The Definitive Guide to running ProShow Producer on a MAC.

Post your tips & tricks here for creating slide shows with ProShow Producer. This could include suggestions for style and content in addition to working with the software itself
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The Definitive Guide to running ProShow Producer on a MAC.

Postby KJKoncert » Sat May 03, 2014 5:25 pm

Hello All!

I am new to the forums here but I've been working in film and TV since 94 and PSP for about 2 years.
I run PSP on a 17in MacBook Pro using Parallels Virtual Machine and Win8.1. I was having several problems of which included painstakingly slow performance creating shows, manipulating slides and transitions and playback which were all cleared up by doing the following. I am STILL having issues rendering a “Custom Video” which I will describe below and maybe we can figure out together. After hours of trying different configurations of Parallels and PSPS here is my definitive guide to running PSP on a Mac with any Virtual Machine.


ProShow Producer: Definitive Guide to Running PS on a MAC:

This configuration is great for PSP only or producing clips in PSP and bringing the clips back to the Mac for further refinement in Premiere, FCP or whatever editor you use. Just make sure to shut down the VM to free the resources back to the MAC when finished.


Virtual Machine Configuration. (Parallels or VMWare)
1. Enable ALL Cores for faster performance in the app and rendering.
2. Video Memory shared with VM is 1024MB or %100
3. Enable 8GB of 16GB of RAM (ProShow is 32bit so can only use 4GB max, but system needs some extra RAM

ProShow Preferences:
1. MUST Disable all GPU Acceleration under the playback tab. UnCheck ALL. Because you’re running a VM these inevitably slow you down considerably. This will speed up playback and the playhead can be moved across the timeline with ease.
2. Direct Show can be Enabled (seems to have show no difference either way)

Rendering the final video:
1. Selecting For Computers: Video for Comptuters > Video for Web Devices and Comptuers”> Video for Archiving or Editing> Quicktime (MJpeg) is very speedy and works well for editing in another program or making a master file.


I still cannot complete a Custom Video file render or Quicktime Render. Render stalls at different percentages. Again, I take the clips from PSP and use them on Premiere Pro on the MAC, so I need to render actual video clips. Preferably Quicktime Animation files, or MP4s but I am unable to get them to complete rendering. MP4s stop at %100 and never complete. Quicktime Pro codecs are all installed.

I have scoured these boards and have tried close to a hundred different configurations to try to get this to work and I am at a loss. I think it’s a MAC/PSP thing. So frustrating to get to 43%, 78% or 100% and it stalls..

I hope this helps the Mac folks out there!

Best!
Dave

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Re: The Definitive Guide to running ProShow Producer on a MA

Postby BrendaL » Tue Mar 29, 2016 6:02 pm

Hello Dave,
Thanks for the info.
I am a Mac user & new to PSP.
I'm currently deciding where to install PSP - whether to go for Windows computer or use VMware on Mac.

I am very reluctant to leave my Mac but then again I have not used VMware and from your post there are some issues running PSP on Mac/VMware?
Just wondering what your recent experience has been? Have you used Windows 10 on Mac and are you experiencing any other issues with PSP on the Mac?

Many Thanks
Brenda

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Re: The Definitive Guide to running ProShow Producer on a MA

Postby Tonel » Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:04 am

I have a PC and an iMac but only run PSP on my PC because the free Win10 upgrade and Parallels (or any VM) has serious problems with Win Activation (see Parallels Forum thread https://forum.parallels.com/threads/windows-10-bootcamp-vm-cant-validate.328996/page-8 ).

My recommendation for running PSP on a Mac is to run it only in Windows in Bootcamp. Don't waste your time running it in a VM like Parallels because of memory sharing. Boot the Mac into Windows and you should have no problems. You should be fine with Windows 10.

Tony
Self build Xeon W3690, 12GB RAM, C=250GB 850EVO SSD, Asus 2GB GTX960, Win10H 64bit, PSP9
iMac 27" Retina 5K i5, 24GB RAM, Radeon M295X 4GB, Bootcamp Win10H 64bit

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Re: The Definitive Guide to running ProShow Producer on a MA

Postby BrendaL » Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:17 pm

Thanks so much for all the info Tony.

If I run PSP on Mac/Bootcamp - can I still access third party tools like photoshop (on the Mac) from PSP, or would I need to install a windows version of photoshop?

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Re: The Definitive Guide to running ProShow Producer on a MA

Postby Tonel » Thu Mar 31, 2016 5:28 am

If you want to be able to 'on-demand' switch between a Windows app and an OSX app, then disregard my previous post. You need VM software with two provisos.

VM software makes switching so ridiculously quick and easy provided that (1) you have plenty of memory - see Dave's post, and (2) you have a full retail version of Win 10. Whichever VM software you choose (Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion) is a matter of personal choice.

When installing Windows (or any OS) on a Mac, Bootcamp Assistant asks for the size of HD partition you require and the amount of RAM to be made available to the other OS. When both OSs are running they share the RAM installed based on what you set. When only one OS is running, all installed RAM is available to it irrespective of what you set, i.e. the RAM allocated is only 'used' when the VM is running. The amount of RAM set for the VM can easily be changed should you need, subject to certain limits.

Using the free Win10 upgrade from 7 or 8 limits the Activation to the first system. I first Activated mine on Bootcamp which means it can't also be Activated in the VM and both are need to work fully as you require.

If you use VM software and find that PSP struggles to do some tasks when running in the VM, e.g. final render, then save it, reboot into Bootcamp and open PSP and do it there. It will now have all the installed RAM available to it instead of only a part - but you will not be able to run an OSX app.

I again point out that I haven't run PSP on my Mac so am not aware of what other issues there may be. There are other posts on this Forum about PSP on the Mac.

Tony
Self build Xeon W3690, 12GB RAM, C=250GB 850EVO SSD, Asus 2GB GTX960, Win10H 64bit, PSP9
iMac 27" Retina 5K i5, 24GB RAM, Radeon M295X 4GB, Bootcamp Win10H 64bit

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