Hi fishsponge,

Issue one: Please view the image and the route to wmv 1080 production.

Please provide a diagnostic file.
See guide: Part A & B.
https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/7958.page
Please provide a screen shot of the Edit Workspace, full screen.
See guide Part e&F
I would like to see the contents of your project - to see what the issue might be.



Dafydd

Thanks for your response!

Version - PowerDirector Ultra 10.0.0.1129b

Attached are two screenshots (the "Edit" workspace and the "Produce" screen) and the DxDiag as requested.

Please let me know what you suggest!

I have since made another project containing different videos and I get the same problem - "Error making movie" when exporting to 1920x1080 WMV.

Exporting to any other format works fine. ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

OK, the DxDiag ZIP file didn't seem to attach so here it is attached in plain text... ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

Hi fishsponge,
Thank you for the attachments. Here is what I have noticed:
1. You're editing 16:9 HD video from a GoPro video camera in the mp4 format.
2. You have Shadow Edit files operating
3. You computer has a graphic card limitation with only 64mb of dedicated memory and is reliant upon the RAM for additional resources.
4. Your current drivers need updating by visiting Intel's website. (Driver Date/Size: 2/10/2010)
5. You have an i5 set up running on W7

*************************************

1-1. Please provide a 5 second sample of the mp4, point and shoot and then upload the 5 second video as an attachment here please.
1-2. I have MOV samples from a GoPro but not mp4.
2-1. You should allow your computer to generate the shadow files (displays a green icon in the thumbnail in the library room) before editing and certainly before any rendering/producing.
2-2. With an i5 should have just enough punch to edit HD without shadow edit file generation.
3-1. Your graphic card is the weak point - it's integrated and you don't have any spare capacity in the shared ram.

The "Error making movie" is likely caused by you not allowing the shadow file generation. You need to allow that before starting editing.

The above are guesses and just my opinion.

Dafydd

1-1. Regarding the 5 second sample of the MP4, I have had this exact same issue while trying to export a MOV as a WMV and while trying to export an AVI as a WMV.

Is it therefore worth me providing a 5 second sample?

If so, how can I take 5 seconds from it? If I import it, trim it and re-export it it's not a valid test...

1-2. See above.

2-1. What does the green icon look like? I know of the green tick, but not this other symbol...

2-2. I only enabled shadow files because it suggested it. I'd rather not bother, so I will turn them off.

3-1. I agree that my graphics card is awful, but this should not stop me producing WMV files while I'm still able to produce full HD in other formats. If this is the case, then the product is bad and I'm gonna need a refund...

So... would you suggest I update my Intel drivers, turn off shadow files and re-import all the clips to re-make the video once again? ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

Hi fishsponge ,
1. Sample = from camera, mp4 footage, NOT processed.
2. Green icon, like yellow icon but green and in the bottom left of thumbnail.
3. Auto suggested, doesn't mean you have to select. Alter preferences.
4. Graphics card will affect the performance of the Preview and the running of the program. It has a very limiting effect on your ability to preview the footage you're editing IF in full HD. If it is with shadow edit file creation you wont have an issue. Shadow files MUST be produced BEFORE any editing takes place.

Just uncheck Shadow edit Files in preferences and see what happens. There should not be a need to change the project BUT I cant guarantee that.

Update your graphic drivers.

Above is just my opinion and a guess or two and from a lot of experience.

Dafydd

I'll try to shoot you a 5 second video at some point with the GoPro in that case. It'll be ~25 MB in size though.

Exporting a GoPro MP4 to Full HD WMV is not the problem though - exporting ANY format to Full HD WMV does not work.

You say the green icon is like the yellow icon, but green and in the bottom left of the thumbnail... do you mean the thumbnail in the top-left "Media Manager" part of the screen? If so, i've never seen or noticed a yellow icon in that area. I've only ever seen or noticed yellow icons in the timeline.

I will leave shadow files enabled so I can actually preview stuff.

You state "Shadow files MUST be produced BEFORE any editing takes place". Does this mean I should import videos into the "Media Manager" and wait for the green icon on the thumbnail in the "Media Manager" screen? If so, is the green icon the "tick" icon or something else?

Your two suggestions seem to be to update my graphics drivers (but I don't see why this would affect exporting to WMV in particular) and unchecking "Shadow edit files" in preferences and just re-exporting the same project with no modifications.

I will try the second option as it is very easy, but does PowerDirector really go through my graphics driver when producing WMV files, but not any other formats?

(Thanks for all your advice by the way... i've not had a single response to my ticket from Cyberlink regarding this yet) ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

As suggested, either wait till shadow files have finished generating (icons turn green) or turn them off in Preferences.

The green tick just shows the media is in the timeline.

Keeping your graphics driver up to date is just a good idea! No - out of date drivers will NOT stop you producing WMV files.

Cheers - Tony

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Ah, OK...

so I will leave shadow files enabled (so i can preview my videos well enough).

As my computer manufacturer has not released the newer drivers for my model of laptop yet and as the graphics drivers would not affect me exporting a WMV file, I will leave them as they are.

I have just loaded up this project in PowerDirector and I can still see those yellow "film strip" icons as shown above (thank you for pointing them out). I will therefore wait until those icons have disappeared and then try exporting a WMV file again.

If that fails, what should I try next? ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

OK... I just did another test. I turned off Shadow files and tried generating the WMV again.

It started the "Produce" process normally, predicting 15 minutes to generate the video, until it got to 1 min, 14 sec, 07 frames (70% through the final video). At this point the "Rendering..." progess bar stayed at 1% for about 10 minutes. At this point though it was processing a high frame-rate (120fps) video that had been slowed down. Not sure if this is relevant. I looked at Task Manager and it was "CES_CacheAgent.exe" taking up all the CPU for this period.

It then continued right to the end and said it was complete!

Strangely, the video was around 50 MB in size, whereas the .MOV equivalent was 170 MB. I played the video and between the 17th and 18th second the video went black in both VLC and Windows Media Player. Once the player got past this point even rewinding gave corrupt footage unless you actually stop and start the video playing again.

At 17 seconds, 25 frames a 0.5 second Fade transition begins between one part of GOPRO001.MP4 and another part of GOPRO001.MP4.

Remember, though, I have never had any luck producing a Full HD WMV file from any videos in PowerDirector 10, so this is not GoPro related specifically.

So... do you have any other suggestions? I'm close to requesting a refund now and spending the cash on Sony Vegas... I love PowerDirector 8 though! Such a shame 10 is broken... ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

Try this...

Open a new project in PD
Go to Preferences & turn off shadow files
Import a clip from your GoPro
Produce to WMV 1920X1080

Yes? No?

On your previous question about copying & pasting transitions & using the duration feature.

Agreed - it was a great feature in PD8. Sadly - no more. PD9 Beta testers csreamed out for the duration button to be reinstated, but the R&D people didn't see it that way. There's no way around it except to set your transition duration in Preferences.

To repeat a transition right through a production without inserting them individually, check this out... http://youtu.be/70CTEAI9ozI

Cheers - Tony
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Quote: Try this...

Open a new project in PD
Go to Preferences & turn off shadow files
Import a clip from your GoPro
Produce to WMV 1920X1080

Yes? No?

I've already done a better test - I took a 1920x1080 .MOV file that I had just exported from PowerDirector. I then uploaded it to Youtube and it worked fine. I played it in VLC and it played fine.

I then imported it into a new project in PowerDirector and tried to export it (with no changes) as a Full HD WMV.

It failed about 20% through and gave "Error making movie".

I could try this again with a GoPro video, but it's really not GoPro-specific. It happens with everything. ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

I agree - it's not GoPro-specific. I should have worked out that you would have already jumped through dozens of hoops to try to isolate the problem.

That's as much a mystery to me as it is to you. I can think of no sensible explanation for why your PD is unable to produce a 1920x1080 WMV file. I don't recall this ever being reported before.

Personally, I'd be doing a complete uninstall (using Revo Uninstaller)/re-install to try to clear the issue.

Cheers - Tony
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Thanks for the advice. I will do a complete uninstall, reboot, Revo uninstall, reboot, install and try again.

My version 10 is an upgrade from version 8. Do I need to install version 8 before I can install version 10, so it detects that it is upgrading, or can I just install version 10 from scratch even though it is an upgrade?

Also, I've logged this issue as a ticket with Cyberlink, but their response tells me to do exactly what I told them i've done already. Also, when I click "Reply" on the ticket it takes me to the screen where I can log a brand new ticket, with all the fields (including problem description) pre-populated with the details from my first ticket! Utterly useless. ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

Yes - after the complete uninstall, you'll need to re-install PD8 (complete with your activation key) - then install the PD10 upgrade.

I've been a bit confounded by the ticket process works... probably because I expect it to act like an email that includes previous communication below.

Cheers - Tony


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Right... I have uninstalled everything by Cyberlink.

I have then installed the free version of the "Revo uninstaller".

However, Cyberlink is not in the list of programs for removing in Revo... and I cannot find a guide on how to remove PowerDirector with Revo anywhere!

Any clues? ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

Revo cannot find it because you've uninstalled it!

OK - while you have Revo open, click on Tools > Junk Files Cleaner > Windows Cleaner - run it.

After a reboot, go ahead with your installation.

Revo's job is to (a) uninstall the software then (b) clear the appropriate registry entries.

Cheers - Tony
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Right... forget Revo... after uninstalling all Cyberlink products i then uninstalled Revo and did the cleanup manually.

First I ran the latest version of Microsoft's "clean-up" tool (found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2438651)

I then deleted all folders on my hard drive with "CB099890-1D5F-11D5-9EA9-0050BAE317E1", "PowerDirector" or "Cyberlink" in their name.

I then search the registry for "CB099890-1D5F-11D5-9EA9-0050BAE317E1", "PowerDirector" and "Cyberlink" and deleted all entries from there too.

I then rebooted.

I then ran the PowerDirector 10 upgrade EXE and it said "cannot find previous version to upgrade from". It does give the option to simply insert the license key for the previous version though, so you don't actually have to install the previous version before upgrading.

I then installed Content Pack I and II.

I then rebooted.

============================================================

So... first of all, I loaded up PowerDirector, imported a 1920x1080 29fps .MOV file I had previously generated with PowerDirector. I dragged it onto the Timeline and it prompted that it was an NTSC video and my timeline was PAL. I told it to convert it to PAL. I then did a "Produce" and it made a Full HD WMV file perfectly!

I then changed the preferences back to NTSC, exited PowerDirector, started it back up again, imported the same video, dragged it onto the Timeline (it did not prompt about NTSC/PAL this time, of course) and went to Produce. This time it failed with "Error making movie".

I then went back to the Produce screen (without exiting PowerDirector), changed it back to PAL and tried to "Produce" again. It failed with "Error making movie".

I exited PowerDirector (with it still set to PAL), went back in, tried again and it generated it fine.

I then exited PowerDirector (with it still set to PAL), loaded up the project I was trying to edit earlier in this thread and tried to "Produce" that as a Full HD WMV. It worked. However, the resulting WMV is not perfect. All other formats are fine, and WMV less than Full HD is fine, but the Full HD WMV has pauses in the video footage every 30 seconds or so (very roughly). The timer keeps moving along in VLC, but the image on the screen is stationary for about 3-5 seconds. At the end of this "stationary" period the video continues, having completed missed a chunk of video the same length as the "stationary" period. The audio continues to play as normal during the "stationary" period, as does the "timer" in the video player. It's just the image is stationary for a short period.

Also, there happened to be a title fading in and out during two of these "stationary video" periods. The titles fade in and out perfectly as the audio continues to play, but the video image itself just goes stationary behind the titles. The video also goes stationary when there are no titles, so it is not the titles causing this issue.

I then decided to actually play the video that was Produced from the Full HD .MOV file generated by PowerDirector just yesterday (which itself plays fine). Obviously the quality of the resulting WMV is a bit worse because it's a re-encoding of a .MOV that has already been Produced from other source videos, but the WMV plays audio and video fine.

So...

- Uninstalling and reinstalling has changed nothing.

- Generating Full HD WMV gives "Error making movie" if PowerDirector is set to "NTSC". Even if you change the settings back to PAL and try to Produce a video before exiting PowerDirector it still fails.

- Generating Full HD WMV in PAL completes to the end, but only if PowerDirector has started up in PAL mode (i.e. it hasn't been changed from NTSC to PAL without exiting afterwards). Producing a Full HD WMV based on a .MOV previously Produced by PowerDirector gives a resulting video that is fine, but if Producing a Full HD WMV from original raw material with added titles, PiPs, transitions etc... the resulting video has perfect audio and titles, but video footage that periodically "pauses" while the audio *and* titles that carry on regardless.

So, does anyone know how to solve this?? ><> fishsponge <><
http://www.rhobbs.co.uk

Sounds like you have given it a thorough clean-out! The Microsoft tool does a very similar job to Revo.

OK - so you're now able to actually produce a Full HD WMV file. Something's changed!
► http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/22463.page#120177

The problem now seems to be that the produced file doesn't play back correctly in VLC player - yes? It's important to remember, in all of this, that your PC has integrated graphics with only 64MB of dedicated display memory. Not an insignificant factor!

You say that the other (not Full HD) WMV profiles & (indeed) other formats with a 1920x1080 profile are fine. Wonder what it is about that profile?

Can you please download the attached 1920x1080 WMV file, just made in PD10 & see how it plays in VLC player? The standard Full HD WMV profile has a bitrate of 10MBps. The attachment was dropped to 2MBps.

This is really just guess work, because it's unclear what might be causing your issue.

Cheers - Tony








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