The making of the

PCT

Class of 2011

Video

 

 
 

The class video took over two months of preparation, compilation and production. The images were gathered from over 80 PCT hikers who were on the trail in 2011. Each hiker was requested to send in their best 100 images. Some hikers sent many more than 100! We culled through approximately 10,000 images and video to choose the images used on the program. There are 1,027 individual images, videos and title blocks in the program and the final production runs 1 hour, sixteen minutes and 22 seconds. The sound track is comprised of 30 songs. You can see the song list here. To produce the program, we used Adobe Bridge as a database for the images, Adobe photoshop to make graphics and modify images, Adobe After Effects for the segment at the very beginning and mostly a product from Photodex called ProShow Professional. With ProShow Pro, we were able to load up the images, video, lay down the sound track and add most of the transitions and key framing. If you are interested in making shows like this, check out ProShow Pro, the lesser version of it, ProShow Gold, and another program called Photo two Movie (5). They will all work well.

Note: because we used copyrighted music, this program is not for sale nor can it be used in any situation where someone receives so financial gain by showing it. Sorry guys, you can't run it at your local theater and charge admission. It is freely distributed via the iso file on line. If you are totally unable to download and make your own copy, contact us and we may be able to help. But, please, only as a last resort. Check with your friends first. Someone may have a DVD burner on their computer that you can use. Bring over a six pack and enjoy the afternoon with them.

 
 

 

 
 

To download a copy of the video, first, you must have a current version of Internet Explorer. Earlier versions were limited as to how many gigabytes could be downloaded. The latest version (8) has no such limitations. The DVD file is approximately 3 gigabytes. It will take some time to download. Hopefully, you have a high bandwidth connection - be patient during the download. Our guess is that it may take from 10-30 minutes to download this image file.

 
 

The DVD file that you download is called an ISO file. It contains all the data that would be found on the finished DVD product, including the opening menu along with a music track that plays before you start the DVD in play mode. This year's DVD does not have chapters, it will only play from start to finish. If you want to jump ahead, simply use the fast forward button on your remote.

The DVD ISO file can be found here. (coming soon)

The file you download can be easily burned to a DVD but you must have a DVD Burner (this is important, not just a DVD player on your computer, but a DVD burner - it will allow you to make or "burn" the image to a disk). Here are the typical steps involved. These steps work only for Windows 7.

1. Find the downloaded image ISO file on your computer

2. Double click on it.

3. A Windows program called "Windows Disk Image Burner" should automatically open up. If you have two different burners on your computer, choose the correct one in the top box. Insert a DVD into the burner. Click the "burn" button.

That's it! Test your DVD in your home player. Note on the main screen, you can simply press Enter or Play and the DVD should start. With a marking pen, write PCT 2011 or something on the DVD and you might also wish to include the running time (1:16). To get more sophisticated, download the "Cover Art" picture. Open it up in a paint or word program, resize it to print at the exact size of 4 3/4 inches square (it is mostly sized as a square right now - just set one of the dimensions at 4.75 inches or 12X12 mm. Print this on a color printer, carefully cut it out with scissors and slip it into the front panel of one of your old CD jewel cases.

4. If you are using an older version of Windows and no program opens when you double click on the ISO file, then you will need some type of burning software. Here is one we can recommend. It is called ImgBurn and it is free. Download and install it on your (windows) computer. When you open this program, choose "Write image file to disc" . The destination will be your DVD burner (don't forget to put the disk in it!). At the top, where it says "source", click on the tiny folder with the magnifying glass. Find your ISO file, click on it then on the lower left, click the burn image symbols.

 

 
 

 

 

 
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