#158 How to Crash Power Director 7 build 2227c

[gypzee07]

I cant add any movie or sound files to PD or WMM they both crash... Any advice would be really appreciated.

[coygina]

Hmmm, I just got my laptop new-everything is just newly installed so I haven't even gotten round to transferring anything from my older computer yet ...and my first time playing around with it-having never used these kind of programs before (ie. I wasn't doing anything complicated) it decided to crash in the middle of a 2.5hour play around session (I did try to save but it crashed, I've never made a little movie before so I thought it would be fun-but ofc the whole thing pissed me off :(

[ElevenColors]

@coygina Aye, they could be better with how they handle their program tripping over itself when the beginning user tries to use it.

[sina1133]

Hey here is the solution. I had this problem on powerdirector 8 and windows movie maker. All you have to do is to uninstall you codecs. It would work perfect after that. :)

[poserstookmyalias]

this SW is a pos!! i wasted hours editing a sick video and now i cant produce it cuz it crashes.

[McLardopolis]

@poserstookmyalias if you get windows xp, it works. my windows 7 computers more powerful, so i edit on that, and produce it using my xp computer, coz it crashes on windows 7

[suds42]

Power Director 8 crashes all the time too. I've own this product since PD5 and I'm fed up with it.

[ElevenColors]

suds42,

I'm beginning to wonder if the type of disk might be a factor. I spent 800 dollars on a 4TB RAID5 gigabit ether drive then found that combo sucks donkey balls for trying to edit video, Reads are slow as molasses in winter. Should have bought eSATA instead. No crash epedemic though.

How about making a video showing how to crash PD8? Might get Cyberlink's attention.

[suds42]

All I need to do is modify a video clip. Any modification (slow motion fast motion etc) to a clip will cause the videos to not process and eventually crash when you try to preview.

[muskusoly]

after having prob's with PDv5 which came with a camera, I decided to go out a buy the latest i7 with heaps of ram and a awesome video card and I even bought PDv7 as well, total cost $2500:00 AU.

[muskusoly]

part 2...You know what....I am having more prob's with PDv7 than ever. I spent 2 hours a night for a week making a video project and had nothing but trouble then if that wasn't enough when I went to produce it, it crashes my whole computer. I am almost in tears with frustruction. Can anybody help me before I go insain?

[ElevenColors]

muskusoly,

In general, the key to getting Cyberlink or anyone else for that matter to fix problems you see is to write up a replication method such that anyone can read only that replication method and reproduce the problem.

Making a youTube video showing how to reproduce the problem, as this video does, is also a sure fire way to get a problem investigated.

Unfortunately, simple rants with no replication method don't get problems fixed.

[TI2ophy]

it's stable once you uninstall the product's patches...

[ElevenColors]

TI2ophy,

Without the patches, it doesn't do half of what it's supposed to do. Unless you're using the word patches in a context I've never heard. Didn't know you could uninstall them.

[TI2ophy]

Do you get crashes after splitting/trimming a video, adding more to the timeline, and none of the videos play even if you save it and then load back your project?

Some "Operating Failed" and "decoding filter" error messages you will see. I think the problem with the latest 2726 patch is that if you capture a video using the HuffYUV codec, it will crash a lot when combining or splitting them into smaller parts!

Nothing wrong with the Fraps codec, etc.

[ElevenColors]

TI2ophy,

Haven't done any capturing, or messing around with different codecs. Almost all of my files come from the same camera. In this one video I was using video from my Canon HF10 and from a couple friends' Xactis.

What you should do is make a video showing clear instructions on how to reproduce the problem. It's a good way to get Cyberlink's attention.

[QualityLogos]

Powerdirector needs to just STFU and work for once!!!

[ElevenColors]

Ctrl+S is my best friend when using power director.

[Hrvoje1313]

what a junk that program is

[ElevenColors]

It has its ups and downs.

[Hrvoje1313]

It is very easy to use, but it crashes so much and it's so slow.

[ElevenColors]

Yep, that's a pretty good summary.

[AlohaCool]

Yup.

Very good program, but it is extremely slow and crashes TO MUCH.

For me it crashes when I save a project, open one, slide the frame slider, press play button, put my mouse over a video in the video section, OPEN THE PROGRAM, it is very easy to crash this program. I'm not exaggerating because I'm mad either, I can seriously get crashes by any of those.

I upgraded from 7 Deluxe to 7 Ultra for seventy dollars, and NO DIFFERENCE. Crashes just as much. And NO MORE options or anything.

[AlohaCool]

When I say good program I just mean it has many options and is easy to use, it still crashes at unacceptable rates/amounts.

[R4ndomCrap]

don't need instructions no how to crash PowerDestructor. Just use the program, it will crash.

[ElevenColors]

That's a pretty fair assessment.

Oh the other hand if you make a video showing how to crash it using a particular method, then Cyberlink can usually either fix it or at least determine exactly what the trigger is so you can avoid the crash.

[siempieentoedeloe]

Cyberlink Powerdirector can be a nice program. But has a lot of bugs.

Maybe close other aplications before you use Cyberlink Powerdirector.

I think it need a lot of memory.

Good luck.....

[ElevenColors]

I've done that and much more, but thanks all the same. :-)

[gwailo27]

I paid good money for this junk. crashes just if I think about inserting video. God forbid I actually try to do something with it like add a border in a PiP. What a joke. Mine crashes with in seconds of starting it up. Ok with Jpegs and thats it. These guys need a class action suit against them. They know that their software is buggy as hell yet they still release it.

[ElevenColors]

Which build?

Here's a thought: Make a video showing exactly what you do that makes PD7 crash. Camstudio can be good for that. Check out my more recent video on how to make build 2429a crash. Made that with Camstudio. If Cyberlink has enough information to reproduce the crash themselves, they have a better chance of fixing it.

Crashes shouldn't happen, but they do, and that's okay as long as they get fixed.

(^o^;)

[2cpus4me]

There is a new verion of powerdirector out now, too, you can try. Its version 2429a

[ElevenColors]

Didn't fix the PiP border crash that was causing this particular crash. Please see my more recent videos, "The suspense is killing me" which is my reaction video, and "How to crash Power Director 7 build 2429a" which shows how to use the same method as before to crash the latest build.

Oddly enough the description is very accurate: When I removed all the PiP borders, the crashes stopped. But it's not fixed in 2429a. Cyberlink is working on it.

[2cpus4me]

Do you have Windows Live Photo Gallery installed? What I've found happens is when you touch a .MOV video clip within Powerdirector, it seems to fire up a quicktime previewer module in the background that is used for windows live photo gallery (which you can see in running in task manager).  I found if I kill that task it releases back to Powerdirector and everything then works ok. My other suggestion would be to convert all clips to a consistent format before placing in PD7. Good luck.

[ElevenColors]

The same PiP border crash still happened even after I converted the one Quicktime clip to WMV.

Windows Live Photo Gallery? Didn't know such a thing existed. Looking around, not seeing it. Unless it's a part of a different program like Messenger, doesn't look like I have it. Good thought though.

[kansaiPJ]

Argh!!!

[ElevenColors]

Indeed. And this was the crash that I had been hoping would be fixed in the most recent patch.

[wtzOlt]

quicktime...

[ElevenColors]

Yeah, mixing files from different sources, including a Mac user. However at the time I was still able to get Power Director to crash after transforming the Quicktime file into other formats.

[allantotti]

I would drop a granade in their office if I could. They have probably learned with Microsoft... "Lets release the fucking program (Vista) and see what happens before it's finished.

Luckly I haven't paid for my version... Suck it Cybershit!

[HomoLibero]

this power director is the biggest junk ever

[ElevenColors]

Can't completely disagree with you there.

OTOH you can get away with releasing junk as long as you're prepared to collect data on why it is junk and fix the broken parts as you go along.

[Thesmitster]

The video was a suprise to me, since I saw this video afterwards! :)

If my computer kept crashing like that with a video project, I'd just give up and watch some TV or go to sleep. :P

[ElevenColors]

Like I told Victor, dealing with crashes is part of what I do for a living.

Also, merging those three clips all shot at the same time was a project that demanded to be done. It was too good, too perverse to not do. :-)

[kappyrox18481]

Are you living in Japan right now? I've noticed a lot of Japenese characters on your videos. You seem American to me.

[ElevenColors]

American I am, and I've been living here in Japan for the past twelve years now.

[Gimmeabreakman]

My head would explode if this happened to me. I might never make videos again!

[ElevenColors]

Dealing with crashes is part of what I do for a living. ;-)

On the bright side, I avoided the crash and finished the thing I was trying to make by first re-rendering each of the three component videos to the same, lower resolution. Crashes stil happened but rarely enough that I was able to finish.

[stefmax]

hehe~ As I thought, it's made as Cyberlink. Usually they have pretty stable products. Have been using PowerDVD for some time now. That's a weird crash your having though. I found my liking through Adobe Premiere CS3. But only because that's what I know.

[ElevenColors]

I can imagine situations where I'd dish out money for the master collection. Premiere CS4 in Japan costs about a thousand dollars, probably more expensive than it needs to be.

Just as a matter of practice I try to pay a reasonable price for a function before resorting to warez versions of expensive software. Reasoning behind that needs a whole video of its own. :-)

[stefmax]

It's extremely too expensive than it needs to be but they sell it to businesses so you can't be too surprised at the price.

Your idea of software is strong~ I too did so but I started doing work for clients and projects with Adobe and just couldn't get rid of it. I am glad to say it's worth every penny but that's if your looking at it from the business/designer perspective.

[ElevenColors]

Oh yeah, if you need it for work/business, by all means it's worth the money. Still, I have a buddy who uses Power Director to render movies for showing on those big screens on the fronts of some electronic stores.

[stefmax]

Talent is key~ I've been trying out different formats to export to with my videos this entire U.S. night and been editing the graphic work for my upcoming videos. A night well spent. Finally found the codec to my liking. My DV camera isn't HD so it captures at 720 which looks shitty when stretched to 1280 so I'm sticking with 640x360. Everything is looking pretty clear now. Going with the Quicktime h.264. It's a colorful beast. Thank the heavens for Bleach fueling my ears tonight.

[ElevenColors]

You got no idea how much that last line made me grin. :-D

[NichiBeiTrader]

I see Victor's file is .mov (quicktime). Any chance that converting it to mp4 like the other vid file would help? Maybe it'd be more compatible with the PC/Power Director to have all the same input formats. Just a thought...

Look forward to seeing the final product!

[ElevenColors]

Tried that just now, making it m2ts/mpeg4 like my own first clip. No joy.

Might be worthwhile downsizing them all first since they're all going to be in tiny PiP objects. Maybe after I sleep!

[Daichen]

I hope you find the solution soon. The little peek I got to see looks bad ass!

[ElevenColors]

Heh, I had yours and mine done but I got greedy. Mayve if I unify the frame rate first... hrm...

[ElevenColors]

Nope, unifying the frame rate, re-rendering Victor's to the same as the others, didn't offer any improvement. Darn. Hrm.