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Your problem is only similar. I couldn't even load MP4 files, much less play them.
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OK, so I just got a reply to my 3 questions:
(1) Do I need to write disks?
(2) Do I need to use the software occasionally?
(3) Do I need to maintain my email address active?
They went out of their way to assure me that my software is good to go for the long haul and they are there for me anytime I need help. I guess I'm lucky because I bought my PD11 on Amazon. I must add, their English could use a little work, but the message is very satisfying. Without further ado, here is their reply so you can judge for yourself.
Dear <myname>,
Thank you for writing back.
Regarding your concern, I would like to inform you that, there is no need to worry, as you can use the software anytime as per your wish. There is no need to maintain E-mail address. Being a valuable customer of CyberLink, we are always happy to fix all the issues you face with the CyberLink software.
In case, if you face the similar or other issues with the product, you may get back to us, so that we can help assist you solve your concerns.
We are really happy to help you with all your issues as your satisfaction with our products and customer service is very important to us. Please note that the most convenient and quicker way to get assistance for your query is to contact CyberLink Technical Support.
You can use the below given CyberLink weblink to contact CyberLink Technical Support further to this issue or any new issue:
https://membership.cyberlink.com/support/service/technical-support.do
<CTS agent name>
CyberLink Technical Support
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Hello PD 11 Forum,
On 2014/03/05 at 9:24 AM PDT I received a reply from CyberLink Support. Here is what it said:
Regarding your concern, the issue with your CD-Key is fixed. Please try to resuse your original CD-Key again and get back to us if you face any trouble.
I was busy all day so didn't have time to test it right away. Sorry for the delay. Anyway, my issue is indeed resolved. I didn't activate anything. All I did was start the software and it magically worked. My old projects loaded without complaints and all library media was there again. I was able to import VOB and MP4 files, just like old times. I got no messages requesting any sort of activation or registration. It just worked.
Because PD just started working I draw the following conclusions:
(1) PD 11 phones home to verify installation credentials of at least two codecs, H.264 & MPEG2 (I don't think the software itself reverted to a trial version but have no way of knowing for sure.)
(2) CyberLink seems to maintain an activation database from which my installation record was expunged. I was not told why. I can only guess the cause was: (a) my email address became invalid and they couldn't reach me or (b) I didn't use the software for a while, probably more than 3 months. Customer service apparently had to add my activation record back into the database.
My total cost in time of getting this software to work was a little over 4 days. I spent about 8 hours trying to figure out the problem before contacting support. It took support 3 days, 18 hours and 25 minutes from the time I sent my request to the time they resolved my issue.
I will contact support and tell them that my software works. I will also ask them if there is anything special I need to do to keep my software working. Do I need to write disks? (Personally I think disks are going the way of the dinosaurs.) Do I need to start it at least once per how many months. Do I need to maintain my email address active? I will post how they reply.
I really appreciate the users here who jumped in to try to help me. But overall, I have a lower opinion of PowerDirector than I had a while ago when I was raving to my friends about how great this video editing software was. I mentioned at the outset of this saga that I needed to quick bang out a small music video project. Well, I did it with a trial version of Corel's product. Video was posted on YouTube two days ago. I'm very happy my software is working again, but I'm not buying the upgrade just yet. I will most likely buy a competitor's product first and see how that goes.
Thanks again for all your help.
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I sent another query to support early this morning and they replied. They were actually very nice. Here's what they said:
Thank you for writing back.
In regards to your concern, I would like to inform you that the issue under the case ID CSxxxxxxxx has already been escalated to our R&D Team and they are still working on it. I will definitely get back to you with the updated information once I get any update from them.
I apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Use the below mentioned link to get back for further queries:
https://<link>
Please feel free to contact us back for any further clarification or for any assistance related to CyberLink products.
Thank You and Best Regards
CyberLink Technical Support
When I replied to their initial canned response asking for more information, there was confusion about my version number. So I changed the Trouble Ticket's subject line to clarify my version number and problem description. That apparently generated a new TT number. So now I have two. I take their response to mean that they are working on my issue under the new ticket number.
I'll post more when I hear anything new.
Thanks again for everyone's help.
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Seems readily doable with the chroma key functions. Draw the border as a jpeg with border color what you want and fill color that you'll use for chroma key. Put your big video in 1st track, set you PIP video in 2nd track and put your chroma frame jpeg in the 3rd track. Set your chroma key to the fill color of the jpeg and Bob's your uncle. (Haven't done this but in theory it should work. There may be an easier way, but this approach came to mind right away.)
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Thanks for the link, Dave. I read it before. It gives 3 possible reasons for getting the codec activation error:
It might be caused by one of the following:
1. Internet connection was disconnected or you are in an intranet, closed, or protected network that is blocking the activation request.
2. The serial number is invalid.
3. Reached its activation limit.
I don't think this is the problem in my case. I have high speed internet that's always on. The serial number is what amazon/cyberlink gave me. The software was installed once on the same computer I've been using for video and audio editing. It was activated once until it stopped working. Then I've tried to re-install it several times.
It's been 48 hours since I sent the purchase info and screen shot to support. I still haven't heard anything back.
Dafydd, I attached a screen shot of my error message. This one is for the H.264 codec, but the MPEG2 codec message looks exactly the same. I received your PM and will reply back shortly.
Thanks
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Hey Emmett,
Maybe I don't understand what you're trying to do, but I think what you're describing is very easy. Even MovieMaker could do it. Here's how:
Drag your video into the timeline.
Either play the video to where you want to insert other pieces or drag the time hairline to that point.
Then click the split button. Your video becomes two separate videos.
Repeat this process for both of your actor videos until you have a bunch of independent pieces. You can do each actor on their own video track which makes it easier over how you have to do it in WMM.
Then you drag the clips in the order you want them into the third track. This will become your edited video.
So unless I'm missing something about what you're trying to do, this is dirt simple. Then you can add transitions between some of the clips if you need to break some sections up.
Do you understand what I'm describing? Good luck.
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None that I can remember. This computer is in my recording studio so I don't really run much variety of software on it. I might have upgraded the video card a while back but don't know if that was before or after installing PD11. The GPU is a CUDA-capable nVidia 9600GT. But because I'm running XP, I have to use CL graphic acceleration as opposed to hardware acceleration. But this computer always ran XP so that part hasn't changed.
The error messages I get complain about my mpeg & h.264 codecs needing activation. Everything else seems to work just fine. The only other thing that changed was that I haven't used the software for a few months. Plus I changed my registration email. If CyberLink has been sending me emails, they would have bounced. But I don't see why that should cause any problems.
So I spent a whole day trying to get PD11 to work. I uninstalled the entire package, Ultra, Essentials, Premium & WaveEditor. I even unistalled QuickTime because that probably got updated after the PD11 install. Then I reinstalled the whole thing, activated it with my key and registered it with my new email address. The software was activated but the two codecs that stopped working still don't work.
Do you have any ideas?
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So I'm waiting for support to get back to me and wondering why mine stopped working.
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Dave, have you recently worked with mp4 and vob files?
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I see your point. When I first read their statement,
When using the import/export feature of MPEG2/MPEG-4, H.264 file and burning DVD/AVCHD/Blu-ray Disc in CyberLink PowerDirector, these features require activation via an Internet connection the first time they are used.
, I interpreted that to mean the very first time you use the feature. But when they use the word "and" in,
and burning DVD/AVCHD/Blu-ray Disc...
, they're kind of saying you have to do both.
I don't understand what they're thinking here.
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Right, we all thought we were buying a perpetual license. Now I'm thinking that wasn't the case.
Carl said you have to start burning a disk to do the activation. This is a big difference from just using the codec to import media.
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OK, so that's different from what Carl was describing. Does that mean 12 is different from 11 in that regard? I used my codecs plenty to read all of my libraries. Most of my exports were to WMV formats. When my codecs stopped working, it was during library reads not exports. If the reads would have worked, I probably wouldn't have noticed anything.
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I bought my PowerDirector 11 from Amazon.com, one of their approved resellers. I posted my trouble ticket response to their last reply over 24 hours ago. I included a copy of my Amazon.com invoice and a screen shot of the error as they requested. They have not yet replied.
I am really worried this will not turn out well for me. I also wonder about all the people who bought retail packages at OfficeDepot or Microcenter and lose their receipts. I understand CyberLink's desire to keep pirates from stealing their products, but to hide sub-component activation on purpose from paying customers is inexcusable.
I'll let you all know what happens.
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Let me make sure I understand the consequence of what you are describing. If a customer doesn't use a particular feature of the software they bought and paid for, that feature expires and the customer will no longer have access to the expired feature. Is that right? Are you sure this is CyberLink's product model?
Are you hearing this, Les? Please post how CyberLink's support describes the feature/codec activation process. Forgive me if I'm a bit incredulous, Carl, but I've never heard of such a thing. Are there maybe other software features that you have to use to activate? To make sure the software remains fully functional, the customer would have to perform every taks the software is capable of. This is scary stuff that Carl is talking about.
Thanks
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Yeah, what Carl was describing didn't make sense. I created some mp4 files so the codec should have said something at the time, but it never did. Nothing ever did. That's why it was such a surprise when I pushed the start button and got errors.
I'm the same way, I don't use the software often, but when I need it, I expect it to run. Just like my garden tractor -- when spring comes the thing better run because I've got acres to mow.
Carl might not know about that analogy because I don't think they have grass in Tejas. ![]()
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Carl, what you describe is neither quick nor easy. Are you really sure about this? Do you really have to start burning a disk with each codec to register it? This is crazy stuff and I hope you are wrong. Could you please show me where it says this in the documentation?
Consider this, if the software doesn't check codec activation when reading files but only when writing disks, then why won't it read my library media?
I haven't written one disk with my software, ever. All I do is export the finished product to a file. No wonder.
No sir, this is not quick and it's not at all easy.
Les, did you hear what you got yourself into? ![]() I hope support comes back with a more reasonable explanation.
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Maybe Carl can show you how to register/activate your codecs? What do you say, Carl?
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You are a brave man, Les. I was actually thinking of buying the update to 12 until I tried to work on my old projects. Now I'm not sure about spending more money with CyberLink only to have the software break in less than a year. To be honest, I'm looking at alternatives. I'll wait and see what support says before I make a decision.
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Hi Carl,
Could you please tell me exactly how you did the "internet thing?" Is there something somewhere I'm missing? How many activations did you have to go through to keep your codecs? When I first got the software, I installed it, registered it, and activated it. Then I went through every menu item, every effect, every transition, and every edit feature. I edited and rendered movies. To the best of my knowledge, I did pretty much everything there is to do. I even used multiple video and audio layers with chroma keying. I found no codec activation option anywhere. Where did you find yours? Could you please show me a screen shot of what you are talking about?
Thank you
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