johndigi Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 I am evaluating slide show products. My first impression of PTE is that the interface is not as easy to use as some other apps. But after browsing this forum, it looks like a very powerful app with great support, once you learn it. I do wish it had thumnails instead of just file names in the slide list, and I would also like to see the ability to rotate images so I don't have to do it in another program. Can some of you who chose PTE over ProShow or some other app tell me why you chose PTE?Thanks a lot!John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think(box) Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 For me, the PTE strong points are (many are exclusive):Quality of image displayEase of use overallEase of use for templated show classesShow artistic design featuresShow technical design features, especially the object editor for slide customizationImage to music synchronization featuresDesign programmability features for viewing and navigation control during showMonitor display options including full screen and fixed size displayPer-slide titling flexibility and supportTransparent graphics supportMouse cursor display control optionsShow startup screen featureCustomizable "Help" screen available during showCompatibility: From new to old machines and any Win O/S softwareText based show production file format that facilitates script processingThe PTE Forum and its members' expertise, experience and kindnessWnsoft's great customer service responseWnsoft's ongoing PTE feature development, especially in response to forum members' inputI have tested ProShow and PTE wins hands down. Many have the need for video CD or DVD output, and presently PTE does not have native support for this. In time I expect that Wnsoft will introduce such support. There are many ways to output PTE shows to video formats in the interim.Specifically addressing your point about ease of use: I thought Adobe Photoshop's user interface was very poorly designed because it took a lot of trouble to learn and it was not intuitive. By comparison, it has been very easy to learn the very large set of PTE features. The user experience is very pleasing. The only user training that a PTE show developer should consider is that if they are a novice to digital photographic images they should go through the free help and/or shareware tutorials mentioned in this forum before using [any] slideshow software.And regarding thumbnails, I agree it should be a show feature and it is in the works. There has been much forum input as to how users want thumbnail features to work. And the forum members have plenty of options that serve very well in the Interim. Look up Al Robinson's "Adjustor" and Granot's utilities, for example Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloegyr Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 Quite simply the quality of PTE's fades are unsurpassed. No other program can touch it in this respect. I am perfectly happy to use other tools to do the various finishing touches to the photographs and PTE to prsent the final perfect presentation.Remember a wood worker has many different types of chisel in his tool box, no one tool can do all.MikeMersea Island Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alrobin Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 Welcome to the forum, John.Bill said it all. I first tried out PTE over a year ago, and was impressed by the quality of the dissolve - better than anything else I had tested. However, I did not subscribe to it as it lacked the capability to custom-synchronize a show to music, a must for a serious audio-visual tool.As soon as custom sync was added, I was sold completely on it. These are the two most important features for me. It has many other valuable features, but what it lacks, I can easily accomplish with other programs, as Bill says. It is quite customary for a desk-top editor, for instance, to employ four or five different programs in putting together a publication. So, creating an AV show is really no different in this respect.And PTE has one added bonus - what it doesn't provide, and what is not available elsewhere, with a few programming skills, you can create yourself, something that not many other programs will allow you to do so readily! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danabw Posted June 26, 2003 Report Share Posted June 26, 2003 For PC-based slideshows it is the best available, with wonderful flexibility, great performance, perfect stability (I've never seen PTE crash on any computer I've run it on), and the most accessible and responsive developer (aka "admin" aka Igor) I've ever seen. Dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayPar Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 My first impression of PTE is that the interface is not as easy to use as some other apps. Can some of you who chose PTE over ProShow or some other app tell me why you chose PTE?Thanks a lot!John LJohn,The interface may seem a bit intimidating at first, but it can be easily mastered in less than an hour. Just do some experimentation with a few slides and you’ll be a pro in no time. In addition to PTE’s wonderful features and quality, it also has the best technical support of any products I have ever seen. PTE’s tech support department has hundreds of staff who can assist you with problems and various techniques in putting together an awesome slide presentation. We call this tech support department “The PTE Forum”. We don’t get paid much (actually we don’t even get peanuts) but we love our job. As for ProShow, there are some people here who have tried it (including myself), but IMHO compared to PTE ProShow = NoShow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LumenLux Posted June 27, 2003 Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 Well John, I certainly hope you get to read all the great answers that have been posted above. They really cover the subject well. I would just endorse them and stress that after the hour or less needed per Ray, you can then produce great basic shows of your photos. Then it is up to you to decide how much futher you need to go. Some users like to always push the creative edge of the software. Others enjoy just being able to easily and reliably view and share their photos or other interests. Others are capable of forgetting as fast as they learn and therefor can relive the excitement over and over again. Speaking of another "other" - Did Guido ask anybody for permission to go on vacation or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndigi Posted June 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2003 Thanks to all who replied. I did spend some time last night with PTE and I have decided to register it today. The comment from think(box) about Photoshop was right on - I'm still learning PS but would not want to be without it! And my favorite image printing app (Qimage) is often criticized for its interface by folks who have not taken a little time to use it. But the other main reason I'm going with PTE is this forum! I poked around yesterday and learned a lot about PTE form you all. I also found some of those great add-on utilities. I still hope for a thumbnail view in the slide list, but your comments about using another app to do the selecting and sorting make a lot of sense. Just like I do my photo editing in Photoshop but I print and do batch conversions in Qimage.Again, thanks for your help! John L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think(box) Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 UPDATE - New comparison between PTE and the competition. Click above all to view it:New: How does PTE stack up against the competition? Check out this product comparison................................................................. ........................................................... ..................................................... ............................................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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