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Can someone explain to me how the edited photos are saved? Am I understanding that I can edit all I want in PhotoDirector but none are actually saved permanently until I export them? I see it gives me an option to overwrite the original image or rename it if I put it back in the original folder. Once I export it, what happens to all the adjustment history? Is that cleared or does stay? And what if I want to clear all of the adjustment history - is there a command for that?
Wish there was a video tutorial on this . . .
Cindy
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Thanks to both of you for your input. Someone once told me I should purchase Lightroom for my photos but I didn't want to spend $300. After reading the reviews and getting yall's comments, I can see how I can use it to complement how I manage and edit my photos. And for $99, it's a much more attractive product. I think I'll give it a try!
Thanks for your replies!
Cindy
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I have been a long time user of PowerDirector and really like the product so I was intrigued by their new product PhotoDirector. I am also a long time user of Photoshop Elements. I don't use many of the Elements features because it just takes too long to learn and re-learn. I mostly use the quick feature to brighten and make other minor adjustments, then either print a hard copy or create a slideshow.
I downloaded the trial version of PhotoDirector and liked how it looked so far, but I need someone to tell me why I should switch from Elements to PhotoDirector. Specifically, features . . . benefits? I will say that one of the things I don't like about Elements is I find the printed retouched photos (especially when lightening dark photos) always appear grainy even though on the screen they look fine.
Any comments would be helpful . . .
Cindy R
PS - It would also be very helpful to create some more video tutorials so that trial users could learn the program features more quickly. Cyberlink has never had great instruction manuals 
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Thanks for the tips! I'll give it a try, but YUCK . . . another "learning curve!"
Cindy
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I know this will be very elementary to many of you, but I need some direction on how yall create your screen shot video tutorials. I have 2 questions:
1. All of my projects thus far have been importing photos and videos from outside sources so I'm confused on how you create the videos using the information from the screen. I do have a webcam if that is how it is done but don't know how to use it in this type of project.
2. I know many people saw the youtube christmas video that had several titles but was basically "if Facebook was around when Jesus was born". I'd like to create a story video using the Facebook idea that this video used but don't even know where to start. Are there templates out there that would make this easier? Or do I do some kind of screen capture?
Any advice would be helpful. I'm very familiar with PD and use it often, but I just don't get the concept of how to create these projects.
Thanks,
Cindy R
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I am trying to import some old analog video from a Sony Handycam Hi8 camcorder. I was having this problem off and on with PD8 so this is nothing new but with PD8 I just kept trying and it finally worked sporatically. Now I have PD9 and am having the same issues. I captured about 30 minutes of a tape with no problems. I stopped the tape to break up the segments and when I started importing again I started to get the message "this movie is copyright-protected. Recording is prohibited." This is NOT copyright material - it is home video we made from years ago. I would have thought that maybe it was a camcorder problem but why would it let me capture 30 minutes of a tape with no problems then all of a sudden shutdown? It is the same tape, too. There is nowhere on the camcorder to possibly turn this off and the tape is not write-protected.
Anyone have any ideas?
Cindy
(BTW - I guess since I haven't been on this forum in a while, someone took my name)
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Hey Y'all,
Thanks for all the help! I was able to read through all the "butter jokes" and create the video and send it on to my daughters. They really appreciated it.
And I'll try to do better reading and participating in the forum as I get back to my video editing projects.
I do miss the sideshow!
Cindy
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Hey Cranston,
Thanks for the tips. I did find that WMV box but I just didn't know which one to pick. The quality of the 320X240 digital video was pretty poor even when I reduced the size of the video player window and the 720X480 size was too big to send. I'll have to figure something out or reduce the time of the video to 1 minute.
Thanks for your help!
Cindy
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Hi All,
All of my output since using PD has been to disc. However, now I want to produce some short videos to either insert in an email, attach to an email or send so they can post to their website (1-3 minutes). I can't send anything larger than 15 MB (AOL rules), so I have some constraints.
I basically want something like a YouTube size file (.wmv format at 640X480), but don't want to send it to YouTube. When I try to create a file using the YouTube tab, it won't let me produce it and save it to my hard drive without signing in.
I know there is a setting for this, but I can't seem to find it with so many choices. Can someone please guide me to the correct setting to output these files?
Thanks,
Cindy
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Hi Maggie,
I, too, am slowly digitizing all of my old analog movies (photos are next). And I, too, am planning on say, putting all the old Christmas videos on 1 DVD, vacations another, etc.
I agree there is not easy way to do it. I agree with James in that splitting it up into 15-20 minute chuncks (I kinda set a goal of 1 GB or so) seems to work best.
For what it's worth, this is how I've been doing it:
1. Pull in the raw video through PD using DVD Maker (this little contraption works great!)
2. Save as a MPG file. When I name the files, I use the date and a short description such as 1997_12_25 Christmas. If I have more than 15-20 minutes of the same event, I name it 1997_12_25a Christmas. Then they all show up in the correct chronological order on my hard drive for easy retrieving.
3. Then I just create a new project and start importing say, all the Christmas files and edit from there.
I'm finding this to be a MUCH longer project that I anticipated. It gets very monotonous and boring to wade through some of my videos. I have to put it down and come back to it after a while.
Someone probably has a faster way, but I want to be able to preserve the raw video to use in other projects. I also bought an external hard drive to back up all the raw video files in case of a crash - very important!
Hope that helps,
Cindy
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Those clips (and the original poetry) were very entertaining!
Cindy
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Hey Tony,
Didn't realize it was that easy! I just didn't realize that the link was in the address bar - learned something new!
Thanks,
Cindy
PS - And I still think you are cool!
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Hi David,
I have posted several questions over the past couple of years regarding capturing old video. I'm not as cool as Tony so I don't know how to provide you with the link like he did. . . but I can try to get you to one of my last capturing posts . . .
Go up to the top of this page and click "search" and type in my name - Cindy
Read all the information in the post lasted dated 5/21/09 (I think!). I got some really good advice after struggling with Pinnacle products for several years. This capture device "KWorld DVD Maker" has worked perfectly for me and I would highly recommend it over Pinnacle's product. Plus, it includes an older copy of Producer for you to play with.
Hope that helps!
Cindy
PS - Tony - could you tell me how you do those links???!!!
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I'm having a problem with installation of youcam 3. I did a clean install and youcam loaded and worked perfectly. However, once I close the program, it will never re-open without completely uninstalling the program and reinstalling the program. And again, it works once, then never opens again.
I contacted tech support and they ran me through all the steps of a clean uninstall, including the ms clean up tool and registry entries. Did all that a couple of times, but can't get the program to run more than the initial installation.
I used youcam 2 with no problems (and that has been uninstalled prior to installing youcam 3).
It seems like I had this same problem with an earlier version of PowerDirector and I can't remember how it finally got resolved.
Anyone have any ideas? There must be a file somewhere that is not uninstalling, but I've looked everywhere!
Help!
Cindy
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Thanks James,
I didn't think about rewinding it a little. I'll try that from now on.
Cindy
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I know you regulars are getting tired of answering my capturing video questions, but yall's answers have been very helpful!
Here's another one . . . when capturing video from a source, is it better to capture it in "chunks" of say 10-15 minute files or try to capture the whole thing at one time which may be 1 hour's worth of video and huge file size? I get worried that if I capture the whole tape at once that huge file is going to overload my computer and I run the risk of it crashing when I pull it into PD. However, by capturing it in "chunks" the video between clips is not as smooth as I would like when I put it together to burn onto a DVD (assuming I don't put fade transitions between the clips). I see in the edit portion of the program that there is a button that says "combine" but it is grayed out even if I choose 2 clips - what is that button used for?
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Cindy
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Does anyone know if it is possible to horizontally flip a motion object so that it goes in the opposite direction and the graphic is flipped? Specifically, I am trying to flip a car so that it goes in the opposite direction on a map. Right now, all I can do is make it go backwards or turn it upside down.
Thanks,
Cindy
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Thanks for all the tips!
Adrian,
That link was an excellent article on burners and media types. After reading that article and all of yall's suggestions, I've really got some work to do backing up my data! And I guess I meant backing up as opposed to archiving. I just want to put it all together in a safe medium and have easy access to it when I want to retrieve it and begin projects. Right now, I do have an external backup USB drive that I use to back up my photos, but these video files are so big! I guess I will just have to go out and buy a bigger external backup drive (and a bigger fire safe) since all of yall (southern slang!) suggested it. When I create projects, I always make a couple of extra DVD copies, but I do write directly on the DVDs which, according to that article, is a no-no.
I, too, have Elements and after I finish this project of tranferring videos, I plan on scanning all my old photos (pre-digital) and cataloging those, too.
Which brings up another question . . . I have over 18 years worth of video that I am transfering. Right now I'm transferring it in chunks of 10-15 minutes at a time because to me that is manageable. I'm naming the files the year_month_date (and a 2-3 word description). Then on my spreadsheet I'm writing a couple of phrases describing the video and who is in them. Is this what I should be doing? Or does someone suggest something better? My goal is, after I've completed this phase, to make 3 individual PD movies of each of my 3 kids as they were growing up.
Any suggestions would be helpful . . .
Thanks,
Cindy
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I am using PD 7 to transfer all my old tapes (Hi8 - VHS - digital tape) from their source to my hard drive. I'm just transferring them over in chunks and cataloging them with descriptions in chronological order (using an excel spreadsheet). They are being saved in .mpg format and are taking up lots of my hard drive space.
I eventually want to take bits and pieces of the tapes and make family movies and slideshows, but for right now I just want to get them all transferred.
My question is . . . after I get them all transferred, should I just burn these raw files in .mpg onto DVDs for archiving? I don't want to lose them in case of a crash, but I'm not ready to edit them into finished projects right now. And I want to keep all the raw footage to possibly use in future projects.
I guess my thoughts are to try to burn the files to dvds for safekeeping. Then, when I get ready to make the movies, I can just copy the files I want to use for a particular project to a folder on my hard drive and go from there.
What to you "experts" do? Any other ideas?
Thanks,
Cindy
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Hi James & Dafydd,
This KWorld DVD maker is the coolest device!!! I can't believe I fought with Movie Box for so long! It currently comes bundled with PDv7 and PPv5. I didn't install PD because I already have it, but I will get to play with PP to see what it's all about. I was able to capture both analog video from my camcorder as well as VHS tapes from a VCR. I would definitely recommend this to anyone having trouble capturing old videos. And it was cheap!
One other thing (and I can't find the post as it was a while back). My hardware computer guy fixed some glitches on my computer today and I thought I'd mention this.
About a month or so ago, someone mentioned the fact that PD was only recognizing 1 DVD burner (and he had 2). I had that same problem and it was a brand new computer with the SAME BRAND DVD burners. We switched out one of the burners with a different brand and VOILA! PD is recognizing and burning on both. Whoever had that problem, maybe that could be your solution. Maybe PD can't recognize 2 of the same brand of burners.
Cindy
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Thanks to both of you . . yes, that helps. In fact, I ordered it today and hopefully that will be the answer to my capture problems.
I will follow-up when I test it.
Does anyone know the version of Power Producer that it comes with? Would I be able to upgrade to a newer version or is that version one of those "retail products" that won't let you upgrade?
Cindy
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