Just looking for usage comments from the pros here.

Anyway, I have a few questions.

1. Does PD9 have "ticks" for previously used video clip, as well as photos? Can you tell what you have already used in the project?

PD puts a green checkmark on each video, picture and audio file that is placed on the timeline in the "Media Room". If your project is large...you can Right Click on a file in the Media Room and then select "View in Timeline" and it will show you where you put the darn thing!! I get lost all the time if it isn't time sequential.

2. How is the Bluray output quality?

For me BluRay production has worked pretty well....but I tend to avoid Hardware Accelration when burning to disc....I prefer to let my CPU do the crunching and I get great results.

3. Anyone here moved from P-Studio or Avid-Studio? How simular are the software?

No previous experience with either of those.

4. Learning curve?

Not too bad if you have previous experience with other video editors. PD is pretty straight forward....I personally like the UI....the forum can help you out with any questions or problems you run into. This is a link to a pretty helpful document to look at to get you started, it is an user guide to show you the basics:
http://www.cyberlink.com/downloads/support/powerdirector/userguide_en_US.html

5. See any issues with my system? ( I have hardware and software IT experience)

Well...with a 64 bit OS System you can always take advatage of more than 4 Gigs of RAM....it can help and can't hurt...especially if your projects are longer and more complex with multiple video and audio tracks. I migrated from 6 gig to 12 and it was a minor improvement. RAM isn't that expensive so it is a good thing to purchase as much as your system can hold.
Also, I notice a USB drive for storage...this is a good place to store completed projects...but not a good place to import your video from. PD doesn't actually import the video....only its physical location when producing to a file or disc....but it is directly used when previewing the clip during editing...so you want it on a fast drive and not getting bottle necked at an USB wire....I think USB 3.0 might be an exception though.

6. What is version life cycle of PD, or when would next version be due?

Historically a new version of PD is released once a year....its due for a new release about now. It does have many patches...which is good and bad. In my opinion the version wass released with many bugs that needed fixing. Patches are released to fix some of the bugs...creating new bugs...and the cycle continues. PD9 STILL has bugs that were pointed out during beta testing and are still in need of being addressed. Hardware Acceleration happens to be an example. Didn't work well in beta testing and over a year later it is still unreliable. But OVERALL....I really like the program! It is a give and take...some things great and some things NOT so great...

7. Can PD handle video from all the above camcorders?

Most likely it will. No guarantees...your cameras are all pretty main stream...Maybe another member can give you some first hand feedback. Try the trial...there are some limitations....but hey...in my opinion buy the software....it is not that expensive and you will recover ALL of the cost with your first wedding production!! It has some great tools and spits out a really decent final output. You will get your moneys worth out of it!!

Regards,

KEvin
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Just a personal note, but... it's great to see a post from the Cap'n.
Your contributions have been missed. Click here PDtoots for a collection of PowerDirector Tutorials and Tips

Thanks captain.

I noticed that PD 10 just came our. What timing!! I will try that demo.

BTW: Pinnacle/Avid says more ram does NOT help with their softwarem, its still 32 bit based.

Money is not an issue, I need need prosumer software that works, and has the features that I need, for my wedding videos. I plan to settle on something by end of year.

Again, thanks.

Randy Self Built PC - W7 Pro 64 bit w/ SP1
ASROCK 970 Extreme 3 / AMD Black X4 3.2 / ATI 6850 1 gb /
8 gb DDR3-1600 / 1394 Firewire / LG SATA-2 Bluray Burner /
Internal Drives: SATA 3 7200rpm = 1.0-tb, 640 gb, 300 gb /
Pana TM90 / Canon HV30 / Sony HC 7 / Canon M40
Epson 810 DVD-CD printer.

Hi Randy....no problem....glad to offer an opinion....there are lots of them concerning PD9 both good and bad.

PD10? At this point I think it will be interesting.....from what I understand it uses the same engine as PD9....so let's hope for the best with its performance. Time will tell and it will become self evident of what has been fixed by the topics posted in the forum.

Maybe the problems that it will have will just be the same as PD9....but more 3 Dimensional!!

But nothing is perfect and hopefully it will be a winner for Cyberlink!

BTW: Pinnacle/Avid says more ram does NOT help with their softwarem, its still 32 bit based.

Yes the limitation of a 32 bit OS system....4 gigs max....

Regards,

Cap'n Kevin


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I do have one more questions concernig using the USB drive as storage. In my current workflow, I keep (organized) ALL my imported files (video and photo, and additional audio, as well as rendered and project files) on my usb 2.0 drive, under the job name (example:Joe and Joans wedding). This makes a very organized workflow. And when the drive is full, I simply replace with another. This way all my files are kept in one place, should I need that project again. Currently this works perfectly for importing, assembling on timeline, editing and project file export. I currently use IMGBURN for buring all projects.

The usb 2.0 drive does not currently cause any issues. Can you please further explain the issues that this would cause with PD 9 or 10? Self Built PC - W7 Pro 64 bit w/ SP1
ASROCK 970 Extreme 3 / AMD Black X4 3.2 / ATI 6850 1 gb /
8 gb DDR3-1600 / 1394 Firewire / LG SATA-2 Bluray Burner /
Internal Drives: SATA 3 7200rpm = 1.0-tb, 640 gb, 300 gb /
Pana TM90 / Canon HV30 / Sony HC 7 / Canon M40
Epson 810 DVD-CD printer.

Hi Randy,

I do have one more questions concernig using the USB drive as storage. In my current workflow, I keep (organized) ALL my imported files (video and photo, and additional audio, as well as rendered and project files) on my usb 2.0 drive, under the job name (example:Joe and Joans wedding).

If you aren't having a problem, then it isn't an issue for you. But others have commented on having stuttering problems when viewing the preview window during editing when their High Definition video files are streaming through a USB 2.0 connection. I think on some systems it serves as a bottleneck and the large amounts of information don't flow quick enough, causing stuttering of the video during playback. There are other reasons for stuttering, but this has been shown to be a potential problem.

Your current work flow sounds good to me, just don't move where you "original" video clips reside. PD will prompt you to search (browse) for them when you open a project. PD stores the location of the video files within the pds file and if they aren't there be sure to browse for them and then save the project again. This will place the new location within the file and you won't have any further problem.

You might want to also investigate using the PACK PROJECT feature found in PD. Once you have completed a project just click on FILE....EXPORT....PACK PROJECT MATERIALS. Then select or create a destination folder and PD will place copies of all the video, pictures and audio files within this folder for reopening at a later date. It does chew up disc space if your files are large and lengthy, but it can save you the aggravation of misplacing something. This is a work flow that some editors employ to put everything in a single folder. Easily backed up to a disc or other removable media and then reopened on another PC if needed. One note: It does NOT save the UNUSED video, pictures and audio files found in the media Room. So it is not the best method to use MID project. When you reopen the project the UNUSED media will not be found in the Media Room. Make Sense?

Kevin

Kevin


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Quote: Hi Randy,

I do have one more questions concernig using the USB drive as storage. In my current workflow, I keep (organized) ALL my imported files (video and photo, and additional audio, as well as rendered and project files) on my usb 2.0 drive, under the job name (example:Joe and Joans wedding).

If you aren't having a problem, then it isn't an issue for you. But others have commented on having stuttering problems when viewing the preview window during editing when their High Definition video files are streaming through a USB 2.0 connection. I think on some systems it serves as a bottleneck and the large amounts of information don't flow quick enough, causing stuttering of the video during playback. There are other reasons for stuttering, but this has been shown to be a potential problem.

Your current work flow sounds good to me, just don't move where you "original" video clips reside. PD will prompt you to search (browse) for them when you open a project. PD stores the location of the video files within the pds file and if they aren't there be sure to browse for them and then save the project again. This will place the new location within the file and you won't have any further problem.

You might want to also investigate using the PACK PROJECT feature found in PD. Once you have completed a project just click on FILE....EXPORT....PACK PROJECT MATERIALS. Then select or create a destination folder and PD will place copies of all the video, pictures and audio files within this folder for reopening at a later date. It does chew up disc space if your files are large and lengthy, but it can save you the aggravation of misplacing something. This is a work flow that some editors employ to put everything in a single folder. Easily backed up to a disc or other removable media and then reopened on another PC if needed. One note: It does NOT save the UNUSED video, pictures and audio files found in the media Room. So it is not the best method to use MID project. When you reopen the project the UNUSED media will not be found in the Media Room. Make Sense?

Kevin

Kevin

Kevin,

I really appreciate your time to answer my questions. I do understand. I look forward to trying PD10 sometime soon. I need to finish up some current projects first, so I can dedicate some time to try to learn PD10 basic features.

I am monitoring this forum now, and reading a lot of post.

Again, thanks.

Randy Self Built PC - W7 Pro 64 bit w/ SP1
ASROCK 970 Extreme 3 / AMD Black X4 3.2 / ATI 6850 1 gb /
8 gb DDR3-1600 / 1394 Firewire / LG SATA-2 Bluray Burner /
Internal Drives: SATA 3 7200rpm = 1.0-tb, 640 gb, 300 gb /
Pana TM90 / Canon HV30 / Sony HC 7 / Canon M40
Epson 810 DVD-CD printer.

Another question please.

Does PD9 (and 10) allow me to create a BD (bluray) export file, to save and burn at a later date? I use IMGBURN to burn all my Bluray disc. Self Built PC - W7 Pro 64 bit w/ SP1
ASROCK 970 Extreme 3 / AMD Black X4 3.2 / ATI 6850 1 gb /
8 gb DDR3-1600 / 1394 Firewire / LG SATA-2 Bluray Burner /
Internal Drives: SATA 3 7200rpm = 1.0-tb, 640 gb, 300 gb /
Pana TM90 / Canon HV30 / Sony HC 7 / Canon M40
Epson 810 DVD-CD printer.

Yes you can and here are the instructions:

I followed these instructions written by Xerox 9/23/2009: I added a couple of words to clarify the steps (DWORD 32-bit) and (hexidecimal).

There's a Registry DWORD value you can add named BurnBDMVFolder and then set the value to 1. That seems to enable the burn-to-folder option for BDs.

The following was done on Windows XP Professional SP3 and it worked on my Windows 7 64 bit system as well.

1) Set a Restore Point. I personally didn't, but that's just me.

2) Run REGEDIT from Start Menu, Accesories & then select Run.

3) Navigate to the AuthorPage folder at this location:
HKCU\Software\CyberLink\PowerDirector\9.0\AuthorPage

Make sure you select AuthorPage, not Authoring.

4) Right-click on the AuthorPage folder and select New > DWORD 32-bit value. That will add a new value over in the right-hand pane.

5) In the right-hand pane scroll down to the bottom of the list and rename "New Value" to BurnBDMVFolder.

6) Double-click on the BurnBDVMFolder entry, or alternatively right-click on the entry, and select Modify. Change the Hexidecimal value from 0 to 1.

7) Exit Regedit.

Those steps should enable the burn-to-folder option for BDs in PDR9, at least they did for me. You will find this option to burn to folder after you click on the Create Disc tab and then slect the BURN button. you can deselect burn to disc and select Burn to folder or burn to both if you wish.

I am not sure about PD10 since I don't have that version.

Kevin
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The PD9 patch 2704 adds the write to folder option for BluRay by default. This reg entry change is therefore now redundant since patch 2704 for PD9. Could change again though, no one knows when it simply might be removed by CL.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff...I was wondering if that might have been the case....but I wouldn't have known since I changed the registry ages ago. Although....now that I think about it...when I installed more recent patches (post 2704) I didn't have to change the registry again. I think that made sense!

Thanks for your input!

So Randy....you should have the ability to burn to a folder on your version of PD9 if it is build 2704 or later as Jeff has pointed out. You just need to get to the point after selecting the BURN button and you should be able to see the "Burn to Folder" option.

Kevin
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Thanks again, Kevin and Jeff.

BTW Kevin, I am an avid fisherman. But living in Kentucky, of course it's freshwater. But I have been deep sea fishing in Florida many times.

Randy Self Built PC - W7 Pro 64 bit w/ SP1
ASROCK 970 Extreme 3 / AMD Black X4 3.2 / ATI 6850 1 gb /
8 gb DDR3-1600 / 1394 Firewire / LG SATA-2 Bluray Burner /
Internal Drives: SATA 3 7200rpm = 1.0-tb, 640 gb, 300 gb /
Pana TM90 / Canon HV30 / Sony HC 7 / Canon M40
Epson 810 DVD-CD printer.

Kevin,

Can you give me the procedure for "activating" of the various parts and codecs of PD? I understand it to be a tedious process. Or point me to another post, that explians that.

Pinnacle does it all in one shot.

Randy Self Built PC - W7 Pro 64 bit w/ SP1
ASROCK 970 Extreme 3 / AMD Black X4 3.2 / ATI 6850 1 gb /
8 gb DDR3-1600 / 1394 Firewire / LG SATA-2 Bluray Burner /
Internal Drives: SATA 3 7200rpm = 1.0-tb, 640 gb, 300 gb /
Pana TM90 / Canon HV30 / Sony HC 7 / Canon M40
Epson 810 DVD-CD printer.