Dafydd:

Thank you for that information. I have uninstalled QuickTime because of the security vulnerability that it poses. It is good to know that Cyberlink is going to resolve the problems that not having QT installed currently does pose for PD14.

I have sent an email to Frank over at SmartSound. I don't think that SonicFire Pro 5.8 requires QT, so I should be able to produce my customized SmartSound music tracks within their app, produce them as .wav files, and import them into my PD14 projects in the interim.

I will post back when I hear from SS Support. Have a great day.

Regards,
-Phil Windows 10 Pro x64
Dell XPS 8930
Intel CoreT i7 (4.6 GHz)
32 GB DDR4-2666 RAM
1 TB PCIe -x4 SSD
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
PD14 Ultimate x64, 4207
CD4 Ultra and AD6 Ultra
Bleeping Computer Malware Response Instructor

Dafydd:

I received the following response from Frank over at SmartSound. Their Tech Support has always been just plain outstanding!



Technical Support - Frank (SmartSound)
Apr 20, 8:44 AM

We are currently corresponding with the Cyberlink team regarding the end of Quicktime support, however the SmartSound Quicktracks plugin for PowerDirector actually has not required Quicktime in many years. We do see that if it is not installed, PowerDirector will prompt a message saying that it is required, but I believe this is an old check that was never removed. Closing the prompt should still initialize Quicktracks and it should still function properly from what we have seen so far.

Sonicfire Pro 5 only uses Quicktime as an optional component and should also function normally if it is not installed. I will be sure to update you as any new information becomes available, but hopefully the removal of Quicktime will not affect either program significantly.

Best regards,
Frank


Have a great day.

Regards,
-Phil Windows 10 Pro x64
Dell XPS 8930
Intel CoreT i7 (4.6 GHz)
32 GB DDR4-2666 RAM
1 TB PCIe -x4 SSD
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
PD14 Ultimate x64, 4207
CD4 Ultra and AD6 Ultra
Bleeping Computer Malware Response Instructor

Thanks Phil, excellent info post.
Dafydd

Phil, Dafydd et al -

All good information from SS & CL

I have got SmartSound working in PDR without QuickTime installed... to a point! There's no audio playback in the SS preview library.

If you're trying to get the thing going, be prepared to go through the steps a couple of times & wait a bit while it kicks in.



Cheers - Tony
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Wow, who knew? It only sorta kinda needs Quicktime, sort of. Whose job might it be to alter the "engine" of the library preview? Smartsound or Cyberlink, or will the plugin be removed? I hope this is on a to-do list for somebody somewhere. All very intesting as this news story progressed. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

Thank you Tony! ~Tom~

No problem Tom

I wouldn't have even given it a shot if Phil hadn't posted Frank's reply. Previously, once I got the QT alert I just gave up... fully believing that was THAT!

Cheers - Tony
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I have tested on my computer, and can confirm Tony's findings. The SmartSound library clips will not preview, BUT, if you drag them to the timeline, they will play. Each time I have selected Magic Music, after starting PD14, I have had to rebuild the SmartSound database, and then selections play on the timeline, but not in the PD14 preview.

SmartSound does remain active and available during each PD14 session, but my experience has been that upon restarting PD14, the SS database must be rebuilt after the QT warning is dismissed.

SS and Cyberlink are working together to resolve this issue, according to the last post from Frank that I received, wherein he asked me to test SS on my own computer.

It sounds like, from a PD14 SS perspective, the removal of QT does not pose insurmountable problems. I have every confidence that SS preview will be restored in the coming weeks/months.

Have a great day.

Regards,
-Phil Windows 10 Pro x64
Dell XPS 8930
Intel CoreT i7 (4.6 GHz)
32 GB DDR4-2666 RAM
1 TB PCIe -x4 SSD
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
PD14 Ultimate x64, 4207
CD4 Ultra and AD6 Ultra
Bleeping Computer Malware Response Instructor

It would be shweet if during repairs to the module they worked out multi-layer controls at the same time. Doubtful. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

I had to rebuild my SmartSound library after uninstalling Quick Time, then it worked as Tony said. Windows 10 64 bit on Puget Systems i7-4790K. 32 GB memory. Hard drives everywhere.

The problem lies in not being able to preview the track prior to use, to see if it "fits" the mood of your video. I rarely use SmartSound, but I don't completely rule it out, I just look for other sources. I recently dug into the folders for that earlier PD version(relax, I didn't mention that version) and found the music backgrounds for its menu pages and have taken to using them at the start and end of my videos(when I do use music). Not being able to sample the track leaves you stumbling around blindly in the SmartSound library. For the purpose of being able to use that preview function, I've opted to keep QuickTime on my computer. Those rascally hackers ain't a-gonna get at me while I'm off-line!

Neil.