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Using the extract audio feature to make music snippets for the disc menu in PD6. Have successfully used this feature numerous times without a problem. Made a 20 second audio clip that sounds "clean" when played alone and when accessed using the arrow button on the Background Music menu line. However, when played through the menu Preview tab, the music has a high-pitched ringing feedback that plays for the duration of the entire clip. This feedback also is in the video file burned to the HD. I have tried two separate extracted clips from two different episodes of the same series with the same results: clean everywhere except in the preview and the final burn. If I insert background music extracted from a totally different source (not the same video series), the feedback is not present in any venue.
Any ideas? How can an extracted audio clip sound clean with the music preview button (the background music arrow button), but have a nasty feedback with the video/menu preview and burn? Is there a way to apply a squelch to the feedback?
Jim
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Hello, Adrian.
I appreciate your reply, but whether or not Cyberlink was being arbitrary or intuitive, if this is the case, was not my real question. Obviously, I misspoke when I used the word "arbitrary." I have recorded large video files on dvd+rw discs that I would like to transfer to my HD for editing. PD keeps truncating them into two files at the benchmark of 3.7 GB. Surely the claim is not being made that no video files over 4 GB are possible on a NTFS formatted drive, as I have numerous large video files that substantially surpass this mark. Many of them I made with PD. I burned them to a dual layer disc, and I have them archived on an external HD, also formatted as NTFS. Using legal software, I have transferred whole dvd files from original discs to my HD, then burned a second personal copy for when I traveled overseas. All of these operations without limitation and without trouble, and all in one file. I have used other video capture software to capture and convert files larger than 3.7 GB without this truncation, but I choose to use PD as I am more comfortable with the interface, and the time is much less for the rip. I continue to assume the issue is me and not the software, as it seems to me it is market suicide for a video editing software to intentionally generate its own problems then say it cannot fix them.
Is there some adjustment somewhere in PD that I do not know about, and if not, how do I put the truncated clips back into one video file without the skips resulting from the dropped frames?
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Thank you, OntheWeb, for taking a shot at this. I do appreciate your response. If PD is following the example of other market software by limiting capture size under the guise of trying to accommodate an arbitrary assumed average system's capabilities, then there should also be some means for the end user to adjust these limits to better integrate within the actual capabilities to which his system can perform. This limitation is coercively truncating a captured clip into two pieces that is obvious in the audio and sometimes video tracks upon recombination. Even if this limitation could be justified as a general rule, where is the logical adjustment feature to allow larger clips to be captured without the internally forced break? My operating system is Windows XP, but I have found nothing in the OS help that addresses this, which is why I defaulted back to the issue being with PD or how it is configured on my machine.
Yes, the "skip" is in the final production too (Audio drops and I often get the sharp crackle or snap that sounds like a feedback skip you used to hear with vinyl records.). Apparently, the break is dropping audio and video frames in the process. I can tweak out some of the distortion with changing the volume at each end of the break, but the dropped frames are still dropped. I am not able to stretch the clip as it is seen as terminating at the break, and if I apply a transition, such as Fade, the break is only amplified. I am experimenting with splicing in a vob file copied into the folder, and looking for a better splice point before or after the forced break. I would rather lose frames at a scene change rather than in the middle of someone talking or a musical crescendo. Sometimes I get lucky, and the break occurs at a commercial of a recorded program, but this boon is of no consequence when I am recording a classic movie. It would be much easier if there were some way to adjust the initial capture size.
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Given another individual has experienced this exact same problem with PD7 even though I am using PD6, the matter is either system or software, with the distinct possibility I may be the source due to not unchecking a condition or entering a certain value in an appropriate box. I have searched the software help and preference menus for anything close to this issue, but I have found nothing. Does anyone have an idea or workaround for this automatic clip separation at 3.7 GB from a dvd+RW disc? If the problem is software, is there a patch that I have missed?
I have looked at each individual vob file and the break made when capturing does not coincide with the start or stop of any one. The break is artificial with the capture/conversion process. Again, considering the consistent clip break is made at 3.7 GB, I am inclined to think the matter is a value in a box rather than an issue with the software, but I do not know where this value is or how adjust it. Any help, ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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Follow up:
After making the above post, I stumbled onto a previous thread referencing the same problem with PD 7 Ultra truncating captured video over 3.7 GB into two clips. I followed the advice given to the OP by copying the vob files to a separate folder (For the test, the movie had five video specific vob files. The menu was vob #6 and not copied.). I then imported all five vob files as a media folder, but rather than see a single "shadow file," I still had five individual vob files. When I placed them on the time line, the transition between each clip had prominent video and audio skips which were much worse than the original problem.
The previous thread on PD7 Ultra did not have a positive conclusion. Does PD in general have a limitation with capturing video in files sizes larger than 3.7 GB? Is this size changeable? As asked previously, is there a smooth way to fuse the clips without experiencing the video and audio burps?
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I am capturing recorded video directly from DVD+RW discs. If the clip length is more than 3.7 GB, PD 6 automatically splits the converted video into two clips. This break is consistently near the 1 hour and 53 minutes mark or 3.7 GB. The remaining clip is anywhere from 1 to 600 MB. The problem is when I try to combine the two clips in Edit, I have an obvious "skip" where the two clips join together. I have looked in the manual and in the help to see if I can adjust the captured video length, but I have found nothing. I am using quality media for recording, and I have used discs recorded on two different dvd recorders. The same problem occurs in every situation. Is there some sort of limit on the size of video that can be captured? Is there a way to adjust this limit? Is there a workaround to seamlessly smooth over the break between the clips? I am recording classic movies so the "skip" is annoyingly noticeable.
FYI: I have not noticed this problem for any clips under the 3.7 GB threshold. Whatever the problem is, it occurs always at that mark. I am operating Windows XP, and I do not run any other background programs when I am capturing, converting or editing.
Thank you for the assistance.
Jim
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Dafydd,
I am not in this to be chided or contentious. The answers are very basic too.
1. GizmoBlip was just a username. I figured AwesomeSuperVideoGod was a bit over the top. I have used my real name at the end of my posts. I should have read the forum rules before my first post, my mistake. I did not think anyone would actually think my real name was GizmoBlip and Jim was a pseudonym, so I allowed myself the lazy luxury of keeping my profile the status quo. Lesson learned, name changed.
2. A little more than a week before my first post in this forum.
3. I never indicated to Cyberlink or anyone else that I wanted a refund. As noted in my last post here, I did not want a refund, I simply wanted PD6 to work as claimed. Generally speaking, the software is not bad. But where it does have its problems--and there are more than a few, it really is annoying and difficult to work with.
4. Yes, for more reasons than searching for a refund I never requested.
5. Again, regardless of what Cyberlink may have in its records, I have never requested or received a refund for this software. No, I do not have a credit in my credit card statements.
Dafydd, the onus is not on me. Proving initial purchase does not prove or refute I ever received a refund. If Cyberlink wishes to claim I received a refund, then they should at least provide me with some information as to where and to whom the refund went. Cyberlink may have given someone a refund, but that someone was not me. The onus is on Cyberlink to give me something to work with.
I have no issues with Cyberlink not wanting to answer questions from individuals who received refunds for their software, although I am a bit puzzled why a person who was so dissatisfied with a Cyberlink product that they demanded a refund (and got it) would continue using the product they did not like and would struggle with the Cyberlink Tech Support they knew would not know the answer. If you recall, I only approached them this last time because you wanted me to tell them my issues with PD6. I expected little from the exchange. Cyberlink is the one who does not care to listen about their product. So be it. I do not like being unique or wasting your time with long posts, so I just moved on.
C'est la vie!
Jim
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Well, I just received another email from Cyberlink Tech Support. They now want me to again prove how and when I purchased PD. Please help me out here. Cyberlink has me on file receiving a refund I never requested or received. One would think that also means they have me on file first owning the software. So providing them with proof of initial purchase before the alleged refund does what to showing them I did not receive a refund at all? The refund is downstream of the initial purchase. Just what does me proving my ownership have to do with refuting the refund or more importantly, the questions I asked about the software? This fiasco was exactly what I referenced above when I said Cyberlink Tech Support is little to no value in sorting out problems with PD. They have different priorities when it comes to customer service. Silly me, I just want to know how to make PD work as claimed. Yeah, I know, spending $1,500 or so on a new machine and upgrading to PD7 will solve all my problems.
I give up.
Jim
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Simple update, Dafydd. I gave another try in contacting the Cyberlink Technical Support last Saturday morning around 10:00 am. I BRIEFLY annotated five separate issues I have been having with PD6. I gave them SHORT descriptions of each problem and how they happened. About seven hours later, I got a response from the Cyberlink saying I was not eligible for assistance because their records showed I previously received a refund for my purchase of the PD software. I immediately informed them they were in error as I have never requested nor received a refund. I politely asked them to provide me with proof of my refund just as they always ask me for proof of my purchase. That was four days ago.
No response. No follow up. No proof. No answers. Wow, deja vu all over again.
So much for great Tech Support, and their interest in resolving issues with their software.
Jim
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Length is a catch 22. When I only give bullet-brevity comments, I am given form letter advice that I have already tried or does not apply. I am then asked to be specific in what I did and the steps I took to arrive where I ended up. What do I do when the rote answers do not work? Consider my time and money a donation to Cyberlink and move on to some other software? Or just purchase the upgrade to PD7 and hope it works better than PD6?
As to the Cyberlink Tech Support, you are kidding right? Their inanity was why I ended up in this forum. Maybe if the techs responded as if they knew more about the program than supplying me with standard cut and paste answers that had little to nothing to do with the problem I was detailing to them, I would consider talking with them a viable option. In the end, the techs were focused more on me constantly sending and resending my personal information and proof of purchase than they were in solving the problems I detailed to them. I am old enough to know when I am being shuffled by a three-card Monty.
So I guess from your response, my issues are beyond the realm of this forum, as no one else has experienced these problems to this degree? I always wanted to be unique, but I was hoping more for celebrity and lucrative endorsements.
Thank you for the help on those issues where things went right, Dafydd. I also appreciate the professional and polite way of telling me to take my issues with PD elsewhere instead of dumping them here. Most other forums just ban you outright. Admittedly, I am new to PD6 and may not know what I am doing, and I do not have the technical expertise to deeply sort out how to make PD play nice within my system. Hopefully, there are other video editing programs out there that are more forgiving.
Jim
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I realize I sound like a broken record, and I regret I went from a positive supporter of PowerDirector to a disgruntled-sounding malcontent, but this software really does have issues that make it very user-unfriendly. Once again, the Disc Menu Designer is crashing consistently and I can only tell when but not why or how to prevent it other than rebuilding a template every time as if it were the first.
Using the paintbrush template, I built a custom disc menu with four thumbnails with chapter titles (Chapter 1, chapter 2, etc) and four separate title lines of text. The menu spans two pages. The thumbnails are still shots, no motion. I used this template successfully once. As the series has three episodes, I opened this template a second time, changed the wording of the text lines to reflect the new episode but I did not change the chapter titles text. I also deleted one line of unnecessary text and adjusted the first text line to make the second line's deletion less noticeable. I also made some minor changes in the fonts and their color to highlight the character of the second episode. Nothing else changed. The background is a colorboard, not an image. No problems, the template worked great, and the disc was burned without problems. For the third episode, I opened the second custom template, changed the wording of the title text lines as before and added one line of text (similar to the first template). I changed the color of the chapter headings. No other changes. When I clicked the template save button, PD crashed. I reopened the program, then the project, then the disc menu designer, then the second template (the third template was completely lost), and tried again. PD crashed. I repeated the process numerous times with the same results. I then opened the template and made changes one at a time, this time saving each change as an individual template to determine which step was causing the crash. When I only changed the font color, the template would save. If I adjusted the text line locations in any way, PD crashed. If I added a line of text, PD crashed. If I changed the font, PD crashed. Mysteriously, when I changed the font color first and saved it as a new template, PD functioned without a glitch. But when I then modified the text of this new template, PD crashed. When I reopened the project and disc menu designer, the new template with the font color changes defaulted back to the original template colors and fonts as if the changes never happened. Go figure.
Thinking the glitch was in the second custom template, I opened the first template in the series and tried to modify the text. I had the exact same problems as experienced with the second template in the exact same places. PD crashed every time I changed the font or the wording (I did not change the text positioning as the first template had four lines of text already.).
I shut down all background programs, ie, antivirus, anti-spyware, every media program, anything that was not necessary. The results were the same. PD keeps crashing when I change the text or the text line positions. This did not happen on either of the first two templates. I have had this same problem before when I modified custom templates, and the only solution was to rebuild the template with exact same architecture with new wording.
Admittedly, I am now tying up all the open series for which PD has a template. I have finally had enough. I am tired of trying to justify the time I am spending sorting out this program. Maybe the problem is me, but I have yet to learn anything about what I should be doing other than being told my machine is the problem. I originally invested time and money in PD because it had reviews claiming it was a stellar program for the novice video editor, but after all the aggravation of trying to get the program to work with the limited Help Index that never seems to have the answers to the questions I am asking, the aggravation of dealing with the abysmal customer service and knowledge base at Cyberlink Technical Support, the aggravation of spending more time troubleshooting than actual editing, and the aggravation of asking the same questions over and over with little to no response, even if it were someone telling me I have no idea what I am talking about and I should be banned for wasting bandwidth, I honestly question whether the reviewers who touted the merits of PD (which was why I went with PD in the first place) had more than a snootful when they gave PD a gold star rating.
Just the rantings of frustrated novice.
Jim
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Wow. This seems to be a familiar theme. I keep trying to give PD the benefit of the doubt, but the frustration only surfaces in another location. Does anyone else have difficulty with the interface of the disc menu designer. I find it very tricky navigating between custom menus without often losing a template simply because the way the menu designer works.
1. When I am modifying a custom template for a different episode of the same show, I have to save it three and four times in the design process because PD has a tendency to crash as I am making the template and I lose my work. Then, when I go back to delete the intermediate templates once the final is finished, the menu designer has a tendency to keep defaulting back to the final and deleting the wrong template, usually the final! Very frustrating to say the least!
2. I just spent an hour making a custom template, only to have menu designer delete it when I tried to rename it. This too has happened more than once. I highlighted the template, clicked rename. When I clicked the delete button to remove letters in the highlighted title text, the designer deletes the template. To my chagrin, I clicked the delete button twice because I wanted to remove several letters in the first word, and PD deleted the current template as well as defaulting back to the first template in the custom templates folder and deleted the first template too. Other programs at least ask you first to make sure you want to delete a complete template before performing the operation.
3. As noted in a previous post, the disc designer has issues not highlighting text links and navigation buttons, even though I click on the appropriate commands in the button menus. For some reason, the highlight colors do not carry over into the preview or the disc burn. The only way I have found around this problem, is to rebuild a menu from scratch every time. Not very time/cost effective.
4. Why does the alignment on the text links always go out of alignment whenever I reopen the template for editing?
5. Why does the disc designer not default to apply to all pages instead of defaulting to only applying a particular feature to just the first page, and having you click the apply to all pages button? I can understand the current page default when initially working with a template, but when you have to check the box every time on templates that are already built, it seems the program should default to previous settings for a template to make menu editing easier.
6. I am not able to delete images used on a previous template that I am modifying for a new episode. When I try to click and delete, the image stays. If I click on the "deleted" image again, PD crashes. Consequently, I often have menu templates for a series of shows with menus having two and three images from previous episodes hidden in the background. This has to pose size and memory issues which causes crashes.
7. There is no feature to allow background image changes in text menus as exists with thumbnail menus. The only real workaround is to add an image and expand the borders to cover the menu screen. But then, this poses annoying issues with editing text on the same screen as the designer has a nasty habit of giving the image precedence even when you try to put the image in the background. Usually I have to resort to the Object Menu to navigate between text objects. If I wait until the end to add the image and add all my text first, I can usually forestall a few PD crashes and the above noted navigation headaches. However, I invariably need to adjust the text around the image, and the crashes, alignment annoyances and navigation gymnastics ensue. Heaven forbid, I need to open, close and reopen the template more than once; and this does not take into account all the intermediate templates I have to make between the first and final versions and the gauntlet I run when trying to sort out which templates are keepers and which are to be deleted, not to mention having to rename the good ones (which I cross my fingers and hope I perform correctly so the designer does not delete it).
Another long post on annoying features with PD6. If I am doing something the hard way, will someone please tell me something easier. I am spending way too much time remaking templates, troubleshooting the program, writing on forums and justifying the expense of this program.
Jim
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OK, so I uninstalled and reinstalled PD6 thinking this would straighten out the myriad of issues I have been having with this program, so I can spend less time troubleshooting why it is not working correctly and more time on my video projects. This navigation button problem is one of many I was hoping to see disappear after the aggravation of a reinstall. Well, I followed the directions posted in this forum for this action, and while some of the problems seem to have gone away, a number of the original problems still remain. Yeah, I know it could be my machine, but these issues can also easily be the software. This navigation button issue is truly annoying.
Several of my video projects are for episodes of the same show with different chapters, main title and episode duration. For ease, I built a custom disc menu template, and I change the different information for each show for each new project. However, the menu designer seems to have a stubborn mind of its own. I built the template using a text link menu. I normally have three to six links per page for one to four pages, depending upon the episode. Some of the problems enjoyed:
1. I can change the highlight color on the text links, but not the navigation buttons. No matter what color I chose for the text links, the navigation buttons only allow green.
2. If I change the size or location of the navigation buttons, the highlight feature disappears altogether. I am blind to which navigation button is active.
3. If I use a custom template, and simply change the show-specific information without changing any template architecture, the text links will highlight properly, but the navigation buttons appear to default to no highlight and I am again blind to which button is active. The only way around this problem is to build the disc menu from scratch every time. This problem occurs even when I copy a template that has fully functioning links and navigation buttons. The copied template navigation buttons do not highlight, and I have to start over.
4. If I open a template, make changes then, save as a new template or just click the green checkmark, the current template maintains integrity. If I reopen the template to edit any feature or simply check details, all of my text links are out of alignment, and I have to realign them every time. If I do not check the apply to every page, the template has a memory only for the first page and the text links of the other pages are out of alignment. This occurs every time I open a template, whether I change anything or not. Extremely annoying!
5. Why is there no way to change the background of a text link disc menu the same way you can change the background of a thumbnail disc menu? The only way I have found to change the background is to add an image and expand it to the size of the menu screen. This poses serious inconvenience when you try to jump between objects on the screen, as the background image usurps precedence at the expense of all other objects. Invariably, you have to resort to the Object Tab select between objects to perform simple editing operations. Further, whenever I save a particular template with a large background object, and I wish to use this template for another episode but with a different background object, the original background image cannot be deleted. I end up having to minimize the size of the first image to hopefully decrease the footprint and conceal the this first image with the second image I want. If I try to delete the first image, it will stay on the screen. If I click on this "deleted" image again, PD usually crashes and I lose everything on the new disc menu. I have learned this the hard way more than once. Sometimes, however, the disc menu does allow me to delete the old background image when I first open it. I have not figured out how or why or discovered how to duplicate this moment of generosity. It just happens. I have recently learned I can delete these extra images through the back door of opening the template in Windows through the menu folder in My Documents. However, this is tricky as the templates are not easily identified, and some templates have more than one folder. So much for being user friendly.
6. Why does this disc menu default to having to always check the box to Apply to All Pages, instead of having a memory where the last setting for a particular template is remembered? I have had to reopen more than a few templates just to check this box after I thought I was finished, all the while having to endure the realignment gymnastics every time as noted earlier.
7. The Help Index is very limited on dealing with disc designer issues (as well as other editing features). The navigation button issue is a great example. The only real reference to navigation buttons explains how to change the highlight color of menu items, but menu items are not the same as navigation buttons. You have to hope and assume they act the same. The Help index also does not tell you what to do if the navigation button highlight color disappears or only stays green. Forget trying to locate information on how to modify or swap navigation buttons, such as why only certain varieties of navigation buttons are only available on stock templates, but not available for use in the custom menu (The buttons on the thumbnailed Paintbrush template are only available for use on the Paintbrush menu. For that matter, some of the button choices in the disc designer are so specific, I cannot fathom why they are included as choices anyway, e.g., the jigsaw, flower and two-tone oval buttons. For a template selection menu, generic styles with changeable colors are a much better feature than what is available in PD6.). And forget trying to get any substantive assistance from the Cyberlink techs for any question. That is laughably nonexistent. Whether or not English is their first or fifth language is irrelevant when they cluelessly demonstrate a low-end intelligence quotient of a chimpanzee when they spit out cut and paste, form letter responses to every question that hopefully sound close to right because the words in the answer are somewhat similar to words in the response. If they happen to get it right on any attempt, it only serves to prove the cosmic truth that a blind pig does find a truffle once in a while. I wonder how many people have turned away from Cyberlink products based upon the shallow tech support from the Tech Line? In my experience, the Cyberlink Help Line solves few if any issues, but it has consistently generated more than its share of angst and frustration separate from the anxiety of the original question. Save this forum, nothing exists anywhere to sort out Cyberlink product issues. Sad commentary.
As noted above, I just did a reinstall of PD6, and several problems persist. I have defragged my HDs, moved some things around to make room for PD functions, and disabled some programs. Short of buying a new machine (which is not an option at this time) or wiping everything off my machine save PD (which is not an option at any time), I am wondering what else can be done to sort out these matters. While the issues noted above are not my only ongoing gripes with PD, I still like PD for its ease of use when it is working properly (and I am highly resistant to change once I have learned how to use a particular program.). However, when I am spending the same amount of time or more on troubleshooting a program as I am on editing my projects, I eventually have to warm up to the idea better software may be out there even if it may cost a little more in time and money in the short term.
Yeah, I know this post is l-o-n-g. I genuinely appreciate the assistance and efforts of anyone who can help salvage my faith and confidence in PD. I would rather be editing. All help welcomed.
Gasping my last before calling it quits,
Jim
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Thanks, Dafydd, that will be about as much fun as contracting the plague. I figured it was all going that way anyway. Do I need to migrate all of my custom templates to another folder before I reinstall? If I do, will I stand the chance of having my templates rejected by the new install? I will be putting the templates in the same folder once the reinstall is complete. Nothing else will have moved, ie, images, waves, etc. I have all of these items stored on a different partition. Only the templates will be effected...hopefully.
Jim
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Does anyone know how to restore/change the navigation button highlight feature? Worked fine until a week ago. I have tried everything on the button menus in Menu Designer. Nothing works. No highlight colors work. The highlight features work for text links with the designated color, but the color highlights for thumbnail buttons works only with certain colors (and even then the colors are dramatically changed from the selected color as if something is masking the original color choice. For instance, if I select green highlight, the actual color seen is a dingy brown. As noted, whatever color I choose for the menu/chapter links, nothing is seen in the navigation buttons, except for a dull gray/black for certain colors when I am able to get any color at all. It also appears that I am only able to get the dull gray/black color with select navigation button styles.
I think something may have corrupted my program files, but I am trying to sort out the easier solutions first. Any ideas?
Jim
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I have not had the chance to crack my case yet, as I have been working on a video project. To my chagrin, a new problem with the disc menu designer has brought the work to a halt while I try to figure out just what is happening. Due to the crash problems associated with the template I was using for this project, I built a new one from scratch. The template was customized from the thumbnail paintbrush template. I put a black colorboard as the background, and I have four thumbnails arranged in a square pattern with an image in the middle identifying the movie. A simple title at the top and the navigation buttons underneath the image at lower center. There are three pages total with 11 buttons. I set it up in the designer window for each thumbnail to highlight with a red border when selected and the navigation buttons to highlight green. By the designer, everything is correct. When I click save as a template, no issues. The template saves. When I click the green check, no issues. The main screen returns. But when I click preview in the disc menu, all highlight features "disappear," at least, that is what seems to happen. In actuality, the thumbnail highlights are being hidden by something, as if muted behind a second colorboard. When the highlight is red, the color is a faint gray/black that is not seen at all on a final burn. When I re-opened the disc designer to the button page, all highlights were turned off. When I select the red border again, the designer highlights red border. I click save template or green check, the red border remains. When I click preview on the disc menu window, the red border disappears to the faint black. I tried green, the highlight changes to a muted brown. Yellow is undetectable. Every time I re-open the modified template with the disc designer, the button highlights default back to none. Regretfully, I did not discover this glitch until after I spent another three hours burning the project to dvd. Now I have a copy of a video project with a bum navigation menu. I still have not figured out why the button highlights show bright red or green on the disc designer window, but muted to the point of non-existent on the disc menu preview and actual burned disc. The objects list does not show any other images on the template other than the movie image. I changed the background using the change background command. This is the first time I have ever had this problem and I have numerous disc title templates with colorboard backgrounds that have not effected the highlights. What is equally annoying is how the disc designer always defaults to its base rather than the customized template's base. For instance, I have to check the apply to all pages button every time I open the disc designer on any given template. One would think the template should have some characteristic memory, but it does not. Whenever I open a template--even the same template within the same project, I have to physically check apply to all pages. To add further frustration into the mix, every time I open a custom template, the disc designer literally changes the alignment or moves the text on the page. I have to re-align or adjust my text every time. And if I forget to check the apply to every page box, the text on subsequent pages will be shifted and out of alignment while the first page is ok. If I re-open to fix the text on the other pages, the text on the first page is moved again. When something like the button highlighting does not work and requires multiple openings of the template to sort, having to fix the text every time really grates on your nerves.
Another frustrating chapter in using PD. I am danger close to just throwing in the towel. I spend more time these days troubleshooting PD than working on my projects. What started out as a cost effective, fun program to use is turning into an irksome waste of time. It is always something new to contend with when I open PD and try again. Now it looks like the only way to make PD work is to buy a new machine. Not quite what I had in mind. And to think I used to laugh at videogamers who build $1,500 dollar plus machines so they can play a $50 dollar game, only to have their hot new machine be obsolete when the next generation of games comes out the next year. Now I get to chase a low dollar program with a high dollar machine too.
I don't know, Dafydd; there are just too many issues that seem program-related rather than my machine related. Maybe I am just too dense to understand or make the correlation. I will check the HD connections as soon as I sort out this disc menu problem.
Jim
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Thanks, Dafydd, for the patience. I looked at the links provided. While a new machine would definitely be a welcome sight, the budget is not flexible enough at this time to consider it an option. That being said, I will crack my case and check my HDs to determine their connections. My second, bigger HD is not original with the unit, and I do not remember how it is connected. I do have two other 500 GB SATA Seagate HDs that I had purchased for a new build that had to be put on hold. If necessary, I will do a swap and migration. Major pain, but worth it if it solves my problem.
Again, thanks for the help. I am not trying to run down PD. I really like it when it is working right. It is easy to use and more user friendly than some of the other programs I have tried. Regretfully, it is also a bit more fickle.
Jim
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Dafydd
Hi, Dafydd, thank you for the help with this one. While I can genuinely appreciate the focus on my computer hardware, I still think PD has much to do with its own troubles. I admit my machine is not the latest and greatest. It is a Pentium 4 with 1 GB RAM. The RAM is relatively new as I replaced it about 6 months ago. My data storage is on its own partitions. I have three working partitions at 108 GB, 100 GB and 15 GB on my local HDDs with two external HDs of 500 GB and 350 GB connected via USB. I only work off the internal HDs (I transfer projects from the external HDs due to the slower USB connections. The external HDs are storage and archive only.). I do not edit off a dvd disc. I record raw material to disc, then capture from the disc to the HD.
All of my HDs have been defragmented (I do this regularly as I am always moving data from my internal working partitions to my archives on the external HDs.). I have both SATA and IDE hard drives and the problems experienced are not exclusive to either type. I have shut down all background processes when I am capturing and burning, but the problems persist. In accordance with your instructions, I also shut down several background processes during the editing process also, especially anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, but the crash issues are the same. I have moved some projects to other locations to free up space in the working areas to give PD more room to function. No change on the program failures. I am wearing out crash dummies on this end along with my patience.
Today, I noticed a few more intermittent quirks related to capture, but they are not consistent with every action. When I capture video from a source, the recorded box usually gives me a running total of transferred data. Lately, this counter has been staying at 0.0 bytes but the transfer occurs all the same. Further, the pie chart space available indicator on the capture screen has been highly inaccurate, especially when it involves reading space on a mounted hard drive. It is a bit more accurate with internal lettered drives with a bit more variance with external hard drives. Mounted drives forget it. The indicator is way off the mark. While I have been ignoring it, I wonder if this is representative of a bigger issue and may have something to do with the crashes when it deals with mounted drives. Regretfully, the crashes are not limited to operations involving access to these drives.
While pointing to my hardware my easily explain some of the problems. PD’s penchant to crash when trying to save disc menus, accessing the help index, trying to advance a video clip using the arrow buttons (on a first time video capture project) or completely freezing on a video capture from a known good dvd +RW disc are all matters that point to the program first. I can appreciate if PD is in conflict with some other program for resources as PD does have an obviously voracious appetite for memory, but that still does not explain why it is crashing all the time. When PD is performing an operation, whether it be capture, edit or burn, it is not uncommon for my memory to instantly skyrocket to 100% and stay there for the duration of PD's performance. That obviously brings my PC to a screeching halt. Is this normal? As of today, I am not able to save a disc menu due to the program crashing whenever I try to save the menu either as a template using the template icon or a simply save using the green check mark. The whole program just crashes. I have had to rebuild the disc menu five times without success. Needless to say, I am ready to call it quits with PD.
I installed the latest build weeks ago when I had other issues with PD. I am at my wits end with this program. I will try another reinstall. Hopefully it will not result in the mess I had the last time.
Thanks again, Dafydd. I am crossing my fingers on this one.
Jim
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As an update, I have been using PD6 heavily since my last post trying to get as many of my projects finished before I have to perform a radical uninstall/reinstall of PD just to get it to work without all the aggravation. Consequently, several more issues that I did not mention in the first post came to attention.
1. PD freezes often on capture from discs that it previously did not have problems. Usually when this happens, the video will preview in the capture screen, but will freeze on the start to record it to a HD folder. One out of five captures will preview the clip for a second or two then freeze up catastrophically requiring a complete termination of PD and starting over. If I wait and do nothing, the clip will "unfreeze" for a brief second or two, then lurch to a halt again. Again, I have to completely terminate and start over it clear the problem.
2. A weird quirk in the capture: sometimes PD will play the video to be captured automatically, other times it only displays a still in the monitor and will not play at all, even if I click the play button. When it does play, the only way to stop it is to click the play arrow first (even though it is playing) then click the stop button. If I click the stop button only, I have a 50/50 chance of either locking the program or having nothing happen at all. Further, if I have two programs on the disc to be copied, I can only see and access the first one if I wish to view it on the capture monitor. This is true even when I only check the second program and leave the box on the first program blank.
3. Sometimes when I am capturing video off a disc, PD will go into a glacially slow capture where it takes almost an hour to retrieve the material. This slowdown is not dependent upon the length of the video clip or the brand of the disc. It just happens. The only solution is to terminate the program completely and start over.
4. PD will randomly crash (about 1 in 8 commands) when I click OK on the first Produce menu screen after I identify where I want the produced clip to go.
5. PD will randomly crash (about one in five commands) when I try to modify a custom disc menu or when I change between custom templates. It is as if I somehow asked the PD to do more than it is capable of doing so it simply melts down.
6. The music saved with the disc menus consistently drops off when I close or start a new template, no matter how many times I save the template/menu or which command I use to perform the function.
I realize PD may be corrupted, and a reinstall is the only solution to "fix" the problem. However, I have already reinstalled PD several times in the short few months I have used it. Each time is a major undertaking as the reinstall wipes out my tags to the previously built projects. Is anyone else having these same issues or am I just the lightening rod that makes smooth running for everyone else possible?
If anyone has any viable suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. As I said earlier, I like PD for its ease of use and the interface. However, if PD has difficulties maintaining stability or does not play well with other programs on my computer, I am forced to face the facts I will need to learn another editing program. Having to regularly reinstall the program knowing it will wipe out my previous work or the tags to my .pds files just to reset the program is a poor solution no matter how much I like PD. Shelling out more money for the upgrade to PD7 is definitely not a strong solution considering my growing lack of confidence in PD6. When PD is working right, it is a great program, but the inconvenience of having the program self-terminate frequently for a variety of reasons at all the wrong times is getting more than a bit old.
Jim
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Just curious. I have been using PD6 for a few months, and personally like several things about the program. However, PD has lately been acting more like a lazy employee being paid by the hour rather than a motivated consultant being paid by the project. For instance, I just finished a simple video project where the editing literally involved snipping a few seconds off the beginning and the end and the putting in 12 chapters at 12 minute intervals for the body of the film. I had to wrestle a bit with the disc menu, but I managed to get it to cooperate. PD6 then took a little over 3 ½ hours to produce titles. That seems a bit excessive. The physical burn process only took three minutes. I checked the memory usage during the processing phase and it was off the charts at 328,000 K. When the burn was completed, PD continued to hog resources to the tune of 319,000K. Wow. Yesterday, it took 2 hours just to process an hour clip with four chapters and no thumbnail links, only text buttons. I have also had some other weird quirks evolve over time.
1. If I capture material from a dvd disc then transfer it to a workplace via EDIT, PD will crash the first time I try to advance the video using the frame advance arrows under the viewing screen. However, if I open a project first from my HD, and advance a few frames with the arrows, I can then capture any clip I want from any source and use the arrows until my fingers are numb. Go figure.
2. I still cannot get the chapters to retain the images I set for them. PD consistently dumps the chapters images whenever I go to another effects mode. I have to put the chapters in last if I want them to stay for the disc creation.
3. The disc menu is a nightmare. Whenever I save a template, the alignment for text links consistently bumps and jumps. I have yet to have any two templates stay the same for the same project.
4. Once a disc menu template is made, I cannot images out of it to modify it for another project. When I try to delete a background image or some other image that I do not want, the image stays on the screen, but I cannot access it again. Further, if I try to do anything else to the “deleted” image, PD crashes and everything is lost.
5. Lately, I have had problems with PD crashing when I try to access the Help index with a project open. Needless to say, that is really frustrating. I have to save the project, close the project, open Help, then reopen the project for to apply what I needed to know.
There are other problems, but I cannot remember them at the moment. Suffice to say, PD crashed more these days than a clown in a bumper car. If it were not for the fact I like the way PD is easy to edit and make videos, I would have given up long ago.
The last time you helped me, Dafydd, I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling PD just to get it to work right. I would do this again, but the last time I did this, PD would not recognize my projects that I had saved prior to the reinstall. I had to reload and re-edit all the clips and builds. I have over 50 projects in my computer this time, so I am not keen on trying another reinstall. Is there something I am missing that may be the problem? Does the size of the working folder have anything to do with these problems? Why is the the memory usage off the charts for simple projects?
Any help would be appreciated. Again.
Jim
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