I've been using PowerDirector for about 6 weeks with a good powerful desktop PC running Windows 10 with plenty of memory.

My first project is a 2-hour compilation video of pieces of 8mm cine film via VHS videotapes, converted to DVDs. So I've been assemble editing these DVD clips onto the timeline and adding captions plus voice-over commentary using a mic, and lots of 2-4 minute music clips.

All went well - I produced and burned DVDs of the compilations right after finishing the editing; some are 20-odd minutes some are 30 or more. They're broken down to separate subjects each one a separate project, some with different clips, contents and changes in editing styles. There are now over thirty similar projects all of this type, all under 60 minutes all sitting in the contents area called My Projects, ready to produce some final edits for the client.

But over the last few days I was shocked to see that many of these projects are missing large amounts of video clips and music clips too. There are now long stretches of black where moving images should be. It all is quite random with music clips missing below sections where video clips exist, and video frames in place where the music below them has gone. Backup versions stored in other folders are similarly affected. Two days ago I finished a 30-minute piece and made 2 backups stored in different folders. The next morning on turning on the computer I found more than half of the contents vanished in the same way in 2 of the 3 files with one of the backups still ok, fortunately. But other older files are affected beyond a quick repair and will need a lot of re-assembly work. The voice-over clips on the voice track are all in place and ok as are the captions along the caption track. Only 2 projects have a voice track so it's hard to say if this pattern will continue or if future voice track portions will also disappear. It's just the video and music tracks that are full of holes. Nothing that's left is out of sequence and the project is still the same length. Eack track plays back video where there is video to play (with long black gaps), and the same for the music. In storyboard mode the missing video clips are shown as plain black boxes as would be expected.

This all represents many days of wasted time and is more than just annoying. I've never heard of anything like this before and am dreading to even open the program today fearing even greater file destruction.

Nobody else has used the computer - this is a single person household. It's on a home only network of three PCs with nobody having access from outside.



Any ideas please anyone, before I approach customer support? (or start cutting my wrists).



Bill5350 Bill-5350