I can't comment on your problem, but I can comment on your last question.

Yes, with SmartSound you'll have a whole lot of music that you can tap into for your video projects, and for a hundred bucks more you can buy a whole lot more from them. SmartSound is a Godsend for video production. You can dial in a time frame that you want, say 45 seconds for example, and it will give you 45 second clips with beginnings, middles, and ends. I use it religiously with my ThingzThatSuck videos. So many people have asked me how I get the music to fit so well on each video. The secret is SmartSound. Matter of fact, the music is the easiest part of those videos. If you're interested you can check out the videos from the link in my sig below.
MULLY ...........................................................................
Check out and subscribe to the funniest channel on YouTube!!
http://www.youtube.com/thingzthatsuck

Personal vlogging channel
http://www.youtube.com/warmothstrat

Hi alexcomp -

I can confirm that the (apparently) missing file - SmartSound Quicktracks 5.msi - is part of PD's Content Pack installer files. If you extract the "CL.120711_ContentP_PCP120712-02" installer, it should be in Setup\Utility\Smartsound

I have no idea why you're getting that error, but I do know you can install SmartSound QuickTracks separately by downloading it from http://www.smartsound.com/support/updates.html?product=cyberlink (the 204MB file).

True - it shouldn't be necessary & there shouldn't be an issue with the installer...

Cheers - Tony
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Quote: and for a hundred bucks more you can buy a whole lot more from them. SmartSound is a Godsend for video production.MULLY

ALWAYS wait for Smartsound sales. You can get excellent discounts 2 or 4 times a year, though when stuck, I've shelled out full price for tracks I needed NOW! Mully is correct in how awesome SS can be.
Follow Tony's advice then let us know how your getting on.
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.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

Tony's suggestion was on target. I extracted the install files from the premium content pack and went directly to the smart sound install directory and manually installed. Even when I manually ran the setup and MSI file, the system was looking for a path in temporary directories and I had to point it to the directory where the files were extracted. There is something wrong with this – I was a computer professional and have built many machines including this one. It is solid and tight.

That's the good news…

The bad news is that after successfully installing so that smart sound does not break when it is initiated, I find that I have virtually no sound files in the program data directory. Please correct me if I am wrong but it seems to me that in a previous iteration of power director, there were some free files that could be used. Is there nothing included as a part of the ultimate package?

I must say that this is rather like detecting mines by slapping the ground. I downloaded the 204 MB file from smart sound and installed it – thanks Tony. It also came with a file called smart sound common data. I installed that.

Still I found that there were many styles and many variations within styles but I could not detect a methodology that identified which styles were free. I literally had to stumble across one that had "add to music track" available.

Perhaps their marketing paradigm is to force you to stumble through the various styles and songs in order to discover the free inclusions? If true – this is annoying.

What is even more annoying is that the power director installer fails abysmally and I have to spend hours hammering away in order to find knowledgeable fellow users that can show me the right direction. Can you imagine a person who is not particularly computer literate trying to go through this process? SHAME ON YOU CYBERLINK! (Their reply to my trouble ticket was completely unresponsive and off the mark)

Is there a list available someplace that shows the free selections?

Alex:

If you select "All Tracks", the default, in the PD11 SmartSound module, there should be, at the top of the list, a number (six or seven) bolded songs. Those are the free ones. All others (not bolded) must be purchased, and as has been suggested, it is best to wait for SmartSound sales. When you purchase and install an SS music clip, it becomes bolded and is available for use in the timeline.

I concur with the other comments, that SmartSound is an awesome add-on, and their Tech Support is second-to-none!

You are right that you shouldn't have had so much trouble getting SS installed. I have never experienced that issue and I don't see it raised commonly on this forum, so something must have gone south with your particular installation/computer configuration.

Hope this helps. Have a great day.

Regards,
-Phil

Windows 10 Pro x64
Dell XPS 8930
Intel CoreT i7 (4.6 GHz)
32 GB DDR4-2666 RAM
1 TB PCIe -x4 SSD
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
PD14 Ultimate x64, 4207
CD4 Ultra and AD6 Ultra
Bleeping Computer Malware Response Instructor

Phil, what you describe is how I thought it should be however, less than half of the songs that appear in blue are actually available. When I manually installed the smart sound, the next time that I open power director it went into a routine where quite a few data files were downloaded. This had not been the case with the automatic installer. This leads me to wonder if there is a possibility that my ostensibly free song database is only partially downloaded.

If that is the case, how do I go about getting the rest?

Apparently this issue is common enough that they have a prepared answer for it. Note below, 4000 + views. At least I'm not alone. This is an installer problem on the PowerDirector side of things.

SmartSound Reply
"I am getting a message about Quictracks Plugin.msi
By admin



Print
This indicates that the Quicktracks plug-in was not completely installed and that Windows Installer believes there is still work it needs to complete. The message that pops-up when you run other programs is there as a reminder that the installation process is not complete.

For whatever reason this problem exists, the solution is the same. Download and install the Quicktracks updater. Once this file is on your computer, run the installer. It will complete the installation and fix the problem. You should no longer receive the message about the QuicktracksPlugin.msi.

Download & Install Quicktracks
http://www.smartsound.com/support/updates.html
Submitted: 09/14/09

Views: 4098 views. Averaging 3 per day.
In the most recent 30 day period, there've been 36 views.

Similar Articles:
Premiere Pro CS5-CS6 Plugin Problem
Can't location Quicktracks plugin
Error message: 201 NoQT
Error message when copying music from a CD.
My Plugin Activation Code doesn't work?

Hi alexcomp -

Sorry it's giving you so much grief... your minefield analogy is right!

When PD & Smartsound install correctly - & I don't know why yours didn't, given that the SmartSound Quicktracks 5 file wasn't missing at all - there is only a small selection of tracks installed.

What's installed is the Core Foundations album, which contains 10 tracks http://www.smartsound.com/royalty-free-music/Core+Foundations

These tracks should be listed in blue in the SmartSound module. Apart from regular updates provided by SmartSound (with extra tracks) & albums/tracks you purchase, all other tracks are listed in white. All you can do with those is preview & purchase them.

Yes - there have been some SS/PD interface issues - discussed many times in these forum pages.

What are you up to with your issue? Is SmartSound properly installed yet? Are you able to add (blue) tracks to your timeline?

Cheers - Tony
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Quote:
What's installed is the Core Foundations album, which contains 10 tracks http://www.smartsound.com/royalty-free-music/Core+Foundations
Cheers - Tony

Only 10? I have waaay more than that in mine and I've never purchased anything.
MULLY
will take a head count when I get home ...........................................................................
Check out and subscribe to the funniest channel on YouTube!!
http://www.youtube.com/thingzthatsuck

Personal vlogging channel
http://www.youtube.com/warmothstrat

Oh - sorry - that was a bit misleading MULLY.

If you've had previous versions of PD installed, the sound files and libraries from those installations would still be present.

Since alexcomp is upgrading to PD11, other sound files would already be installed at C:\ProgramData\SmartSound Software Inc\Sound Files

Installed SS libraries are at C:\ProgramData\SmartSound Software Inc\Libraries

Cheers - Tony
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Gotcha. Surprised me to see that.
MULLY ...........................................................................
Check out and subscribe to the funniest channel on YouTube!!
http://www.youtube.com/thingzthatsuck

Personal vlogging channel
http://www.youtube.com/warmothstrat

I have quite a few "blue" entries but less than half of them can be added to a timeline. Interesting about the previous versions - I have 9 and 10 but installed 11 the last time with no previous versions installed. Sounds like I could get more free entries if I installed 9, then 10, then 11. Or maybe 9 and 10 underneath 11 which would be easier.

Hi,, I am looking to buy a new laptop.. any recommendation to what laptop to buy to run powerdirector ultra suite 11?? Hello !
ok,,using trial version of powerdirector ultimate 11
I like using my own music,,but how do sync? if you pick their music it sync beautifully,,,but would like my own music,, anyone know how ?

Im an old adobe user which has that :0(

Alexcomp -

That's whacko! (you knew that) All blue tracks should be useable.

1. How many entries are blue?
2. What steps are you taking when trying to add music to the timeline?
3. What alert/message do you get?

Are you aware that SS tracks can only be added to the music &/or voice track? They cannot be inserted in regular video (audio layer) tracks.

Cheers - Tony


Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!