One bug an a few observations...

glsmall

Newbie Joined: Mar 15, 2010 14:42 Messages: 8 Offline

Solved by

Sep 30, 2013 15:02

Just thought I'd post this up for general info.

I purchased Director Suite 2 which includes Power Director version 12 and have a few observations.

When I close a project one and try opening another project PD2 crashes about 80% of the time.

My observations after a few days of PD12 usage:

Most of the following things existed on PD8. I thought there would have been an improvement since then. But, I guess not.

1: I like to work on multiple projects at the same time. preferably in separate windows, side by side. Most applications now days allow this. I suppose there are reasons why this is not possible but I can't think of any. Maybe when computer memory was limited to 1 or 2 GB and processor speeds were limited to 1.5Ghz, but those days are over. I guess the only work around is to open project 1, work on it, save & close it, open project 2, and work on it, and go back to project 1. I could even deal with this cumbersome method if it wasn't for the crashing.

2. Another annoyance and this is, so far, my biggest complaint... Why can't PD12 remember my previously accessed folder/file structures for each project? When I close PD12, things revert to a pre-defined folder and file name defined in a global structure defined in "Edit-> preferences -> File" . Why can't those definitions stored with in the File Project Properties" instead of making them global? Very aggravating since PD12 crashes 80% of the time when switching between projects.

3. I am surprised that the app still has to open to fill the whole PC screen. In the years since the earliest versions when screen sized were 14, 15 or maybe 17 inch I could at least rationalize this behavior on an application but now with the average size of PC monitors approaching 23 inches why can't I just resize the PowerDirector 12 window and have it remember that size the next time I open it?

4. Non-compatibility when Opening projects made with earlier versions. A lot of the transitions don't port. Even though some of the original the transitions are still there in some upgraded form they don't even port. The flip transition is one example.

With all that said I still think PowerDirector V12 is a really good upgrade from my previous version 8.
Director Suite 2 (w/latest patches as of 9/30/2013)
Intel i7 930 2.8Ghz 6Gb Mem Asus 9600GT Video Card

James1

Senior Contributor Location: Surrey, B.C., Canada Joined: Jun 10, 2010 16:20 Messages: 1783 Offline

Sep 30, 2013 16:11

Hi,
If you go to preferences you can change the default directory where files are stored. as for opening full screen don't know bout that, but you have an older 9600 graphic card that may not support some aspects of Pd12, and 6Gb memory for Video editing is the minimum inf PD.
Jim Intel i7-2600@3.4Gz Geforce 560ti-1GB Graphic accelerator, windows 7 Premium 12GB memory

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BarryTheCrab

Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Nov 06, 2008 22:18 Messages: 6240 Offline

Sep 30, 2013 16:22

glsmall,
I completely agree with you regarding the file export location. Makes me CRAZY!!!
As for crashing between projects, I personally have not had that happen. Your crashing issue could be many things, for starters a good defrag and general maintenance, but without a dxdiag, as per the STICKIES, we can just flounder about guessing.
As for any other features that may be lacking in PD, we must keep in mind the price of this software, which is reasonable in my opinion, for what it can do. Over the years, since V5, I have voiced my ideas and annoyances to Cyberlink, and nearly every feature I wanted has finally come about in PD 11, and now 12.
A good place to air ideas is on the Cyberlink Facebook page.
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glsmall

Newbie Joined: Mar 15, 2010 14:42 Messages: 8 Offline

Sep 30, 2013 17:01

Yes, the preferences can be changed for the file locations but I have a number of projects that are in different locations around my system and I may work on two or three projects in one day. One global location parameter if fine for people that keep all their videos in My Videos but I support three web sites which are stored in a folder structures under My Documents. I also have two youtube channels. The videos I have for youtube *are* in two folders under My Videos folder. I also do photo slide shows for various people and keep the videos for those in subfolders of the My Pictures folder. I also have another software package that is located in a folder directly under in C:\. During the install it does allow you to change the installation folder but if you chose that route it loses it's mind for some of the functionality. I've been using that software for around 8 years and they just announced that they are finally going to make it more of a windows standard type of installation Any way it would be very convenient to have the file locations saved with each project.

I agree, my graphics card does need upgrading. I've been thinking about that lately but my videos are usually pretty short and the rendering time isn't too much of a concern for me right now.

Director Suite 2 (w/latest patches as of 9/30/2013)
Intel i7 930 2.8Ghz 6Gb Mem Asus 9600GT Video Card

James1

Senior Contributor Location: Surrey, B.C., Canada Joined: Jun 10, 2010 16:20 Messages: 1783 Offline

Sep 30, 2013 17:13

Hi,
Another method you could apply is to create a folder containing the project files by packing the project(s) to that folder. That way the links to the various 'videos' in that project are contained within that script created by PD.
Jim Intel i7-2600@3.4Gz Geforce 560ti-1GB Graphic accelerator, windows 7 Premium 12GB memory

Visit GranPapa64's channel for your YouTube experience of the day!

glsmall

Newbie Joined: Mar 15, 2010 14:42 Messages: 8 Offline

Sep 30, 2013 17:17

My system gets defragged once a week whether it needs it or not.

Director Suite 2 (w/latest patches as of 9/30/2013)
Intel i7 930 2.8Ghz 6Gb Mem Asus 9600GT Video Card

glsmall

Newbie Joined: Mar 15, 2010 14:42 Messages: 8 Offline

Sep 30, 2013 17:30

Oh yeah, one more thing. PD is definitely worth every $ compared to the competition. No complaints from me about that. Director Suite 2 (w/latest patches as of 9/30/2013)
Intel i7 930 2.8Ghz 6Gb Mem Asus 9600GT Video Card

VE2FET

Member Joined: Dec 05, 2012 21:43 Messages: 60 Offline

Oct 06, 2013 10:03

Ripple III is for exemple is not in PD12... it is missing in PD12, if you don't take a huge amount of time and review your projets you WON'T KNOW what was removed from them when opening them in PD12. Why did it not convert them to the "NEW" Ripple with the "III" setting?

Also, since many versions of PD, when "Producing" output, editing the destination file output "RESET" your settings in the left, like NOT to use Acceleration Hardware, it "RECHECK IT" all the time, bad... if you don't notice it long hours lost having to re-produce your output file.

S.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Oct 06. 2013 11:16

glsmall

Newbie Joined: Mar 15, 2010 14:42 Messages: 8 Offline

Oct 06, 2013 20:03

like NOT to use Acceleration Hardware

I haven't seen that but maybe I'm not checking the right place?

Edit -> preferences -> Hardware Accelleration -> Enable hardware encoding ?? Director Suite 2 (w/latest patches as of 9/30/2013)
Intel i7 930 2.8Ghz 6Gb Mem Asus 9600GT Video Card

VE2FET

Member Joined: Dec 05, 2012 21:43 Messages: 60 Offline

Oct 06, 2013 20:29

Quote:

like NOT to use Acceleration Hardware

I haven't seen that but maybe I'm not checking the right place?

Edit -> preferences -> Hardware Accelleration -> Enable hardware encoding ??

It is already off there, when enabled Hd video played from bluray disc to my HD Sony XBR is not good...

As soon as you change disk destination in create disk it recheck hardware acceleration...
S.