I realize I sound like a broken record, and I regret I went from a positive supporter of PowerDirector to a disgruntled-sounding malcontent, but this software really does have issues that make it very user-unfriendly. Once again, the Disc Menu Designer is crashing consistently and I can only tell when but not why or how to prevent it other than rebuilding a template every time as if it were the first.

Using the paintbrush template, I built a custom disc menu with four thumbnails with chapter titles (Chapter 1, chapter 2, etc) and four separate title lines of text. The menu spans two pages. The thumbnails are still shots, no motion. I used this template successfully once. As the series has three episodes, I opened this template a second time, changed the wording of the text lines to reflect the new episode but I did not change the chapter titles text. I also deleted one line of unnecessary text and adjusted the first text line to make the second line's deletion less noticeable. I also made some minor changes in the fonts and their color to highlight the character of the second episode. Nothing else changed. The background is a colorboard, not an image. No problems, the template worked great, and the disc was burned without problems. For the third episode, I opened the second custom template, changed the wording of the title text lines as before and added one line of text (similar to the first template). I changed the color of the chapter headings. No other changes. When I clicked the template save button, PD crashed. I reopened the program, then the project, then the disc menu designer, then the second template (the third template was completely lost), and tried again. PD crashed. I repeated the process numerous times with the same results. I then opened the template and made changes one at a time, this time saving each change as an individual template to determine which step was causing the crash. When I only changed the font color, the template would save. If I adjusted the text line locations in any way, PD crashed. If I added a line of text, PD crashed. If I changed the font, PD crashed. Mysteriously, when I changed the font color first and saved it as a new template, PD functioned without a glitch. But when I then modified the text of this new template, PD crashed. When I reopened the project and disc menu designer, the new template with the font color changes defaulted back to the original template colors and fonts as if the changes never happened. Go figure.

Thinking the glitch was in the second custom template, I opened the first template in the series and tried to modify the text. I had the exact same problems as experienced with the second template in the exact same places. PD crashed every time I changed the font or the wording (I did not change the text positioning as the first template had four lines of text already.).

I shut down all background programs, ie, antivirus, anti-spyware, every media program, anything that was not necessary. The results were the same. PD keeps crashing when I change the text or the text line positions. This did not happen on either of the first two templates. I have had this same problem before when I modified custom templates, and the only solution was to rebuild the template with exact same architecture with new wording.

Admittedly, I am now tying up all the open series for which PD has a template. I have finally had enough. I am tired of trying to justify the time I am spending sorting out this program. Maybe the problem is me, but I have yet to learn anything about what I should be doing other than being told my machine is the problem. I originally invested time and money in PD because it had reviews claiming it was a stellar program for the novice video editor, but after all the aggravation of trying to get the program to work with the limited Help Index that never seems to have the answers to the questions I am asking, the aggravation of dealing with the abysmal customer service and knowledge base at Cyberlink Technical Support, the aggravation of spending more time troubleshooting than actual editing, and the aggravation of asking the same questions over and over with little to no response, even if it were someone telling me I have no idea what I am talking about and I should be banned for wasting bandwidth, I honestly question whether the reviewers who touted the merits of PD (which was why I went with PD in the first place) had more than a snootful when they gave PD a gold star rating.

Just the rantings of frustrated novice.

Jim

I've seen your dissertations here Jim and while I have sympathy for your plight you appear to be the only one experiencing issues with PowerDirector 6 on this scale. I'm not going to suggest any more actions because I have done all that previously.

I hope you're submitting these reports back to Cyberlink's Customer Support as they are the ones who will respond to you on the issues you're experiencing.

Please consider the reader when you start writing - keep it simple and just the facts, just the facts.

Dafydd

Length is a catch 22. When I only give bullet-brevity comments, I am given form letter advice that I have already tried or does not apply. I am then asked to be specific in what I did and the steps I took to arrive where I ended up. What do I do when the rote answers do not work? Consider my time and money a donation to Cyberlink and move on to some other software? Or just purchase the upgrade to PD7 and hope it works better than PD6?

As to the Cyberlink Tech Support, you are kidding right? Their inanity was why I ended up in this forum. Maybe if the techs responded as if they knew more about the program than supplying me with standard cut and paste answers that had little to nothing to do with the problem I was detailing to them, I would consider talking with them a viable option. In the end, the techs were focused more on me constantly sending and resending my personal information and proof of purchase than they were in solving the problems I detailed to them. I am old enough to know when I am being shuffled by a three-card Monty.

So I guess from your response, my issues are beyond the realm of this forum, as no one else has experienced these problems to this degree? I always wanted to be unique, but I was hoping more for celebrity and lucrative endorsements.

Thank you for the help on those issues where things went right, Dafydd. I also appreciate the professional and polite way of telling me to take my issues with PD elsewhere instead of dumping them here. Most other forums just ban you outright. Admittedly, I am new to PD6 and may not know what I am doing, and I do not have the technical expertise to deeply sort out how to make PD play nice within my system. Hopefully, there are other video editing programs out there that are more forgiving.

Jim

Jim,

I'm trying to get you to approach Customer Support directly simply because they need to know. I also want you to limit the amount you write so the reader can quickly grasp what the situation is. The very short bullet point approach is the one you should adopt when posting here and when contacting others. Less is best will bring results.

Members do not want to read overly long individual postings.

Please attach screenshots of the issues you face. 100kbs max and 3 images per posting.

Dafydd

Simple update, Dafydd. I gave another try in contacting the Cyberlink Technical Support last Saturday morning around 10:00 am. I BRIEFLY annotated five separate issues I have been having with PD6. I gave them SHORT descriptions of each problem and how they happened. About seven hours later, I got a response from the Cyberlink saying I was not eligible for assistance because their records showed I previously received a refund for my purchase of the PD software. I immediately informed them they were in error as I have never requested nor received a refund. I politely asked them to provide me with proof of my refund just as they always ask me for proof of my purchase. That was four days ago.

No response. No follow up. No proof. No answers. Wow, deja vu all over again.

So much for great Tech Support, and their interest in resolving issues with their software.

Jim

Well, I just received another email from Cyberlink Tech Support. They now want me to again prove how and when I purchased PD. Please help me out here. Cyberlink has me on file receiving a refund I never requested or received. One would think that also means they have me on file first owning the software. So providing them with proof of initial purchase before the alleged refund does what to showing them I did not receive a refund at all? The refund is downstream of the initial purchase. Just what does me proving my ownership have to do with refuting the refund or more importantly, the questions I asked about the software? This fiasco was exactly what I referenced above when I said Cyberlink Tech Support is little to no value in sorting out problems with PD. They have different priorities when it comes to customer service. Silly me, I just want to know how to make PD work as claimed. Yeah, I know, spending $1,500 or so on a new machine and upgrading to PD7 will solve all my problems.

I give up.

Jim

Jim,

The questions I ask are pretty basic.

Who is GizmoBlip?
When did you purchase PD6?
When did you indicate to CyberLink you wanted a refund because you were upset about PD6?
Have you gone through your emails and re-read them?
Did you check your Card statements and looked for the refund?

Once a refund is initiated I should think it goes through very quickly and will end up as a credit to the debit Card payment - returned from whence the payment came from.

The onus now is definately on you - as a refund has been given.

If as CyberLink indicates you've been given a refund for PD6, you're not entitled to use the software.

Dafydd

Dafydd,

I am not in this to be chided or contentious. The answers are very basic too.

1. GizmoBlip was just a username. I figured AwesomeSuperVideoGod was a bit over the top. I have used my real name at the end of my posts. I should have read the forum rules before my first post, my mistake. I did not think anyone would actually think my real name was GizmoBlip and Jim was a pseudonym, so I allowed myself the lazy luxury of keeping my profile the status quo. Lesson learned, name changed.

2. A little more than a week before my first post in this forum.

3. I never indicated to Cyberlink or anyone else that I wanted a refund. As noted in my last post here, I did not want a refund, I simply wanted PD6 to work as claimed. Generally speaking, the software is not bad. But where it does have its problems--and there are more than a few, it really is annoying and difficult to work with.

4. Yes, for more reasons than searching for a refund I never requested.

5. Again, regardless of what Cyberlink may have in its records, I have never requested or received a refund for this software. No, I do not have a credit in my credit card statements.

Dafydd, the onus is not on me. Proving initial purchase does not prove or refute I ever received a refund. If Cyberlink wishes to claim I received a refund, then they should at least provide me with some information as to where and to whom the refund went. Cyberlink may have given someone a refund, but that someone was not me. The onus is on Cyberlink to give me something to work with.

I have no issues with Cyberlink not wanting to answer questions from individuals who received refunds for their software, although I am a bit puzzled why a person who was so dissatisfied with a Cyberlink product that they demanded a refund (and got it) would continue using the product they did not like and would struggle with the Cyberlink Tech Support they knew would not know the answer. If you recall, I only approached them this last time because you wanted me to tell them my issues with PD6. I expected little from the exchange. Cyberlink is the one who does not care to listen about their product. So be it. I do not like being unique or wasting your time with long posts, so I just moved on.

C'est la vie!

Jim

this is somewhat realted to texting issues which I'm having with PD7. I cannot find any help via the PD help section as to how to get a solid color background for which I want to add text rather than always using the provided templates which all are transparent forcing me to put the text on video. Just need to import some black, blue, etc. solid backgrounds for which I can add text and get in to dissolve up, stay on for a few seconds, and then fade out prior to live video. Any help would be appreciated.

Gary,

If I’m correctly understanding your question here, have you tried to...

1) click All Media > click Color Boards > drag chosen Color Board to Time Line (before or after video clip)

2) click Title Room > drag Default (or other choice) to Title Track > click Modify to create custom text.

If this isn’t what your looking for try the “Search” feature with key words like... Text-Title-Background. That ought to point you in the right direction.
Click here PDtoots for a collection of PowerDirector Tutorials and Tips

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/3522.page

Link to images - Color boards

Dafydd

two responses in less than a day. You guys are all right. don't know much about editing, but could not find out how to retrive color backgrounds even using the help section. Anyway, thanks for you help. Its nice to see this type of coorporation in a forum.