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Interesting experiment with the 4k editing.
As for actually purchasing a 4K tv early in the game, even the SEIKO, consider the following.
CNET's review of the SEIKO:
Cheap 4K TV has pixels aplenty, poor picture
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/seiki-se50uy04-4k-uhd/4505-6482_7-35757100.html
and
Why Ultra HD 4K TVs are still stupid
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57566079-221/why-ultra-hd-4k-tvs-are-still-stupid/
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Thanks, Cap'n Kevin and Jamie and others, I've used fix/enhance before but this is the first time I noticed that the button includes the statement "improves the sharpness of a video and applies an up sampling technology..." Maybe I haven't paid close enough attention or perhaps the addition of the statement is new.
In my experiment, it worked. I took some B&W 740x480 SD footage and applied various settings of fix/enhance and rendered it to 1080. I made some decisions about cropping and masking to adapt the 4:3 footage to 16:9. The result was decent. This should work well for my needs to include SD footage in an HD production. Within reasonable expectations and careful composition (like Barry suggested), this is a useful tool and confirms Cyberlink's claims are true.
For those who like to dig further, there are some utilities and plug-ins (for editing software other than PowerDirector) that claim to upsample an image while upscaling. That of course goes beyond the scope of this forum.
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The original poster asked "what do you recommend?" and I preferenced my brief remarks with "This is my opinion for someone starting out" to provide notice that this is a recommendation for a specific situation, and not a review, which would require providing a lot more information. Brevity has its hazards because it does not include all the ifs, ands, or buts to cover contingencies for all situations and all users. I thought it was clear that what I provided was one user's evaluation of the usefullness of a product to a situation. And that includes that statement that AudioDirector and ColorDirector provide minimal new functionality, despite the length of the Cyberlink marketing list. I stand by my statements. Tony, I can assure you my opinions are based upon my use of the product, and certainly not fairy dust.
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There is such a thing as upscaling. In theory a conversion process examines standard definition video footage (like 720x480) and by looking at previous and next frame data, can intelligently extrapolate data to upscale and enhance the footage. This works best with footage such as talking heads and works worse with motion footage like a football game.
Kmot, I've wondered the same thing. I thought PD was advertised to have upscaling, but can't find anything yet that addresses that.
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This is my opinion for someone starting out:
Between Deluxe and Ultra, choose Ultra if you have a 64-bit machine for the 64-bit support.
Between Ultimate and Ultra, choose Ultra. The motion, paint, and art effects and creative content packs (like "Romance") in Ultimate are things that extend the feature list and sound exciting but are not things you may not use that often, if at all. They also take up a lot of space.
Between Ultimate Suite and Ultra, choose Ultra. Both Color Director and AudioDirector add minimal new functionality and some additional complexity.
You'll have a much better experience if you purchase Ultra and learn how to edit, which does take a bit of time to learn. Other enhancements can come later.
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I have about the same computer system, a little less memory, but with Win 8 64 (doubt that makes any difference). Certainly sounds like your system can handle it.
I can apply a Colorfast preset on a clip on the timeline, have the Colorfast effect end, then reapply it, etc., and don't experience any playback problems, but I'm going to try some more involved experiments.
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Quote:
Has anyone else noticed how choppy playback is when adding colorfast to an effect timeline? Eesh.
Can you be more specific about what you are doing that gives choppy playback? Also, what kind of computer system do you have?
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Quote:
I was able to create a NewBlue_Plugin_ColorFast_ENU.xml file with most of the controls and parameters mapped. This is the file that is suppose to be created on-the-fly when you install Colorfast.
The file goes in this folder on my machine, and the file is for English installations.
C:\Program Files\CyberLink\Shared files\PlugIn\NewBlue
I find that using Colorfast in Cyberlink is best done in keyframe mode where the controls are logically grouped together.
Xerox,
You may have solved the problem!
I was able to access the Colorfast controls after I downloaded and installed the XML file you created.
For those who want to try, follow Xerox's instructions, open PowerDirector, put a clip on the timeline, click on Newblue ColorFast from the Effects room and drag it to the Effects line. Then double click on it. That should bring up the Colorfast options.
I've only taken a quick look at it but this may be answer to get it working for now. Thanks Xerox!
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"I see (a) few people are using NewBlue ColourFast..."
What you see are people having problems with NewBlue Colorfast, not people *using* NewBlue Colorfast.
A number of users (all?) of PowerDirector are having significant problems with Colorfast. I suggest you wait until the problem is corrected, and then download the trial, and see if the software is compatible and if it meets your needs. NewBlue states they do not offer refunds.
I would not purchase it in its current state just to get a soon expiring price promotion.
I see the product as an alternative to ColorDirector, more like a "one or the other" rather than "must have both."
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I don't know what triggers the upgrade messages, but I suggest you make sure your copy of PowerDirector 11 is registered with Cyberlink, and do the same with trial versions of AudioDirector and ColorDirector. Perhaps the offer is given to those who tried these utilities but did not purchase them. Or maybe you have to own several Cyberlink products, I don't know. And if you get the upgrade offer, but cannot purchase it that instance, bookmark it for later.
Also, after the 30 day trial period of AudioDirector, I was offered $30 off.
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Upgrade screen shot attached.
As this offer is apparently linked to my registered copy of PD11, I am not including the URL.
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Has ANYONE installed NewBlue Colorfast in PowerDirector and *not* had these problems? If you have, please post.
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Yes, you can upgrade.
First, some clarification: PowerDirector Ultimate Suite includes PowerDirector, ColorDirector and AudioDirector but does not include PhotoDirector. Director Suite includes PowerDirector, ColorDirector, AudioDirector and PhotoDirector.
It is possible to go from PD11 to the PD11 Ultimate Suite at a lower price than purchasing ColorDirector and AudioDirector individually or having to buy the whole Suite when you already own PD11. I have received these upgrade offers when using PD11 and the offers appear in the Update/Upgrade box. Sometimes I get an offer to upgrade from PD11 to the PD11 Ultimate Suite, and sometimes I get an offer to upgrade from PD11 to the Director Suite, which adds PhotoDirector. Click on the Upgrade button and see what you get. Or contact Cyberlink directly.
I'm not sure I've seen these offers outside of PD11, if I find a link I'll post it.
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Had the same problem, couldn't locate Colorfast. NewBlue Sales Support replied to my inquiry (February 15, 2013) with the following:
Thank you for contacting NewBlueFX. We appreciate your interest in our products. In answer to your question, after installing ColorFast you should be able to find it in the effects library in the Visual section.
I went ahead and purchased it to get the special price that was expiring that day.
But then I couldn't use it. Every slider was labeled with "IDS_Vi_Param_NewBlue_C" I emailed the same NewBlue Sales Support rep and included a screen shot of the error, but did not receive any response. Since I intended to use the Colorfast software for a project in the future, I did not pursue the issue either with the person from Sales Suport or create a support ticket with Technical Support. I hope that the Sales Support person at least forwarded my screen shot to Tech Support. So this problem has been around since February 15, 2013 for some of us. Perhaps others are not getting this error, or not many people are buying Colorfast for Powerdirector?
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Did you upgrade from PowerDirector Ten or Eleven to the Director Suite?
If you upgraded from PD 11, then you already had PD 11 but added AudioDirector and ColorDirector?
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My approach:
I purchased the PD11 Ultra upgrade.
Then I uninstalled the PD10 content pack, and uninstalled the PD10 program. All my PD10 projects and files were still there (and they were backed up anyway).
With PD10 gone, I installed the PD11 Ultra upgrade. PD11 works fine.
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Ok, I'm getting a bit confused with some of the terminology Cyberlink uses to describe the products. Is "ColorDirector" the exact same software as ColorDirector Ultra"? And is "AudioDirector" the exact same software as AudioDirector Ultra"?
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You may need to look to other products to accomplish your task. Another user pointed me to DVD-Lab by Mediachance, and that worked for me. They offer a 30 day trial.
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/21410.page
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I render to the hard drive, so the dropout is part of the rendered file.
The dropout is heard when playing the rendered file from the hard drive, and also when playing the DVD.
I use Imageburn to create the ISO, burn to DVD and verify the files. When burning to DVD, I use the lowest speed possible with my burner, which is 6X.
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Prior to rendering, I do a fresh boot, disconnect from the internet (remove the plug), turn off and exit antivirus programs, and exit all unnecessary resident utilities and processes. I do not surf or do anything else when rendering. Yet I can get a very brief audio dropout in my ten-minute rendered MP4 file, no more than one, and not necessarily at the same place. I run a quad-core machine with Win 7 Pro and 8G of RAM. It's possible the throughput is pushed to the limit, and something hiccups as a result. If I get any additional insights to the cause/solution, I'll certainly post it.
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This is probably not you want, but Google "vocal remover" and you will find a number of software packages (and even a web site) designed to remove the main vocal from a [i]song[/i] for karaoke purposes. You cannot selectively remove one voice from several voices, but you can diminish the main vocal substantially. Again, it's for songs.
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