Patch 2704 - and 2 issues I'd like fixed

Looky

Newbie Joined: Apr 14, 2010 08:33 Messages: 29 Offline

Solved by

Apr 15, 2010 10:30

Hi guys,

I'd like to start some feedback discussion here about the latest PD 8 Update 2704.

The developer team still didn't get some massive application bugs, which are still present even after installing the latest update.
From my point of view there are:

1) Video-Thumbnails in DVD menu designer can't be switched off any more.
That's so annoying, especially because in version 7 that was still possible!
Was so handy to get a slim menu with only text in it, so you could get many chapters on one page for instance.
That's quite a slap in one's face

2) Chapter thumbnails always get kicked out when any changes are done in your project.
For instance, I just changed the volume of one audio clip. After that, all my chapter thumbnails were back on default, means first frame of the clip hanging below the chapter mark.
So you can make yourself a bunch of work in vain if you forget to define chapter thumbs at the very last point of your work, e.g. right before rendering

To both issues I opened an inquiry at CL support yesterday - we'll see what comes out...

How is your experience with that? Or do you know any other bugs which should be fixed asap?

Regards,
Tom

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 15. 2010 11:44

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Dafydd B

Senior Contributor Joined: Aug 26, 2006 08:20 Messages: 11973 Offline

Apr 15, 2010 11:49

1. The video thumbnail isn't a "bug". It is the way CL have chosen, much to members dislike and the matter has been reported.
2. The second point raised - I'll let others check that out and comment.

Finally a "bug report" is only one when it is confirmed by replication by other PD users. You will need to clearly lay out exactly what you did with every click specified and then a member(s) can follow your observation. see guide: http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/7979.page

I have changed the over dramatised title to correctly reflect the contents of your post and to assist in search location.

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This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at Apr 15. 2010 11:54

Looky

Newbie Joined: Apr 14, 2010 08:33 Messages: 29 Offline

Apr 15, 2010 14:46

Hi Dafydd,

thanks for your fast response.

Sorry if I didn't get all the posts about why the video thumbnail removal function was disabled in PD 8, so maybe you can give me a short answer what made it obviously difficult just to move it over to V8?

What I mean is that it would be still okay if the thumbs would come up by default as long as the user could just mark them and press delete.
But as it seems the thumbs have been grouped or merged together with the text items like one object - unfortunately...

Regards,
Tom

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 15. 2010 15:40

PC: Intel Core2Duo E8600 2,66 GHz, 4 GB RAM
OS: Windows XP SP2
GPU: NVidia GeForce 8500 with 512 MB Video RAM
PowerDirector Version 8 build 3022
Cam: Panasonic HDC-SD100

Andrew - Wales, UK

Contributor Location: Wales, UK Joined: Jan 27, 2009 19:16 Messages: 545 Offline

Apr 15, 2010 17:37

Hi Tom,

Your comment on the video thumbnails is one I, and several other senior members, would agree with.

Feedback provided by those of us who test the software and provide reports have certainly highlighted the need for greater functionality in the 'Create Disc' module. Why not, for example, have the ability to list chapters (with no thumbnail just text) with more than 3 or 4 chapter titles per page than is the usual maximum at the moment. I've passed that comment on and I know others have additional enhancements they'd like to see.

My most recent project of my 20 month old son had 50 chapters. Dafydd and Adrian found that amusing! With footage of young families, there's less editing needed but as a result I feel it's essential to be able to skip to certain points. No-one really sits through a 130 minute film of sons/daughters, getting to the cute bits is essential.

In terms of your second point, I have seen that but that's more of a workflow issue. I never actually create a menu until I've edited and checked evrything first.

Welcome aboard anyway!

Cheers,

Andrew Alienware Aurora ALX R4 - Intel i7-4820 4.2 GHz - 32GB DDR3 RAM - Crucial 512GB SSD - 1TB Seagate HDD - 3TB WD Green HDD - 4TB WD Green HDD - MSI NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB

Sony HDR-PJ810 and HDR-PJ530

Looky

Newbie Joined: Apr 14, 2010 08:33 Messages: 29 Offline

Apr 16, 2010 07:52

Hi Andrew,

thanks for your reply.

About your statement:

In terms of your second point, I have seen that but that's more of a workflow issue. I never actually create a menu until I've edited and checked evrything first.

For instance when you create a DVD in the menu designer based on several imported PD projects, it can happen that you still notice some slight things you might have corrected, like an audio clip level, video enhancement or whatever.
In such a case, if you edit the respective project, all your clip thumbs will be removed, which can destroy hours of work.
So I don't agree it is necessarily a workflow issue, except you are aware of this bug and always make sure chapter thumbs are set as very, very last step of your work, but that isn't always predictable as described in the above example.
And frankly, when you edit something you would expect it stays the same until you edit it again or remove it

By the way, it turned out that there might be a third issue with build 2704: The "green line issue" which seems to be caused by using video effects or enhancements prior to rendering to any output format:
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/10978.page

Regards,
Tom

This message was edited 7 times. Last update was at Apr 16. 2010 09:48

PC: Intel Core2Duo E8600 2,66 GHz, 4 GB RAM
OS: Windows XP SP2
GPU: NVidia GeForce 8500 with 512 MB Video RAM
PowerDirector Version 8 build 3022
Cam: Panasonic HDC-SD100

Andrew - Wales, UK

Contributor Location: Wales, UK Joined: Jan 27, 2009 19:16 Messages: 545 Offline

Apr 16, 2010 18:50

Hi Tom,

For instance when you create a DVD in the menu designer based on several imported PD projects, it can happen that you still notice some slight things you might have corrected, like an audio clip level, video enhancement or whatever.
In such a case, if you edit the respective project, all your clip thumbs will be removed, which can destroy hours of work.

In which case burn the project without a menu to a re-writeable disc first, check it, then re-author the project with the menu.

I wouldn't say this is a bug, more a 'feature' that is behaving the way it was designed to. I agree though it's very frustrating and should be looked into.

Andrew

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at Apr 16. 2010 18:57

Alienware Aurora ALX R4 - Intel i7-4820 4.2 GHz - 32GB DDR3 RAM - Crucial 512GB SSD - 1TB Seagate HDD - 3TB WD Green HDD - 4TB WD Green HDD - MSI NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB

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Cedric

Newbie Joined: Jan 02, 2010 15:10 Messages: 25 Offline

May 16, 2010 01:44

I would agree with Tom. I have gone back into a project to make revisions and I have to remember to go back to the Chapter thumbnail and reset them. If this isn't a bug, it is a bad process. It certainly isn't a workflow issue. You are going to need to edit at some point and you should be able to edit a particular portion of the project without other parts erasing.

Cedric

Andrew - Wales, UK

Contributor Location: Wales, UK Joined: Jan 27, 2009 19:16 Messages: 545 Offline

May 16, 2010 09:01

Cedric,

When I described this as a workflow issue, I was saying that because of this feature/bug and to prevent a lot of frustration the menu should be the very last thing you should do, where possible. I was not criticising Tom's workflow methods.

I've mentioned earlier in this thread the suggestion that you author the project first, check it, then place the menu structure in and re-author. While this takes longer, you minimise the need to re-edit menus.

While it is very frustrating, I'm not surprised that altering video footage on the timeline does play havoc with menu thumbnails.

At least this is an issue that has a workaround.

Andrew

Alienware Aurora ALX R4 - Intel i7-4820 4.2 GHz - 32GB DDR3 RAM - Crucial 512GB SSD - 1TB Seagate HDD - 3TB WD Green HDD - 4TB WD Green HDD - MSI NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB

Sony HDR-PJ810 and HDR-PJ530

Cedric

Newbie Joined: Jan 02, 2010 15:10 Messages: 25 Offline

May 16, 2010 11:20

You're right... The good news is that there is a workaround. I find it better to reset the chapter thumbnail(s) after I edit and before saving.

I see you've helped out with a number of issues, so I have a separate question for you.

I have a DVD that has 10 separate projects with sub-titles. I pull them all into a final project in the create disk module. It burns fine but the subtitles for each chapter 1-9 are the subtitles from the Chapter 10.

I'm guessing that the issue is that the subtitles in each project has a start time that begins at 0:00 and when you pull all the project together the subtitle times don't adjust. So the subtitles in Chapter 2 start at 0:00 as do the subtitles in chapter 1. Unless the program is to keep up with the sub-titles of each chapter separately. Any ideas?

Andrew - Wales, UK

Contributor Location: Wales, UK Joined: Jan 27, 2009 19:16 Messages: 545 Offline

May 16, 2010 16:44

Hi,

When you import in 'Create Disc' do you select the 'Import Powerdirector Projects' option?

It should not change any aspect of your projects when you do this so what you are describing sounds worrying!

Cheers,

Andrew Alienware Aurora ALX R4 - Intel i7-4820 4.2 GHz - 32GB DDR3 RAM - Crucial 512GB SSD - 1TB Seagate HDD - 3TB WD Green HDD - 4TB WD Green HDD - MSI NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB

Sony HDR-PJ810 and HDR-PJ530

Cedric

Newbie Joined: Jan 02, 2010 15:10 Messages: 25 Offline

May 16, 2010 22:58

I was importing Power Director Projects.

I re-built the burn project and what I discovered it that on two of the 10 clips, I get a prompt "Do you want to keep the menu data of the project". Not knowing what that meant and not finding any guidance in the manual, I tried it both way and found that answer "Yes" to that prompt corrected the problem. If you answer "no" to any one of the prompts, then the sub-titles will not work.

Thanks!

Cedric