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Working with GIFs
See2Dee [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Mar 20, 2016 16:11 Messages: 16 Offline
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Note: I see there have recently been some discussions regarding GIF problems, seemingly related to the 2309 update, but I'll submit this anyway, in case there's any new info.

A few weeks ago, before installing the latest PD15 update, I did a small project in which I strung together a series of GIFs then imported the sequence as a single MP4 file.

At that time, I found it was a simple matter to drag & drop the GIFs onto the timeline and sequence them as required. Each GIF appeared as a discreet clip on the timeline.

Now I find that it doesn't seem to work as before. The first 2 or 3 times I tried to drag & drop GIFs onto the timeline, they began to replicate endlessly, and the only way I could stop it was by closing the program. Since those first few attempts, however, something different has been happening, which I can't really explain. The first time I drop a GIF onto the timeline, a small bar appears - see image attachment 1. With subsequent drops, the option to overwrite/insert/etc appears and if I apply one of these options, the GIF appears on the timeline (see images 2 & 3), but it doesn't appear to work properly.

In the User Guide I find reference to 'GIFs' and 'Animated GIFs', but beyond that I can't find anything to explain what the difference is or how to work with them.

I'm not sure if I accidentally changed any settings, or whether the update has caused the program to operate differently from before, when placing GIFs onto the timeline was so simple and straightforward.

The only practical workaround I've come up with thus far is to convert the GIF files to MP4 format.

Any other suggestions?
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ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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Hi See2Dee -

I wasted some time on this question today and came up with inconclusive observations. What I was attempting to do was determine what went wrong with PDR15's compatibility with GIF animations, & at what stage/patch.

Fired up my little laptop, which hadn't had PDR15/DS5 installed (I don't use it for regular editing). I completely uninstalled DS4, including PDR14 to do a fresh install of PDR15/DS5.

Opened PDR15.0.2026.0 (the original installer version) & imported some GIFs. They played back correctly in Media Library & timeline. Installed each subsequent update patch including betas) then followed the same procedure. At each stage, GIFs played back correctly, without any of the errors that have been reported by yourself and in other threads.

So now, the laptop has PDR15 with the most recent 2509 (beta) patch & animated GIFs are working perfectly. (I'll upload a screen capture)

Here's the inconclusive part... repeating the same uninstall/reinstall/test patch by patch on another desktop PC did not yield the same outcome. In fact, from the get-go (initial 2026 installation) GIFs played correctly in the Media Library but didn't display or playback in the timeline properly.

I'm confused about all of that, but it indicates something to do with system rather than being specifically about PDR15.

Cheers - Tony
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ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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This screen capture was done on the laptop mentioned above. The other desktop PCs tell a completely different story frown



Sorry - I am not trying to distract from your own concerns - just trying to work out what's making it the way it is.

Cheers - Tony
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See2Dee [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Mar 20, 2016 16:11 Messages: 16 Offline
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Quote This screen capture was done on the laptop mentioned above. The other desktop PCs tell a completely different story frown



Sorry - I am not trying to distract from your own concerns - just trying to work out what's making it the way it is.

Cheers - Tony




Hi Tony,

I appreciate your efforts tremendously, so no apologies required at all.

Your suggestion that GIF problems are most likely related to the system within which the program operates makes sense to me. I've had similar problems with my laptop before (e.g. my machine is an i5 with Windows 7, 64 bit, but is not compatible with Windows 10)

I have PD15 Ultimate installed, but I see that my version doesn't appear to be the same as that shown in your screen capture video. Yours shows 15.0.2509.0, whereas mine shows 15.0.2309.0. I've checked for updates, but there are apparently none availabe presently.

For now, I will stick with my solution of converting GIFs to MP4.

Many thanks,

Charles
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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Hi Charles -

2309 is the most recent official patch - https://www.cyberlink.com/support/powerdirector-ultra/patches_en_GB.html

The 2509 patch is a beta listed near the top of the PDR15 forum.

Cheers - Tony
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See2Dee [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Mar 20, 2016 16:11 Messages: 16 Offline
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Quote Hi Charles -

2309 is the most recent official patch - https://www.cyberlink.com/support/powerdirector-ultra/patches_en_GB.html

The 2509 patch is a beta listed near the top of the PDR15 forum.

Cheers - Tony




Ok, that's helpful, thanks!

I am loath to install the Beta, so I guess I'll just wait for the next official patch and see if it makes a difference. Unless there's a simple way to 'undo' the Beta and revert to 2309, without having to reinstall the entire program?

Best,

Charles
Naisu [Avatar]
Newbie Location: PH Joined: Dec 10, 2015 05:44 Messages: 29 Offline
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Quote
Quote Hi Charles -

2309 is the most recent official patch - https://www.cyberlink.com/support/powerdirector-ultra/patches_en_GB.html

The 2509 patch is a beta listed near the top of the PDR15 forum.

Cheers - Tony




Ok, that's helpful, thanks!

I am loath to install the Beta, so I guess I'll just wait for the next official patch and see if it makes a difference. Unless there's a simple way to 'undo' the Beta and revert to 2309, without having to reinstall the entire program?

Best,

Charles


I've had this problem. What I did was just reinstall PD15 and didn't apply any patches. The version should say .2026

I contacted support about it and they didn't or haven't done anything with it yet but they should already know that issue. Here's what they last replied to me:
"Thank you for writing back.In regards to your concern, I would like to inform that we are able to reproduce the issue in our lab and the engineer is assigned to check the issue." -This was last Jan 11th.
ynotfish
Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline
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Hi Naisu -

That's the puzzling thing for me.

When I did the uninstall/reinstall on my laptop, all good. Repeating the same process on 2 desktop PCs yielded a completely different result. i.e. After installing PDR15 (build 2026), animated GIFs play back correctly in the media library but, once inserted in the timeline will NOT display or play back correctly.

All 3 PCs are running Win 10, but there must be something about the system emvironment that's causing it.

Cheers - Tony
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Naisu [Avatar]
Newbie Location: PH Joined: Dec 10, 2015 05:44 Messages: 29 Offline
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Quote Hi Naisu -

That's the puzzling thing for me.

When I did the uninstall/reinstall on my laptop, all good. Repeating the same process on 2 desktop PCs yielded a completely different result. i.e. After installing PDR15 (build 2026), animated GIFs play back correctly in the media library but, once inserted in the timeline will NOT display or play back correctly.

All 3 PCs are running Win 10, but there must be something about the system emvironment that's causing it.

Cheers - Tony


Hi Tony,

I see, probably it's with the system because I'm using Windows 7 64 bit and when I reinstalled the GIFs started working fine and I can put it on the timeline. Probably 2309 is optimized somewhat for Win10?
See2Dee [Avatar]
Newbie Joined: Mar 20, 2016 16:11 Messages: 16 Offline
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Quote
Quote Hi Naisu -

That's the puzzling thing for me.

When I did the uninstall/reinstall on my laptop, all good. Repeating the same process on 2 desktop PCs yielded a completely different result. i.e. After installing PDR15 (build 2026), animated GIFs play back correctly in the media library but, once inserted in the timeline will NOT display or play back correctly.

All 3 PCs are running Win 10, but there must be something about the system emvironment that's causing it.

Cheers - Tony


Hi Tony,

I see, probably it's with the system because I'm using Windows 7 64 bit and when I reinstalled the GIFs started working fine and I can put it on the timeline. Probably 2309 is optimized somewhat for Win10?




Hi Tony & Naisu,

Sorry for the delayed response. Been relocating, so connectivity was a bit disrupted.

Your inputs are much appreciated. Hopefully CyberLink will pick up on this and correct it in a future patch - thanks for alerting them to it, Naisu.

For now, my best option seems to be to reinstall 2026, since I know that GIFs work on my PC with that version.

Best regards,

Charles
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