Messages posted by Shem

Hi Folks,

Figured since I finally got this issue resolved, I would let people know how just in case anybody was having similar issues.

What finally fixed the issue was updating the system video drivers to the latest release. I had tried to do this in the past, but apparently it had not worked. I have a Dell XPS - the issue is that they don't let the reference drivers (for example, in my case, drivers downloaded from ATI) update the OEM drivers that they supply - but they never update the OEM drivers, so you can never update the drivers!

There is a tool I found that you can run on the ATI download that will modify them so they will actually update the drivers on the dell.

The free tool can be found here - http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php . Worked for me. Once I ran the tool on the downloaded ATI package, it ran and actually updated the drivers. Previously it would run, but turns out it would fail to update the drivers with no error message.

I still don't know what happened to cause PD6 to break. I think that will remain a mystery

. Probably one of the Vista updates, even though I did roll them back, maybe they did not roll back completely.

Thanks again for everybody's efforts and insights into the issue. Figured I owed people an update since the problem was resolved.

Cheers,
Shem

McLean,

Yup, post restore I went through the uninstall/re-install process - no dice.

Thanks again for all your help.

-Shem

Folks,

Unfortunetly, I'm still stuck. I tried the system restore to a point where I know everything was working, but that still did not fix the problem.

Saving often is great advice in general, but not applicable to the problem here. It doesn't matter how many times I save the project, how small the video file I import, how slowly I do the steps, ect - still no preview from the video pane.

I've tried updating video drivers, changing desktop resolutions, color depths, refresh rates, ect. Nada. I sent an email to Cyberlink support, and got a stock response, with some obvious (reasonable) suggestions that I had already told them I tried in the email

. I sent another email explaining again, but don't really have my hopes up.

I gotta say, all you guys have have been very helpful with your suggestions, but I'm close to packing it in with PD, which is a shame, because I really liked the product.

I'm wondering if upgrading would fix the issue, but there is no way I will pay for an upgrade just on the chance it fixes the issue. Maybe I can get Cyberlink to spring for the upgrade- we'll see. That would actually be fair if they can't help resolve the issue.

Thanks,
Shem

McLean,

Thanks, I could probably give that a try, at least to see if the patches were responsible in some way. By "clean", I just meant I have not installed alot of unnescessary junk on the machine.

Thanks again for the input.

McLean - Interesting idea and I gave it a try. I picked out the first minute of the imported video and produced it, editing into a windows AVI file. The file previewed fine with MS Media Player, but exhibited the exact same behaviour when I imported it into PD - video preview broken when viewed from the video track.

Sarah - Thanks for the suggestion - unfortunetly I had already deleted the stock images, but I tried your fix with some others I had lying around. That didnt work - but who knows - maybe I should try re-install PD just to get the stock images back

. Interesting to know that somebody else had a similar issue.

Ron - Thanks for your response. I actually like PD 6 - it's worked well for me up till now, but the truth is that this sounds like it should be considered an application bug. The behaviour is occurring for ALL video files I can throw at it, even ones that were produced using PD. This is not a matter of trying to push the software to it's limits. It's core functionality of the application that is broken and renders the software pretty much unusable as is.

I'm sure there are workarounds, for instance I can use the media pane to preview the file, write down all the time transitions where I want to split scenes or do anything else, switch back to video track mode and work blind, but that is not really practical.

Here's another thought - do you guys think this could be a codec issue? I could try installing a codec pack, but I am a little hesitant to pollute a currently clean system.

Thanks again to you guys for the input/suggestions.

I'll keep trying different things and post back if I can figure out what is going on. Unfortunently, producing the clip "as-is" is not really useful, since I have all sorts of un-related clips one after the other on the DV, and generally I use PD6 to edit them and create clips for youtube for sharing with the grandparents.

The one thing that really puzzles me, and probably the most important hint I think, is that the clip previes fine from the library pane, but not from the video track. If I understood the difference between the two actions, that might point me in the right direction.

Thanks again and I will post again if I figure it out.

-Shem

Went through the uninstall/reinstall according to the directions layed out in the post you specified - still no go. So, PART A, C, and G all done.

Here is another possible hint - before the uninstall, I had PD Express installed on the machine and it exhibited the exact same behaviour. Video preview broken when trying to preview the movie from the "video track", but still able to preview from the media library pane.

Weird. I wonder what the difference is between preview in the library and the video track.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm banging my head against the wall, and the grandparents are looking forward to seeing video of their grandson!

Dafydd,

Good thoughts. Thanks very much for your timely response.

I am running build 2319. I should have mentioned I did already try and re-install, but it did not fix the issue. The only changes made to my computer in between the time PD was working and now were nine automatic Windows Vista updates. Nothing scary looking although I suppose it is possible that MS broke something. If that's the case I would have expected others to report the problem as well.

Hrm. Sorta stuck. Maybe I'll try re-installing again for the hell of it. Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Shem

Hi all,

I have been using PD6 with no issues to speak of for some time. Today I uploaded some video from my Sony HD Videocam (as usual) using PD6. No apparent problems.

Next, I switched to Edit mode and imported the video file. The video imported, and I could click on it and preview it normally in the preview pane. Looked fine.

Now here comes the interesting part - once I drag the video down into the video track and click on the video track, if I try and preview I get a black video window, but I do get the audio. I can still click on the video in the library pane, and preview the video, but that is not useful for editing.

I also tried the same thing with videos I had succesfully imported and used for editing previously, but am getting the same issue with them as well.

I tried changing various settings, but can't seem to fix the problem, and since I can't edit the video, it's preventing me from doing anything useful.

The currrent settings in the preview pane are "clip mode" and "normal preview resolution". I also tried importing other video files (wmv, avi, ect), but had the same problem.

Anybody had similar issues or can think of something I may have done to cause this problem?

Thanks in advance,
Shem