "72 dpi" in particular. When you are projecting an image, or viewing it on a monitor, it is only the size in pixels that counts, as that's what you are actually looking at.

For example, if you want to view an image at full-screen on a monitor set at a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, the image will have to be 800 x 600 pixels. Simple as that!

So, if your digital camera software allows you to control the size in pixels, you can use it to reduce the image to a convenient size for the purpose you have planned for it. The best way to do this is with a professional program such as Photoshop or PhotoPaint, etc. Some free software, such as IrfanView, will also let you resize the image in pixels.

You can also expand the size of an image in pixels, but this requires the software to do some "interpolation", which is not always successful.

After resizing, you will likely want to "compress" the image even further, so that it is more manageable, by converting it to a "jpeg", or by re-setting the quality of the jpeg your camera produced. Thus, an image which started out as several Mb in size, could be reduced to one only a few hundred Kb, or smaller.

Cropping will also reduce the size of the image in pixels, but this means throwing away part of the image, and you may not always want to do that.

Hope this helps!

[nobeefstu]

Connie,

I agree with AL .... as your images are way too large in my opionon ( I call them heavy and overweight images) for a normal screen presentation display. Bigger Images is not better in this case .... you really only need your 1.5mb image for printing/reproduction purposes and not for presentation/screen displays.

Sometimes various combinations of Images Sizes and multiple music files can create skiping/stutter/freeze of a presentation ... especially from a CD run Show. Try to maintain all image and music file properties/specs somewhat consistant. Sometimes its best to combine/edit multiple MP3s into a single music file (esp when using SYNC settings) ... as sometimes each music file using different layers/kbps/ khz can promote issues during your Shows playback.

So for CD DISTRIBUTION purposes ... its best to maintain consistancy and simplicity. Its possible your own PC may have no problems with the playing of all your creations ... but your potential customers/users maynot be so lucky due to their PC capabilities. Any CD Run Shows are esp prone to issues ... PTE creations are not alone in this respect. As for your Images ... your customer does not really see a 1.5mb photo vs a 100kb/150kb any differently on their PC Screen ... the differences show up when you PRINT a Image.

As for your AUTORUN.INF contents ... maintain the 8.3 filename rule ... as some OS/ PC/CDRom drives dont quite translate the info the same.

[Ian]

I think the problem is most likely the different disc access times between running the exe from a hard-drive and a CD. This is especially true if the show has been synched to the soundtrack.

When PTE creates/previews the show, the image files are all read directly from the HDD and will all load in quickly. When the show is playing back from a CD, the time taken to load in the images will vary with the type and speed of the CD drive. A large image file will take correspondingly longer to load.

The way that PTE works is to fetch each image individually as required in the sequence, and a synched sequence may call for an image to be displayed before it gets fully loaded, which will cause jumping.

I find it necessary to leave at least one second between images (ie after the transition has fully played) to be sure that the show will play back on a variety of CD drives.

Also - as per the previous point about image sizes - it is far better to first re-size your images to the correct pixel dimension for a screenshow in an external image editor rather than let PTE re-scale large images on the fly. You will have much more control over the image quality, and the show will be a lot more portable.

Ian