Oops...sorry. Make that Fix/Enhance features, not Power Tools.

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

Hi Melissa,

Re #1:
Did you follow through on Tony’s numbered suggestions he gave you in your last post?
Pre-producing segments and a clean laptop is key in getting PD to perform better on a laptop.
I’m no computer wiz, but I suspect you may be expecting too much from your laptop, if you’re loading PD up with a lot of effects, titles, and multiple tracks.
I had similar issues with mine, but once I got a bit more powerful desktop, most all of those problems with the preview stutters and stalls went away.
But hopefully some one will chime in with more accurate advice and better news.

Re #2:
Try the Video Crop tool in Power Tools (it has Previous KeyFrame), instead of Zoom, and see if that works better for you.

Re #3:
Haven’t experienced that issue.

Re Search:
I agree with you. It’s not easy to find subjects. Part of the problem is that threads often drift from their original tiles and questions. You’ll for instance often find a great answer to a DVD Menu Question, buried in an unrelated thread titled Where Are The Color Boards Located.

Good Luck!
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Hi Melissa in Maine -

The success of the Search is determined by a number of factors... each of which add to making it slightly less accurate.

As Cranston pointed out, a thread might start off on one topic and end up on something else. Take this thread as an example. You began by asking 4 different questions & various members will post responses to different aspects. Right now, I'm only answering your final question. Sometimes, threads get completely hijacked (topic changed completely)... that's the nature of open discussion.

Here - http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/8862.page - there's a thread titled, "Director Version 8 Windows 7 program has stopped responding."... but in one short page, the topic has shifted to capturing analogue clips with Dazzle.

Next, we don't all use consistent language when posting... language is like that. For example, someone might be talking about using the enhance tool, but use the word change instead. Posters don't "tag" their messages - they just write.

That means, when we search for relevant information, the search engine is up against it. Really, the best thing is to choose your key words carefully (which involves a bit of guessing about how someone else might have described something - EEK - it gets worse!)

On key words: I just did a search on "slide" and found 207 related topics... on "slide duration" there were 31... when I typed "slide duration music" there were 10. AHA! I thought I was getting closer to the exact answer I wanted (and maybe I was)... but there may well be the perfect answer buried deep inside one of the initial 207 threads where the poster has used the word length (not duration) or sound (not music).

At least the Search function works as well as it can. In the DirectorZone Forum, it has a mind of its own! Often, I know something is there & I know the words that were used, but I get either a 0 Results or a There has been an error response.

All of that is about as interesting as lint - sorry.

Cheers - Tony

P.S. If you ever want to search for information about lint, just use the key words "power" and "jerky".
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yes, yes....I'm guilty of the morphed questions. Still, search basic "power tool problems" (or something like that) brings up such limited number of questions/answers. Perhaps within PD 8, forums could be broken into "sub forums".....I know someone has answered ALL questions I might have...finding it seems to be key.

Cranston: trying your suggestion re: "crop" feature but alas, doesn't seem to be working for me (at least intentionally as I was able to halt and stay zoom in on another piece but am unable to decipher what, if anything, is different.)

Don't quite understand what preproduction suggestions mean....rendering and then putting together? Trust me, I'm no Polanski (too bad there really is one) and this machine should have the uumph to do this piece but those nifty stabilizer/enhancer/noise reduction options really can alter the flow of the vid. Oh well.....

Surely "OE"....Operator Error.

Will continue to send out SOS signals and do appreciate the patience and help.

PD 8 peeps: I want ability to drag and hold keyframe back. Oh yeah...and better search capabilities.

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