PD9 Trial Version Blues

BILLYBOBBOY42

Newbie Joined: Jun 24, 2011 12:38 Messages: 7 Offline

Solved by

Jul 02, 2011 14:33

I have been using the trial version of PD9 for about three weeks now and have just 6 days left. During that time I successfully managed to edit and burn one DVD. The 2nd try resulted in a failure at the 21% mark of the “authoring” mode. The error message simply stated that there was a Powerdirector failure and to check with your administrator or source originator or something close to that. The only choice given was to exit the window which caused PD to close. Fortunately, I had saved the project before I initiated the burn routine. Then, I reopened PD and the project and selected the “Produce a Movie” function. That worked o.k., so I thought perhaps the problem was I needed to “produce” first. No dice; same exact problem. I managed to copy the produced movie to a folder on my hard drive. Then I simply copied it to a new DVD. Voila! That worked. I tested the video on two home theater DVD player/recorder as well as on several computer media players (Quicktime, Windows media player, etc). The videos played fine.

That’s the end of my success story. The next 3 DVDs imported partially, with the error message indicating possible corrupted files as well as a number of other possibilities. Exiting the error window allowed continuation of video importing. The result was an incomplete file transfer, meaning, of course, not all of my video was imported.
I had hopes that my video editing problems would be limited to the editing learning curve. But I can no longer get to the editing stage. On another post here a senior responder suggested using the capture mode to bring in the video directly to an Mpeg4 or other common video format first, then using that format to edit. That didn’t work either. First, the capture mode did not offer a DVD drive selection. As an experiment, I selected the AVDVD choice and the video actually arrived complete. The Play function worked, but the record function did not.

All of my home videos were taken in the pre-digital era with a Sony Hi8 analog Handicam. Later, the videos were copied to VHS tapes via a VCR. Recently, I copied the tapes to DVDs using my home theater DVD recorder. The DVDs play good, but I want to edit them to get rid of unwanted frames and add title pages.

Just in case there’s a smoking gun re my pc equipment, here’s the details:
Dell XPS 8300; Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium; ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB GDDR5; Intel Core i7-2600 3.4Ghz with 8MB cache; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM @ 1333MHz-4X2GB; 1TB hard drive(700GB free space); & a Blu-ray 8X BD-R/DVD+/-RW Drive with DVD+R double layer write capability.

Any help/advice will be greatly appreciated. I am holding off purchasing the full program until I know I can make use of the software.
"Give us your two cents worth; a penny for your thoughts". Who gets the other penny?

FredB

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 15, 2008 21:14 Messages: 1317 Offline

Jul 02, 2011 15:18

BILLYBOBBOY42;
To help you, we ask for AT LEAST the following DXDIAG file to help us "see" your machine:
1. Click START
2. In the search box type DXDIAG <Enter>
3. Click the "Save all information" button at the bottom of the program and save the file somewhere you can find it
4. Come back to your post and click the "POST REPLY" button at the bottom or top.
5. Use the "Attachments" button to attach the file you saved in step #3.
6. We prefer that you also attach the 64BIT version of the DXDIAG (see button in dxdiag)...so two files, ok?
Thanks

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jul 02. 2011 15:20

KenJ

Newbie Location: South Carolina Joined: May 21, 2011 20:28 Messages: 19 Offline

Jul 02, 2011 18:07

BILLYBOBBOY, I believe that I've save myself some aggravation in adopting a 2-step process for creating a DVD disc: First "burn" to a folder on the hard drive. Play it in VLC or PowerDVD to make sure all is ok, them burn the VIDEO_TS folder and contents to a DVD disc using another program. I use Power2Go for that. Make it a DVD Video Disc, not a Data disc. You might give that a try if the trial version supports it.

Quote: I selected the AVDVD choice and the video actually arrived complete. The Play function worked, but the record function did not.

Did you check at least one of the boxes at lower left?

Good luck!

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Jul 02. 2011 19:22

BILLYBOBBOY42

Newbie Joined: Jun 24, 2011 12:38 Messages: 7 Offline

Jul 03, 2011 10:05

O.k. Attached are the two files you requested.

Filename	DxDiag.txt	Download
Description
Filesize	45 Kbytes
Downloaded:	350 time(s)

Filename	DxDiag 2.txt	Download
Description
Filesize	32 Kbytes
Downloaded:	402 time(s)

"Give us your two cents worth; a penny for your thoughts". Who gets the other penny?

FredB

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 15, 2008 21:14 Messages: 1317 Offline

Jul 03, 2011 13:30

BILLYBOBBOY42;

Thanks for the DXDIAG. This file helps the Seniors here (who usually have answers) to troubleshoot a problem.

There is an issue with the video drivers loaded on your machine. They are about a year-and-a-half old (a lifetime in DRIVER years), and do not appear to have installed correctly:

Driver File Version: ()
Driver Version: 8.700.0.0
DDI Version: 11
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: , 0 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a

Current drivers should be installed. Here is a link:
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/radeon_win7-64.aspx#1

There are some active experts here who have much more experience than I with the HD 5700 card (I use Nvidia for some time now). Keep your eyes open for their recommendations about the version they recommend you install.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Jul 03. 2011 13:33

Bubba in TX

Senior Contributor Location: Central Texas Joined: Dec 12, 2009 21:32 Messages: 1332 Offline

Jul 03, 2011 14:18

Your specs look great, same video card I have. You are several updates behind. But that may not be the issue with you.....

One thing you must know is that the trial version does not have "everything". One thing to do concerning burning DVD's is...... when you have burn problems completing a burn, the first thing to try is "slowing down" your burn speed. Sometimes for whatever that magical reason, when your DVD burner / software can't seem to get along.... just slowing the burn speed down a notch (or two) usually works. Also doing this really does not slow down the actual time it takes to burn a DVD by hardly any time at all.

__________________________________________
Windows 8 Pro 64 bit

CyberLink PowerDirector 10 Tutorials
PDtoots PowerDirector Tutorials

**NOTICE**
When you are asked to provide a DXDIAG you go the following link and do part "B". Your posted specs are NOT what we are looking for as they tell us nothing. The specs on the box of your computer mean nothing. The DXDIAG shows us how your computer is configured as it runs.

DXDIAG Link

BILLYBOBBOY42

Newbie Joined: Jun 24, 2011 12:38 Messages: 7 Offline

Jul 03, 2011 16:02

FredB: I downloaded the driver from your provided link, but will wait to install until someone here says "do it". I purchased my desktop in March. You would have thought the video card drivers would have been current. It appears, in my case at least, that there is no automatic video driver update notification. When I was building the package I upgraded to this card, which delayed the shipping date from a few days to two weeks.

Bubba: Thanks for the advice. But as mentioned in my original post, I can no longer even get to the burn stage. The problem is importing a complete video file with all clips intact. Thus, editing is of no use when you don't have the whole package. Some clips were scrambled; some were o.k.; and some had the venerable yellow & red "PACMAN" symbol which also means a problem. However, if I again get to the burn stage, I'll take your advice and slow down the burn rate. I seem to remember the rate was defaulted to 8 Mbps (or was it Gigabytes?). Anyway, I will try to set it to 4 when/if I reach that stage again.

As I stated in my original post, these DVDs play perfectly on both of my home theater players as well as the popular computer players. Problem is the videos are raw imaging taken directly off my camera. They need some editing. "Give us your two cents worth; a penny for your thoughts". Who gets the other penny?

FredB

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 15, 2008 21:14 Messages: 1317 Offline

Jul 03, 2011 17:09

BILLYBOBBOY42;

As Bubba said:

But that may not be the issue with you.....

However, so much is dependent on the drivers, I ALWAYS suggest eliminating this as a cause. There is obviously SOMETHING wrong with your driver installation as indicated by the "0 bytes" reference in DXDIAG.
I remembered some threads in the form talking about the HD5700 and version levels of the ATI drivers. That is what I am waiting for others to comment on...I think it had to do with NOT installing the AVIVO/Catalyst portion for your card???

There is a big difference between the TRIAL and Registered versions of PD9. Also, MUCH has been fixed in the latest build of the PD9 product (including the "crash at startup" issues and crash during production, for many machines). Your machine is plenty strong for PD9 64BIT Ultra!

If I were buying the software today, here is what I would do:
1. Uninstall the trial version and reboot.
2. Buy and install registered PD9 Ultra and the Content pack..(BTW - there are always coupons and deals so pick whichever makes you feel better (Media Expresso, etc.) and BUY)!! . Two (2) file links will come to you if you buy the download copy (recommended), save both files then install BOTH. Go into PD9 and enter the registration key. (RESIST the urge to test if this fixed your issues until you do #3 and #4 )
3.Download 2930 build update from Cyberlink.
4. Install the 2930 build

Hope this helps.

This message was edited 7 times. Last update was at Jul 03. 2011 17:20

BILLYBOBBOY42

Newbie Joined: Jun 24, 2011 12:38 Messages: 7 Offline

Jul 04, 2011 09:02

FredB: Thanks for the info. I'll try to do the download today, since (lucky me) I have been assigned jury duty for the month of July.

Should I install the updated ATI drivers? Installing drivers has not been easy for me. Seems it involves more than simply downloading and clicking "install." Apparently, file location of the driver is critical in some cases. If ATI provided any install instructions, I missed it.

I am puzzled about the "outdated driver/incorrectly installed driver" issue since I have not had any other video problems, including digital image editing, watching video from YouTube, Powerpoint presentations, etc.

The other puzzling thing is that how in the world did the program perform as expected for my first DVD edit? With your comments above, I'm suspecting the PD9 trial version may be corrupted.

Yesterday afternoon, I tried an experiment. I used my analog-to-digital device (Honestech) and directly burned a DVD of one of my vacation videos. This would eliminate any "Sony" proprietary stuff that might have been on a DVD made with that brand's recorder. Then, I imported that DVD to PD9. Still no dice! Only thing different this time was that some of the clips were blank with a solid green fill. For whatever reasons, I can't get a full video imported. "Give us your two cents worth; a penny for your thoughts". Who gets the other penny?

FredB

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 15, 2008 21:14 Messages: 1317 Offline

Jul 04, 2011 11:12

That "green screen fill" is also an indication of a video driver issue.

I was hoping that the ATI users would jump in here and help you..there are some specific tips around Catalyst and Avivio that enhance ATI use...but they must all be out celebrating the USA Independence Day..me too...right after I post this!!
I am sure they will eventually check back in here.

Installing video drivers is fairly easy nowadays and you can always rollback to your existing version (Windows 7 will make an automatic RESTORE POINT for you) if things go afoul. If your current drivers are in a standard location, the driver update should just find them and install the NEW ones. I imagine you WILL have to reboot.

As far as the "Puzzling"statement..never had problems..other programs don't fail, what does this have to do with video drivers...comments: If I could have a nickel (small antique US Coin worth about a penny...also a small antique US coin worth about......sorry I stray in my own topic) for every time I heard THAT!!! Well..just hoping to be Rich SOMEHOW!!

ANSWER:
Most of the new 64BIT programs are referencing memory and hardware resources in new ways. Older programs do not fully leverage the hardware. Most mid and high-end video cards have HD, 3D and Surround Sound components as part of their release and function.

The Video card OFTEN processes the sound before handing it off to the sound device and after. Other programs (older 32 BIT) did not handle this memory and CPU GPU usage the same and new programs (64 BIT) OFTEN require new drivers to function correctly.

Welcome to the "bleeding edge" of technology. It is NOT just a Cyberlink issue...all component and program manufacturers struggle with this "driver sync/compatibility" issue. Do the video driver update.

I also suggest you stop running the trial and get the full version...again..I am hoping for the HD 5700 Senior Contributors, familiar with the card, to jump in here and validate this for you.

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at Jul 04. 2011 11:22

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Jul 04, 2011 13:24

Hi BILLYBOBBOY42,

You asked for a "do it" second opinion a few posts back after Fred guided you about driver updates. I'm almost embarrassed to even write this "do it" because the information is spot on from Fred regarding the drivers on your system.

When a new PC is sold it'll have a disc with drivers - these are invariably out of date having been superseded after the creation of the disc. Manufacturers just install the default package, you need to check GPU drivers after purchase.

Bubba has given you a super bit of DVD write guidance, note it down and apply it.

(I don't have an ATI card)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jul 04. 2011 13:25

BILLYBOBBOY42

Newbie Joined: Jun 24, 2011 12:38 Messages: 7 Offline

Jul 04, 2011 14:04

Dafydd Bevan - SoftDeko:

"Bubba has given you a super bit of DVD write guidance, note it down and apply it."

I have noted the advice and plan on applying it WHEN OR IF I ever reach the burn stage. Right now I can't even get a complete video chip set imported to edit.

By the way, a few minutes ago I downloaded and installed a supposedly updated driver using the link provided by a poster above. When the install procedure finished, I was left with the lowest screen resolution and a log message stating that the driver installation was not completed because the driver was not the correct one for my video card. Then, I used the control panel to reset the screen resolution to a higher setting and the error message said the choice I made was not compatible with my monitor. In fact, none of the choices worked. At that point, I did a system restore to get me back prior to the driver install attempt.

I have been a PC Magazine subscriber since the magazine's early days (if you are old enough to remember - DOS 2.0) and have always respected their editor's opinions of software evaluations. PD9 was their editor's choice, but with the problems I have with the trial version, I will delay putting out funds in the hope that all will work.

Regards

"Give us your two cents worth; a penny for your thoughts". Who gets the other penny?

Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Jul 04, 2011 14:35

Please visit the AMD/ATI website and select your own driver for your card:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

Updating your GPU card drivers is important.

I see you're attempting to extract video from a home (you made) DVD, usually quite a painless and easy method. You could just use copy'n'paste to remove the data onto a hard drive. That's the method we used to use and not bother using PD for the process.