4K 60p crashes Cyberlink PowerDirector

abruzzopat · Jun 11, 2020

Forum newbie here, thanks for your patience. I flew the original Phantom with a GoPro for years and got my MA2 a couple weeks ago. Love it so far, but I am completely unable to use 4K60 files with Cyberlink PowerDirector.

I am working with the Cyberlink folks (and forums, etc), but I though just for fun I'd check here to see if anyone else has had this experience?

Thanks in advance!

gottahavit · Jun 11, 2020

I'm sure it's h.265 that's crashing it.

jigsaw · Jun 11, 2020

gottahavit said:
I'm sure it's h.265 that's crashing it.

This^^

If your computer is not a hot rod or it has a basic GPU you probably will have problems playing h.265

FlyingFilmmaker · Jun 11, 2020

Can the M2A shoot h.264 as well? If it can you might want to give that go just to see.

Pappy · Jun 11, 2020

I'm pretty sure 4K/60 requires h.265. Have you tried enabling the use of proxy files?

The lower left corner of the thumbnail for the imported clip in "Media" will show a yellow icon. When PD has created the proxy file for the clip, it will turn green.

GadgetGuy · Jun 12, 2020

DroneFilmmaker said:
Can the M2A shoot h.264 as well? If it can you might want to give that go just to see.

Yes, in every video format, except 4K 60fps and 4K HD Video
Drop it down to 4K 30fps in normal mode and you can select H.264

abruzzopat · Jun 12, 2020

Thanks all for the helpful responses. I do have a fairly robust machine: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 6-Core (12 CPUs), ~3.6GHz), 16GB RAM and an Nvidia GPX 970 with 4Gb vram

Bummer that H.265 is required for 4K60... I want that for 4K playback at 30fps to slow things down. Maybe 2.7K 60fps is an option? I'll check that out.

@Pappy, yes I have been using Shadow files and they do turn green... tried without it also. Are you able to use 4K60 files in PowerDirector?

Thanks again... if I get it fixed I'll post back here.

Dave Maine · Jun 12, 2020

Use a proxy file encoded in H.264 or ProRes. Switch back to the original file for final output.

abruzzopat · Jun 13, 2020

Dave Maine said:
Use a proxy file encoded in H.264 or ProRes. Switch back to the original file for final output.

Hey Dave, thanks for the reply. I'm not sure I understand what you're recommending.

If the original file is H.265 how do I create an H.264 proxy?

Apologies for my inexperience here...

Jeff A · Jun 13, 2020

abruzzopat said:
Forum newbie here, thanks for your patience. I flew the original Phantom with a GoPro for years and got my MA2 a couple weeks ago. Love it so far, but I am completely unable to use 4K60 files with Cyberlink PowerDirector.

I am working with the Cyberlink folks (and forums, etc), but I though just for fun I'd check here to see if anyone else has had this experience?

Thanks in advance!

What version of PowerDirector are you using?

abruzzopat · Jun 13, 2020

Effects said:
What version of PowerDirector are you using?

The latest... PD 365 (I think it's basically PD18). Based on what I read in their forum, it's pretty buggy, but no one seems to have problems as bad as mine. I don't think there are a ton of us with MA2s yet so maybe it's some combination there.

WolfSpring · Jun 13, 2020

I am using PowerDirector 17 and I have zero issues with 4K60 in general, when I get into larger/longer edits and color correction I get really bogged down, but not crashing. I'm running an i7-4770 16 GB ram and a GTX 1050 Ti graphics card. It really takes a good processor to get H.265 to work right. One site quotes:

Intel 6th generation “Skylake” or newer CPUs
AMD 6th generation “Carizzo” or newer APUs
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, 960, or newer graphics cards
AMD Radeon R9 Fury, R9 Fury X, R9 Nano, or newer graphics cards

What Is HEVC H.265 Video, and Why Is It So Important for 4K Movies?

I learned a lot about it from the GoPro Hero 7 I had a pretty great gaming computer, but my processor was a few years old and couldn't even play a H.265 and I ended up needing a whole new computer just to do 4K.

Dave Maine · Jun 13, 2020

You will need to look in the Cyberlink manual to see if a proxy workflow can be done. All high end editing packages - Premiere, Final Cut Pro X, Resolve support proxy work flows for editing with a proxy file that the editor can handle more easily.

You can also just re-encode your H.265 file to ProRes, if Cyberlink supports ProRes. You will need to spend a little time with the user manual I am afraid. I use Final Cut and Resolve on a Mac, so I have never evaluated Cyberlink.

Lapeer20m · Jun 13, 2020

I have m2p and use PD and I find that the videos actually look better when shot in 2.7k 60fps. Plus, they are a lot easier files for my computer to handle.

gottahavit · Jun 13, 2020

WolfSpring said:
I am using PowerDirector 17 and I have zero issues with 4K60 in general, when I get into larger/longer edits and color correction I get really bogged down, but not crashing. I'm running an i7-4770 16 GB ram and a GTX 1050 Ti graphics card. It really takes a good processor to get H.265 to work right. One site quotes:

Intel 6th generation “Skylake” or newer CPUs

AMD 6th generation “Carizzo” or newer APUs

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950, 960, or newer graphics cards

AMD Radeon R9 Fury, R9 Fury X, R9 Nano, or newer graphics cards

What Is HEVC H.265 Video, and Why Is It So Important for 4K Movies?

I learned a lot about it from the GoPro Hero 7 I had a pretty great gaming computer, but my processor was a few years old and couldn't even play a H.265 and I ended up needing a whole new computer just to do 4K.

All you really needed was a new GPU that onboard decode/encode.

Pappy · Jun 13, 2020

abruzzopat said:
@Pappy, yes I have been using Shadow files and they do turn green... tried without it also. Are you able to use 4K60 files in PowerDirector?

I didn't have any 4k 60 clips so I went out and recorded a 3:36 clip. Brought it into PD 365, allowed it to create a proxy file, made two splits and duplicated clip in timeline to add 2 slo-mo (1/2 speed), a crossfade, and a "Fire" transition. I then rendered to XAVC-S 4K/30p (60Mbps). Took sometime to render on my 6-1/2 year old PC, but no crashes.

PC Specs
CPU: Intel I7-3770 CPU @ 3.4 GHz (4 cores, 8 logical)
System Memory: 12 GB Memory
GPU: No video card, just the built in one for the CPU, HD 4000

WolfSpring · Jun 13, 2020

gottahavit said:
All you really needed was a new GPU that onboard decode/encode.

I had an older i5 processor and a GTX 480 in my old rig I needed a whole new computer, I actually got an HP for 15 bucks that had all those specs, minus the video card. I bought it at a thrift store for the power supply, it didn't have a hard drive had no clue the specs on it till I got it home and it was better than my rig, minus the video card.

abruzzopat · Jun 14, 2020

gottahavit said:
All you really needed was a new GPU that onboard decode/encode.

Interesting that some people have issues and others don't. I've spend the past couple days reinstalling drivers and software, running diagnostics, tweaking settings... no luck.

I bit the bullet an subscribed to Premier Pro (already have Lightroom, so I was able to bundle with a first year "deal" ha). Anyway, took the same footage, did essentially the same edits, etc. Works perfectly... renders a beautiful and smooth final image. So... who knows. Something about PD on my rig just doesn't work.

BTW... Cyberlink support is not great. Over 48 hours to respond at all, then just with canned suggestions about reinstalling everything.

WolfSpring · Jun 14, 2020

abruzzopat said:
Interesting that some people have issues and others don't. I've spend the past couple days reinstalling drivers and software, running diagnostics, tweaking settings... no luck.

I bit the bullet an subscribed to Premier Pro (already have Lightroom, so I was able to bundle with a first year "deal" ha). Anyway, took the same footage, did essentially the same edits, etc. Works perfectly... renders a beautiful and smooth final image. So... who knows. Something about PD on my rig just doesn't work.

BTW... Cyberlink support is not great. Over 48 hours to respond at all, then just with canned suggestions about reinstalling everything.

Maybe 18 has issues I have 17, I went that route because I wanted to pay once and leave it at that i bought 17 right after it came out and it works great on 4K, 360, HEVC/H.265 and everything I've thrown at it. I had premiere for college for a year and it's great, but very very different for me to use and I don't like the monthly fee, I do miss having all the programs for both video and photos though. Luckily I had worked all the bugs out of H.265 with GoPro before the MA2 came out.

Marcass Carcass · May 4, 2021

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