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They fobbed me off when I tried this, but I'm having another go.
Today I finally gave up on PD22. I was working on a very simple 5 minute clip which I color-corrected in CDR and then edited on the timeline. Editing was painfully slow as PD22 is so laggy, especially with the CDR edits. I finally rendered the clip (edited to 3:15 mins) and it took 13 minutes to render(!)
Looking at the output, I then realised it required a further color-correction. Here's the issue - the clip was divided into about 20 edits each one of which would need to be corrected. But not a problem - I take one edit into CDR, correct it and then, back in the PD timeline, apply that change to all the edits on the timeline. Then I remembered - there is no 'Apply to All' in PD22, so I'm stumped!
Not wishing to go backwards and forwards between PD and CDR twenty separate times, I decided to go back to PD17 (where fortunately I also had the clip set up.) While there, I decided I'd do a bit of re-editing and was amazed how much easier it was (no lagging, everything immediate and responsive). I applied the new color-corrections in CDR and then rendered the clip (now extended to 3:41). To add insult to injury - it took only 7 mins to rendered dispite being 26 seconds longer!
How did we end up with a version that performs worse in every respect - feature set, ease and speed of editing, rendering time - than a version that is 7 years old? Astonishing!
Paul
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Yes, that is interesting and I don't doubt it. Obviously, I can only report what I'm seeing with my setup, which is pretty old (though I do have a GTX 2080S GPU). As I said, it's quite mysterious. (I should add that in all my previous versions - PD10, 14, 17 - the yellow handles have always worked very smoothly. PD24 is the exception.)
Paul
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As I said, I'm still doing some testing of performance in PD24 compared to PD17. Here's something I noticed - I noted above how the yellow handles that you use to highlight a portion of the clip on the timeline (do they have a name?) are very laggy in PD24 (almost like the programme can't keep up with the movement on the timeline), but very smooth (for an identical clip) in PD17.
I've now tested CPU usage in each case. In PD24 , usage of my CPU (a fairly old i7-6700) goes from 4% to 12% when I move the yellow handles. But in PD17, it goes from 4% to 40%. Quite a big difference!
What does this mean? That PD24 is more optimised in its use of CPU resources compared to PD17? Or, bearing in mind the laggy behaviour, that something is throttling PD24's use of the CPU meaning it's taking longer to process. (Note that hardware acceleration is enabled in both PD24 and 17). It's all quite mysterious!
Paul
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Underwhelmed about PD24 and quite anxious to get away from it, but not really wanting to revert back to PD17, I'm wondering whether to go for a standalone version of PD21. Amazon appear to be selling PD21 Ultra for £57.90 here
My questions:
- not sure about 'Ultra' - is there missing functionality?
- linkage with ColorDirector - I have CDR 365, will a standalone version of PD21 integrate with it so I can toggle videos between the two programmes as with my existing versions of PD?
- assume I'll need to uninstall PD24/365 to make this one work as the default. Could that impact on my CDR installation etc.?
Very depressing situation that I even need to ask about this (as well as paying an extra £58!) but there you go.
Paul
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They have definitely bulked up 2024 with a bunch of useless crap (AI pictures... really?), and "moved the cheese" (IT term) for a lot of heavily used features. In some cases completely removed the cheese. I think they are gearing the software towards the novice tictok kiddos instead of people trying to make professional looking videos. I have rolled back to v21 and when I have time I'm going to look into a more professional grade software.
Thanks, that's exactly what I suspected. I'm definately looking to go back to PD17 as it does appear to be a lot smoother to use (though I'm still doing a bit of testing around this.) A real shame that I still have 8 months left on my subscription!
An alternative is to look at a standalone version of PD21 - is this available to buy?
Paul
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I was doing a test on an identical clip in PD24 and PD17. The good news - both versions appear to render the clip in about the same time (PD24 being 6 seconds slower than PD17 for a 2 minute clip.) The bad news - I was struck by how much smoother the whole editing experience was in PD17. For example - the two yellow handles used to highlight a portion of the clip on the timeline for rendering don't work properly in PD24, they constantly stick, compared to their smooth operation in PD17. Another example - when advancing the timeline by 1 second in the clip, there's a noticeable delay in the preview window in PD24 whereas it's fairly instantaneous in PD17. Editing just seems much more clunky in PD24 compared to PD17.
Why would this be? Surely PD24 is a more advanced and optimised version? My suspicion - the application isn't optimised and is taking more processing time to carry out the same editing processes. I'm working really hard to stick with PD24, but the discovery that it's actually slower than PD17 to carry out basic editing is really testing my patience!
Paul
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It's now version 22.0.2126.0 (I installed the update). No idea what it's changed. Still same putrid colours. And the scrubber still doesn't go to the beginning of the clip on the timeline!
Paul
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Have just noticed a new update is available via the Application Manager. Has anyone tried it? Is it safe? I'm being ultra-cautious about installing any updates from CL at the moment!
Paul
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When you use the manual delete of shadow files in pref you have to do that with a clean session of PD so no shadow files are active. If any shadow files are part of current loaded project, they won't be deleted. When your real project is opened again, shadow files will be regenerated if they were set in pref.
Shadow files have been known to create lots of issues, you should review if you really need or want them active.
Jeff
Thanks for this response. I've had this problem too in the past and was wondering what caused it. Do we really need shadow files? They take up disc space as well!
Paul
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A few hours after reading your original post, I used the rate us link and told them what I thought about the software. I also contacted tech support. Whether those 2 departments speak to one another or not, I don't know, but my problem was resolved when they gave me a link to down load version 21. With version 21 installed again and working - I can continue to easily edit my videos as I have done for many years.
Impressed by the response you received, I got onto tech support and asked for the same thing (ie. a download link for PD21). This is their response:
Hi Paul,
Thank you for writing back. Regarding reverting to PowerDirector 365 v21 it worked for you. In the new version of PowerDirector 2024/365, the editing layout has been re-designed from scratch. CyberLink keeps adding new features and adjusting the program interface in PowerDirector 365 to enhance user experience and software compatibility between PowerDirector versions from time to time.
For the concern of version downgrade, PowerDirector 365 which you subscribed to is a subscription license that would keep your program as the latest version during the subscription period. We are afraid CyberLink does not offer version downgrade service for subscription license users.
So no joy for me alas!
Paul
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Sadly, it doesn't!
Paul
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Yes, I think I'd like to go back if possible. I was enjoying PD21.
Paul
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Interestingly, I have a response from CL:
Hi Paul,
Thank you for contacting CyberLink Technical Support.
We understand that you have feedback about the new version of PowerDirector 365. We are more than willing to assist you.
With reference to your feedback, we have escalated your suggestions to our product team as software changes and improvement references.
Thank you for your report and feedback.
Please feel free to contact us back for further clarification or assistance to CyberLink Products. Use the link below to get back to us:
https://membership.cyberlink.com/support/service/technical-support.do
Thanks and Regards,
Radford
CyberLink Technical Support
Does this mean, "we're listening" or, "speak to the hand"?
Paul
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I still can't find the Edge Enhancement. Neither in Edit > Video > Tools, nor in the Color tab. Disappointing.  Can anyone help, please?
(PowerDirector team: you might need a feature search feature like in Office nowadays...)
Edge enhancement is still there, but they're removed the toggle button in editing. So now you have to take the long way round and do it via keyframe settings:
right click - edit clip keyframe - adjustment
The option is there under 'white balance'. If you add a single keyframe and enter the degree of enhancement that should set it for the whole clip.
Paul
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Thanks for this, I hadn't spotted it! To me it looks very similar to the old version, though I take the point from the prevous poster: as far as I can see, the controls now act on every clip in the timeline rather than at a point within a clip. OK if you want to do a general adjustment, but not much use if you want to do fine tuning within a clip.
Paul
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Probably a good idea to share that directly with the devs & marketing team by using File | Rate Us & Provide Suggestions
I think this is good advice from optodata and I decided to take it up. I rated the application 'one star' and added the following comment:
This is the worst version of Power Director I have yet worked with.
(1) It crashes when I try to load FX onto the timeline.
(2) Why has 'Apply to All' been removed from Editing?
(3) Why does the scrubber no longer go to the beginning of a clip when you click on it?
(4) Why has user-intuitive functionality (eg. opacity) been transferred from the timeline to menus in Editing therefore adding to the work-flow?
(5) Why have other user-intuitive functions (such as the 'View Details' icon in the Library) also been transferred behind menus thereby requiring more clicks to obtain the same outcome?
(6) Also the colour scheme is hideous!
You've taken an elegant and intuitive user-interface that has worked well through a series of iterations over years and 'dumbed' it down to something that even moderately advanced users find totally frustrating.
Please bring back PD21!
Don't know if it will make any difference, but perhaps others might like to try as well?
Paul
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I think the OP is asking 'What happened to the Audio Mixing Room which presented audio meters for Voice, Music and multiple Audio Streams?' And yes, it has gone to be replaced by a generic and simplified 'Audio' tab in the Editing menu.
I think I now understand what's happened to the UI in PD24 - all the controls have been simplified, dumbed-down and moved into Editing. This represents a huge loss of functionality for even moderately advanced users!
Paul
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It looks like they've transferred almost all controls into the Edit menu and the two tabs under 'Video' - tools and color. As well as transferring controls from the timeline, they've also done it from the Preview Window. There used to be useful set of grabs in the corners and mid-way so you could manually size the picture in-video (so to speak). Now you have to use 'Position/Size/Flip' in the Tools tab of the Edit menu.
I don't mind them adding these tools, but why remove the pre-existing functionality that has served us so well over years?
It rather reminds me of when Microsoft summarily dispensed with Movie Maker in favour of a 'simplified' version in Windows 7 with a lot of the functionality stripped out or dumbed down. Apparently that was 'progress'! I do hope that Power Director isn't going the same way.
Paul
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Thanks for posting this thread as I've just discovered that this (basic) functionality - present in all previous versions - has been removed in PD24.
A basic workaround would be to highlight all the clips on the timeline, then 'Edit' - 'Color' and your changes should be applied to all.
However, I have a specific problem with the removal of this functionality - one of my workflows is to set up the project in PD, arrange and edit the clips in the timeline and then take one of the clips into ColorDirector for the colour corrections. I then return to PD and use 'Apply to All' to add the colour corrections to all the clips. This is a very simple, intuitive process, quick to do and very effective. It appears to have been removed for no good reason whatsoever!
This is ironic for me as the only reason I subscribed to PD365 was to get better integration with ColorDirector! I now face having to manually correct each clip separately in CDR before rendering the final edit. How is this an improvement?
Paul
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I've been using PD for over a decade (since PD10 days) and I think this is by far the worst version that I've had. I've posted elsewhere about the instability issues, so I won't labour that point. But it is shocking how they've undermined the user-interface for editing, for no rhyme or reason that I can see.
Thanks for your list Jeff, I hadn't spotted that they've removed the functionality of "Apply to All' from the editing menu. This is a bust for me as I use this a lot if I've got multiple clips on the timeline and I want to do color-editing of one clip and then apply it to the others. I guess the workaround would be to highlight all the clips on the timeline and then edit them all simultaneously, but that's just more cumbersome isn't it? And 'cumbersome' seems to be the keyword for PD24!
Here's another (small) example - there was an icon in PD21 that enabled you to toggle the view in the Library from icons to details. This seems to have gone (I can't find it), but instead you have to click on three dots to open an additonal menu and then click again on 'View' and then click for a third time on 'Details View'. So they've replaced a one click operation with three clicks. How is this an intuitive user-interface?!
Finally, thanks Jeff for saying that the timeline colours are 'putrid'. Whoever thought that vomit yellow was an appropriate colour for clips? The FX tracks show up in a lurid green. Whatever happened to good taste and design in the presentation of this application?
Paul
EDIT: just realised my workaround on 'Apply to All' won't work when I'm making colour corrections in ColorDirector and then importing back into PD as you can only work on one clip at a time in CDR. That's a blow! I may post a specific thread about this.
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