PD11 Performance Problems ...

SeaLyon99

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2013 09:16 Messages: 79 Offline

Solved by

Sep 03, 2013 09:02

I've got a few miserable issues with PD11 and hopefully you guys can help me to narrow down possible problems. First, here's the HW I'm using:

Lenovo W530 laptop
Nvidia K2000M GPU (2G RAM)
i7-3740QM
16G RAM
1TB 7200rpm HDD
Win7 PRO (latest patches applied)

Given that my machine is fairly powerful, I was expecting much better performance than what I'm experiencing. I'm generally working with 1920x1080/60fps (H.264 files) video clips but also mix some 30fps in at times. The software just bogs during editing, with frequent pauses (a few seconds) during operations. Preview performance is really bad too even when viewing clips with little to no effects or color changes (and it gets horrible when lots of pre-processing is applied). I am forced to pre-view in low-quality mode to even get something close to a real-time view but even that doesn't do it (and of course low-quality provides no information on how the rendered video will look). I've also noticed quite a bit of lag in the scrubber bar placement on-screen and what is actual seen & heard. Things just seem out-of-sync.

I've also been experiencing lots of crashes (at least a few a day). Is that what others are seeing with PD11? I have not been able to discern any specific pattern to the crashes, but I have noticed quite a few when doing Voice-Overs. Do others see more crashes when doing Voice-Overs? Other than frequent saves, is there anything else that can be done to help limit crashes?

Lastly, rendering times are miserable too. To render a fairly basic 3 minute video with a few clips, some transitions & titles, and maybe an effect or 2 (but nothing drastic) is averaging about 20-30 minutes. I render to YouTube (1920x1080p) and H.264 mostly. The Hardware Encoding is enabled when doing H.264 renders, but is grayed out when doing YouTube renders. Is this normal? I've enabled OpenCL & Hardware Decode in preferences and am using SVRT when it allows.

Not sure exactly what the issues are but something seems wrong. Is this the type of performance I should expect with my machine configuration? Is there anything I can do to enhance performance? Appreciate any help.

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Sep 03, 2013 13:29

Is this the Powerdirector 11 Trial?
The Trial is crippled in HD videos.
Limitations
•30-day working trial
•SmartSound Library trial version
•Reduced templates pack
•Reduced NewBlue effect pack to 10 effects
•Does not include the WaveEditor program
•Importing and production of H.264 video files is only supported on Windows 7/8 or hardware platforms offering independent H.264 encoding
•Watermark at the beginning of produced videos (5 seconds)

H.264 videos do not work in the trial in spite of what is said above.

You should configure your Intel HD graphics as the primary video and the Nvidia card as secondary.

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.

SeaLyon99

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2013 09:16 Messages: 79 Offline

Sep 03, 2013 14:41

Yes, I am still using the trial. I have been working primarily with HD video (in H.264 format) with the trial and except for the performance issues, it's been working OK. Is what I'm seeing from a performance standpoint what you'd expect from the trial version? If the trial doesn't perform up to the specs of the actual app, how can anyone use the trial to make a decision? No problem reducing effects, or not giving other supplementary programs, but the performance of the base application should be the same as the actual.

Forget the trail for now, given my hardware platform, should I expect a 50+ minute render to H.264 @ FHD for a 3 minute video in the actual application (I just finished another test and my 3 minute video took 58 minutes to render)? What about the seconds of lag time when I start an operation until it begins? Lackluster (at best) performance of the preview window? Scrubber not keeping up with the preview video? The crashes?

At this point I don't really know what to expect with the actual application. Can anyone provide some baseline information for the actual version? Is what I'm experiencing, "normal"? Appreciate any help.

garioch7

Senior Contributor Location: Port Hood, Nova Scotia, Canada Joined: Feb 07, 2011 06:45 Messages: 852 Offline

Sep 03, 2013 15:21

SeaLyon99:

Carl is pointing you in the right direction. The trial version is not a true reflection of the performance of the 64-bit versions of PD11. I sit to be corrected, but I think it is only a 32-bit application. I don't know if your Win 7 Pro is 32-bit or 64-bit; hopefully the latter, if you want to edit HD video.

You can find the PD11 versions product comparison here:

http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector-deluxe/comparison_en_CA.html

Without your dxdiag file, we can't comment intelligently on your hardware. It sounds adequate, but only a peek "under the hood" can confirm that. Instructions to create and post a dxdiag file are in one of the sticky threads at the top of the Forum.

Cyberlink has a 30-day guarantee on its products. If it were me, I would purchase Ultra or Ultimate, assuming your OS is 64-bit and see how your computer behaves, after you have posted your dxdiag so that we can rule out any hardware issues in advance for you.

I concur that, on the surface, not making the trial accurately represent the performance and capabilities of the software does seem questionable, but I am not a software marketing guru. I have been using PD since version 9 (have PD11 Ultimate right now), and I have been very pleased with the bang for the buck.

Your issues, I am GUESSING, are probably related to the limitations of the trial version, as Carl has suggested. Please post your dxdiag so we can rule out any possible hardware or configuration issues.

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

SeaLyon99

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2013 09:16 Messages: 79 Offline

Sep 03, 2013 15:37

Thanks. Yes, I'm running 64-bit. Attached are the DxDiag files.

After confirming my hardware, can you give me a better idea of what I should expect for performance with my system. Are crashes that common? Appreciate the help.

Filename	ChrisLyons_DxDiag.txt	Download
Description
Filesize	31 Kbytes
Downloaded:	383 time(s)

Filename	ChrisLyons_64DxDiag.txt	Download
Description
Filesize	45 Kbytes
Downloaded:	249 time(s)

garioch7

Senior Contributor Location: Port Hood, Nova Scotia, Canada Joined: Feb 07, 2011 06:45 Messages: 852 Offline

Sep 03, 2013 16:00

SeaLyon99:

Thank you for your dxdiag file. I see three possible problems. Your Intel graphics card has only 64 MB of dedicated VRAM and your driver is over a year old. Below are the specs for PD11 Deluxe, the least resource-hungry of the PD11 family.

http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector-deluxe/specs_en_CA.html

I think you might be better off making your nVidia card your primary graphics card. I think it has 1 GB dedicated VRAM. Make sure though that you have the latest, non-beta driver. There were issues with a previous nVidia driver (long render times and rendering on the fly) and I don't know what the trial version supports. The latest build, and I think the build previous to that, of PD11 Ultra and Ultimate, dealt with that problem. I would go to the nVidia site and download the latest,non-beat, driver for your card.

You have your DPI set to 120 percent. Altering the DPI setting from the default has caused peculiar, erratic issues for some users.

Hope this is of some help. Hopefully some of the real gurus here will be of more assistance to you. Still think you would be better off to test a purchased version so that you have a "real" experience of the software. You have 30 days to determine if you like it, or want another product. 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

SeaLyon99

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2013 09:16 Messages: 79 Offline

Sep 03, 2013 16:24

I would be running ultimate or ultimate suite. My Quadro K2000M card (Nvidia) has 2G memory. I believe I've been running PD11 with that card (setup with the Nvidia driver). I'll check the driver rev. I'm using.

I have not made any changes to my DPI setting. 120 is not default? Where do I change that and what should I change it to? When you say "erratic issues", what do you mean?

If I can get a bit more comfortable with moving forward with PD11, I'll definitely do an initial purchase direct from Cyberlink so I get the 30-day money-back. I'm also currently testing Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12 and their trial is performing tons better on my machine. I do appreciate your help.

SeaLyon99

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2013 09:16 Messages: 79 Offline

Sep 03, 2013 16:42

Here's the info on my Nvidia K2000M Quadro GPU. It is 2G and I have been running PD11 on the GPU.

Filename	ChrisLyons_NVIDIA System Information 09-03-2013 16-40-50.txt	Download
Description
Filesize	4 Kbytes
Downloaded:	271 time(s)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 03. 2013 16:44

SeaLyon99

Member Joined: Jul 26, 2013 09:16 Messages: 79 Offline

Sep 04, 2013 10:09

Can anyone provide some info on retail PD11 performance & frequency of crashes? Do you experience delays and how is preview performing? How often are you seeing crashes? What do you see for render times for FHD H.264 work? Would like to know what others are seeing. Appreciate any feedback.

garioch7

Senior Contributor Location: Port Hood, Nova Scotia, Canada Joined: Feb 07, 2011 06:45 Messages: 852 Offline

Sep 04, 2013 13:05

SeaLyon99:

You can change the DPI setting through the Control Panel, Appearance and Personalization, Display. Your text setting should be normal (100%) and the DPI setting can be adjusted directly by the lowest menu on the left side. It should be 96 DPI normally.

I don't recall the specific problems that some users were having but reverting the DPI setting did resolve issues for a few users.

I have not had any crashing problems with PD9 through PD11. Preview performs reasonably well, considering what is going on in the background. Even with my computer, designed for video editing, one does have to be a bit patient and let PD11 finish what it is doing, which generally only takes a few seconds.

As Carl initially suggested, I think the big issue is the limitations of the trial version and particularly with HD editing.

I will let others share their experiences. 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

josilva

Newbie Location: Portugal Joined: Jan 23, 2013 21:02 Messages: 5 Offline

Sep 09, 2013 12:06

hi
I have same performance problem on PD 11...... VGA/Sound cards were updated, latest patch was updated however it takes ages ... 12 hours to render a movie with 4.7 GB ..... I am using a WIN 8 in a Compaq CQ 58 with 4 GB Ram.
Pls see the attached DxDig file. Any help will be quite appreciated

Filename	DxDiag.txt	Download
Description
Filesize	67 Kbytes
Downloaded:	945 time(s)

jmmsmaia

stevek

Senior Contributor Location: Houston, Texas USA Joined: Jan 25, 2011 12:18 Messages: 4663 Offline

Sep 09, 2013 12:11

Quote: hi
I have same performance problem on PD 11...... VGA/Sound cards were updated, latest patch was updated however it takes ages ... 12 hours to render a movie with 4.7 GB ..... I am using a WIN 8 in a Compaq CQ 58 with 4 GB Ram.
Pls see the attached DxDig file. Any help will be quite appreciated

The performance you are getting is to be expected with the CPU in your computer and the 4G ram. You are below the specs for video editing.

Here are the requirements for PD 12 (whcoh are about the same as for PD 11).

http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector-ultra/spec_en_US.html

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 09. 2013 12:12

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BoilerPlate: To posters who ask for help -- it is nice to thank the volunteers who try to answer your questions !
Anything I post unless stated with a reference is my personal opinion.

josilva

Newbie Location: Portugal Joined: Jan 23, 2013 21:02 Messages: 5 Offline

Sep 09, 2013 12:18

what about if I expand to 4Gb Ram? jmmsmaia

stevek

Senior Contributor Location: Houston, Texas USA Joined: Jan 25, 2011 12:18 Messages: 4663 Offline

Sep 09, 2013 12:51

Quote: what about if I expand to 4Gb Ram?

The CPU is the main issue it is slow. It has to work hard and can do only so much at a time. If you, in the future have problems with the computer shutting down, it is because that CPU is running close to 100% for an extended period. It will overheat and shut down to protect itself. You already have 4 g ram according to your earlier post and your dxdiag file.

Unless you are willing to buy a new computer there is not much you can do. See if Windows Movie Maker will work faster. Once you have the videos encoded, you can bring them into PD 11. Set the encoding to run overnight and don't use the computer to do anything else while you are doing video editing.
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BoilerPlate: To posters who ask for help -- it is nice to thank the volunteers who try to answer your questions !
Anything I post unless stated with a reference is my personal opinion.

josilva

Newbie Location: Portugal Joined: Jan 23, 2013 21:02 Messages: 5 Offline

Sep 09, 2013 18:49

thanks for yr answer and wise information jmmsmaia