Pwr. Dir. New Version??

Loren C

Member Location: New Hampshire Joined: Jul 08, 2013 19:53 Messages: 86 Offline

Solved by

Feb 25, 2015 15:42

Hi all.
I currently run Power Director Ultra 64 bit. V-11.0.0.3625 on Windows 07 prof.

Currently I produce mostly home videos from my GoPro Hero-2, and both videos, and still shots, from my Nikon S9700 compact camera. I don't do exotic stuff, or professional videos. I'm thinking of upgrading to the newest version.. 13. I'd like to know ....

1st Are there any major problems with the latest version, or does it work reasonably well?
2d Is the interface much different from V-11
3d How much of a learning curve is expected?
4th Any other things I should be aware of.
5th Does V-13 take much more processing power than V-11
6th Can a video be tilted to level it's horizon, and still keep a sharp image.
(I find if I attempt this in V-11, the resulting video seems to be not as sharp as before the leveling.)

Thanks for any comments.
Ageing Gracefully

All vodi

Senior Contributor Location: Canada Joined: Aug 21, 2009 11:24 Messages: 1431 Offline

Feb 25, 2015 15:55

Gracefull,

You did not indicate what kind of hardware you're using. However, in general PD13 is quite good. The interface and overall operation is very similar. And the bugs are very minor and only on specific items. The processing power is also similar. The big improvement in my case was the added "enhanced" stabilizer. There will be others that will hopefully jump in and tell you more. Win 10, i7

Myk

Senior Member Location: The Hartland of Michigan Joined: Feb 05, 2015 16:09 Messages: 205 Offline

Feb 25, 2015 19:54

I've read some reports that 12 is more stable, but I have no experience with it. PD13 is the one and only version I have used.
I have had some lock-ups and hiccups, but I save my project often enough that I can shut the program down, and restart it to resume my work. A bit inconvenient, but am also not producing pro videos.
All-in-all I am very happy with the results I am getting. .
.
Never, under any circumstances, combine a laxative and sleeping pill on the same night.

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PlaySound

Senior Contributor Joined: Dec 02, 2010 10:26 Messages: 2031 Offline

Feb 26, 2015 07:00

My opinion PD13, is better than PD11 (has more features), had problems in the beginning, now this well.
Download trial version and check first to decide.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Feb 26. 2015 17:27

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Loren C

Member Location: New Hampshire Joined: Jul 08, 2013 19:53 Messages: 86 Offline

Feb 26, 2015 08:09

Thanks for all your responses.

I did download the trial file of Power Director 13, and tried to level some of my videos, where the view was tilted. ( Helmet mounted GoPro camera, subject to a lot of tilting of head! )

After attempting to correct a portion of my video, where I had to "split" the video into several sections, and make corrections on each section separately. I experienced multiple hang-ups. Pwr. Dir. 13 just stopped responding!
I still had my Pwr. Dir. 11 installed, so I attempted the same operation on the same video using Pwr. Dir. 11 , and it did not hang up, or stop responding.

I used the [Video Crop] feature in "Power Tools" to correct for tilting of original video.
I don't know why I kept hanging up PD 13, where PD 11 functioned ok doing the same operation.
Ageing Gracefully

stevek

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

Feb 26, 2015 08:33

Loren, Perhaps I missed it. What are you trying to gain by buying the newest version?

If you are just trying to improve the tilt and shakiness of the video (and not trying to edit it in one pass, then download the trial of ProDad's PRODrenaln. There are settings for your camera (fisheye) and for general fixes like those associated with rolling shutter issues.

Once the video is fixed, you can then use PowerDirector to cut/solit/publish. .
.
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.

Loren C

Member Location: New Hampshire Joined: Jul 08, 2013 19:53 Messages: 86 Offline

Feb 26, 2015 20:58

Quote: Loren, Perhaps I missed it. What are you trying to gain by buying the newest version?

If you are just trying to improve the tilt and shakiness of the video (and not trying to edit it in one pass, then download the trial of ProDad's PRODrenaln. There are settings for your camera (fisheye) and for general fixes like those associated with rolling shutter issues.

Once the video is fixed, you can then use PowerDirector to cut/solit/publish.

Thanks, I'll check into that. Ageing Gracefully

Loren C

Member Location: New Hampshire Joined: Jul 08, 2013 19:53 Messages: 86 Offline

Mar 01, 2015 09:18

I downloaded ProDrenalin demo version, and installed it. I could not see any way to rotate my video. Maybe in paid version, but not clear from their web site, and I didn't want to waste $50 to find out.

I did do a search for video rotating software, but most only rotate 90 deg's or 180 deg's, not veritable rotations.

It seems like when a video is rotated, that it has to be cropped, loosing some of total view. (Almost like zooming in.)

GoPro's Studio does rotate incrementally, like Power Director, but also requires cropping.
Isn't there any way to get a video rotated by only a few degrees, and not loose blank space in edges, or require cropping?
Ageing Gracefully

BarryTheCrab

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

Mar 01, 2015 09:27

Rotating an image or video always results in either black edges/corners, or loss of resolution from zooming in to rid yourself of those black (empty)edges.
You can always place a colorboard or image/video behind it to alter the black to something more "pleasing" to the eye. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
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Loren C

Member Location: New Hampshire Joined: Jul 08, 2013 19:53 Messages: 86 Offline

Mar 01, 2015 10:02

Quote: Rotating an image or video always results in either black edges/corners, or loss of resolution from zooming in to rid yourself of those black (empty)edges.
You can always place a colorboard or image/video behind it to alter the black to something more "pleasing" to the eye.

Thanks, that's what i expected. One thing that came out of my quest was, I found some of these programs have a feature to improve "fish-eye" like you get from a GoPro camera.
Any suggestions for free software that will have that feature.
( I find Power Director has most features I need, but this is one I don't think it has? ) Ageing Gracefully

stevek

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

Mar 01, 2015 10:10

I guess that I didn't think that the rotation was going to be as bad as you indicate. Perhaps a different type of mount in the futuer.

ProDrenlin has profiles for all GoPro cameras and will get rid of fisheye and "other" artifacts. Perhaps you might want to learn a little more about the program. Did you look at the Virtual camera ROLL adjustment? You can roll the image right or left. Of course you may get the black edges if you go to far. Each section of the video must be handled separately.

By the way, I do not have any relationship with ProDad. I have used it with an ION camcorder and was peased with the lens correction and the steady feature. I just was trying to help you.

No, it is not free!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 01. 2015 10:19

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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.

Loren C

Member Location: New Hampshire Joined: Jul 08, 2013 19:53 Messages: 86 Offline

Mar 01, 2015 17:19

Quote: I guess that I didn't think that the rotation was going to be as bad as you indicate. Perhaps a different type of mount in the futuer.

ProDrenlin has profiles for all GoPro cameras and will get rid of fisheye and "other" artifacts. Perhaps you might want to learn a little more about the program. Did you look at the Virtual camera ROLL adjustment? You can roll the image right or left. Of course you may get the black edges if you go to far. Each section of the video must be handled separately.

By the way, I do not have any relationship with ProDad. I have used it with an ION camcorder and was peased with the lens correction and the steady feature. I just was trying to help you.

No, it is not free!

I did notice some of the other features you mentioned. I would have been interested to try some of them to see how well they work. However they limited most of the features, I was interested in trying, in the Trial version. I'm not opposed to purchasing a software program if I'm reasonably sure it will do what I want, but if they won't let you use all features in the trial, I don't want to take the risk.

I really appreciate your help, and I didn't think you were associated with them. I took your comments as one PC geek helping another PC Geek.
(excuse the term! )
Ageing Gracefully

BarryTheCrab

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

Mar 01, 2015 17:35

New Blue has a lens corrector plug-in with Video Essentials 2, and within PD there is a Fisheye FX, maybe you can invert the effect to reverse the fisheye.
That being said, Prodad has great software, though not all of them plug into PD. 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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Loren C

Member Location: New Hampshire Joined: Jul 08, 2013 19:53 Messages: 86 Offline

Mar 01, 2015 21:37

Just curious, if you use the GoPro profiles, in ProDAD’s software, does it really make the trees, and telephone poles off to the side of a video strait? In my experimentations using Pwr. Dir V-11 Fisheye effects, I got limited improvement, but there was still some curving near the extreme sides of the video.

I down loaded ProDAD’s Defishr V1, and tried to correct for fisheye. In the editor it seemed to help, but again, the output video was limited by the demo version to 10 sec’s.
I really can’t see the marketing strategy in this. Based on all their limitations in demo versions, you can’t really see what the software is capable of.
Ageing Gracefully

stevek

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

Mar 02, 2015 06:31

I can't talk about the fish eye correction for GOPro but it works well with the ION camcorder. I doubt that anything will get rid of all fish eye. A combination of correcting the lens and correcting the shakiness of the video would be the best approach.

Perhaps we are getting to far off talking about Cyberlink products. If you send me either a very short video or a screen grab via private message, I can run it through the program so see what it can do with the GoPro.

By the way, I also own an inexpensive pair of video glasses and I prefer them over the ION. Perhaps in certain situations you might want to consider one of those. Of course, there is no viewfinder !

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Mar 02. 2015 06:35

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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.

Michael8511

Contributor Location: U.S.A. Indiana Joined: Jan 14, 2012 16:12 Messages: 374 Offline

Mar 02, 2015 08:02

Loren C I use the GoPro Studio software to remove fisheye look. It's free and work fast at it. It's in the advance setting. That's all I use it for. I have it encode a high MOV. file. Then have it encode back to Mp4 matching the bitrate of the files coming of the GoPro camera.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 02. 2015 08:11

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Loren C

Member Location: New Hampshire Joined: Jul 08, 2013 19:53 Messages: 86 Offline

Mar 02, 2015 10:35

Quote: I can't talk about the fish eye correction for GOPro but it works well with the ION camcorder. I doubt that anything will get rid of all fish eye. A combination of correcting the lens and correcting the shakiness of the video would be the best approach.

Perhaps we are getting to far off talking about Cyberlink products. If you send me either a very short video or a screen grab via private message, I can run it through the program so see what it can do with the GoPro.

By the way, I also own an inexpensive pair of video glasses and I prefer them over the ION. Perhaps in certain situations you might want to consider one of those. Of course, there is no viewfinder !

I appreciate the offer. I'm going to experiment some more, with the Power Director features you mentioned above, to get more familiar with them.
I do find my GoPro is hard to get positioned correctly with out extensive trial & error.
I’ve resorted to making a cardboard template to adjust tilt angles, of the camera, for use on my motorcycle helmet. Head tilt, and “wobble” are a factor in getting an acceptable video.

It would be great if GoPro would make a “remote unit with a screen so you could see what the camera is seeing. It would be much more usable than putting the view screen on the back of the camera. There are so many possible places to mount the camera, it’s not always convenient to see if it’s positioned correctly.
Ageing Gracefully

stevek

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

Mar 02, 2015 11:52

The ION allows you to use a smart phone as a viewing screen but my experience is that it updates too slowly to give a good view of what you are recording. .
.
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.

Loren C

Member Location: New Hampshire Joined: Jul 08, 2013 19:53 Messages: 86 Offline

Mar 02, 2015 14:19

Quote: Loren C I use the GoPro Studio software to remove fisheye look. It's free and work fast at it. It's in the advance setting. That's all I use it for. I have it encode a high MOV. file. Then have it encode back to Mp4 matching the bitrate of the files coming of the GoPro camera.

I installed GoPro Studio V-2.5.4.404
I don’t have a listing for [Fisheye] in my Advanced Settings box.
I looked on the manual, and on Pg.26 there is no [fisheye] showing in that box.
However, on Pg.28 of manual the “fisheye” is listed. Is there a special place to click on to see that option? I couldn’t fine it on my version of Studio.
Ageing Gracefully

Michael8511

Contributor Location: U.S.A. Indiana Joined: Jan 14, 2012 16:12 Messages: 374 Offline

Mar 02, 2015 18:45

Loren C you have to import a video in to it. to see that setting in advance setting. If you just open the GoPro studio up and look in advance it don't show up. I was looking for the version I have, but not see it any place on it. I downloaded it back right after Christmas.

Plus I don't thing that setting is there if it's a non GoPro file. When I use it. I make a folder called remove fisheye and have it put the files in it.
Here a file I used it on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZrSClMzWsU&list=UUzDcl9HECTxu2mNPgXJUfeA

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Mar 02. 2015 18:49

Intel i7 5960X overclock to 4 Ghz 16 GB of ram.
GoPro 4
Canon VIXIA HF G10
Canon EOS Rebel T3
Canon EOS 70D
My Vimeo Channel http://vimeo.com/user3339631/videos