Hi Paul,

How's it going!

1. I make my first SmartSound clip and put it on the Music Track. I then use the Audio Mixer to put in volume keyframes, which it does. However, PD9 does not honor the keyframes. I have to shutdown PD9 and restart it for it to follow the keyframe changes.

It happened exactly as Paul states...keyframes are ignored unless project is saved...PD9 closed down...and then project is reopened...then the keyframe information is followed.

2. If I make a 2nd SS clip and put it on the Music Track, then PD9 seriously stutters during playback, skipping the first 5 seconds of music and video until it catches up. Any action I take on the timeline, such as moving the cursor to a location is very sluggish thereafter. It's like the SS module totally cripples the performance of PD9.

I couldn't duplicate this one...maybe I didn't follow your directions right. I have experienced the sluggishness of Smartsound on earlier builds, so I think I know what you mean. But it didn't happen for me.

Regards,

Kevin
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I will try #2 again. Maybe I gave up too early because #1 happened with the new build.

Whenever I load a project that has Magic Music and was saved on disk (And program restarted), my PD9 becomes sloooow and unusable.

Solutions anyone? If I wait, eventually it will become responsive but only until I touch the Magic Music tracks again...

Well I should have searched a bit before posting. Actually, I had not verified that the smartsound program was to the latest version. I had 5.1.7.0 instead of 5.1.8.0

I downloaded the update from the smartsound site. Next I updated Quicktime as it is supposed to be linked to the correct operation on smartsound.

Info found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-yAFqf3ILA

I'll post later to tell you if it has worked.

Unfortunatelly no better... Any help would be appreciated. The feature used to be nice, now it's unusable. Even browsing the library takes forever...

Hi mamethot -

If you send off a note to Frank at SmartSound Support, he'll be able to advise you on the best course of action... http://www.smartsound.com/support/supportform.html

I've had my share of issues with SmartSound (still am) but I've not encountered the lagging you're talking about. I think some wholesale uninstall/re-install of QuickTracks & QuickTime may be necessary, but seek Frank's advice first.

Cheers - Tony
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I use a lot of SS and find the same. Its still in it infancy and they have a lot o work to do to fine tune and sort out SS. Its is very frustrating having to reload a large project just to test the sound levels. I have had to do this over and over on my project.

Lets hope they can keep PD alive in their product line to make these needed future enhancements. For some reason I feel they are stretched for good programmers and are running on a shoestring budget doing the best they can with what limited resources they have.

I just upgraded to SS 5.1.8 (thanks for the tip). However, still the same problem: as soon as I drop a SS file onto the timeline, PD9 just grinds to a halt and is unusable. I've resorted to creating my sound files with Sonicfire Pro and importing them. Very tedious, but it does work.

I've contacted SS, we'll see if they say the problem is on their end or it's Cyberlink's.

I just uninstalled and re-installed PD9 then the content pack, then the patches and it seems much better.

I'd be curious to know if the SS feature downloads the clips on demand over the net. If it were the case, then the feature would be dependent on the speed of the connection or internet traffic at the time of use...

When you purchase a SS track, the track is downloaded and installed on your hard-drive, so 'net speed is not important.
Yes, the Smartsound module is a mess and I am not convinced that CL has it on their "fix list".
SS definately slows down editing on my DM1, but runs fine on my DV7.
Also, on both machines, the Core Sessions album does not "stick" in production.
I have bold titles I do not own, and non-bold titles I do own, some properly migrate to the top, some don't.
As for Magic Music in the menu, I stopped trying to use it in PD8, it just never worked. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
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You're right Barry... well, of course!

What gets me about SmartSound in PD is how totally inconsistent it is! I'm not going to bore forum members with a great list of things, but just a couple:

1. When I scroll through one of the Core Foundations tracks - let's take Phil's favourite "Pavane" - today it will have 7 variations in the library. Tomorrow it may only have three, without anything changing anywhere else on the PC.

2. Just to test it, I'll use a SmartSound track in a menu & it will behave just as you'd wish... but come back next week & try to use the same track? Nah!

3. Whilst I rarely use that Adobe product I can't mention, whenever I use the SmartSound module "over there", it works predictably. Hmm.

The SS concept is right, but the way it's interfaced with PD is just a little bit wrong!

Cheers - Tony
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SS supplies the version 5 module, and Cyberlink builds off that, so I believe that Cyberlink is the culprit here.
The version 5 module allows for the instrumention of Smartsound if you own multi-layer tracks, but they (CL) chose not to write the interface for that. Maybe that is a good thing, as they still don't have the basics down-pat.
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Let me just say that I was a user of that Adobe product for many years and never once did I have trouble with the SS integration. It was flawless. I own a number of SS discs, which I have loaded on my system, so I do not use the Internet at all.

It amazes me that the Magic Music function is this broken in PD9. I can make PD9 crawl to a halt with just putting one audio file on the Soundtrack track and try to play it, and it takes 5 seconds for it to start playing. I'm not sure what it is doing, other than it is not CPU busy.

Just to reiterate what Tony, Barry, and the others have said, SS has been a disappointment to me. As Tony said, it is really inconsistent. I can pre-produce a 20-second Pavane clip for my video intro and no sound. Delete the produced file and try it again, and it works ... most days. Some days, I have to wait until the next day. No apparent rhyme or reason, though I have noted that changing the pre-produced filename from the default "produce.mpg" gives better results ... most of the time.

It would be really great if CL would get this fixed. Frank at SS has never gotten back to me, after over a month, so I am presuming that SS is not making much progress with the CL programmers.

Just my two cents. It would be great if it did work as it should! Have a great day.

Regards,
-Phil Windows 10 Pro x64
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Frank has been emailing me, but everything he has suggested I have done. He has not yet pointed the finger at CL, but clearly, something is wrong. I just know it works in the Adobe product just fine.

So, I will continue to make my music outside of PD with Sonicfire and import the WAV files.

Paul

Ahh, my beloved Powerdirector...what an oddly inconsistent creature...sort of like a child that plays a symphony on a grand piano in one room, then goes into the next room and shmears figgy pudding on the walls. Makes no sense. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
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My experiences with SS and PD are somewhat beyond description.
I try not to be in need of re-installing or patching PD.
I've had Sonicfire for years, and also purchased music ( I never buy downloads because of PD).
I have been pulling out hair earlier by the fact that when installing PD (either program or content)
and you get asked "do you want to install SS" - and you scream NOOOO -
it installs anyway.
Because of the inconsistency - if SS at all works - I go right to programs and uninstall.
Over time, I have learned that in doing so, every bit of music connected to SS/Sonicfire
disappears. I have to then re-install Sonicfire, get the Core Foundations downloaded again and
reinstall my own music.
I might have done this procedure 6-7 times over the past years.
I always keep a folder with copied music- in case....
and SS does not make me pull out hair anymore
I just ignore the whole "feature".

Nina
Just something.
https://www.petitpoisvideo.com

Fortunately, I have all my SS music on physical CDs that I purchased, so if that would happen to me, I would be protected. It sure is disappointing to learn about all the issues with Magic Music. One of the reasons I decided to switch to PD when I was making the decision to leave Premiere Elements (because it was sooooo slow) was that fact it supported SS. So I'm disappointed to learn it doesn't really work.

Fortunately, I can use Sonicfire Pro, but it's more effort to mix music with that method.

The good news is that I know the concept works, because it is very elegantly done in Premiere. Somebody at CL needs to get this working.

Paul

I saaaaaaaid...shmears figgy pudd--oh, forget it,


tough crowd... HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
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