Melissa Of Maine,

1. How to speed up 360 degree PIP rotation? Goes round and round and round....but very slowly. Changed duration but just get shorter vid of slowly turning item.

You can place the keyframes closer together to get a faster spin. I also included a link that explains the use of keyframes on a spinning PIP Object:
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/8819.page

. Want to add effect to PIP image: specifically, a zoom out "kiss" that "explodes".....unable to drag transition to PIP line and there doesn't seem to be any "effect" I could add that would do the job. Don't want "kiss" to just fade away...but to break apart i.e. explode. Suggestions?

That was a hard one for me to figure out...I made a sample that you can watch here...is this sort of what you wanted? Unfortunately there isn't an exploding effect to use. Instead I used the NOISE EFFECT. It was the best that I know how to do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZbm1B_Y6SE

3. Is there ANY way to have TV safe zones default to "on"? Hassle having to constantly tick the box.

Not to my knowledge although it has been talked about...It requires lots of clicking to get the safe zones back on all the time.

4. Is there a PD 8 manual? I've seen all the CL tutorials and many that are on UTube and have learned a great deal. I find myself referring to old PD 7 manual but would like updated information.

Here is a link to download a user guide:
http://www.cyberlink.com/downloads/support/powerdirector/userguide_en_US.html
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Thank you, Captain-

Keyframes closer...makes sense. Thanks for the thread as well. Good, even if disappointing, information 'bout rotation limitations. After several hours of trying to get a head bob with the degree/direction functions....I gave up and did the manual copy/rotate/copy/rotate the other way/copy again etc. Tedious at best but I'm glad it was actually necessary instead of due to lack of the "right and quick" way.

Too bad about the safe zone thing....nice to know its not "just me". Would be nice if the PD people fixed this (and the rotation) issue.

And thanks very much for taking the time to try to create an exploding kiss. While I see it's been viewed 10 times, I have been unable to open it from the link or by pasting in address bar. Will continue to try but want to thank you in advance for your efforts.

Thanks again,
Melissa in Maine

"Pray for the Dead and Fight like Hell for the Living"- Mother Jones

Hi Melissa & Kevin -

Hey Cap'n - that's a pretty impressive kiss! You're on fire today!

Melissa - another possibility (in lieu of exploding the thing) would be to rotate it (as the Captain demonstrated) and have it continue rotating & expanding off the screen (ie. resize it at the last keyframe to be about twice as big as the screen). I did that (minus rotation) with a lion's gaping mouth on a video I made for my grandson, though the technique didn't win me any friends!

Cheers - Tony


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Hi Again Melissa,

Tony likes to light matches by offering great ideas and setting me on fire!! ...I liked his idea about expanding off of the screen....sooooo here ia a link to Spinning Kiss Version 2 I hope the link works....it was working for me.

http://www.youtube.com/user/pkwentworth#p/u/0/gZ8JSDXoqCw

By the way you could probably throw a rock and hit me from Portland....I am out on Chebeague Island......

Good Luck!!

Kevin
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Nice Job!! Finally able to load BOTH kisses and they look great. Very creative and, while not actually "exploding"....the imagery is there.

Many thanks to both of you PD gurus.

While I'm at it, perhaps you could advise me about a few other little "issues":

1. How to turn off audio that can't be split from it's vid....permanently. Seems that the mystery music returns when I re-open project.

2. Is there a "snap to" tool that I've missed? Would like to highlight multiple pips in timeline and have a single keystroke/method to snap them to a new location (without having to manually and individually set duration for each.)

3. In "fix/enhance" split preview window does not seem to actually split the before/after images side by side (as it did in the tutorial I watched.) I tick the box......do I need to do a rain dance as well?

Many thanks again. Crazy how one can spend 9 hours straight working on creating a mere 2 minutes of video.

Yes, Capt. I can probably see your ferry from my house. Live near Mackwerth. Nice to know another Cyberlinker is in my backyard.

Melissa "Pray for the Dead and Fight like Hell for the Living"- Mother Jones

Hi Melissa -

1. I'm surprised the audio can't be split from its video file... depends on the source I suppose. If you right click you can select Mute Clip/Track - that should get you the desired result.

2. You can select multiple PIPs by holding down the Shift key... click first & last PIP in group, then move them all to a new location. I don't think PD allows you to adjust bulk PIP properties (like duration).

3. Fix/enhance Split was an issue with the 2220 build http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/8823.page
PDR80.0.2220C fixed it. I hadn't even thought of your rain dance suggestion - I'll give that a shot.

Cheers - Tony


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and again...thank you. Neither mute track or clip will permanently silence the audio....but perhaps it is because the vid is in a PIP location rather than primary video line.

Just downloaded this a few weeks ago so I'm surprised the fix you mentioned isn't working. Will play with that but its nice to know it should.


If you would indulge me just one more question before requiring new thread: as my vid becomes more complicated, PD has begun to crash. I remember this to be a very frustrating issue I had with PD 7 and was delighted when, as I began this project, it ran so well.

No longer. Crashes randomly: so much so that with each little change of anything, I Ctl S immediately but 1. this problem keeps me in a constant hypervigilent/waiting for it mental state and 2. is a pain.

Is this typical for projects that use lots of pips? I haven't even begun to insert transitions. Whole thing will probably explode.

Melissa "Pray for the Dead and Fight like Hell for the Living"- Mother Jones

How big is your project and define 'lots of PiP'. The primary causes of crashes are a conflict/bad codec or too little memory. Large, complicated projects are likely to encounter either. It could be program error, but there are enough people using PD8 without crashes to reduce the likelihood of that being the problem, but it's a possibility also. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

Melissa -
Loosen up. You can't possibly do a proper rain dance when you're so tense.

Whether a clip in in the main video track or one of the PIPs, it can be muted. Audio levels can also be controlled (more precisely) in the Audio Mixing Room (the little treble clef.

What are your PC specs & graphics card? You could post them here http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/8445.page - with more complex projects, (depending on your definition), these are huge factors when isolating the cause of crashes.

I often use bulk PIP tracks & have had no freezes, hangs, crashes or fatalities... it's very much a case of getting the system to be right for the job, including codecs as Jaime said. If your PC is the issue with such intensive work, crashes can be minimised by pre-rendering different sections of the production. As Charles Emerson Winchester said in M*A*S*H, "I do one thing - I do it well - then I move on."

Cheers - Tony
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Whooops! Off the grid for awhile but thank you for the continued followup.

"BIG" defined as 28 minutes total and combination of video/pics/pips/multiple pips at same time/audio mixing/some effects/some transitions (but not nearly as many transitions as I've used in past projects)/ some particles, and mostly--lots of changing "on the fly". That is, a few minute of primary vid that is then "overlayed" with pip video, then back to primary vids with increased speed switching frequently to "reg" speed short clips....having alot of fun but still having some "issues".

In addition to the crash thing, the preview (regardless of level) is often jerky, stuttering, or will roll right over some of the clips as if they were not there.

Specs are as follows:

HP dv9815 nr "entertainment" laptop with 3 GB RAM, 2 GH AMD Turion 64X2, Vista 32 SP1 (SP2 download would never work), Virtual "paging file" size set to recommended 4500 MB, NVIDIA Ge Force 7150M/nForce 630m display adapter and running through a 22" Samsung flatscreen monitor using Synchmaster 2220WM/G22PW/2220WM (analong). "Smart Ram" with at least 60% free with plenty of free cpu as I shut down almost everything running in background that isn't needed.

Probably more information than you need/want to know but I hope it will give enough background for understanding problems.

Re: Mute clip/track: yes it works until I restart program but setting must be reapplied. Again, maybe it's because the vid is in a PIP line which is probably why I can't split audio. Placed same vid in main timeline and was able to split audio away and could then, through mixer, silence sound. Seems that the PIP area imposes limitations on this.

I know this has become a novella of sorts and I probably should start a new thread. I've searched for many of these issues and find others that have some of the same sort of problems so please know I'm trying on my end to figure this out.

Could splitting audio from video repeatedly be part of the problem? Not sure why I've done that when it wasn't necessary....but I did. Perhaps those splits require program/system resources that are unnecessary if I had just left them alone (although unable to then remix audio.)

Tony: Not sure what "rerendering project" means....will search that one as it might fix what ails me.

Maybe I'll just send a card.

No worries: I'm still having a great time learning and creating.

And a HUGE THANKS to all of you who are putting your creations out there to share and those of you who are "monitoring" the "WTF?" help desk.

You KNOW you're addicted to this when you would rather work on your project than take a few days off to go see an old friend you haven't seen in years! (Shhhhh. Don't tell.)


Once winter sets in here, I'll feel like Jack Nicholas in "The Shining"...........

Peace
Melissa in Maine "Pray for the Dead and Fight like Hell for the Living"- Mother Jones

Hi Melissa -

A new topic might be in order, because we're off the PIP track... & onto broader & deeper concerns. The information you posted about your notebook wasn't too much at all!

There are some things you've mentioned that indicate possibilities for your problems.

1. Make sure your graphics drivers are up to date http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us - I read somewhere that some updates for the GeForce 7150M haven't been reliable (can't verify that - sorry). This is a lower end integrated GPU, which would be affecting your PC's performance in video editing... especially more "complex" productions, with multiple PIPs, particles and the like.

2. There must be something amiss if Vista SP2 cannot be downloaded/installed... that would ring alarm bells for me.

3. I don't know how vigilant you are about PC maintenance, but it's really important to keep on top of defragging, removal of temp files etc to give your notebook the best chance of succeeding with video editing.

All of that said, and looking at the problems you're having that are not typical of PDs behaviour, I would be (a) completely uninstalling PD using Revo Uninstaller (or something similar) then re-installing & (b) investigating the issue with SP2 download/installation.

Pre-rendering is even more important if your PC is struggling at all. Make a section of the video (eg. just the main video track with no extras), produce it to your preferred format.. then use the produced file in your project.

The fact that you cannot mute clips/track with PD retaining that change indicates deeper issues. Splitting audio from the video track (repeatedly or not) should not be causing any problems.

Melissa - from what you've said, it does seem like your notebook needs a bit of a work-over to get it performing properly.

Sorry - none of that is good news for you, but if you could resolve the PC issues your learning with PD will be much happier (IMHO).

Cheers - Tony
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Melissa, there is a known problem with PD and 32 bit systems hitting the 2 gig ram limit per application, although for me only when rendering/producing not editing. People using 64 bit systems like Tony do not have that problem.

I have found on my system when I start using multiple pip tracks it really pushes my systems stability and I also have to continually save my project.

Having said all of that, I too would be concerned that SP2 would not install on your system. My youtube channel====> http://www.youtube.com/user/relate2?feature=mhsn