jtneal Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 I have been learning how to use the beta version and I just can not figure out how to import video files. I am guessing this has not been turned on yet. Will this be turned on in the future? Is there some other way I can get video files to work? Thank you to anyone who can help!-Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lin Evans Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Hi Jon,There is no direct way to import video files with PTE. Video is low resolution, even at the best it's not much more than 1024x768 from high end video cameras. Unlike competitive products which use low resolution software rendering, PTE uses high quality hardware rendering which means that the files created for an executable slideshow reflect the input resolution. High quality images in, high quality executable output complete with pan, zoom, rotate. If you need to use short video clips, the easiest way is to use a video decompiler and break them down into individual jpg frames. These frames can then be used in the slide list with the transitions turned off and speed set to about 75ms. Some frames may be dropped, but generally you won't be able to tell at all and the effect is just about the same as playing an AVI or MPEG video clip. You probably will want to set the parameters for display to native size rather than automatic screen fill to keep the appearance of image quality for the video segment. There are a number of inexpensive video decompilers available. The one I use is from OneStopSoft.comhttp://www.onestopsoft.com/It's $20 U.S. and does a great job.LinI have been learning how to use the beta version and I just can not figure out how to import video files. I am guessing this has not been turned on yet. Will this be turned on in the future? Is there some other way I can get video files to work? Thank you to anyone who can help!-Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightec Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 LinThank for the advice, I have downloaded the software and tried it out, not bad, I will certainly use the software in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtneal Posted April 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Lin, thank you for the information! I will definitely give that software a try. But I have to admit that you have left me more confused than ever. Are you saying that if I have any low resolution pictures that PTE can't handle them? What happens then? Do I have to convert them to a higher resolution? What part of the computer does the hardware rendering? Is there a way to do rendering with hardware and software at the same time? Sorry for so many questions! Thank you for anything you can tell me.-JonHi Jon,There is no direct way to import video files with PTE. Video is low resolution, even at the best it's not much more than 1024x768 from high end video cameras. Unlike competitive products which use low resolution software rendering, PTE uses high quality hardware rendering which means that the files created for an executable slideshow reflect the input resolution. High quality images in, high quality executable output complete with pan, zoom, rotate. If you need to use short video clips, the easiest way is to use a video decompiler and break them down into individual jpg frames. These frames can then be used in the slide list with the transitions turned off and speed set to about 75ms. Some frames may be dropped, but generally you won't be able to tell at all and the effect is just about the same as playing an AVI or MPEG video clip. You probably will want to set the parameters for display to native size rather than automatic screen fill to keep the appearance of image quality for the video segment. There are a number of inexpensive video decompilers available. The one I use is from OneStopSoft.comhttp://www.onestopsoft.com/It's $20 U.S. and does a great job.Lin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lin Evans Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Hi Jon,Let me try to explain. PTE can handle any resolution. If you have an image which is 1024x768 and you apply pan, zoom, rotate, etc., you will get an output in movie type of executable at a resolution of 1024x768. If you have an image of 1600x1200 and apply pan, zoom, rotate, etc., you will get an executable movie file with 1600x1200 resolution. If you have a file of 3200x2400 resolution and you "feed it" to the PTE engine you will get an output movie of 3200x2400, etc. With other software, if you have an image of 3200x2400 and you apply pan, zoom, rotate, the "movie" is created by downsampling to about 800x600 to create the pan, zoom, rotate. Then if you ask for an executable file with the output resolution set to 1600x1200 the 800x600 resolution movie is "rendered" by software interpolation back to 1600x1200 making a very soft and mediocre quality slideshow. So PicturesToExe uses the "hardware" (RAM, Video Card, etc.) to create a movie of the same resolution you give it from your input files. If you give it low resolution images then the slideshow will be of low resolution. If you give it 9 megapixel images, then the slideshow will consist of 9 megapixel movies. Because it outputs high resolution images from high resolution input, if you were allowed to simply drop low resolution video clips, there would be a substantial drop in image quality which would be very noticeable when the video played. With some other companies who use low resolution for everything regardless of what resolution your original images were, there is no huge visible change from a low resolution video to the low resolution rendering for pan, zoom, rotate from still images.PicturesToExe is, at present, the only known software which uses hardware rendering to create high resolution executable slideshow output with pan, zoom, rotate, etc., effects.To put it simply, PicturesToExe's output for executable files are equal in resolution to the input files. Other companies lower the resolution of input to about 800x600 automatically to make their pan, zoom, rotate effects. Then if the user asks for higher resolution executable output they must upsample to get more pixels. The process of downsample then upsample takes a toll on image quality.Best regards,LinLin, thank you for the information! I will definitely give that software a try. But I have to admit that you have left me more confused than ever. Are you saying that if I have any low resolution pictures that PTE can't handle them? What happens then? Do I have to convert them to a higher resolution? What part of the computer does the hardware rendering? Is there a way to do rendering with hardware and software at the same time? Sorry for so many questions! Thank you for anything you can tell me.-Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LumenLux Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Because it outputs high resolution images from high resolution input, if you were allowed to simply drop low resolution video clips, there would be a substantial drop in image quality which would be very noticeable when the video played. With some other companies who use low resolution for everything regardless of what resolution your original images were, there is no huge visible change from a low resolution video to the low resolution rendering for pan, zoom, rotate from still images.LinHow very true it is! Thanks Lin for the precision statement. And to think Igor figured this out before any of the "big boys." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lathompson Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 There are a number of inexpensive video decompilers available. The one I use is from OneStopSoft.comhttp://www.onestopsoft.com/It's $20 U.S. and does a great job.Linn, this was an eye opener for me. I didn't know this kind of software existed! Very interesting.Thanks,Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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