As a follow up :-

I opened your pds file with PD and had the "immediate error finding ....00279.mts" "Browse,ignore,ignore all" dialogue box.

I chose browse and selected an mts file of mine that I had renamed 00279.mts in a totally unrelated folder on my system.

I then processed the others (one by one - this seems to be important!), that PD asked for - obviously ignoring each one, and the project then opened with all black colourboards except for the "fake" 00279.mts that was present and ticked in the media library and present at 12:23:28 in the timeline.

Therefore, I would expect that you should be able to just browse to each individual file location, when PD asks for it and PD would then bring into the media library each file, subsequently loading them into the timeline.

However, if this is done with shadow files switched OFF in PD then the dialogue box will NOT (as far as I can see) ask for the location of the shadow files named in the project (eg 00236_0.mpg) but only of the .mts files.

If Shadows are ON, it will ask for BOTH the _0.mpg and .mts files so that all files in the project can be located.

The exception will be the shadow edit files that it may ask for and which are not available (or wanted) in which case the original .mts file could be located instead.

I then saved the project and re-examined the .pds file. It had only that file referenced in it with the location on my system.
VIDEOOBJECT ID="132" SRC="D:\Documents and Settings\Adrian\My Documents\00279.MTS" NAME="00279.MTS"

I cant guarantee that it will work completely but you should be able to get back something of the project, maybe all ???

Cheers
Adrian

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

That was some very nice work on your part Adrian!!
Check out PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials and more! Over 5,000 Subscribers.

Thank you, young Kevin, it's a function of age and plenty of time, both of which will come your way eventually, although you may have to invest (again) in some new kit at that stage, I'm afraid.

Cheers
Adrian Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Quote:

However, if this is done with shadow files switched OFF in PD then the dialogue box will NOT (as far as I can see) ask for the location of the shadow files named in the project (eg 00236_0.mpg) but only of the .mts files.

If Shadows are ON, it will ask for BOTH the _0.mpg and .mts files so that all files in the project can be located.

The exception will be the shadow edit files that it may ask for and which are not available (or wanted) in which case the original .mts file could be located instead.

Hi Adrian, at work so have to be quick. Again - thanks a zil for the effort.

Just to clarify what I've quoted above; are you saying that I should re-enable Shadows temporarily, just so that PD8 prompts me for those files - with the intention that I then redirect the program to the original mts files?



PD8, Build 2704.
i7 860 2.8 Ghz, 4G RAM,
Palit brand 9800GT GPU
Win7 - 64bit.
Camera: Panasonic HDC-TM10 - outputs mts files.

Doing it that way allows you to "correct" the file locations by choice, rather than having to edit the text in the .pds file.

However, the potential drawback is that PD will then generate the shadow files which may give rise to a problem if your system is not handling them correctly.

Theoretically, I would leave all the "new" shadows to generate properly, including the waveforms, save the project as another name, close down PD, re-open and switch off shadows and try and re-open the new .pds file. Again theoretically, it should just open up as normal and handle the original files directly without involving any shadows.

Alternatively, you could step through the browse dialogue, noting the _0.mpg files, but then text edit just those in the .pds file.

Cheers
Adrian
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Adrian and I are not necessarily in agreement on this because we are both getting different responses to opening the pds. I have shadow files off and when I open the pds, PD asks for both the full files and the shadow files which to my mind means that shadow files are being used within the project. Shadow files should NOT be asked for when a pds is opened.

All we both are interested in is "being right" ha ha... actually we're both enjoying trying to resolve the issue.

Dafydd
[Moderator]

Hi Everyone,

Quick update. Firstly - sorry for spelling your name wrong, Dafydd!

Ok - so last night I did the following:

1) Deleted shadow files
2) Enabled the shadow file function
3) Opened the existing pds file and when promoted for the location of the MPEG shadow files, I directed PD8 to the mts files of the same number.
4)Still got black colourboards when project opened up
5) closed pd8
6) edited the pds file using wordpad "find and replace" to replace all references to shadow files with references to the corresponding mts files
7) Opened up PD8 and disabled shadow file function
8. Opened edited pds - still got black colourboards.
9) Closed pd8
10) Opened pd8 and re-enabled shadow file function
11) Opened edited pds in pd8, and re-directed any prompts to corresponding MTS files
12) still got black colourboards
13) Opened edited pds again, and got black colourboards, but this time disabled shadow file function, before resaving, and then closing pd8
14) Opened edited pds file (the one with shadows disabled)
15) still got black colourboards.

Oh well - I think I'm just going to have to put it down to experience!

Really appreciate all the help and time you guys have put in to trying to resolve the issue.

Cheers!

Brad

PD8, Build 2704.
i7 860 2.8 Ghz, 4G RAM,
Palit brand 9800GT GPU
Win7 - 64bit.
Camera: Panasonic HDC-TM10 - outputs mts files.

Hello All,

Was very very impressed indeed with PD8 (2508 build) trial version and am awaiting the full version.

Now I am experiencing the same black clip problem as many others here on the board. My movie is only 5min with 10 clips or so (of which 3 are now black) so I haven't wasted much time, but as it seems this is really something that Cyberlink has to get to to bottom of! Thought it would be helpful if I explain what I have done after reading many posts on this. The problem is still there btw.

So, yes I have had shadow files enabled which actually allowed me to do some editing on my laptop (see specs below). This could be part of the problem since only those clips which are blacked out have |0000 appended to the filename in the PDS file. The folder name is still that folder which has the MTS file and all my other MTS clips in it.

I have disabled shadowing, removed all MPG files in the roaming folder, removed all TEMP files and then renamed MTS files in PDS file (i.e. removed |0000 appendix). The clips are however still blacked out: 0,0,0. Interestingly, the movies are still in the mediaroom, but not with the green tick (i.e. on time line).

Hope this helps, and of course any ideas welcome!
regards,
S Running W7 32b with PD Ultra on a 1.9 GHz AMD Turion X2 TL58, 3.25GB, ATI Radeon HD 2400XT, 500GB 7200RPM HDD. Anything is possible...

Hi Sjaak,
You may have altered the cause of the problem by making some changes.

Where are the files located - always important. If you've accessed them from a removable HD etc or disconnected the USB this will cause a problem?

What files are Exported - I'm curious to know what the program exports for the remaining video files.
Open PD
Directors Chair/Top left
File > Export > Pack project materials

FYI when you open the pds you should be asked to locate the missing files - were you?
Save a copy of the pds file (your back up)
Clear out the Shadow Edit files
rename the directory you have the project in.
Open the pds/PD and then go locate the files asked for.

Dafydd
[Moderator]

Hi Dafydd

Quote: Hi Sjaak,
You may have altered the cause of the problem by making some changes.

Possibly, but I am not trying to save my project, I am trying to help out here (well, if it doesn't work out PD8 will be returned to shop). So I am trying to provide as much information here as possible. Also I have made several copies of the PDS before I'd made any changes.

Quote:
Where are the files located - always important. If you've accessed them from a removable HD etc or disconnected the USB this will cause a problem?

On my HDD. Location and names were NEVER changed during the making of this project. They are still present in the media room and can be played in the media viewer. All MTS files in mediaroom are/were on the timeline so should have a green tick. However, there's four files not ticked and these are the only files in the PDS with |0000 appended (I think this is important). Three out of four clips are blacked out on the timeline.

Quote:
What files are Exported - I'm curious to know what the program exports for the remaining video files.
Open PD
Directors Chair/Top left
File > Export > Pack project materials

Hmmm, interesting. On first try this is not possible because PD8 is looking for 890 GB of disk space. However, combined MTS files are only 800 MB. On second try, it will export, but the 3 files with the black clips are not (the fourth is).

The error on the first try makes me think that some MTS files are/have been corrupted and PD8 doesn't recognise them anymore as those used for the clip (although name has not changed). Note, these mts files play fine and can be used in a new project. As a matter of fact, a PDS that I saved halfway the project does not have the problem...

Quote:
FYI when you open the pds you should be asked to locate the missing files - were you?

No, I wasn't - no files are missing or have been moved.

Quote:
Save a copy of the pds file (your back up)
Clear out the Shadow Edit files
rename the directory you have the project in.
Open the pds/PD and then go locate the files asked for.

I let PD8 relocate the files and unfortunately the clips are still black...

Quote:

Dafydd
[Moderator]

Cheers & speak to you later Running W7 32b with PD Ultra on a 1.9 GHz AMD Turion X2 TL58, 3.25GB, ATI Radeon HD 2400XT, 500GB 7200RPM HDD. Anything is possible...

If anyone else is still having this problem this is what worked for me.

Went to the Auto Save files and clicked on the last one saved. (find AutoSave here: C:\Documents and Settings\Users\YOUR PC NAME HERE\Application Data\Roaming\CyberLink\PowerDirector\8.0\AutoSave)

As it tries to open the file a box comes up saying "An error has occurred trying to open this media" and gives you three button options - 1) Browse 2) Ignore 3) Ignore all.

Click on 1) Browse and find the file for the project. (I had previously wrongly clicked on "Ignore all" to get it to continue)

On the LH side is the list of video files (manilla files).

On the RH side are all the clips for that file.

Click on the relevant manilla file and then click 'open'.

BINGO - it opens with all the relevant files in the library with green ticks on all and the timeline eventually appears with all the edited clips in place!!

Then SAVE IT!
Phil
Tell the truth - but gently.

PD14 Ultra
i5-6600K OC CPU, Asus Z170-P Motherboard, 4G Asus GeForce GTX 960, 240GB SSD, 1 x 1TB Seagate HDD, 1x 1TB SSD external backup HDD, 8GB RAM