As what I've learned so far, from powerdirector 20, it does not contain any licensed NewBlue plugins any more.
The trial use watermark (of the NewBlue plugin) is expected as it is not licensed to powerdirector 21 as what you've mentioned you didn't purchase additional licenses from NewBlue separately to be used in all powerdirector versions generally.

But, it is weird that the program took you 15 times to enter the FX room's 3rd party tab.
After the first time you got in, do you still encounter the hang problem every time whenever you click on the 3rd party tab in the FX room?

I had the misfortune of having to replace a failed m2 boot drive recently. I installed PD17, PD365, and PD365 Business Essentials(trial). Had to contact NewBlue support to deactivate all my purchases so I can reinstall and activate them on my new drive. All of my vault classics are working in all three versions of PD. The three NB Giveaways I posted in 2021 show up and are working in PD17 and the PD365 Business(trial) but not in PD365. I had earlier reported to Cyberlink support that it works in the PD365 trial but they don’t believe me.

NewBlue tried to make their new plugins compatible with PD20/365 with patches earlier this year. NewBlue plugins are licensed to the pc when purchased from them or a reseller. I just installed them a few hours ago after NB reported that they deactivated my previous purchases so I can install them on my new drive.

It is up to Cyberlink in what they want to do. I am looking to buy a new gaming pc just to install PD365. This will hasten the purchase.

Quote As what I've learned so far, from powerdirector 20, it does not contain any licensed NewBlue plugins any more.
The trial use watermark (of the NewBlue plugin) is expected as it is not licensed to powerdirector 21.

I never bought that pack and I don't remember ever using it so it must have been installed by some version of PD. That pack isn't installed on my Surface Book 3 which is still running PD 20.8, so it seems like it might have been installed by PD21 but I could be mistaken.

Quote But, it is weird that the program took 15 minutes to enter the FX room's 3rd party tab.
After the first time you got in, do you still have to wait 15 minutes every time whenever you click on the 3rd party tab in the FX room?

What happened was that PD hung and I had to kill it each time I tried to access a couple of the Boris plugins and (apparently) any of the NBFX ones. but ProDAD and Pixelan weren't affected. It took a total of about 15 attempts to finally gain access, and once that happened I no longer have issues when clicking on them.

Quote I never bought that pack and I don't remember ever using it so it must have been installed by some version of PD. That pack isn't installed on my Surface Book 3 which is still running PD 20.8, so it seems like it might have been installed by PD21 but I could be mistaken.

Attached pic might be useful for NB bundled offers and PD releases.

Jeff

Thanks very much for that chart. I have PD17 installed and the Paint Effects are fully available there, so it appears to be a licensing issue with PD20/21. For some reason, the pack doesn't appear in the list of Windows installed apps like all the other NBFX plugins do, so there's no easy way of removing it.

Also, compared to PD17 there are 3 packs that don't appear at all:



These are the same packs that had problems when NewBlue released updates in Oct 2021 (as described here).

Those three packs circled in red in the screenshot are the NB Giveaways I posted in 2021 and they are working in the PD20 Business Trial now on my pc. That also worked with the PD365 trial on my failed drive. Download and install the PD Business trial and you’ll see it available and usable there..

Quote Thanks very much for that chart. I have PD17 installed and the Paint Effects are fully available there, so it appears to be a licensing issue with PD20/21. For some reason, the pack doesn't appear in the list of Windows installed apps like all the other NBFX plugins do, so there's no easy way of removing it.

I don't think a license issue per say, for me it's always been a PD install/patch order issue. My prior bundled NB Paint is active in PD20 and PD21 and is fine.

Jeff

Quote Thanks very much for that chart. I have PD17 installed and the Paint Effects are fully available there, so it appears to be a licensing issue with PD20/21. For some reason, the pack doesn't appear in the list of Windows installed apps like all the other NBFX plugins do, so there's no easy way of removing it.

Also, compared to PD17 there are 3 packs that don't appear at all:



These are the same packs that had problems when NewBlue released updates in Oct 2021 (as described here).

PowerDirector stops bundling NewBlue and ProDAD for several years, I believe the old packs cannot work on new versions, it must be a part of their contracts.

Why are the NewBlue and ProDAD plugins no longer included with PowerDirector 20/365?
Applied to: PowerDirector 365 for Windows (Subscription) , PowerDirector 20.
Unfortunately, since our contract with NewBlue has expired, we have decided to remove NewBlue plugins in new versions of PowerDirector (PowerDirector 20/365). Gruß Bernd
Technical support:
DE:
https://de.cyberlink.com/support/index.html

This is a complicated situation and I don't know what a "typical user" might experience with regard to which packs are present and actually available. My desktop seems to have more limitations than other forum members' systems, though.

For example I just uninstalled PD365, PD17 and the 3 NBFX packs that were missing in PD365 (both 20 and 21 versions). After reinstalling PD17, updating it to the final patch, reinstalling the "missing" NBFX packs and finally reinstalling PD365, the only change was that the Paint Effects pack was shown as an installed app and could be uninstalled using the Windows uninstaller.

The missing packs were still missing in PD365, and also did not appear when I installed PD365 Business trial. Paint Effects were present but not activated in PD365 and PD365 Business, but all packs were visible and active in PD17. At least PD365 didn't have any problems accessing the FX plug-ins like I experienced the first time I installed it.

I don't know if I'll spend any more time on this, and I've simply uninstalled the Paint Effects pack and have accepted that Stabilizer, Elements and Filters won't be available in any new version of PD365.

Bend1948 - We are able to use NewBlue plugins and effects in newer versions of PD even if they are not included anymore. They can still be obtained from other sources.

Unless something changed in the last day or so, see the screenshot of my PD365 Business Edition Trial. Those NB packs, both classic, and free giveaways were just installed yesterday after being given the okay from NB support. They appear and are working in my PD365 Business Trial. Cyberlink might have made some changes to their trial edition in the meantime.

21.0.2116.0 was just released. No issues updating but no word yet on what changes were made either

Quote 21.0.2116.0 was just released. No issues updating but no word yet on what changes were made either

It was already mentioned here: https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/97675.page#post_box_392779 From posts there it didn't correct the massive audio release snafu. But as you say, no notes on corrections ever provided.

Jeff