Quote >>New info 08 Jan 2017: D8 Files that were dowloaded directly from a Sony DCR-TRV480 D8 camcorder via Firewire to my computer, and captured by Pinnacle Studio software and converted to .AVI tapes, are the ones that do NOT work well in Cyberlink, causing the problem described above.

Files that were originally from Hi8 analog tapes, and played back as analog on a Sony GV-D200 Hi8/D8 mini-deck, and subsequently digitized by a Pinnacle digitizer card in my computer, and captured by the same Pinnacle Studio software and converted to .AVI files, work fine with Cyberlink.

The English sentence ‘and converted to.AVI tapes” does not make sense since you did not use the same words in your statement below concerning the Hi8 capture.

I don’t think that once you capture dv from a camcorder that you want to write it back to dv tapes as you imply in that sentence. Both pinnacle and PD14 are capable of that though.

I have located my old dv and Hi8 passthru captures as DV-AVI using Pinnacle Studio and they play correctly on the timeline of the same and PD14 with no problems.

Can you try the dv captures that did not work in PD14 in your PS and let us know if they play in that timeline. There is a solution if it works. I am thinking that those particular captures that don't work in PD14 will not work in PS too.

Quote

Quote >>New info 08 Jan 2017: D8 Files that were dowloaded directly from a Sony DCR-TRV480 D8 camcorder via Firewire to my computer, and captured by Pinnacle Studio software and converted to .AVI tapes, are the ones that do NOT work well in Cyberlink, causing the problem described above.

Files that were originally from Hi8 analog tapes, and played back as analog on a Sony GV-D200 Hi8/D8 mini-deck, and subsequently digitized by a Pinnacle digitizer card in my computer, and captured by the same Pinnacle Studio software and converted to .AVI files, work fine with Cyberlink.

The English sentence ‘and converted to.AVI tapes” does not make sense since you did not use the same words in your statement below concerning the Hi8 capture.

I don’t think that once you capture dv from a camcorder that you want to write it back to dv tapes as you imply in that sentence. Both pinnacle and PD14 are capable of that though.

I have located my old dv and Hi8 passthru captures as DV-AVI using Pinnacle Studio and they play correctly on the timeline of the same and PD14 with no problems.

Can you try the dv captures that did not work in PD14 in your PS and let us know if they play in that timeline. There is a solution if it works. I am thinking that those particular captures that don't work in PD14 will not work in PS too.

I'll try to clarify by describing this differently. I'm not doing anything with returning the content back to DV.

Here are the steps for the two types of AVI files that I can create and have been tested on PowerDirector 14.

First type of AVI file:

1. Sony DCR-TRV480 D8 Camera --> DV audio-video code tranferred directly from camera to computer via Firewire (IEEE 1394) cable

2. Pinacle Studio captures the Firewire signal from the computer, and converts it to an AVI file.

3. The resulting AVI file works fine in Pinnacle Studio v 5.4, but it does not work correctly in Cyberlink Power Director 14. See my first post for discription of the problem when using this AVI file with PD14.


Second Type of AVI file:

1. Hi8 Analog video tape is played back by a Sony GV-D200 Hi8/D8 tape deck. Analog signal is output on S-Video cable and two RCA sound cables.

2. Analog signals carried by the S-Video and RCA cables are received by a Pinnacle breakout box, which leads by heavy cable to a Pinnacle ISA expansion board in the computer. That board digitizes the signal and is picked up by Pinnacle Studio v5.4 in its capture mode.

3. Pinacle Studio turns that digital signal into an AVI file

4. The resulting AVI file works fine in Pinnacle Studio v 5.4, and it ALSO works fine in Cyberlink Power Director 14.



One suspect: A different setting in Pinacle Studio is used for capturing a signal from a DV camera vs an analog signal. So one suspect could be the Pinnacle software producing a slightly different form of AVI file depending on that setting, which works fine in Pinnacle Studio, but but not the Cyberlink PD14.



Another suspect is differences in DV output depending on the D8 tape player. As stated above, when I use the DCR-TRV480 D8 camcorder to play back the D8 tape through the Firewire to the computer, Pinnace Studio creates an AVI file that works fine in the Pinnacle Studio software (but not the Cyberlink PD software).

But in the past, I tried playing back a D8 tape with the Sony GV-D200 mini-deck as a DV signal through the Firewire cable, into the Studio, and studio did produce an AVI file. When doing that, however, the AVI file did not work in Pinnacle Studio. I've not yet tried a file produced that way in the Cyberlink PD14.





Yet another option would be to use either the camera or the mini-deck to send a DV signal to my other computer that has PD14 on it, and use PD14's capture method to produce an AVI or other file. But to do so, I'd have to install an Firewire board into that computer. Also, I have over 50 tapes that are already converted from D8 DV to AVI files using the Pinnacle software, and I'm hoping that a solution does not involve re-doing all those. And there is no guarantee that the PD14 capture would solve the problem I'm having now.

Terry Thanks for everyone's help,
Terry

Power Director 14
HP Z230 Workstation (Intel Core i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 16GB RAM, 250GB SSHD, 3TB Toshiba Data Drive, Windows 10 Professional, nVidea GeForce GTX 750Ti)
Panasonic HC-X920

Thank you for the clarification. You are using a bundled version of Pinnacle Studio created in Y2000. The firewire captures are type 2 DV-AVI which should be compatible with PD14. Firewire DV-AVI Captures in PD14 are type 1 and they are not compatible with PS. My tests are with the retail unbundled versions of PS.

You could capture those 50 tapes again with PD14 and they should work in PD14. There is another solution that is lossless. Try this: Convert one of those PS captured type 2 DV-AVI files to type 1 using freeware such as DVDate : http://paul.glagla.free.fr/dvdate_en.htm . If this fix the compatibility problem then you can work on the others.

Let us know if this helps..

Quote Thank you for the clarification. You are using a bundled version of Pinnacle Studio created in Y2000. The firewire captures are type 2 DV-AVI which should be compatible with PD14. Firewire DV-AVI Captures in PD14 are type 1 and they are not compatible with PS. My tests are with the retail unbundled versions of PS.

You could capture those 50 tapes again with PD14 and they should work in PD14. There is another solution that is lossless. Try this: Convert one of those PS captured type 2 DV-AVI files to type 1 using freeware such as DVDate : http://paul.glagla.free.fr/dvdate_en.htm . If this fix the compatibility problem then you can work on the others.

Let us know if this helps..

Tomsac, thanks for your helpful feedback. I like the idea of trying a file conversion and see if it will then load and behave properly in PD14. I will try that in the next few days, and report back.

FYI, the version of Pinnacle was installed on the computer at the same time the computer was built by a tech guy I knew at work. It was assembled in June of 2004. I was incorrect when I said it was version 5.4. (For some reason, I often make that mistake). The version installed on the computer was version 9.0 or maybe 9.1 or 9.2. Later I did a paid upgrade to version 9.4.3. After working through Studio's numerous stabiity problems, I decided not to upgrade anymore after that. If that changes any of your conclusions, please let me know here.

Again, thanks for your knowledge and suggestions.

Terry Thanks for everyone's help,
Terry

Power Director 14
HP Z230 Workstation (Intel Core i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 16GB RAM, 250GB SSHD, 3TB Toshiba Data Drive, Windows 10 Professional, nVidea GeForce GTX 750Ti)
Panasonic HC-X920

Quote Thank you for the clarification. You are using a bundled version of Pinnacle Studio created in Y2000. The firewire captures are type 2 DV-AVI which should be compatible with PD14. Firewire DV-AVI Captures in PD14 are type 1 and they are not compatible with PS. My tests are with the retail unbundled versions of PS.

You could capture those 50 tapes again with PD14 and they should work in PD14. There is another solution that is lossless. Try this: Convert one of those PS captured type 2 DV-AVI files to type 1 using freeware such as DVDate : http://paul.glagla.free.fr/dvdate_en.htm . If this fix the compatibility problem then you can work on the others.

Let us know if this helps..

tomsac,

Using DVDate to convert the file to Type 1 seems to have fixed the problem. I loaded the converted AVI file into PD14, and moved it to to the timeline. It could be played from the timeline without errors. (But see below, it might not just be AVI type).

I then put the unmodified (Type 2) AVI file just after it on the timeline, moved the cursor to the start, and began playing on the timeline. The converted (Type 1 now) AVI file played fine. As soon as the cursor reached the end of the now Type 1 file, and the start of the original Type 2 file, it stopped playing and displayed the Media Source Error [Error Code 2].

I then did a little playing around with the converted to Type 1 clip, changing its speed with a power tool, doing a couple of splits, adding a transition, and "producing" it into an MP4 file. All of those processes worked fine.

Based on these samples, I'd concluded that it was a Type 1 vs Type 2 problem. But just to be sure, I pulled up a file that had been converted using Pinnacle, with the feed from a Hi8 tape that I digitized (see prior post). I knew that one worked okay in PD 14, so I took a look at it with DVDate, expecting it to be a Type 1. Surprisingly it was a Type 2 AVI, yet it works in PD14.

The difference that I could see using the DVDate utility was that the Hi8 tape didn't have a DV datecode and timecode, and Pinnacle didn't create one for it. So the problem might be Type 2 AVI files with datecode and timecode.

Regardless, I'm in a lot better shape than I thought I was. Thank you very much for sharing your expertise. I didn't even know there were two types of AVI files. I was getting depressed that I might have to go back and re-download 57 hours of D8 tapes through PD14. There is a good chance that the DVdate program you put me onto will batch process those files that I have to convert.

I guess it would be futile to suggest to Cyberlink that they improve its ability to handle various "flavors" of AVI files. But at least I had you to help me.

Thanks again,

Terry Thanks for everyone's help,
Terry

Power Director 14
HP Z230 Workstation (Intel Core i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 16GB RAM, 250GB SSHD, 3TB Toshiba Data Drive, Windows 10 Professional, nVidea GeForce GTX 750Ti)
Panasonic HC-X920

Quote I guess it would be futile to suggest to Cyberlink that they improve its ability to handle various "flavors" of AVI files. But at least I had you to help me.

Thank you for the update. It is okay to start a ticket with Cyberlink tech support. They may be able to get engineering to work on a solution if enough users need it or suggest some sort of solution.

Let us know if they have a solution or suggestion. It would help other users with the same problem.

Quote

Quote I guess it would be futile to suggest to Cyberlink that they improve its ability to handle various "flavors" of AVI files. But at least I had you to help me.

Thank you for the update. It is okay to start a ticket with Cyberlink tech support. They may be able to get engineering to work on a solution if enough users need it or suggest some sort of solution.

Let us know if they have a solution or suggestion. It would help other users with the same problem.

I started a ticket with Cyberlink Tech Support yesterday. I'll keep you posted on what comes of that.



I've attached an MSWord file that has DVDate screen prints of four different AVI files that which had different means of creating or modifying the AVI files. Two DO NOT PLAY from the PD 14 timeline and give an error message. Two DO PLAY from PD14 with no error message.

It does seem like success of whether an AVI file plays or not from the PD14 timeline isn't just Type 1 vs. Type 2.

Thanks again,

Terry Thanks for everyone's help,
Terry

Power Director 14
HP Z230 Workstation (Intel Core i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 16GB RAM, 250GB SSHD, 3TB Toshiba Data Drive, Windows 10 Professional, nVidea GeForce GTX 750Ti)
Panasonic HC-X920

tomsac,

I received a reply from Cyberlink. They don't seem intested in fixing this. Here is the response I received:

QUOTE FROM Cyberlink support:

Dear Terrence,Thank you for writing back.In regards to your concern,I would inform you that as per the symptoms, the AVI video file which you are trying to import is specially encoded file and PowerDirector may not support the encoded AVI files.Therefore,I suggest you to transcode to some other format as a possible solution. You can use the below application/tool to convert the video file.https://handbrake.fr/ NOTE :I Suggest you to use the best quality option to keep the quality of the video.

Thank You and Best Regards,

Nandkishor

CyberLink Technical Support

END OF QUOTE.

I sent a link to them of this thread, and suggest that there isn't anything "specially coded." I told him that they should understand that there are other industry standards for AVI files that they should support. I concluded with this comment:

"Cyberlink advertises that it supports AVI files. Cyberlink must therefore improve the Power Director program to work with both Type 1 and Type 2 AVI files. If not, it must update its specs and advertising about Power Director's limitations on certain types of AVI files, so that potential customers will have a correct information when they make a purchase decision."

I'll let you know their response if I get one.

Terry Thanks for everyone's help,
Terry

Power Director 14
HP Z230 Workstation (Intel Core i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 16GB RAM, 250GB SSHD, 3TB Toshiba Data Drive, Windows 10 Professional, nVidea GeForce GTX 750Ti)
Panasonic HC-X920

Quote tomsac,

I received a reply from Cyberlink. They don't seem intested in fixing this. Here is the response I received:

QUOTE FROM Cyberlink support:

Dear Terrence,Thank you for writing back.In regards to your concern,I would inform you that as per the symptoms, the AVI video file which you are trying to import is specially encoded file and PowerDirector may not support the encoded AVI files.Therefore,I suggest you to transcode to some other format as a possible solution. You can use the below application/tool to convert the video file.https://handbrake.fr/ NOTE :I Suggest you to use the best quality option to keep the quality of the video.

Thank You and Best Regards,

Nandkishor

CyberLink Technical Support

END OF QUOTE.

I sent a link to them of this thread, and suggest that there isn't anything "specially coded." I told him that they should understand that there are other industry standards for AVI files that they should support. I concluded with this comment:

"Cyberlink advertises that it supports AVI files. Cyberlink must therefore improve the Power Director program to work with both Type 1 and Type 2 AVI files. If not, it must update its specs and advertising about Power Director's limitations on certain types of AVI files, so that potential customers will have a correct information when they make a purchase decision."

I'll let you know their response if I get one.

Terry

I think the problem is that you are dealing with technical support, who help with existing features. From their perspective, it seems like you are asking for enhanced capability. This should probably be sent to the "wish list" for future versions. Just my take... Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
32GB DDR4 RAM, 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD, 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD,
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

Quote Therefore,I suggest you to transcode to some other format as a possible solution. You can use the below application/tool to convert the video file.https://handbrake.fr/ NOTE :I Suggest you to use the best quality option to keep the quality of the video.

CyberLink Technical Support

Someone in the forum need to explain to how handbrake can convert a interlaced file format to another interlaced format. That tool only converts to a progressive format with mice teeth artifacts if you did not deinterlace the source dv-avi first. I wouldn't do it.

Wow. 3 different dv-avi posts going on at the same time. Hope the other ones get better answers or the right ones from support. Thanks for posting this.

Below is the latest response I received from Cyberlink Technical Support. My prior experience with Tech Support is that they keep asking for things like this, and never get to a serious solution. It's a little cynical of me, but it is almost they are trying to wear down the customer until he/she gives up. Since the DVdate utility seemed to fix the problem, I'm inclined to call that a solution, and move on with life.

Response from Cyberlink Technical Support:



"Dear TERRENCE ,Thank you for writing back.Regarding your concern, I would suggest you to upload the AVI file for our checking.I would suggest you to upload the Sent us the AVI file to our FTP siteTo upload the sample file to FTP site, please follow the below mentioned stepsA) First create a folder named CS001700110 on the desktop and put in the sample file inside this folder.Please follow the steps to get in to FTP location.1. Copy and paste the below link on the Windows Explorer.ftp://cyberlinkcsZEFMSP9@ftp.gocyberlink.com/VCDeepak/ 2. Enter the username and password below whenever asked.Account Name: cyberlinkcsNew Password: PZEFMSP9Please copy and paste the folder CS001700110 in this location.Also, please inform us that you've uploaded the information file at FTP.(If you are unable to upload the file in FTP website then you can also upload the sample file on Google drive/ Drop box and share the link with us)Please feel free to contact us back for any further clarification or for any assistance related to CyberLink Products. Use the below mentioned link to get back to us for your further queries:https://membership.cyberlink.com/support/service/technical-support.do Thanks and Regards,BhawnaCyberLink Technical Support" Thanks for everyone's help,
Terry

Power Director 14
HP Z230 Workstation (Intel Core i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 16GB RAM, 250GB SSHD, 3TB Toshiba Data Drive, Windows 10 Professional, nVidea GeForce GTX 750Ti)
Panasonic HC-X920