Thanks for starting a new thread and replying to ynotfish's post.
Dafydd

The more I read and think about shadow files the more disillusioned with them I am. Not only, as we have now discovered, is the resolution unrepresentaive to our projects, but they are unreasonably slow to produce. And then you have the added problem of having to wait for all the files to be converted before you can start editing. Failure to do so causes many errors as we know from past posts on the subject.

Optodata's Magic+PD was a godsend to us 4K editors, but not many realise it. It was way ahead of it's time as P*Pro is now trying create the same sort of program using the Cineform codec. In the video on the subject, even after the conversion to Cineform, there were still a lot of dropped frames in the preview window.

In my experience M+PD delivers full resolution clips to the preview window in PD, and the convertion does not suffer from dropped frames. Also, there is no need to wait for all your files to be converted before you can start editing, however, M+PD is fast enough for that to not be a serious problem anyway. M+PD converts at a rate of about 8 to 1 shadow file.

Picture shows M+PD converted AVI details in PD ---

You can watch the Cineform convertion procedure here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS-OLBMZBcg



Robert Panny TM10, GH2, GH4,

Hi Al & Robert -

Being a non-user of shadow files, I'm becoming less motivated to extend this discussion, which has now become 3 or 4 threads, each of which has gone round in circles. That is partly my doing because I messed up my thinking.

BUT here are the options we have when editing...

1. Edit the clips as they are, with no shadow files or conversion


2. Enable shadow files to decrease load on PC


3. Convert hi-res/hi-BR files & substitute files - described & referenced here - http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/43102.page


4. Use Magic+PD - discussed at length in forum pages

Different methods suit different people/projects/hardware. Each has its place. No method, in my view, is ABSOLUTELY best for every circumstance.

Though the process is different, each of methods 2, 3 & 4 involves converting the original clips in some way to allow for smoother, pain-free editing.

~'`'~.¸><(((º> back to the actual topic ~'`'~.¸><(((º>

Al - true - if shadow files are enabled and you have preview resolution set at "Full HD" you're not actually viewing Full HD at all. What you're seeing is the best PDR can do with DVD quality files. So - what you wrote in 1. is exactly right.

It could be described as misleading (if you're using shadow files). Perhaps some more realistic terminolgy?



Cheers - Tony
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

"Magic+PD"

I have PD14, is this Magic program a pay for add-on?

have a link to Magic? I don't see on Cyberlink web page.

Loading 4K video into the time line is a long process with huge files. Does Magic change this? Other than preview quality, does it affect the final output?

Guess I am not up to speed on this discussion, thanks

Hi kmjk333,

Magic+PD is a free conversion tool developed by PDR14 users for 4k editing.

You will find all the info on the first couple of pages of the forum thread here:

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/46177.page

Al Power Director 13&14 Ultimate, Photo Director 6, Audio Dir, Pwr2Go 10
Win 10 64, Intel MB DH87MC, Intel i5-4670 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 16Gb DDR3 1600, 128Gb SSD, 2x1Tb WDBlue 7200rpmSATA6, Intel 4600 GPU, Gigabyte G1 GTX960 4GB, LG BluRay Writer

Thanks AlS, appreciated.



This is not a "Cyberlink" product, but a user created application?

kmjk333,
As you will see in the above link it was created by Optodata, a senior contributor to the form. It is not a Cyberlink product but rather a "front end" to Power Director resulting from many users having performance issues when trying to edit 4k. My PC worked fine for HD but could not handle 4k and I would have been forced to replace it with an expensive upgrade. Using Magic+PD, I can smoothly edit on 4k my little i5 cpu.
It is freeware for all to use. Please read the "Magic+PD Overview (Rev D).pdf" on the first page of the Magic+PD thread for more info on why and how to use it.

It is "Magic".
Al Power Director 13&14 Ultimate, Photo Director 6, Audio Dir, Pwr2Go 10
Win 10 64, Intel MB DH87MC, Intel i5-4670 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 16Gb DDR3 1600, 128Gb SSD, 2x1Tb WDBlue 7200rpmSATA6, Intel 4600 GPU, Gigabyte G1 GTX960 4GB, LG BluRay Writer

Thanks, for the responses, but will pass as not a cyberlink product. Nothing against the member's time and efforts.

Hi kmjk333 -

Quote: Loading 4K video into the time line is a long process with huge files. Does Magic change this? Other than preview quality, does it affect the final output?

Magic+PD is not a CyberLink product - true... but it will certainly help if your PC is struggling with 4K/high bitrate files. It's simply a form a file conversion that decreases the load on your PC.

No - the final output is not affected.

Cheers - Tony
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Quote: Hi kmjk333 -

Quote: Loading 4K video into the time line is a long process with huge files. Does Magic change this? Other than preview quality, does it affect the final output?

Magic+PD is not a CyberLink product - true... but it will certainly help if your PC is struggling with 4K/high bitrate files. It's simply a form a file conversion that decreases the load on your PC.

No - the final output is not affected.

Cheers - Tony

ok, Thank yOU! I was scratching my head "why do I need this"? PD14 is very good at 4k on my system