Trying to determine if it's worth upgrading to PD17

bitbyter

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2018 08:51 Messages: 17 Offline

Solved by

Oct 28, 2018 12:48

I purchased PD16 and have been using for last 6 months for 360 degree videos - pretty good but doesn't allow me to rotate the video over the timeline so still stuck using Premiere. I downloaded trial version of PD17 to see what was new and if it would do what I need. Extremely disappointed to learn that it wouldn't even import my 360 content!

From trial download page:
Other limitations:

Watermark appears on the video
Limited templates and effects
Importing and producing H.264 video files is only supported on
Windows 10/8.1/7 SP1 systems or hardware platforms offering independent
H.264 encoding and decoding
2K/4K resolution H.264 video files are not supported
Importing and producing H.265 video files is not available
Importing and producing Dolby or DTS 5.1ch audio files are not available

So what use is a 30 day trial if it won't allow you to evaluate? Watermarking the output should be enough to stop people from using it for free, no??

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Oct 28, 2018 14:27

Two thoughts here.

I agree that the trial version limitations are too restrictive and watermarks would be a better approach.

With that said, I don't think there's actually a 30-day limit to the trial software, which may be why they've chosen to reduce its functionality. I may be wrong about that but I know for a fact that there is a 30-day money-back guarantee when you purchase any software, and the full version has none of the trial versions limitations. So you can buy PD17 (or DirectorSuite365) and try everything out for 30 days and then get a refund if you're not happy.

The second item is that PD17 still only has a 360° starting view setting, so if you're looking to move the focus during uninterrupted play, that feature is still not available. As long as you're willing to put in transitions between active scenes, you can set each individual clip's starting point wherever you want.

Here's an example. Almost every scene has a different starting viewpoint:

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Oct 28, 2018 16:46

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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Oct 31. 2018 12:17

bitbyter

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2018 08:51 Messages: 17 Offline

Oct 30, 2018 12:35

Quote Two thoughts here.

I agree that the trial version limitations are too restrictive and watermarks would be a better approach.

With that said, I don't think there's actually a 30-day limit to the trial software, which may be why they've chosen to reduce its functionality. I may be wrong about that but I know for a fact that there is a 30-day money-back guarantee when you purchase any software, and the full version has none of the trial versions limitations. So you can buy PD17 (or DirectorSuite365) and try everything out for 30 days and then get a refund if you're not happy.

The second item is that PD17 still only has a 360° starting view setting, so if you're looking to move the focus during uninterrupted play, that feature is still not available. As long as you're willing to put in transitions between active scenes, you can set each individual clip's starting point wherever you want.

Here's an example. Almost every scene has a different starting viewpoint:

Thanks for your response optodata, I actually bit the bullet and am trying the subscription ... happy to report that PD17 does have a way to change focus on the fly ... it's wrapped into the Stabilization tool under "advanced" - that unlocks the timeline where you can insert keyframes and rotate the scene.
Cheers, Scott

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Oct 30, 2018 13:40

Quote Thanks for your response optodata, I actually bit the bullet and am trying the subscription ... happy to report that PD17 does have a way to change focus on the fly ... it's wrapped into the Stabilization tool under "advanced" - that unlocks the timeline where you can insert keyframes and rotate the scene.
Cheers, Scott

I looked at two different Stabilization tools (one from the Fix/Enhance menu [top of below image] and from the Action Center [on the bottom, with the Advanced {gear} settings showing]), but neither screen shows any other Advanced setting access.

Looking at the keyframe tool from each of these menus doesn't show any "new" settings related to focus/viewpoint. Can you describe or post/attach a screenshot of where you found them?

bitbyter

Newbie Joined: Jul 12, 2018 08:51 Messages: 17 Offline

Oct 30, 2018 14:58

Quote

I looked at two different Stabilization tools (one from the Fix/Enhance menu [top of below image] and from the Action Center [on the bottom, with the Advanced {gear} settings showing]), but neither screen shows any other Advanced setting access.

Looking at the keyframe tool from each of these menus doesn't show any "new" settings related to focus/viewpoint. Can you describe or post/attach a screenshot of where you found them?

Weird, my PD version is 17.0.2126.1 and the options appear as shown here:

***SOLVED*** You have to be editing a 360 video for those options to appear - I tried with 2D and options appear as per your screen captures


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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Oct 30. 2018 15:25

optodata

Senior Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Sep 16, 2011 16:04 Messages: 8630 Offline

Oct 30, 2018 18:56

Thanks very much for that!

Funny, I'd specifically opened up a 360 project to look for those settings, but the project I chose had been created in PD14 which doesn't have native 3D capability.

Now I see that I didn't even get the 360 editor button in PD17 because the project isn't aware that it contains any 360 videos, but by clearing the timeline and dragging one of the 360 clips onto the timeline, PD recognizes it correctly and I now see the keyframes.

What a great find. Thank you for sharing it!