Using Layers

I have been a very satisfied user of ProShow Gold for about 2 years and I read this forum every day during my lunch, and now I will finally ask this dumb question...Having access to various layers in a single slide is nice ...... but how/what is the best way to use this powerful feature? I've played with the feature a few times but never was able to achieve anything that I couldn't otherwise do with a series of single slides. I know I am missing something but please, can anyone provide a few examples of what can be done with layers that can't be done with multiple slides?
Bill

[briancbb]

Bill

I'm not a Gold user and 'layers' are much more powerful in Producer, but, a use in Gold could be as simple as putting two portrait pictures side by side on one slide. Using multiple slides these could then be made to appear together or as single picture, change one at a time, or disappear together or sequencially.

[TinaJ]

Go into the PSG sample shows forum and check out some shows, I'll bet you find a lot of neat ideas for things you can do with the layers in slides, I know I do!
TinaJ

I still can't see the advantages of layers on a single slide, or is it just a short cut to creating an effect(s) that can be done with several slides. I guess if I have any "creative juices" they just are not flowing right now....

[mrdcambs]

Bill: go to Mona's website here http://seemonasblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/p19.html and check the effects that are possible in PSG using layers by clicking on some of the offered templates (e.g. 'Grid of 4 Pictures' or 'Stacking Pictures', and others). You could not achieve these in PSG by using a series of single slides.

Regards - Mike - UK

[DickK]

Bill -- maybe I'm missing something but even simple stuff like having two or more pictures on the slide, which I use all the time, can't be done without layers (or using an editor to combine the pictures into a composite which is much more work). Essentially, "all" layers gives you is the ability to get multiple pictures on the slide at the same time. If you don't need that, then layers won't be useful. Oh, and all the slide styles--more layers, lots of them. Frankly, that's the best thing that happened to PSG since version 2.6 though and I can't imagine doing a show without it now.
Dick

Trying to relieve my frustrations ....last night I tried again, placing the image from slide 1 and the image from slide 2 as separate layers, both on slide 1. I then create movement of the image of layer 2 toward the image of layer 1. When played back I see two images merging together. Have I got it right so far? Should I first remove the background of layer 2 (using PSE) to make the motion more obvious? Am I on the right track?
Bill

[DickK]

Can't say because it's not clear to me anyway what effect you're trying to create... what's the result to look like?
Dick

[im42n8]

Putting 2 images side-by-side is simple as you've found.

Slide one should have the images static (side by side, one at -20,0 and the other at 20,0, for instance) ... give the folks a bit of time to see what the images are.

Slide two (using a cut transition) would then be the one where you mov image 2 toward image 1 ... leaving room for a caption on the side as image 2 (layer 2) moves beneath layer 1 (image 1). Image 2 may or may not be the same size as image 1. Hopefully it's the same or very close....

Slide three would be the one where layer 1 (image 1) is the only one seen now since layer 2 should be beneath layer 1 (actually you no longer need layer 2 on slide 3 now!).

There ya go! You got it!

Dale

Thanks for the help ( and patience) ....I think I've got it now. I read this forum every day but haven't been actively working on making my own shows for a while so I've lost lost creative imagination ...