Hi -

That video will show up black on the preview screen and timeline if you have renamed it or moved it on your hard drive.

When you open the project, PD will ask you where the files are... click Browse and find them.

Then all should be well.

Cheers - Tony
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Hi mansyspride,

The reason that one experiences the dreaded "black screen" is almost always owing to the exact reasons that Tony stated.
Here's a link, to a suggested work flow, that might help you prevent the black screen from ever appearing again.

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/7417.page#29959

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sorry guys should have been more specific
having problem with when you capture from vidio player
registers that player is there but cant get movie to play on computer
have the cables attached the same as always the only thing that i have done difarent is upgrade direct x since last using program
would this cause the problems that im having

What exactly is a pds file? Well I know its the file name for edited files in the power director software but how can it be a "complete" file of the work done when the total size of edited "mov" files is over 1 gb but the pds file comes out at only a few kb. I've also got the dreaded black screen. Heres how it happens: I edit the various "mov" clips on the PC and then save the work as a "project" pds file. I then transfer this pds file to a memory stick in order to transfer it to a laptop. (It needs to be on the laptop in order to add the soundtrack through the built-in mike). But of course as soon as it loads into the very same software on the laptop - all black screens. I have read the articles on this prob but still no joy.

JON for your problem you would have to pack the project and move it to your laptop. When you pack the project it saves the videos and the pds file into a folder. The pds file is just the instructions on how to edit the video file, it is not the video file itself. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn

Robert -

Thanks for that. You confirm what I thought about PDS files (Pretty Daft System ) that they only serve as a route to the other files. So I will start the whole project again (on the laptop), save everything in a separate folder and see what happens. Also thanks to Cranston for his very helpful info on the link.

JON -

There is no need to redo your project on the laptop at all. Just pack the project, copy the newly made folder to your flash (or whatever) - then transfer it to your laptop. That's not completely daft.

Cheers - Tony
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Just tried the "pack project" to memory stick and got the message "Destination E is on a non-supported volume". Which I presume means the stick is not large enough (2GB). How do I find the size of the outgoing pack project or is there another method of transfer (to laptop) ?

JON -

Pack the project to your hard drive first. Then copy it to appropriate media (that will depend on size - external hard drive?).

Cheers - Tony
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Hi Jon,

If you have any doubts, the best way is to pack your project to a folder on a hard drive - probably a main or storage drive on your laptop/PC.

This then becomes just another folder but inside the folder PD8 has changed the .pds file (which contains all the editing instructions and asset locations) to read from its current location, and copied all the assets used in the project from their original locations to that folder. In effect the project becomes "portable". All the original assets remain unchanged in their original locations.

You will be able to see the size of the folder and also copy it, archive it, transport it etc. just as normal either using usb drives, wireless, LAN or DVD data disc.

I would also suggest, if you haven't done so already, to look at the PD7 and PD8 tutorials,
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/3523.page
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/7782.page

particularly this one for this technique :-

Title: Project Designing - CyberLink PowerDirector 7
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuK7Fhawaf4
HD available

I should also point out that the .pds file is not just the route to the assets but the whole of the editing instructions for your project that the main PD8 programme reads and carries out when you open and work on your project.

So I suspect .pds does not stand for "pretty daft system", it is actually the heart and soul of your project.

Cheers
Adrian




Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Once again Tony, you beat me to it - somewhat more succinctly.

Note from teacher - Just answer the question.

Cheers
Adrian Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Adrian -

Maybe my answer arrived first, but only through brevity. Your answer is far more proficuous!

Cheers - Tony
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Jon,

Adrian’s proficuous, and Tony’s judicious comments on pds files, where spot on.
As Adrian said...

it is actually the heart and soul of your project.

That’s a perfect way of looking at the concept of pds files. They are indeed the most important element in your ability to get the most out of your PowerDirector experience.

By understanding, frequently creating, and employing proper management of pds files, you’ll…
- Never lose a project, or any of your project’s assets.
- Have a portable project (as Adrian said), that can moved between computers.
- And have the ability archive your project, and revisit or modify that perpetually intact project, at anytime in the future.

You can kind of think of a pds file as Photo Album. And think of creating a Project Folder (the method I like to use when constructing a project, as in the link you referenced above), as being like a cardboard box where you keep the photo album and a "copy" of all the photos you are considering pasting into the photo album.
Once the photo album is done, you "Pack" your project (as described above), which is like now putting that completed photo album on a bookshelf. So now you can grab this photo album anytime you want, and all the pictures that you have place there, in the presentation sequence that you wanted to display them in, will always remain intact.

And now that the project is "Packed" (on the shelf), you can take that Project Folder (cardboard box), and either...
- Throw it away, as you only put digital copies in the box. All the originals are all still in their original folders on your computer.
- Or save that box of copies if you wish.
It doesn't make any difference to the photo album on the shelf what you do. Because everything it needs is already in the album. Plus, at anytime, you can open the "Packed Project" (photo album), and add other stuff to it if you want. Once the new stuff is added, just "Pack" it again, and put it back on the shelf.

Well Jon, between these last few replies, you probably feel that you've just been bombarded with with the exact same info.
But hopefully it will all help you or other editors understand pds files a little better, and see that...
Far from being a “Pretty Daft System”, pds files are… Pretty Darn Smart.


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Thanks to Cranston, Tony and Adrain. I'll let you know how I get on. By the way this happens to be semi-pro project and not the usual "youtube family photos". I am a musician by profession and in the process of putting music (own composing) to the various videos I made about a year ago.

from blank screen to nothing at all

I decided to start the project “from scratch”; so I deleted all “mov” files from the laptop and all associated back-up files with the “mov” index. I then transferred just one unedited mov clip from the PC to the LT (LapTop) and stored it in a folder specially made and named for the future project. I then started up the software and clicked on “import” file. The same old error message came up inviting me to “browse, ignore, ignore all or cancel”. I clicked on the “ignore all” and . . . nothing; not even a blank frame.

JON,

The “browse, ignore, ignore all or cancel” message usually comes up when PD cannot find the clips for an existing project.

As I understand it, you have 'organised' your one asset to a specific folder, started PD and then .....

If you have no project open, you should be able to use "import media files" and the standard windows dialogue box opens allowing you to search for the files you want to import, browse to your location and then import the file you require into the media library.

However, as you seem to go to the "missing file dialogue", does this mean you have tried to open an existing project ?

If you haven't done this deliberately, Directors Chair>Edit>Preferences>File and uncheckig auto load last project will ensure that PD is not trying to open the last project when it starts.

Does that help?

Cheers
Adrian







Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Jon,

You got the...“browse, ignore, ignore all or cancel” pop up when you started a brand new project?
Hmm? I have never seen that happen when opening a new project. I've only seen that pop-up when opening PD with a .pds file, where some of the asset files (e.g. Video, Images, Audio, etc.), have been moved or re-named. I mean how can files be missing, if one hasn't added anything to the new project's library yet?

Or are you saying you deleted all your .mov files, and then tried to open your project from a saved .pds (who's files have all been deleted)?

EDIT:
Whoops, Adrian beat me to the punch. Sorry for the double post.


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It wasn't a project I was opening it was just a single "mod" file. I started again from scratch on the LT (LapTop) - see previous reply- with just one file to see if anything went amiss. It did go amiss. The LT couldn't find the file because it was looking in the "H" drive (the usb port where the mem.stick was - but wasn't - because I had taken it out). So the fault seems to lie somewhere in the transfer from PC to LT - - somehow I am not succeding in sending the file (saved on the mem.stick) to the LT hard drive.

JON,

From your description it seems that we have a misunderstanding here.

If you start PD from the PD program icon or from the start menu, if the "autoload last project" preference is unchecked, PD will start with a clean workspace (except for the sample files - if you have left this option on). That's it, nothing else.

If you then try to open a previous project (say myproject.pds), which has been moved or the assets renamed etc. etc. the myproject.pds script will try to rebuild the project and will give the "browse, ignore etc" option when it cannot find the assets.

Alternatively, if you opt to import a single file into the clean media library you should be able to browse to that file - wherever it is. So, if the file was not transferred from A to B, you should not be able to browse to it and bring it into the media library. In this case PD shouldn't give you the "browse, ignore etc" message, as you cannot find the file in the import window to import it.

I'm not 100% sure of what you are doing that gives rise to the problem. Perhaps you could post a step by step workflow to let us see what's happening?

Cheers
Adrian
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.