Digital Workshop

Using 4.5 XE

One screen has suddenly decide to 'white out' when I access it in the editor. If I hit F5 everything shows and works. Go back to the editor and I still have a 'white out'. However, if I run the mouse over the screen the various images, buttons etc show as though I were painting them onto the screen.

Hit F5 everything works. Go back to editor and 'white out' again.

Have rebooted the computer but still happens.

I REALLY do not want to rebuild that screen again!

Any suggestions?

John

John -

I'd strongly suggest you upgrade to OPUS 5.5. If you are truly using 4.5, it's got to be years old. You will absolutely appreciate all the improvements and stability of 5.5.

Hi Fred,

Many thanks for the response.

From what I read on the Forum 5.5 is completely stable - that is until someone discovers a circumstance further down the line that causes their app to fall over. Stability is something no software vendor can really guarantee - I hoped I got stability when I upgraded from 4.0 through to 4.5 from 2.something or other, but didn't.

I'll upgrade when I need the features of 5.5, but not to get stability - that's a 'holy grail' I don't believe exists in a complicated piece of software.

I've deleted the page and rebuilt it, and have gone back to the practice I always used to adopt - save under a different name every 15 minutes or so. Much cheaper than the £100 upgrade fee.

John

John --

I was glad to read you were able to solve your own irregularity. If you get a chance, take a look on the DW website for the New Features for OPUS. It's a PDF file which takes 34 pages to cover. I'm absolutely positive you will find a multitude of "must have" features within their list. I did.

Text Animations will make your eyes pop out -- they are spectacular.

Button Caption States is so handy if you use Buttons in a professional presentation. You can now have different text on roll over and clicks within the same Button Object.

Layers -- this is used in editing only, but it makes working on Objects much easier since you can place different Objects on different Layers.

Slide Numbering was a feature I requested. In a Slideshow Object, you can now know the sequential number for each graphic/slide. So if the 10th graphic is wrong, you can open the Slideshow and it will immediately show which graphic is number 10. This makes editing much easier.

Paste Multiple Times, Zoom, Hypertext Variables, and 20 new Transitions including Page/Object Curl with shadows are more of the new features you'll want.

Do you ever draw lines? Well now OPUS has Line Caps and more Line Styles so you can put pointers/arrows on either or both ends of a line.

In OPUS XE you can customize Objects to YOUR standard, so if you regularly use red Buttons, with Times Roman fonts, that have Shadows and different text for each State -- it will be on your Tool Bar with one click.

If you don't find a new feature in 5.5 worthy of the minimal cost upgrade, I will be amazed. The complexity and level of your client's presntations will dramatically improved when you move up to where most other OPUS users have gone. I'm sorry I don't know what you use your OPUS software for, but if you build commercial presentations for a living, you MUST upgrade ASAP.

Hi Fred,

If DW don't offer you a sales job, they ought to!

Thanks for taking the time over this. I will look at their pdf.

John

Hi John,

Good to see yo uabout on the forum again.

I find Opus Pro XE 5.5 quite stable. Even after you read the PDF file, there are some other undocumented tweaks.

If you are interested in DVD authoring, then you may find 5.5 a bargain too good to resist.

...and no I am not a Salesman. hehe

Thanks for the kind words Steve.

Hadn't gone away - just 'hovering' in the background whilst Chris at Graphics in Action did his usual excellent job of writing complicated scripts that are way beyond me.

When I get the time I'm going to look at the 'really basic script' tutorials. Though I doubt I'll ever get to the stage of not needing expert help.

Regards,

John