Plea from a Non-Technie on PD8

Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Solved by

Sep 17, 2009 08:16

Hi Dafydd,

Sorry to bore you with a bit of background - BUT.

I have recently moved into Cyberlink Ultra 8.0, having previously worked with iMovie 4.0 & 6.0. I tried 8.0 but failed miserably with that.

I did spend 3 months putting together a 2 hour plus family video on iMovie 4.0 using DV and Analogue Video, plus 8mm and 16mm film, plus slides, black and white stills and still digital images and 52 appropriate record tracks - and was delighted with the results.

I am attempting to breath life into 50 family videos, both analog and dv with the new Cyberlink product and have spent at least 2 weeks working out how to download from a Samsung Hi 8 via an s video link, using a Panasonic GS 70 camcorder as a dv converter.

The image came through to the computer on the link but as soon as I started the Capture the software started the tape. The Cyberlink support site was unable to help (having made contact about 8 times they seem to miss the key point of all the questions).

I solved it eventually by hitting the stop button on the dv camcorder which halted the tape, and with Cyberlink still in the record mode it captured the converted images from the analogue Samsung.

Although I'm pretty adept at programmes I know, like Photoshop, Canon Photorecord, and a powerful audio clean-up programme called Darts I'm not a technie.

I believe that you have been involved in the Cyberlink Tutorials, in fact I would assume that you have produced them; and I've been studying the Trim and Fix/Enhance sections for the last week.

Having been used to iMovie it has taken me a week to understand that in Cyberlink 'TRIM' - WHAT YOU MARK YOU SAVE !

I'm having the same sort of difficulties when I attempt to apply any enhancements; I can see the effect in preview but having been used to the delay, in iMovie, while the effect was being rendered I couldn't work out from the Tutorial how one could apply the effect and how long it would take to render. The Cyberlink support says just close the fix/enhance window and it will all happen - BUT I tried that and the movie then runs in slow motion and falters (as if it's still being rendered).

I'm also in trouble about the way to SAVE or least IDENTIFY each piece of Trim I do or each Enhancement I make. I have found these items in the 'Open Project' section of File, all unidentified.

I doubt that the computer is to blame for anything because it's the fairly new Dell 1525 with bags of ROM and RAM and everything else.

Why do I want to bother with Cyberlink and not go back to Movie ????????

Well, some of the old analogue tapes are shot indoors under poor light conditions and I am amazed by the Video DeNoise effect. Also the colour balance effect on iMovie was poor but i's very effective on PD8.

As an old retired non technie I would be grateful for any non technie information or what to look at or read. I have tried the Cyberlink user guide but it's very good at telling me what the software can do but not very good (for me) at telling me 'HOW TO DO IT'

I am yours sincerely

Ron Williams

James Dotson

Senior Contributor Location: Tennessee Joined: Aug 24, 2009 20:40 Messages: 3066 Offline

Sep 17, 2009 12:50

From reading your post it seems that you have worked out some of the problems. What do you still need help with? By the way, don't feel too bad. I had many of the same problems when I first started using PowerDirector. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Sep 17, 2009 13:07

Hi Ron -

I see you've addressed your note to Dafydd, who moderates this forum and is our link with CyberLink. He is able to forward issues that cannot be resolved here. You'll find that Dafydd, along with many members in this forum, will be able to provide loads of experience and wisdom about using PD.

Anyway, Ron - this is a good place to ask questions. We all learn from them, whether we're asking, contributing or just reading with interest. It's always a challenge working with a different piece of software - but there is good support here.

Some questions to help clarify exactly where you need help:

1. The material you produced in iMovie - is it the same material you're using in PD now? or are you referring to different clips and images?

2. Have you copied all the files to your computer's hard drive? so you might have a folder containing clips or pictures you want to use...

3. Is your intention to use ALL the clips in one project? or produce a number of smaller projects?

4. Could you detail the steps you took when you were enhancing the clip that "ran in slow motion and faltered"?

Information about those questions will help get you started on resolving issues.

Cheers - Tony
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James W

Senior Contributor Location: Lakeland, FL USA Joined: Aug 18, 2008 10:36 Messages: 911 Offline

Sep 17, 2009 21:26

Hi Ron, welcome aboard!

If I were you I would start by viewing the tutorials. Once you've viewed the tutorials I would start a small project. It sounds like you have a lot of video you want to edit and that you have many projects to make. At first I would only work with small projects to get the general feel of how things work. You may even want to start with the default clips and images which come with PD.

This is how the PD pds file system works. You capture your video off your camera or search for it on your hard drive. The video files get added to your media library. When you drop a file into the timeline and perform a trim or apply some enhancement you do not actually modify the original files. The pds file keeps track of what files you have in your project timeline and what you did to them. Now when you apply an effect, PD does not prerender as other competing products do. When you play the video in the preview window there should not be any delays when your video is playing assuming your computer has enough power. In the case of trimming, PD will only play the portions of the video which were not cut out, but the original video files is not altered.

I hope that gets you started.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 18. 2009 14:58

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Cranston

Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Aug 17, 2007 02:26 Messages: 1667 Offline

Sep 18, 2009 02:17

Hi Ron,

I just wanted to chime in with my "Welcome" as well.
As you can already see, this is a place with lots of friendly folks willing to help.

And, as advised above...
- Tutorials (many available)
- Start with small test project to get the hang of PD's interface (being an iMovie vet it shouldn't be that big of learning curve for you)
- Take advantage of the good will that can be found here on the forum. (asking specific questions about specific issues, one at a time, makes it easier on responders to fully address and impart their knowledge and advise)

Welcome aboard sir.

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Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Sep 18, 2009 05:38

Hi Jaime,

I have been overwhelmed with the amount of interest and help I've received and I clearly have to go back to the beginning and get my brain in gear and queries in order.

But first I will acknowledge each contributor.

I must add that I have not been part of a Forum like this before and will have to be guided through the 'do's' and 'don't's' by you kind people.

Kindest regards

Ron

Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Sep 18, 2009 06:19

Hi Tony,

Thank you for your help.

As I explained to Jaime I have to go back to Step 1 and learn to Walk before I try to Edit.

I will try and answer the points you raised because it will probably help me to understand some of the Steps I have to take.

1. No it's not the iMovie material. I just took the first of the 50 videos which happened to be a 30 minute Hi 8 analogue tape from 1985 and converted it through my son's Panasonic DV camera; straight into PD8.

2. I see you are asking if I 'copied all the files' to the computer hard drive and I assume that everything I copied did go onto the computer hard drive - BUT I have to say that I don't quite understand the question in this context.

3. This first analog tape has been captured by PD8 as a single clip and I have split the scenes to remove any change of scene clutter and pre-assess which scenes I need to fix or enhance - that is to remove video noise from the material shot in poor light and colour balance the scenes where the camera's auto white balance has gone awry. And indeed anything else as I get used to what PD8 can do.

4. I'll try and list details of the way I did the enhancement leading to the material running slow and faltering on playback.

Highlighting one of the scenes I had SPLIT and TRIMMED from the timeline I hit the FIX/ENHANCE BUTTON.

I ticked the VIDEO DENOISE box and the COMPARE VIDEO QUALITIES box, and moved the VIDEO DENOISE indicator up slightly - noting the effect in the Pre-View screen. Having spent some time looking at the effect I was very happy with how much noise had been removed and how clean the picture was.

I couldn't find any OK button and I closed FIX/ENHANCE.

I could play the Clip with the effect in place but it would only run in what I wouild describe as a faltering slow-motion, the audio was fine

Note
I could see the 'APPLY TO ALL' button and tried that but it affected all the Clips I had split in the Timeline and not just the Clip I was working on.

If I have missed any points in the detail please let me know

As some of the contributors have explained I will certainly raise only one issue at a time.

Thank you again for you interest

Kindest regards

Ron

Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Sep 18, 2009 06:32

Hi James,

As you will understand this is my first attempt at thanking people for taking there time to talk me through a pretty complicated piece of software.

And I will take all the advice to go back to the beginning and study all the tutorials and guides before attempting to 'fly'.

I will add your paragraph about the way PD8 deals with the material to my Step 1 font of knowledge.

Thank you again

Kindest regards

Ron Williams

vn800rider

Senior Contributor Location: Darwen, UK Joined: May 15, 2008 04:32 Messages: 1949 Offline

Sep 18, 2009 06:33

Hi Ron,

A couple of general points :-

Converting the original footage or getting the irreplaceable shots is often the hard work - once digitised they need to be protected. Do remember to back them up and store them somewhere safe.

Once you have them, given that hard disc storage is relatively cheap, it opens up a 'different' way of working. You can start treating the clips as working tools, rather than the one and only copy of the precious event etc.

What that means for me, is that I copy them and start playing, rather than always working on THE BIG PROJECT or whatever. So to test an enhancement or produce an effect, don't necessarily use THE BIG PROJECT, just copy the clips(s) in question, start a new project and test it out, if it works - fine, if not nothing lost. Then apply it to THE BIG PROJECT if you want.

You will probably find that you will want to produce something, an effect or a feel to your video, and that there may be several ways of reaching the same point - each of us has our own preferences but happy to share them.

As the others have said, it's well worth looking at the PD7 and PD8 tutorials, they're a valuable resource.

Cheers
Adrian

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 18. 2009 06:34

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Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Sep 18, 2009 06:50

Hi Cranston,

Yes, I have had a very warm welcome and I do appreciate that I have to sit down and re-think.

I have to say that I did print off the User Guide and found it told me what I could do - BUT, not how I could do it. I found the Tutorials did take me through many of the steps but not all of them.

Although I use some pretty complicated software I'm not computer literate and can only get into them by learning from my mistakes. Even my three months on iMovie was a long learning curve and I have to say that I produced a pretty cool 2 hours plus DVD without really understanding how.

Perhaps best described as - I almost knew what I was doing, but I didn't always know why I was doing it.

Not being computer literate I always find that the User Guides and Tutorials always make sense after you know what you doing - SO, I'm looking foward to that !

With all your assistance I'm sure I'll get there.

Kindest regards

Ron

Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Sep 18, 2009 07:20

Hi Adrian,

Thanks for your post.

It's good to have someone remind me of what I normally do.

I have 4 or 5 large outboard drives because I have a vast collection of music and photographs and some videos.

But did I back up this material ? Of course not, I forgot.

To be fair to myself this one captured tape is a test in itself but you can be sure that the one time you forget to save is the one time something goes wrong. And that's from someone who has over 1tB of saved material, and the same someone who knocked a cup of tea over a brand new computer this year.

Incidentally, I already have the PD8 User Guide in front of me and I take your point about looking at the PD7 Tutorials as well as the PD8.

Thanks

Kindest regards

Ron

James Dotson

Senior Contributor Location: Tennessee Joined: Aug 24, 2009 20:40 Messages: 3066 Offline

Sep 18, 2009 12:52

I could play the Clip with the effect in place but it would only run in what I would describe as a faltering slow-motion, the audio was fine

I haven't tested this theory, but this could be the result of the fix/enhance feature. When I have used this in the past to produce a movie, it takes at least 3 times as long to encode the video. Running in preview I would imagine that it probably hogs the computer's resources. Try to uncheck that box and see if it helps.

Then, work on one clip at a time. Produce them to MPEG 2 HQ, if you are going to put them on DVD. After all have been fixed and enhanced to your liking, add them all to the timeline, add your effects and produce to MPEG 2 again. If the SVRT feature works on your system, then the final build should go quickly without any loss of quality. Use this final video to create your DVD.

I hope that helped at least a little. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Sep 19, 2009 05:12

Hi Jaime,

Thanks for your comments.

I did spend a lot of time yesterday trying to take in the many aspects of the programme in the PD8 User Guide and I'm adding the notes from each contributor as they arrive.

I did discover a really important point and if I may I will post it in a further reply to Tony who asked me to run through the procedure that lead to the 'slow motion' video after attempting FIX/ENHANCE.

Kindest regards,

Ron

Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Sep 19, 2009 05:34

Hi Tony,

Have taken the advice from almost everybody and went back to study the PD8 User Guide. To discover an important point.

I told you that I added the enhancements from the TIMELINE, but I'm still thinking about the way iMovie works, in fact I worked on SPLITTING, TRIMMING and FIX/ENHANCE from the 'STORYBOARD'.

I used the STORYBOARD view because it seem less cluttered and it gave me a better view of my one clip.

The Guide says that I can't and that it would revert to TIMELINE if I tried, but I did and it didn't.

Maybe that's why I'm having these problems.

I should add that, although I have been talking of miles and miles of video to be done I have only been working on about 2 minutes of screen time, that is (after I split it) 2 separate clips.

Re-reading the Guide also leads me to believe I have made in error in taking on the Ultra version, because it spends more time taking me through the bells and whistles and not enough time getting my video presentable.

I will certainly look through previous guides and tutorials to pick up the messages that don't appear very clear (to me) in the PD8 versions.

Can someone tell me when I should change the topic heading ?

Kindest regards

Ron

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Sep 19, 2009 15:59

Hi again Ron -

You seem to be making good headway on your steep learning curve... and taking the right approach in concentrating on a short project.

If you would like to ask a specific question, rather than one about general workflow, you could start a new topic. Example: "How do I...", "I want to..." etc.

Adrian suggested the idea of making a copy of the clip, putting it into a project... and playing with it just for the purpose of learning. That's a good way to go about it

- test, play and learn... then use what you learn in your other project. Otherwise, it's like an author learning how to spell when they're trying to write a book - or a pianist learning how to play when they're trying to compose a concerto. Sorry - I'm prattling. You know what I mean.

Many video editors (software) use timeline views for editing clips - they provide a more detailed idea of what effects have ben applied to each clip and what is on the other tracks. Storyboard view is just a basic overview - a 2-dimensional list really.

You haven't made an error choosing the Ultra version. If you look at this comparison of features http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector/compare_en_US.html
you'll see there is only one essential difference - blue ray authoring & burning.

Cheers - Tony

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 19. 2009 16:00

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Cranston

Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Aug 17, 2007 02:26 Messages: 1667 Offline

Sep 19, 2009 17:41

Hi Ron,

If I may throw my 2 cents in here.
Don’t be ever afraid to start a new topic for any questions you may have. This is a benefit for not only you, but for the forum as well.

If you look through some of the archived threads, you’ll see a lot of instances where a person asks a question about, well, slow motion for example. Then there are replies and counter replies, and then by about the seventh post down, the original asker of this “Where Can I Find the SloMo Tool (or something), will post a… OH! I see now! But now I have another question. How do I fade a PIP image in and out?
Well, now the discussion changes to PIPs. And someone may give a very detailed treatise on PIPs, but it’s now buried in topic titled…”Where Can I Find the SloMo Tool?”
So if anyone else comes to the forum, and has the same PIP question, and uses the SEARCH tool, and enters “PIP Fade In/Out”, he or she will probably never see or find that PIP answer, because it’s buried in a topic titled SloMo.

There is an excellent detailed answer in the archives, to probably ever question that you or I may ever have. But because threads wander from their topics and titles, many good answers are almost impossible to find, as they are in another topic.
Plus, a PIP expert may be visiting the forum, looking at the new questions posted. He see’s a SloMo topic (with a PIP question in it), but he skips reading that topic, because he doesn’t do SloMo, and isn’t interested in that topic. So now he, you, and other folks looking for PIP fade info, all lose.

Different members have their different expertise with the PD program. Some with editing and production tips. Others may do training media or sermons or the like, and rarely add even fades to their productions, yet burn several DVDs a week. And they know PD’s DVD and Menus module like the back of their hand. (though they may not have much experience with adding a motion path to an image in a PIP).
So, in my humble opinion, a clear topic title will help to ensure that your question attracts those that happen to know that subject very well. And no, you don’t want DVD menu creation advice from me, hahaha!!!

Finally, I rarely if ever, see any answers here on the forum, that are explained in terms of the Storyboard mode. I can only imagine that 99% of the members here use the Timeline mode (I may be wrong).
But my advice for what it’s worth, in order to get the most out of PD, is to switch out from the Storyboard view to the Timeline view, and never look back.
I think if you do, a whole new world of possibilities that you may not have even ever considered, will now become apparent to you, thus making your video editing experience a far more richer one. And one which results in a more polished final production.

This message was edited 8 times. Last update was at Sep 20. 2009 07:11

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ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Online

Sep 20, 2009 05:40

Cranston -

That wasn't 2 cents worth - I'd give it at least $2.50. Rarely does a post resemble poetic speech making, but yours comes close. Go on - read it out loud with "Land of Hope & Glory" in the background and see what it sounds like. Nicely done.

Cheers - Tony
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Cranston

Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Aug 17, 2007 02:26 Messages: 1667 Offline

Sep 20, 2009 20:57

I'd give it at least $2.50.

Is that $2.50AUS, or $2.50US?
Thanks Tony, you're too kind.

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Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Sep 21, 2009 05:47

Hi Cranston & Tony,

I did consider leaving corresondence under the original heading because it would perthaps give some background to where the query came from.

But I can see that it would be virtually impossible for anyone to read through the amount of 'stuff' we have collectively generated in such a short time.

I can certainly read into your comments the blood, sweat, tears and sleepless nights you must have suffered. However I can also recognise the degree of TRIUMPH when the light dawned.

Thanks again - I am still back at square one - ruminating !

Kindest regards

Ron

Grandad Ron

Member Joined: Sep 17, 2009 04:36 Messages: 66 Offline

Sep 21, 2009 07:25

Hi Guys,

Re-read User Guide and re-viewed Workspace Management and Editing Tutorials.

Then decided to work on the first two scenes of the video I had captured.

The 30 minute video (was captured as a single clip and I dragged that down to the 'TIMELINE'.

I 'SPLIT' the first 20 secs or so of dross from the beginning and 'REMOVED' it.

Then 'SPLIT' the 1st scene from the 2nd scene and 'REMOVED' the remainder of the clip - leaving the two scenes on the 'TIMELINE'.

They played OK in 'PREVIEW'

I could see nothing about how to save them and they appear as C Users
Ron Videos with a number in 'FILE - 'OPEN PROJECTS - When I tried to
save it, this message appeared - 'Would you like to merge your Projects Media File with Current Media Files in the Library.

And the two Clips did not appear in the Workspace.

When I highlighted the first clip in the 'TIMELINE' and pressed 'TRIM' the original Clip appeared in the Preview Window.

I'm clearly missing something ! I also can't spot what the buttons ' 'ORIGINAL' and 'OUTPUT' do

Kindest regards

Ron

I have a feeling that I have to do something else to change the subject, but I can't see what ?