Aah yes. This frustrated the living daylights out of me for ages.

OH HOW I WISH THERE WAS SOME KIND OF LOCK

There isn't any way to do it that I am aware of. If anyone disagrees then I would love to be proven wrong.

I just tend to leave everything fairly slapdash until I am certain I've no more edits to put in. Then tighten it all up at the end.

The only workaround I know of (and it can give you its own set of headaches, especially in lengthy videos) is to do as follows. (You can skip steps 1 to 6 if you know your new clip won't fit anywhere)

This looks complicated but it's really not. Once you have done it a few times and understand my rubbish instructions, you see how easy it is.


1) add the new clip as a layer at the end of the project time line.

2) Trim it so it's very small. Eg if the clip is 1 minute long, trim it to 5 seconds.

3) CAREFULLY* drag it back through the time line to where you need it.

4) Release on the layer time line. It won't move anything as long as there is sufficient gap. This is why we trim BEFORE we move it.

5) Expand the clip back to 1 minute. As long as there is a minutes worth of gap, the rest won't move.

6) If there isn't a minute gap on your track then, you need to trim it again. Consider adding some of it to another layer if space is available.

OR add another layer. Assuming you intend to add another layer....

7) Go to the end of the project time line.

Add a photo. Any photo you like. It doesn't have to be a photo. Just less can go wrong with a photo than a video clip.

9) Position yourself under the photo.

10) Add the same or different photo in the track beneath the first.

11) Repeat 9 and 10 until Power Director is forced to open a new layer.

12) Add the clip at the end of the project on the same layer as the last photo you added.

13) Drag the clip back to where you need it*

14) Delete the photos you added. Remember that one of them will be x further along than the rest. X being the duration of the clip you added.

• Don't release it on an audio track or it will convert to audio and mess up your existing audio.

Quote Aah yes. This frustrated the living daylights out of me for ages.

OH HOW I WISH THERE WAS SOME KIND OF LOCK

There isn't any way to do it that I am aware of. If anyone disagrees then I would love to be proven wrong.

I just tend to leave everything fairly slapdash until I am certain I've no more edits to put in. Then tighten it all up at the end.

The only workaround I know of (and it can give you its own set of headaches, especially in lengthy videos) is to do as follows. (You can skip steps 1 to 6 if you know your new clip won't fit anywhere)

This looks complicated but it's really not. Once you have done it a few times and understand my rubbish instructions, you see how easy it is.


1) add the new clip as a layer at the end of the project time line.

2) Trim it so it's very small. Eg if the clip is 1 minute long, trim it to 5 seconds.

3) CAREFULLY* drag it back through the time line to where you need it.

4) Release on the layer time line. It won't move anything as long as there is sufficient gap. This is why we trim BEFORE we move it.

5) Expand the clip back to 1 minute. As long as there is a minutes worth of gap, the rest won't move.

6) If there isn't a minute gap on your track then, you need to trim it again. Consider adding some of it to another layer if space is available.

OR add another layer. Assuming you intend to add another layer....

7) Go to the end of the project time line.

Add a photo. Any photo you like. It doesn't have to be a photo. Just less can go wrong with a photo than a video clip.

9) Position yourself under the photo.

10) Add the same or different photo in the track beneath the first.

11) Repeat 9 and 10 until Power Director is forced to open a new layer.

12) Add the clip at the end of the project on the same layer as the last photo you added.

13) Drag the clip back to where you need it*

14) Delete the photos you added. Remember that one of them will be x further along than the rest. X being the duration of the clip you added.

• Don't release it on an audio track or it will convert to audio and mess up your existing audio.

Thank you very much for your reply. I understood what you were talking about perfectly, because I've spent so much time thinking about this problem and looking for solutions and workarounds. I'd actually started doing a couple of the things you suggested already, and those techniques do work, but I also feel really silly as I do them because I know how ridiculous it is. And it still takes such a long time. I don't think a video editing app should work like this.

Luckily, I came up with a better solution for me: I just switched to a different video editing application. And it works the way it's supposed to: anything I add to the layers is by default linked to the main video clips in the foundation layer. They remain locked in position relative to the main video no matter what changes I make. Plus there is a simple button to override this default and link the photo or text element to an exact spot on the timeline. So you can choose exactly how you want each item in the layers to behave: they can be attached to the main video clips (the default) or attached to the timeline.

Since I made this switch, I've completed three large video projects. Each one is nearly an hour long, and the difference in time and efficiency for creating them was astonishing. These projects would have taken me forever in PowerDirector. But by changing this one ability, I was able to do it much much faster and better. It not only made the work go faster but it made the final video better because I was much more willing to make changes right up until the last second. With PowerDirector, I would often just ignore mistakes and not make improvements because I knew any change I made would require long periods of moving everything in the layers again. So I just wouldn't bother. But with this other application, I can change anything I want at any time and it doesn't affect anything else in the layers.

I did a bit more research in other places online, and it appears that PowerDirector has had this problem for many years. Lots of people have talked about it over the years, and yet the company has never tried to change it. There must be a reason for that, but I have no idea what it could be.

This other application I am now using has some disadvantages relative to PowerDirector. I could make a list of pros and cons for both of them, and there are some things I like better about PowerDirector and some things I like better about this other application. But this one thing about PowerDirector, the inability to keep elements in the layers locked in place, is a deal breaker for me. I simply can't use PowerDirector because of it.

I imagine it isn't as big a problem for people who make shorter videos with fewer edits and fewer elements in the layers. But I tend to work with the layers heavily. So, unfortunately, it is goodbye to PowerDirector for me... 🙁

Thanks for your help.

Quote


Thank you very much for your reply. I understood what you were talking about perfectly, because I've spent so much time thinking about this problem and looking for solutions and workarounds. I'd actually started doing a couple of the things you suggested already, and those techniques do work, but I also feel really silly as I do them because I know how ridiculous it is. And it still takes such a long time. I don't think a video editing app should work like this.

Luckily, I came up with a better solution for me: I just switched to a different video editing application...

UGH, I'm glad I'm not the only one with this issue! It is such a PAIN. I learned to edit videos in MAGIX Movie Edit Pro (2004) back in high school, and shortly thereafter I learned to use Final Cut Pro (I still don't care for it, heh, the layout and menus and shortcuts just do not seem intuitive to me), so having lots of layers available and the ability to make precision edits has always been the way I've worked.

Cut to several years later and my ol' MAGIX program doesn't run well on Windows 10 (alas, the codecs have all moved on), and my laptop just couldn't handle editing video with anything more intensive than the built-in Windows movie maker (and even that was a struggle for my RAM...)

I already built a new PC last year (and I designed it to be a video editing game playing BEAST <3 ), but becaue of COVID, I haven't had the cash for a new copy of Windows for it, and there aren't really any good video editors that will run on Linux. I thought that I'd found a good solution in PowerDirector Mobile (I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, it handles my editing like a champ!) but this heckin' shifting when I adjust layers...!! ¬_¬;;; When I get Windows for the PC, I'll probably be switching to Filmora or DaVinci Resolve, but until then:

What mobile app did you switch to, if I might ask?? (Not sure if your original edit of this comment had to be changed because the forum mods wouldn't allow talk of other editors...?) The only other decent one I've found is InShot, but it doesn't have as much capability as PowerDirector...I tried KineMaster but hated it... I know it won't do me any good on this current 20-ish-minute video (I'm just gonna have to strugglebus it until the end, I'm in too deep...!) but for the next one. ^_^;

Quote


UGH, I'm glad I'm not the only one with this issue! It is such a PAIN. I learned to edit videos in MAGIX Movie Edit Pro (2004) back in high school, and shortly thereafter I learned to use Final Cut Pro (I still don't care for it, heh, the layout and menus and shortcuts just do not seem intuitive to me), so having lots of layers available and the ability to make precision edits has always been the way I've worked.

What mobile app did you switch to, if I might ask?? ^_^;

No, my original edit didn't mention the name of this other video editing app either. I just assumed that they wouldn't like it if I was talking about a competing product on the PowerDirector forum.

But, since you ask, I'll put the name here and we'll see what happens.

I switched to Kinemaster.

And Kinemaster works exactly how one would expect when it comes to putting things in layers. By default, those photos/videos/text/graphics in the layers are attached to the main video layer. And it doesn't matter what you do or what edits or changes you make, all those elements in the layers stay exactly where you want them. They move WITH the main video.

If you delete an entire video clip or add a new one or lengthen or shorten them, it doesn't matter. The whole video shifts to the left or the right, but everything in the layers shifts with it and stays in the exact same position.

That is the default. But you can also override the default and pin each element in place to a specific time on the timeline if that is what you want. There's a convenient "pin" button for that.

I honestly have no idea why PowerDirector works the way it does. It seems crazy. To me, it would be like making a car without wheels or a bicycle without pedals. Why would you make a video editing app that can't do the one thing it is supposed to be able to do: edit video?

One thing to be aware of with Kinemaster is that it requires a powerful phone to work properly. It has a lot more control and features than PowerDirector, which is great, but it also requires more processing power. I was disappointed to learn, for example, that Kinemaster can't edit 4K video on my phone. I'm limited to 1080p. PowerDirector CAN edit 4K video on my phone. But Kinemaster can't.

When you first install Kinemaster, it has to run a test program which determines the video resolution your phone can handle as well as the number of layers you can add for each resolution. My phone topped out at 1080p. And there is no way to get past that limitation.

Quote


The only other decent one I've found is InShot, but it doesn't have as much capability as PowerDirector...I tried KineMaster but hated it... I know it won't do me any good on this current 20-ish-minute video (I'm just gonna have to strugglebus it until the end, I'm in too deep...!) but for the next one. ^_^;

I'm surprised, by the way, that you hated Kinemaster. It seems similar to PowerDirector in layout and design, but it offers a lot more controls and features. I could list a dozen big advantages over PowerDirector just off the top of my head.

There are one or two areas where Kinemaster falls short for me. And these are pretty annoying things. They're also things that PowerDirector actually does well and does better. But this one thing of keeping the layers locked in position overrides everything else for me. It's kind of a dealbreaker for PowerDirector.

And, as I said, I see a lot more advantages to Kinemaster than just how it works with layers. But perhaps it just happens to suit the way that I think and the way that I like to work. It could easily be different for you. 🙂

You can use the app to send feedback to CyberLink to add this feature. Go to "Settings > FAQ & Feedback". I 'm going to do this today as the track locking feature would be great. The more people who provide this feedback the better chance that they will implement a solution. Subscribe to PowerDirector University on YouTube.

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