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For one you haven't yet updated to PD17 v2514, which has addressed quite a few earlier issues.
I check and force a check EVERYDAY - the bell icon has NOT advised me of an update!
Why not since this is the end User mechanism builtin to explicitly advise of updates!
Where can I get the update from? (NOT beta update)
UPDATE:
JUST checked the updates page and I DO have the latest (NONE BETA) patch available (v.2314) installed.
See here: https://www.cyberlink.com/support/powerdirector-video-editing-software/patches_en_US.html
Where do I get this v2514 update from?
(Again ONLY if NONE BETA else I'm increasing the risk of problems... and I would only do this if there wasa beta feature I wanted OR just happy to be a "unpaid tester" which is a NO for both for me)
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RE: but to me it's a pretty big leap to say that the recover files feature is something to never use.
I disagree, if it "recovers" something then obviously there has been a problem beforehand so EXTRA verification should be used against anything "recovered". This is why Microsoft open BOTH version (last saved & recovered) when you open a recovered Office doc so the User can review for themselves. As you say further down your reply most PD User are NOT coders so they must be given the best/safest option.
RE: I also have to say it's a little ironic to hear an IT person say how software "shouldn't" allow something to happen. I mean, I completely agree but this is the real world
I disagree again... why should the product consumer accept to be a "unpaid tester".
CL have a beta tester program for that which you have to explicitly OPT IN then accept the risks... for the people that do NOT opt in it is very reasonable for them to expect the saving of their files to work correctly & reliably.
Yes bugs do happen but we should NOT just expect & accept this poor quality... would be like buying a new car and the motor breaking down and we all say "oh well that happens"... yes it does but we should not expect nor accept it lightly.
For one you haven't yet updated to PD17 v2514, which has addressed quite a few earlier issues.
I check and force a check EVERYDAY - the bell icon has NOT advised me of an update!
Why not since this is the end User mechanism builtin to explicitly advise of updates!
Where can I get the update from? (NOT beta update)
In addition, the Intel video driver for your UHD Graphics 620 is a year and half out of date
I rolled back to the previous/my version as the latest makes screen dim and brightness cannot be increased - known problem.
One thing I learnt in IT (took me a loooong time since I like "new) is that newer is NOT always better!
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See attached spreadsheet I created to keep track of components supplied with each version.
You CAN install previously supplied components with newer versions... I installed AudioDirector as it wasn't supplied with my newer PD17 Ultimate version.
PRodID col:
Assign a new/higher/same number to all components supplied with newer versions.
Then sort on this col from high to low so you always installed the newest version of each component.
Red Color:
Shows duplicates which means you already have this component supplied with a previous version.
Regards Nigel
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RE AUTOSAVE:
Already had enabled for every 7min.
RE DXDIAG:
See attached - no problems found.
RE REBOOTS AFTER CRASH:
Yes always did a reboot.
Was prompted by PD to use recovered files sometimes but "think" I only did that when I was working on an individual project but never after I started my master project.
However as you say a corruption may have crept in with a recovered file.
WARNING: DO NOT USE RECOVERED FILES FEATURE:
So now this is ANOTHER "feature" I no longer trust and will not use!
If PD prompts to use recovered files then is should run a verification process against then 1st and if there is ANY doubt about their integrity force the User to load an old version else you will end of like me and lose days if not WEEKS worth of work as the corruption is not immediately apparent so you continue to the road that leads to an inevitable lose of work!
RE DO NOT USE NESTED PROJECTS FEATURE:
It was one of the main reasons I upgraded to PD17!
Much easier to work with smaller projects plus PD is more responsive.
Sure I already tried to have ALL my sub projects 100% complete but inevitably once you combine them you find you need to tweak a sub project to get background music and/or video timing to work between subprojects.
RE REBOOT/RE-INSTALL:
ALWAYS Rebooted after a crash.
Uninstalling/reinstalling PD17: no this often causes more problems than it fixes due to uninstallers no cleaning up the registry or shared libraries correctly ...used to work on an IT Helpdesk so have 1st hand experience.
Only would do if I had symptoms that pointed to a bad install which is not the case here.
OTHER:
>Fourth, it seems like there's at least a chance that your issues are caused by a single (or just a few) corrupted XML statement(s) in the PDS file, and that all of your original edits are actually still present.
AGREED but really why should I have to expend time and effort trawling thru XML for a product that just shouldn't allow this to
happen!
Plus if I was to manually edit the XML you can never be sure you haven't introduced an error yourself plus CL would then also distance themselves from any ownership of the problem since you have tampered with the XML... bit like voiding your warranty if you've opened the case of a hardware product.
>I'm looking into a different nested project issue in 2514, and I'll see if there's a simple way to identify the nested project boundaries so you might be able to recover your existing edits and place them in a new sub-project.
Thanks but I'm starting from scratch with the two subprojects today ![]()
Thanks for your helpful comments.
Nigel
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• PowerDirector Version: 17.0.2314.1
• Version type: Ultimate
THE PROBLEM:
1) I inserted 5 nested projects into my master project.
2) I spend days enhancing & color correcting all the clips in the 5 nested projects (as sources was old Super8 film).
3) When I produced the project I found that the first 2 sub-projects did NOT appear in the final production.
NESTED PROJECTS FEATURE IS BUGGY AND CANNOT BE TRUSTED:
On analysis I found that in the 1st two sub-projects:
A) All my video clips had disappeared.
B) The video tracks have been replaced with AUDIO tracks - see picture which shows multiple tracks with an AUDIO icon but with the words "Video Track".
I've lost DAYS worth of work as I now cannot see the video clips in 2 of the sub-projects so will have to reload OLD versions of these 2 sub-projects and redo all my color corrections and edits!
I'm reluctant to even do this as I no longer trust the entire nested project feature as it seems very buggy and without warning you can lose ALL video tracks in your sub-projects!
MORE INFO:
>As I worked I saved 9 progress version of this project and rolled back to each but the video tracks in the 2 sub-projects of ALL 9 previous versions was gone.
>I had experienced a couple of crashed of PD17 during this period but each time restarted my PC and picked up the last saved copy of my project then IMMEDIATELY saved a new copy. I did not notice when the video tracks went missing on the 2 sub-projects as I was busy working on the other 3 sub-projects and was only reviewing their and the master tabs before the problem was revealed when I produced the entire project.
>Laptop is a BRAND new Dell XPS 13, Gen 8 I7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Windows 10 Pro + all updates - no probs with laptop.
>I am an IT Pro so know what I'm doing.
>I've submitted the above as a technical support request to CL however based on past responses don't expect much from support.
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RE: Have your cake and eat it, too
Yes I agree.... and if you want to have a "spare piece of cake" I recommend making a copy of the AC clip (place it on another timeline) BEFORE selecting "Show Individual Clips" especially if you've applied alot of AC effects/keyframes.
That way if you decide you don't like something about the individual clips you've still got the AC copy (with your AC effects/keyframes) that you can re-open in AC.
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Thanks for your reply Optodata,
RE: One reason it could be off is if you have some corrections or other effects that might possibly change when PD produces the video vs. the image it renders when previewing.
Yes that may explain it since I am applying a few enhancements while previewing and as you point out the snapshot is probably taken WITHOUT the enhancements applied so appears to be a degraded quality.
RE: Another freeze frame method.
I've just discovered that if you right click a clip you've worked with in Action Camera Center (denoted by the yellow icon on bottom left corner of clip) and select "Show Individual Clips" (see pic) the bit you've freeze framed in Action Center is broken out as a discreet clip which you can then use the Pan & Zoom tool on it.
I find this method of creating a freeze frame better than just right clicking and selecting freeze frame since in Action Center you can experiment with the duration of your freeze frame in relation to its source clip
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Hi Guys,
For "freeze frames" I am using the Action Camera Center's freeze frame function.
Note: I'm aware of the snapshot to JPG method however I'm working with old 8mm film footage and this method degrades the visual quality of the freeze frame.
The Action Camera Center also has a nice tick box for "Apply zoom effect" which I'd like to also use on my freeze frames but when you use this option is always zooms OUT again however I'd like to to zoom in and STAY zoomed in on my freeze frame.
Is there a way to STOP this zoom out when enabling Action Center's Apply zoom effect?
Thanks Nigel
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Yes I left PD14 installed because I purchased an "Upgrade" I thought I might have to leave it installed until I had installed DS5.
So how do I ensure I'm using the latest Adorage version with PD15... do I need to uninstall PD14 and all the plugins (inc Adorage) that came with it?
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As per your recommendation I opened Adorage in PD15 and got these version details from the plugin:
Adorage 3.0.113 (Copyright 1999-2015 by proDAD GmbH) Created by Holger Burkarth (17.07.2015) 64bit [En]
FYI I UNINSTALLED the older version (using Programs & Features) then rerun the DS5 installer which replaced the newer version 3.0.114.1 which is now the only version listed in Programs & Features since you can't have both together as each installer removes the other one's installed version.
So now I'm even more confused since we now have another version number since Program & Features shows 3.0.114.1 but the plugin says 3.0.113. Perhaps it really is 3.0.114.1 but they forgot to update what the plugin displays.
Either way it doesn't explain why I have this other older version Adorage package included in my DS5 download bundle which if installed removes the newer version installed by the DS5 installer. I've got a ticket in with CL re this but as usually they reply with statements that don't address the issue so I have to reply and restate the question... this usually goes around for several iterations until you give up in frustration... that seems to be how their support works hence I posted the question here.
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OK let me try to explain again:
- After running the Direct Suite 5 (DS5) installer "CyberLinkDirectorSuite5.0_DRS160721-02_TR160909-021.part1.exe" I found that in addition to DS5 core applications it also installed "proDAD Adorage 3.0 64bit version 3.0.114.1" (displayed in Windows Program & Features control panel)
- I then ran "adorage-dspvol02-64bit.exe" (also included in my DS5 download bundle of programs) however it UNINSTALLED the newer "proDAD Adorage 3.0 64bit version 3.0.114.1" installed above & installed an older "proDAD Adorage 3.0 64bit version 3.0.108.2".
Note: 3.0.108.2 is an older version number than 3.0.114.1.
So as displayed in Windows Program & Features the newer "proDAD Adorage 3.0 64bit version 3.0.114.1" was now gone & replaced by the older "proDAD Adorage 3.0 64bit version 3.0.108.2".
So my question is:
Why is the "adorage-dspvol02-64bit.exe" program included in the DS5 download bundle as all it "appears" to do is replace "proDAD Adorage 3.0" with an older version?
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BACKGROUND:
1) After successfully installing Director Suite 5 by running "CyberLinkDirectorSuite5.0_DRS160721-02_TR160909-021.part1.exe" I noticed it also installed "proDAD Adorage 3.0 64bit version 3.0.114.1" (as shown in Windows' Program & Features).
2) I then ran "adorage-dspvol02-64bit.exe" (included in my download bundle) however it UNinstalled the newer "proDAD Adorage 3.0 64bit version 3.0.114.1" installed in 1) above & replaced it with an older version "3.0.108.2".
3) From Program & Features I uninstalled this older version and reran the Director Suite 5 installer "CyberLinkDirectorSuite5.0_DRS160721-02_TR160909-021.part1.exe" & again it reinstalled proDAD Adorage 3.0 64bit version "3.0.114.1" (the NEWER version).
QUESTIONS:
1) Why is "adorage-dspvol02-64bit.exe" included in my download bundle as it seems to install and older version of proDAD Adorage 3.0 OR does it install some other Adorage plugin components included in my purchase?
2) My Director Suit 5 should include all the EFFECTS & TEMPLATES listed below.
How can I check they have all been installed as they aren't all listed in Programs & Features:
- Content Pack Essential
- Content Pack Premium
- Content Pack Premium 2 NEW
- Wedding Pack
- Holiday Pack 7 NEW
- Travel Pack 3 NEW
- NewBlue Video Essentials 1
- NewBlue Video Essentials 5
- NewBlue Video Essentials 6
- NewBlue Video Essentials 7
- NewBlue Paint Effect
- NewBlue Titler Pro v1.5 NEW
- proDAD Adorage 2 NEW
- proDAD Adorage 13 Lite
- proDAD VitaScene 2 LE NEW
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Hi Tony,
Thanks for confirming that as I could have wasted hours thinking it was something wrong with my install.
Another one to add to my PD "Gotchas" list... yes I really do have one 
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UPDATE: I just noticed that this ("Modify" greyed out) seems to be the case with ALL my templates that have animated backgrounds.
Perhaps you can't modify these?
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In Menu Designer when I click on the "Musicbox" template the "Modify" option is greyed out - see pic.
(Same problem if I right click it - "Modify" still greyed out in contect menu)
How do I fix this so I can edit the template?
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Hi Jeff, Thanks very much for your very detailed & quick reply MUCH appreciated.
I actaully managed to find my way to the XML file and edit the HEX value BUT didn't do the "close and reopen PD or use the "Reload menu" icon" step so got no result and by this time it was 3am so I gave up in disgust ![]()
Thanks again for your help.
Nigel
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In Menu Designer I'm trying to create a new "Button Highlight Style" as per the instructions from pg327 of PD14 doco (see below) however regardless of the actual/real color of the .PNG graphic I import, its color is always changed to RED when applied to my Menu thumbnails.
Does anyone know how to stop this happening so the to imported .PNG will be displayed in its actual color?
From page327:
Setting Button Highlight Style
Select the Button Highlight Style option to set the highlight icon used on a menu
button thumbnail for scenes and chapter buttons. Click on Import Custom if you
want to use your own custom highlight icon.
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I'm aware that you must be in CLIP not movie preview mode to enable the "TV Safe Zone" option however mine is always grayed out no matter what I do. Have tried turning "TV safe zone" off & on in preferences but no change.
Could it be because the clip I'm previewing is created in Theme Designer?
Can someone else confirm this behaviour?
If confirmed then should I report as a bug since you need to see TV Safe zone for Title text you have in Theme Designer?
Regards
Nigel
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Feature requests:
Multi trim option when in Theme Designer:
Currently if you want to use multiple parts of a clip in a theme segment you need to do this as a separate project, render the multi trimmed result then import that single clip into your theme. This results in a lot of extra work and reduction in that clip's quality since it will be rendered an additional time.
Export clip split info (start,stop,alias) to text, csv, xls file:
That way you could load into an xls and storyboard and calculate your project duration.
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RE Can't replicate unused assets in packed project and unable to delete removed assets:
Then the only thing I can think of is that originally this project was created in PD13 - perhaps there's something in the .pds file that's causing this.
RE Uninstall\Reinstall:
I uninstalled PD13, rebooted then installed PD14 so it was a very smooth install plus b'cos my system is stable I'm very reluctant to redo the install as past experience is that you risk getting rid of one problem that you CAN work around only to be replaced with another that you CAN'T work around.
RE QuickTime:
Don't use QT in any output so shouldn't need to worry about it.
So I guess we'll have to park these particular issues however the original Theme segment post packing problem still stands.
Will try your test project out within the next 24hrs.
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RE: File handle is Windows' responsibility:
My understanding is that it is the APP (i.e. PD) NOT Windows is responsible for releasing a file handle.
Windows just does what its told by the app. If that is the case then the bug is that PD is not telling Windows to release the file handle to files that have been removed from PD's Media Library.
RE: Serious crashes at the end of the DxDiag results file:
I think these are probably old ones where I've either had a flakey WiFi connection at a Cafe' somewhere and a Windows update has failed to download and\or an update has failed to apply as an app is open and locking a binary that is to be updated OR I needed to reboot after applying one lot of updates before the 2nd lot can be applied.
Reason I say that is b'cos I remember these events occuring in the past and my laptop is very stable plus I don't have any current problems applying Windows updates plus I'm fully up to date except for Microsoft's Windows 10 upgrade malware which I won't allow to install on my system.
Re PD crashes in DxDiag results:
There's been several occasions where I've been using PD and I've received a Windows error msg that PD has failed to respond - you get the option of ending the program or waiting for it to respond. I choose to wait and PD then resumes normally.
I've put this down to the fact that these occured while I was running on my battery power save power scheme so assume the CPU is throttled to save power and this may have resulted in a slow\stalled response from PD which Windows has interpreted as an application hang. Could be wrong but that's my hunch.
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