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I submitted a couple of enhancement requests for PD9 related to slideshows and I am wondering if anyone can tell me if they were implemented? The first is that PD9 adjust the duration of the slides to match the length of the music rather than repeating slides to fill in the time. The other reuest was to allow the users to select more than one music track for a slideshow.
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
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Do you have a private location for uploads?
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I recently purchased PowerDVD 10 and need your help. Some media files, including Blu-ray DVDs play just fine. However, there are an equal number of files where the video plays but there is no audio whatsoever through my speakers or headphones. These same files play fine through Windows Media Player. This is a standalone PC (i.e., not an HTPC) and my speakers are attached to the Creative Labs X-Fi card through the black, green, and yellow cables. Also, the results are the same in and out of Cinema Mode. I've attached MediaInfo images for a file that works and one that doesn't. I've also included the corresponding PowerDVD information. The ATI High Definition Audio Device is turned off in Device Manager. I hope one of you folks have a solution. Thanks in advance for your help.
My system: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit; Intel i7-980X; 6GB memory; Radeon 5870 video card; Creative Labs Soundblaster X-Fi Fatality sound card.
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First, I want to thank everyone for their suggestions and participation in this discussion. Now for some new information using 10:27 of HD video I was able to find ...
MPEG-2: Thanks to the advice of someone earlier, I am now aware of the ATi Overdrive panel and the information it contains. With it I was able to determine that no matter what my Hardware video encoder selection is, the program utilizes the GPU. This is true of the default (HD) MPEG-2 1080i profile as well as my 1920*1080p custom profile. Go figure!
H.264: GPU acceleration makes a whopping difference! It took 23:35 using the AVCHD 1920*1080 (24Mbps) profile without acceleration and only 11:05 with acceleration! WOW!
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Andrew may be on to something. Just for kicks try a new project by putting a few high definition PiPs on top of your video track. Basically you want to overload your i7. Now try rendering this project with Stream turned on and off and see what happens. Regardless of your results of this tests I do agree that it is disappointing that you did not get any rendering speed improvement. Was there any difference in video quality?
Unfortunately I do not have any HD tracks to do what you suggested.
Not only was there no speed improvement, it slowed the process down by almost 13%!
With regard to the quality: To my 57 year old eyes they both looked equally as good.
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Hi Bannon,
Did the footage you were rendering have any enhancements applied to it? For example, did you apply something like the sharpness enhancement to all your clips?
Cheers,
Andrew
"The footage" is a little over 300 photos for a slideshow with an MP3 file for music and that is it. There are no special affects aside from the Ken Burns affect the Slideshow wizzard applies. If I didn't say this already the output is a custom MPEG-2 profile with the following parameters:
Resolution: 1920*1080
Mode: CVBR
Average Bitrate: 20000
Maximum Bitrate: 25000
Frame Type: Progressive
Speed/quality: 7
Audio: DD5.1
Audio compression: 384
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Thanks for the response Andy and the conclusion in the thread you referenced is disappointing because good hardware encoding is one of the reasons behind me choosing PD8 and the ATi 5870. I wonder how PD8's competitors fare with their hardware encoding solutions. In other words, is this a limitation in PD8 or is it an ATi limitation?
Speaking of the next version, what is Cyberlink's update cycle for their PowerDirector product?
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I was on a quest to find a GPU encoding solution that worked with PowerDirector 8 to create MPEG-2 video as well as H.264 so today I replaced my nVidia GTX 295 video card with a Radeon 5870 and I must say that I am disappointed with the results. Prior to replacing the card I’d created a 25:29 MPEG-2 1080p video without GPU acceleration in 16:49. I expected the GPU accelerated creation to scream after I installed the 5870, the 10.3 Catalyst drivers, and the latest version of AVIVO but that didn’t happen. Instead, it took 18:41, almost two minutes longer! Does anyone have any thoughts why that happened? I used the exact same profile for both runs and yes, the Hardware Video Encoder button was selected. My system specs are: Windows 7 64-bit; i7 920, 6GB memory, 160GB SSD C drive; 1 TB D drive with more than 800Gb free; and Creative Labs X-Fi sound card.
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Thanks for the additional suggestion. Does the manual explain what the GOP Pattern is and suggest patterns? Does the GOP Pattern determine whether the output is interlaced or progressive?
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Thanks for the reply Jamie. That option is present for MPEG-2 but unfortunately not for H.264. I believe I sacrifice Hardware Video Encoding with MPEG-2 because I have an nVidia graphics card. Tough choice!
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Is it possible to output 1080p H.264 or MPEG-2 files with PD8? If so, how?
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Thank you very much Barry. No, I am not a member but I will check it out.
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but you actually put your music in the timelines, create an A/V file, then rip the sound from that file in the library.
Thanks for the quick reply. What do you mean by ripping the file in the library?
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I would like to use multiple MP3 files in the slideshow templates but unfortunately you are limited to one. Is there a way of using PD8 to create a joined MP3 file that I can in turn use in a slideshow template?
Thanks in advance.
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Merry Christmas everyone!
Am I crazy or did Cyberlink raise the list price for the Ultra version to $129 from $99?
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Strange indeed! I did those exact steps and tried the three templates included in the trial version (i.e., Cell, Motion, and Normal) and nary a Slideshow Preferences button to be found.
Thanks for your help Tony and if we don't exchange any more messages on this topic tonight, Merry Christmas!
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That's the button I'm refering to Tony. It does't pop up on any of the templates in my trial version.
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The PD8 manual refers to a Slideshow Preferences button in the Slideshow Designer and for some reason I can't find it. Is that function not available in the trial version?
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I'm on a quest for a great deal on PD8 Ultra. Currently, Cyberlink and Amazon are offering the product for $75. Does anyone else know of a better buy elsewhere?
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Thanks for the follow up Tony. I guess I was thinking in terms of the more elaborate slideshow capabilities PD8 possesses but your process for creating a simple slideshow, which is likely what I'm after anyway, is worth testing.
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