PSP Template: Images in Column List with Image to Right

[nannybear Profile Private messageWebsite]

Really nice Dale! The whole show was awesome. Do I detect some Juice in there? Great job, cheers Jan

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Hi Jan,

Which show? The one for the style bundle? If so, then yep, the music was DJ ... nothing else was used in the demo show tho except for the photos and the effects!

Otherwise ... eh?!

Dale

[VPUA]

Dale, I just watched your "My Neck of the Woods" slideshow because I wanted to see the sample of the Column List template. However, the desire for the template paled in comparison to the beauty of your photographs and the quality of your show! Don't misunderstand, I still downloaded the template!

The best part of the show was the memories it evoked in me. In the early 70s, I had the privilege of living in Colorado Springs with my husband who was stationed at Ft. Carson. Every single day we were there, I was overwhelmed by the magnificent view of the mountains just outside my window! Pikes Peak loomed right in front of me. To the left of that awe-inspiring giant, I could see the lights of Broadmoor Ski Slope and Cheyenne Mountain. Being a Southern girl, I experienced SNOW on a regular basis --a rarity here--and enjoyed my first and only "white Christmas." I can almost see you laughing at that comment -- I heard the same laughter when I was there. But it, truly, was a magical time for me. I've never seen anything to compare with your beautiful State of Colorado--and I long to come back for a visit. Thank you for the memories.
Lois

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Lois,

I'm glad you liked the show and the template. I'm a transplant here in Colorado too. I'm from the Portland/Vancouver area originally. Beautiful tho it is in that region, I really like it here in Colorado. In my time with the military I spent time in a number of locations throughout the US, none of which compared to where I came from. But, this place is really nice for all the scenery and weather.

You might want to view this show:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az_5x718CF0 if you liked the My Neck of the Woods show.

Thanx for watching and commenting!

Enjoy!

Dale

[VPUA]

An absolutely exquisite show! I'm scooting over to your site right now to see if this is being offered as a template! I have purchased some of your slide styles in the past and have enjoyed using them, so I'm hopeful that this show template is there! Thank you for sharing your expertise. BTW...I have to add my comments to the others re: your photo in the "Secrets of ProShow Experts" book. Your avatar looks like the wildlife photographer you are...the photo in the book could be a University professor/scholar. What a transformation!

[Ron Profile Private messageWebsite]

Hi Dale
Thanks for the template, nice of you to share your hard work. I've been playing with it a while and came up with a flow that seems to work well. Tell me what you think.

First, turn the template into a style. Second, make sure your 7 photos are the same size, looks best this way. Third, highlight all 7 photos then drag them all in at once into a slide. Fourth, (all 7 photos should still be highlighted) drag all 7 photos into the slide again. This will give you all 14 layers in the order you want. Fifth, apply style & adjust time. Seems a bit easier than selecting 14 photos one by one and easier to work within a show. IMHO

Lastly the very beginning when the photos move from bottom to left seems very rushed, adjusting slide time isn't a fix, any ideas?? without changing all keyframes in all 14 layers!

Thanks Again
I'm very appreciative
Ron
PS: When highlighting the 7 photos choose them in the opposite of them showing - first photo chosen will appear last.

[Oldguy Profile Private message]

WOW! what a show... I really like Colorado anyway.
Great "Special Effects" !
Thanks

Forrest

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Hi Ron,

Converting the template to a style is highly recommended. It certainly makes it easier to populate the layers.

WRT the 14 images, you'd probably need to select the first 7 and then the next 7, to put them in order on the slide prior to applying the style. What a pain. That's because the program has no way of knowing which layers are linked.

Here's a nifty trick to make things easier. It involves editing the PSH file for the slide. After you've got the slide built and working correctly, look at slide carefully and make note of which layers are the same image. You should have 1 that's for the thumbnail images in the column and 1 for the image that appears in the larger window. Write these numbers down.

For example, 1 and 8, 2 and 9, etc. Now, ProShow starts its internal counting from 0, not one.

In the PSH file then,
>> the first slide is cell[0], the 2nd slide is cell[1], etc.
>> the first image is image[0], the second image is image[0] and so on.

To link layers together, Photodex uses a key called "templateImageId" to create that link. Basically, it identifies what layer is a duplicate of another layer. Its format is the following:

slide number . layer number . templateImageId = unique key number

and it looks like this:

cell[0].images[16].templateImageId=8

So if a slide 2's 3rd and 7th images are the same image (one is a duplicate of the other), something like the following would be found in the PSH file:

cell[1].images[2].templateImageId=1532154
cell[1].images[6].templateImageId=1532154

IMPORTANT: always work on a duplicate PSH file, never the original. Use a TEXT editor of some sort (like NotePad). Make sure you save your work as a straight text file.

When you get done with the PSH file, then you can convert that to a style and see if it works as expected. If it does, that means you'll only need to put the 7 files you want display onto a slide instead of the 7 originals and 7 duplicates.

If you drag and drop an image onto a linked layer, then the linked layers should all populate at the same time.

Warning: this is an advanced technique and should work if done right. There are no guarantees however. If the wrong layers get linked together in your edited file, you'll have to figure out what you did wrong and fix it accordingly. This is not meant as a tutorial on how to edit a PSH file and is intended only for the limited purpose stated.

Have a nice day!

Dale

PS, wrt changing the timing anywhere, it's simply a matter of adding time to the right keyframe to adjust everything to the right at once. I'd do that on the testing iteration of your created slide. By the time you get done you should have a good idea how the slide works and what I did. One of the reasons I put the masks on the version I sell is that I have images from multiple cameras and most of those cameras created different sized images. It was quite a bit of work to put the masks on and get everything working in a coordinated fashion. The amount of work went up considerably with the masks and border layers! You should have an idea of that once you work with this template awhile. If nothing else it gives you a considerable leg up on figuring out how to modify it to your taste and needs!

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Lois,

No, none of my shows is templated in any fashion. Each show is unique on its own. In my new shows, I used to use snippets of previous shows to duplicate the effects I'd created vs templates. I'd often found templates to be a bit clumsy to use. For me it was easier to just cut and paste. Then styles came along and I use them exclusively now.

If I create an effect I like and may tend to use again I'll make it into a style. If I think it might be useful to others then I'll go through the extra effort to make it as easy to use as possible and to make it available in both 16:9 and 4:3 formats (I only work in 16:9 myself).

A template of a show is typically only for, IMO, special situations where you need to create a show quick and it's a standard format show (such as in a funeral home setting or something like that). That is, a cookie-cutter.

Many of the effects in the American Scenery show are relatively recent ones available in my style bundles. Some of them are adaptations of the ones in mini-bundles A and B. One of the adaptations is available now in miniBundle Vol C. When I was using some of my styles for the new show (for the photoclub) I wanted/needed to adapt an existing style to help the flow and visual effect of the show. The nice thing was that with an existing style, it was easier for me to edit the slide on which I'd applied the style vs starting from scratch. That saved a lot of time!

Dale

[Ron Profile Private messageWebsite]

Dale
Thanks for all the extra insights to your style
Ron
PS: I always feel I'm going to the library of Congress when dealing with you, all the info you need when you need it. Your Great Thanks