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Honestly...is anyone running PD without problems?
AugieDog [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Jul 16, 2010 23:22 Messages: 28 Offline
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I ask this question with all sincerity. I'm not trying to start any war of words or bad mouthing any software. First, I admit that I'm pretting much a novice with my PowerDirector 8. I want a solid video editing software that won't freeze or crash.

My PD 8 freezes quite often....suddenly. I've done Internet searches and see that many many others have this problem too. But, it's really not just PD, it several other video editing softwares (Pinnacle, Sony, Adobe's product, etc) that seem to crash or freeze.

Now, I certainly recognize that it could be the system configuration or some incompatible or rougue software, but come on.....are these products really that unstable?

I have an Intel Core 2, running Vista 64 bit with 8 gig of memory and lots of disk. Yes, I have downloaded the latest upgrade to 3022. I just recently got a message that "PowerDirector has stopped running".....it just never ends. All my other software run just fine.

So, my question.......is this just something we have to live with or are there really people out there who use PD 8 and never have a crash or freeze. A serious question!

Thanks,

Augie
Robert2 S
Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Apr 22, 2009 05:57 Messages: 1461 Offline
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Hi Augie,

Editing HD video really stresses your system and will show up any problems. I would suggest to see if it the editing you are doing is causing the crashes or something else.

1. Just drop a couple of clips onto the timeline and produce.

2. Then split the clips and add say a colour tweak or contrast tweak and produce again.

If it produces fine just doing those two simple things I would then start doing more complex things and if it starts to crash it may be your system , especially if you say other editing software is also causing problems.

Also are your hard drives defragged and do you copy your raw videos to your hard drive before you drag them into PD?

Lastly to answer your original question, I do not have any problems using PD unless I really push my system to it's limit with full 1920x1080 video and multiple PIP tracks on the one screen with slow motion, sharpening, colour enhancements all at once. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn
James Dotson
Senior Contributor Location: Tennessee Joined: Aug 24, 2009 20:40 Messages: 3066 Offline
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Honestly...Yes, except when I am editing AVCHD, for which my system is well below the minimum specs, but it still works fairly well. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM
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I'm a newbie too... I had a few out of sync audio (corrected by delete clips + undo) and a project file corruption issue (corrected by editing the file with a text editor).

Annoying, yes (maybe they should be fixed) but never a crash.

Never. I tried Magix (love it but has some issues with my clips format), Corel, Adobe, Sony... found them more and more unstable then Cyberlink.
Cap'n Kevin
Senior Contributor Location: Chebeague Island, Maine Joined: Dec 26, 2008 20:22 Messages: 2011 Offline
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No crashes for me. I like using the software very much.
Check out PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials and more! Over 5,000 Subscribers.
Pax 123 [Avatar]
Senior Member Location: Miami, Florida Joined: Feb 25, 2010 06:35 Messages: 282 Offline
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Hi Augie,

Mine works fine, on two different machines.

If you view the number of members of this forum compared to the number that send up calls for help, you'll understand. This forum provides remedial services to a relatively few people for occasional problems. Think about the psychology of it. There are always very knowledgable people around this forum, ready to voluntarily contribute their support. These people are not paid, they are volunteers. They know how frustrating it can be until one identifies the thing that has gotten in the way, and how sublime it is when we have our equipment properly configured and we point the gun at the target, rather than our own feet.

Keep at it with a good heart. Once you get things right, you will find great comfort as you discover what you have really got. Don't forget to share your triumphs as well as your defeats. You'll find the same psychology in the form of volunteers running around the hospitals, helping where they can. They also show up right after volcanos, hurricanes, fires, sunamies, etc. too.

If you examine your fellow members' motives, in addition to the competitive worth of PD in the marketplace, look at what they do (both people and software), you will begin to question why it costs so little. Be patient and don't quit.

Bohn Laptop PC, ASUS
Core i7 Q 720
Win 7, 64-bit
RAM 8GB DDR2
Graphics, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M 1GB DDR5
AugieDog [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Jul 16, 2010 23:22 Messages: 28 Offline
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Thanks for the great responses. It's good to hear that some folks are using PD 8 without significant issues. It gives me hope I did prior research and this product 'appears' to best all the other offerings.

To answer some of the questions....I've tried a number of the complexities and have gotten quite a distance before a freeze. Yesterday, I just fired up PD, looked at the Help/About to see the version number and it froze a few minutes later. Fragmentation not an issue (I did this a couple of weeks ago). I bring in my videos either on a DVD or I copy to the hard drive before feeding to PD.

I'm pretty convinced my hardware is solid. I suspect some software conflict. I am using ZoneAlarm Extreme Security (Virus/Spyware/Firewall protection) and Snagit. Also, I typically have MS Outlook and Internet Explorer open at the same time. I'll try a process of elimination to see if any of these may be an issue. Are any of you using these products successfully with PD? It's tough to test, as the issue is sporatic and not specific.

Thanks again everyone!

Augie
HalCon
Senior Contributor Location: Charlottetown, PEI Joined: Mar 01, 2008 10:36 Messages: 719 Offline
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I too have been using PD8 without issues, except when I try to do too much at one time.

I know the limitations of my system and try to work within its limits. Large projects broken into smaller chunks, complex editing done and produced seperately. Little things like that prevent headaches for me.

The biggest reasons for problems stem from hardware and software conflicts. Everyone's PD8 is the same software (if current patches are installed), but everyones' environment is different. Even two identically spec'ed computers can experience different results, as a result of different software/drivers installed and running.

Hal
OS - Win11 Pro, Alienware R13, CPU - Intel Core I7-12700KF 12 CPUs), 16g DDR5 4400 RAM, Video - Geeforce RTX 3080ti 12g, PD11 & PD365
My YouTube
JMK2011 [Avatar]
Member Joined: Mar 19, 2009 16:35 Messages: 80 Offline
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To be truthfull I dont think their is a video editing software out that does not have issues. I used about 3 other VES and all had its glitches. I went back to PD8 about 6 mounts ago on a NEW system and have had very little issues. It had some tweeks I worked out like unchecking this and that, but I can do just about anything with PD8 and not pull my hair out.

I will be sticking with PD8....

PD can use a little better customer service.

But normally this site can answer most or all of your questions.
Carl312
Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline
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I too have good luck with PD8. But the issue of checking the Version and build is still present. It is not just your system. Build 3022 was supposed to fix the problem with the version check. (It did not completely).

The best thing is to not check the version and build except when nothing is loaded in PD8.

Check the version and build then close. Windows will throw an error message. Just ignore and restart PD8.
Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Bob in Tucson
Member Location: Milwaukee, Denver, Tucson Joined: May 30, 2008 18:11 Messages: 133 Offline
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Hal, You are soooooooooooo right. Your post should be included with every piece of software. Start with small, simple projects and work your way up. The limits of the program and your computer should become obvious as you go. Once you know these limits and ACCEPT them, you will be able to use both to the max, with max enjoyment.

Quote: I too have been using PD8 without issues, except when I try to do too much at one time.

I know the limitations of my system and try to work within its limits. Large projects broken into smaller chunks, complex editing done and produced seperately. Little things like that prevent headaches for me.

The biggest reasons for problems stem from hardware and software conflicts. Everyone's PD8 is the same software (if current patches are installed), but everyones' environment is different. Even two identically spec'ed computers can experience different results, as a result of different software/drivers installed and running.

Hal
The best thing about PD is the people in the Forums !!!
Win-7 Ultimate, ASUS Rampage III Extreme, Intel Core i7-980X, 12-GBs DDR3, Intel X25-M 160GB SDD, Asus nVidia GeForce GTX580 (1), Dell U3011 Monitor, Canon HF100 and HF-S21
HalCon
Senior Contributor Location: Charlottetown, PEI Joined: Mar 01, 2008 10:36 Messages: 719 Offline
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Thanks Bob,

I have been using PD (version 5 and up) for over 5 years now, but really only found this forum in the past 6 - 8 months. I have had to learn the ropes the hard way. A few lost projects, some at near completion had to be started over, etc.

I got in the habit of watching the resources required for each step of the production. I noticed that in producing or burning, I was running my old dual core (3.2ghz) at more than 95 percent capacity. Knowing this I kept the production process to smaller sections. My current system (Q9550 Quad) rarely sees 50 percent and is using all 4 cores.

Interesting this thread started at this time. I had a friend trying to give me a copy of another more expensive program, telling me that PD could not make use of all 4 cores. The offered program could. He was quite surprised to find that, on my system at least, all cores were being used. He was also impressed with the rendering speeds he saw. He wouldn't take my word for it, I had to show him.

I have had some problems with PD, but nothing so serious that I considered I had wasted any money.

Hal OS - Win11 Pro, Alienware R13, CPU - Intel Core I7-12700KF 12 CPUs), 16g DDR5 4400 RAM, Video - Geeforce RTX 3080ti 12g, PD11 & PD365
My YouTube
av8er [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Jul 16, 2010 21:48 Messages: 5 Offline
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The trial version of PD8 was working fine and then I go the stopped working message and PD won't even start. I bought the PD8 Ultra because I thought it was a good program when it worked and I thought it was a problem with the trial version. No, it is doing the same thing right out of the box. I hope to find out the problem soon.
James W
Senior Contributor Location: Lakeland, FL USA Joined: Aug 18, 2008 10:36 Messages: 911 Offline
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I only have troubles if I load a lot of high bit rate AVCHD files to make a large project. Smaller projects do not give me problems. Always perform a Save As and change the file name every few minutes. Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT
JMK2011 [Avatar]
Member Joined: Mar 19, 2009 16:35 Messages: 80 Offline
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I havent even tried the Build 3022 yet. I seen a few posts which stated it wasent all that at this time and dident do what it was supposed to at fixing some problems, so I dident update to the latest build yet.
Cap'n Kevin
Senior Contributor Location: Chebeague Island, Maine Joined: Dec 26, 2008 20:22 Messages: 2011 Offline
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Hi there David,

I suppose you comments begs the question to be asked:

If the software is as bad as you claim it to be, then how is it possible that others can use it and not experience any problems?

Isn't it quite possible that your problems lie within your unique PC setup and with the source video files that you are using? Just thought I would ask the question

Regards,

KEvin
Check out PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials and more! Over 5,000 Subscribers.
James W
Senior Contributor Location: Lakeland, FL USA Joined: Aug 18, 2008 10:36 Messages: 911 Offline
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David,

If you don't like the program your free to go elsewhere and use something else. Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT
Robert2 S
Senior Contributor Location: Australia Joined: Apr 22, 2009 05:57 Messages: 1461 Offline
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The problem with your logic David is only people WITH problems come to the forum. People don't come to help forums to say how fantastic a program is, they just get on with using the program.

One thing I will say about this forum and I have tried many many help forums is if you have a problem and state clearly what it is 99% of the time the people here will solve it for you.

Cheers

Robert S My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn
James W
Senior Contributor Location: Lakeland, FL USA Joined: Aug 18, 2008 10:36 Messages: 911 Offline
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I did a quick scan through a forum of one of PD competitors and found similar posts as to what you will find here. I agree that most people who come to software forums typically complain. Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT
JMK2011 [Avatar]
Member Joined: Mar 19, 2009 16:35 Messages: 80 Offline
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Yikes David...

Who peed on your corn flakes this morning.

For 1 all VES has glitches... and 2..... this is my way of life to feed my family like generations before me did.

PD8 is a great sofware with the proper tools and knowhow of video editing it does what a consumer needs to produce a video to show familty and friends.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jul 18. 2010 20:35

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