Messages posted by Wreckage

Quote Hi fellow forum members

i thought I would share my experience with newblue support recently. I was having trouble activating my newblue plugins in Powerdirector 15 ultimate. I contacted newblue support and the very helpful and efficient Jaime helped me sort everything out.

Regards

sean.

Hello, SeanF.

So in the interest of helpfulness, can you please help me enable Newblue titler 1.5 in PD 15 because my old titles from PD 14 are no longer working, and all I can get is a red X and Newblue watermark.

Any assistance gratefully appreciated.

Cheers.

Quote Hi,

The time/frame counter under the preview can also be used to position the scubber, by entering the time position required directly into the counter.

Cheers

Adrian

Thanks to you both - by starting the clip at '0' and entering the time (then hitting the 'Enter' key) as advised has solved my immediate problem. The '25' didn't twig as being FPS... <facepalm>

Do any of you know of an informative resource that explains the Trim functions?

Thank-you.

Regards,

Hello there. I'm hoping there is an easy solution to this but I have not found it as yet.

I have several clips which I want to sync. to music. I know that I would like sections of 1:16 and 0:38 so I can juggle them around to fit with the beat. This would appear to be easy using the Trim tool (scissor icon), but much to my puzzlement when measuring time, PD14 divides one second into 25 parts!

I mean that when dragging over the timeline, a clip will give me a visual count of (for example) 19:22, then 19:23, then 19:24 and then (for reasons I cannot fathom) the next increment is 20:00 !! This makes trimming to specific lengths very tedious as I have to work this out on paper (my head has exploded) to get the clip lengths I want.

This would be simpler if the music had pronounced beats, but my waveform is not that easy to read in that regard so I have to resort to time.

I then discovered that there are 'Single trim' and 'multi-trim' options but that is not so user-friendly. Can somebody please point me to a resource which simply explains these Trim options for me (and will it make my task easier)?

Thank-you so much.

Quote: got the error messages as mentioned regarding the shadow files.

I've turned Shadow Files off. I read somewhere that it makes Producing faster anyway.

use the "Back" to pull the edited audio back into PowerDirector

How embarrassment... I didn't know about the 'Back' button. That really does save a lot of faffing about, doesn't it?

:

I saved the edited audio as an audio file, imported it back to PowerDirector, split the original and deleted its audio, then pasted the edited audio back to the video. And I thought that was what you must heave meant. It seemed easy to me, anyway. ;

Thanks for teaching me about the 'Back' button.

Quote: ...if you edit the YoCam audio in AudioDirector then PowerDirector can recognize the edited audio..

Hello there. Yes, this is helpful, but I don't understand what you mean by 'edit'. I've tried importing the YoCam movie into PowerDirector then sending it to AudioDirector, but that still didn't work.

I tried opening the actual YoCam mp4 with AudioDirector, but what do I do then? It wants to save it as a project or an audio file.

If you could provide some more details of how/what you did, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

Quote: Dan - I'd be happy to put the clothes away, but they're not mine!

My wife's towel, actually.

Steve - "this is a..." (mysterious statement). Also, how did you determine that the clip has 4-bit audio? Is it ADPCM?

Cheers - Tony

I'd like to know what Steve intended there, too.. ;

Yup ADPCM:

AudioID : 2Format : ADPCMCodec ID : 11Codec ID/Hint : IntelDuration : 12mn 12sSource duration : 12mn 12sBit rate mode : ConstantBit rate : 128 KbpsNominal bit rate : 136 KbpsChannel(s) : 2 channelsChannel positions : Front: L RSampling rate : 16.0 KHzStream size : 11.2 MiB (1%)Source stream size : 11.9 MiB (1%)Language : EnglishEncoded date : UTC 2016-03-09 11:58:55Tagged date : UTC 2016-03-09 11:58:55

Thanks for all your input, people. It seems (as usual) there are differing results from different computers but all in all, it's a big disappointment for me having bought what was advertised as a fairly top-line cam only to find out it's inferior in almost all ways.

I don't think these faults can be fixed by firmware so I may have to get rid of the thing. Does anybody have any recommendations on a mid-range 'action cam'? I have a GoPro +LCD and I was hoping the YoCam would compliment it but the quality seems too far away. Much like warm beer, this is just another of life's little disappointments. ;

Quote:

2) Please take a 3 to 5 second video of anyhting and post it here as an attachment, Original format of course.

Please see attached. Thanks.

I temporarily re-installed Quicktime as a test. Here are the results;

1) When importing the Yocam mp4:

2) when clip is moved to the timeline:

Quote: 1) Do you have quicktime on your computer?

Aah!.. good point. I removed Quicktime recently as a security measure.

) Please take a 3 to 5 second video of anyhting and post it here as an attachment, Original format of course.

OK... no time now, but after work I'll do that for you.

3) Is it a YoCam or YouCam (program by Cyberlink) ? ?

Definitely YoCam. Kickstarter thingy - www.mofily.com - (so far, quite disappointing in audio and video quality, by the way.

Thanks for your interestd!

Hello there.

This is just a heads-up to anybody thinking of using a YoCam. The raw files won't open in PowerDirector v.14 Ultimate (14.0.2707)- at least, not in my copy.

The error I get is:

Attached is the MediaInfo data file if anybody wants to figure out why...:

I have to convert the files (using WinX Converter) before I can edit the suckers. I have advised YouCam but have had no reply.

Cheers.

Hello.

I appreciate that there are many resources available from the 'DirectorZone' downloads, but I have recently downloaded some sound effects and most of them have absolutely meaningless names. I renamed the *.M4A files in my Users\Public\Cyberlink\Downloaded audio\ folder only to find that I then had to edit the *.xml and *.cpt files also.

This is a ridiculously long and needless process. There has to be a way to rename these effects files to something more useful to the user. Can somebody please advise how I can do this?

Thank-you.

Regards,

Thank-you people for all your great help and tips! I'm grateful.

I would still like to know what is the intended use of the 'Clip' button that allows the resizing of the clip.

What's it really for?

Anyway, you've given me a great introduction to PowerDirector and you can almost guarantee I'll have more questions down the track.

Cheers.

Thanks, ynotfish.

Please see attached txt for file info on original cam output. Yes.. it's *.avi.

Cheers.

Oh.. the cam is one of these:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DV-HD-1080P-Helmet-Head-Camera-Waterproof-Sports-Action-Cam-Car-Camcorder-DVR-/301552616200?hash=item4635efc308

Quote: Hi wreckage -

You shouldn't have to be doing that. Aren't you effectively cropping out part of the scene?

Hello, ynotfish. Thank-you for your reply.

Well, as far as 'doing that' goes, I obviously do have to, or else it doesn't work. I ended up with about 7 clips after splitting and each one had to be expanded in the Preview window in order to Produce properly. I forgot to resize one clip and in the finished production, the movie suddenly went to the smaller size, then big again. BTW, each clip ended up subtly different with small borders appearing/disappearing during playback of the Produced movie.

Does anybody know what's going on here?

Jaimesque's advice about rendring in MPEG-4, rather than AVI, is good. AVI gives you no control.

Yes. Thanks, Jaime-esque. I found the MP4 option and the image quality was a lot better.

Is your AVI straight off the camera or has it been converted? What's the camera? I noticed MediaInfo says "WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe".

Yes. I converted it a number of times in my quest for a decent editor. I found Windows MovieMaker to be good, but unreliable so I was playing around with formats to try to find the secret to reliable editing. The same went for Lightworks. It looked promising but again, too unreliable. The result was too much wasted time and effort.

The camera is a $65, Chinese 'Sport DV' action-cam that I bought as a test. Now that I'm getting a little more serious I'd like to upgrade, but it seems there are few (non GoPro) cams with an external mic. connection that are worth looking at. Maybe in a few months there will be a wider selection.

Here, I can import a 720x404 AVI - output as MPEG-4 720x480 - no letterboxing & decent quality (given that it's SD).

Cheers - Tony

I'm not sure what you mean there. I'd really like to know why I have to resize my clips, and if there is a way to have it done by default. Also, it seems that by the way you fellers are talking, it shouldn't be happening at all. Is that the case, or is it just an anomaly of the clips being re-processed/converted?

Thanks again for all your help.

Quote: A couple of things I noticed. You went from 720x404 to 720x576.

Thanks for the reply, Jaime-esque. How do I resolve the above, do you think?

I would suggest producing in mp4.

That option isn't available to me, unfortunately. I have only AVI, MPEG-2, Windows Media, Quicktime, H.264 AVC, and Audio.

MPEG-2 gives me a better quality image, but the border remains, as does M2TS format. In fact the border is present in the Produce window as soon as I hit 'Produce', so this seems to be something that needs to be fixed prior to editing.

This is really holding me back at the moment, but I'll keep fiddling. Suggestions appreciated.

Cheers.

......Edit to add resolution;

Well... There's a trap for young players, eh? It seems that it's vitally important how the Preview window is set up initially.

Where's the tutorial on that, mmm? ;

As per the image, it seems each CLIP must be positioned correctly to fill the window, and then the Produced movie will fill the screen. This seems very unintuitive and unnecessary, but there you are. Is there a way of applying these settings uniformly to all clips added? The adjusting marks don't appear until the 'Clip' button is selected (as apposed to 'Movie').

I don't know about you, but this would seem to be information of VITAL importance to we newbies. Cheers.

Hello. I purchased PowerDirector Deluxe a couple of days ago and have been finding my way around it.

I thought I had everything under control until I viewed the output.

I've joined four clips from a cheap action-cam, added some audio, played around with adjusting speeds, etc. and all seemed to go well, except when I viewed the produced movie, the resolution was terribly noisy, and none of my viewers (VLC, WMP, JetAudio, etc.) will show it without a huge, black border around the movie. Prior to using PowerDirector the clips were clear and will fill the viewing window.

Here is the MediaInfo on the impupt files (Output information below):

.....

General

Complete name : H:\Movie_Projects\xxxx.avi

Format : AVI

Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave

File size : 125 MiBDuration : 2mn 7s

Overall bit rate : 8 250 Kbps

Movie name : Lions_12

Director : WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe

Writing application : Lavf55.48.100

VideoID : 0

Format : MPEG-4 Visual

Format profile : Simple@L3

Format settings, BVOP : No

Format settings, QPel : No

Format settings, GMC : No warppoints

Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)

Codec ID : DIVX

Codec ID/Info : Project Mayo

Codec ID/Hint : DivX 4

Duration : 2mn 7s

Bit rate : 8 102 Kbps

Width : 720 pixels

Height : 404 pixels

Display aspect ratio : 16:9

Frame rate : 60.000 fps

Color space : YUV

Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0

Bit depth : 8 bits

Scan type : Progressive

Compression mode : Lossy

Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.464

Stream size : 123 MiB (98%)

Writing library : Lavc55.69.100

AudioID : 1

Format : MPEG Audio

Format version : Version 1

Format profile : Layer 3

Mode : Joint stereo

Mode extension : MS Stereo

Codec ID : 55

Codec ID/Hint : MP3

Duration : 2mn 7s

Bit rate mode : Constant

Bit rate : 128 Kbps

Channel(s) : 2 channels

Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz

Compression mode : Lossy

Stream size : 1.94 MiB (2%

)Alignment : Aligned on interleaves

Interleave, duration : 26 ms (1.57 video frames)

Interleave, preload duratio : 26 ms

Writing library : LAME3.99

..................

Here is the Output (After Produce);

...........

General

Complete name : H:\Movie_Projects\xxxxxx

Format : AVI

Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave

Commercial name : DV

Format profile : OpenDML

File size : 1.47 GiB

Duration : 7mn 17s

Overall bit rate mode : Constant

Overall bit rate : 28.8 Mbps

Video

ID : 0

Format : DV

Duration : 7mn 17s

Bit rate mode : Constant

Bit rate : 24.4 Mbps

Encoded bit rate : 28.8 Mbps

Width : 720 pixels

Height : 576 pixels

Display aspect ratio : 16:9

Frame rate mode : Constant

Frame rate : 25.000 fps

Standard : PAL

Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0

Bit depth : 8 bits

Scan type : Interlaced

Scan order : Bottom Field First

Compression mode : Lossy

Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 2.357

Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:00

Time code source : Subcode time code

Stream size : 1.47 GiB (100%)

Audio

ID : 0-0

Format : PCM

Muxing mode : DV

Muxing mode, more info : Muxed in Video #1

Duration : 7mn 17s

Bit rate mode : Constant

Bit rate : 1 536 Kbps

Encoded bit rate : 0 bps

Channel(s) : 2 channels

Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz

Bit depth : 16 bits

Stream size : 80.1 MiB (5%)

Encoded stream size : 0.00 Byte (0%)

..............

If anybody has any suggestions, I'd be very grateful.