I have several VideoWave files (.dmsm) that were built using Creator 2009 on Vista SP2. Since not all the images filled the screen, I turned on background fill in the project settings dialog. I upgraded to Creator 2010. These old files seem to run fine on my Vista system. They also work on XP SP3 with Creator 2010.

I tried running them on a Windows 7 system with Creator 2010. The background fill shows up inconsistently while playing the movie. If I stop the movie and reset the project setting, the fill reappears for a few images, then turns off if the image aspect ratio changes.

As soon as I close the movie, it resets to its original status as there is no why to save the changes to the project settings since the "save" option is grayed out. Has anyone seen this happen? Is this a bug?

I am using Win 7 x64 with Creator 2010 Sp1. I have an Intel Q6600 processor with a Nvidia 9500 GT video card, 4GB memory and 1.5 TB of disk space.

I don't quite understand what you are doing. In general the VW project files (dmsm extension) created in one Roxio version are not compatible with any other version. Very simple project that have no transitions, effects, etc may be compatible. Also you cannot really play the "project" in VW since you only get a preview which does not show the full, rendered video.

Are you talking about the stand-alone VW or the "limited" VW that is contained in myDVD. If you use the myDVD VW then you cannot save any editing changes to a dmsm file. That is why experienced users do not use the myDVD VW for editing changes.

Thanks for your response. Let me see if I can clarify what it is I am asking.

The VW that I was referring to is the standalone product included in the Roxio Creator/EMC packages. When I talk about "playing " the files, I mean viewing the project in the preview window using the CD control buttons on the bottom of the preview pane. I am not using the VW that is part of the MyDVD project. I agree, putting the dmsm project files into MyDVD should be the last thing done before rendering and burning.

As for the projects I am trying to move to the 2010 product, several contain over 100 images, a few videos, sound tracks, sound effects, transitions from simple to 3D, pan and zoom effects, text boxes with animations, etc. It took a lot of work to put them together and I don't want to rebuild them from scratch. If I have to tweak a few things, that's OK.

The projects seem to migrate fine from C2009 to C2010 in the XP and Vista environments. In Win7 most of the stuff works as well, except for the background fill. Again, background fill migrates fine in the XP and Vista environments. One caveat though, I have not tried to render any of these projects using MyDVD yet. However, I can play dmsp files created in C2009 in the C2010 environment, so I am hopeful that step will work OK.

Perhaps you answered my question and I have been lucky to get working what I did get working. Do you know that Roxio's official position is to not support upward compatibility between releases? It sure leaves the customer between a rock and a hard place, wanting to move to an officially supported product on Windows 7, and not wanting or being able to, recreate weeks of work to get there.

I would not rely on any project created in one version working in another (ie newer) version. I know that none of the project files from EMC 10 work completely in C2009 or C2010. I kept EMC 10 and C2009 on the machines so that I can finish off these projects.
As far as I know, Roxio does not support upward compatibility on any of their projects. This one of the biggest complaints I and others have about Roxio products.

The background fill issue has been posted by other users and seems to be video card related or something to do with Win7 drivers. One person upgraded from nvidia 7600 to 9400 and still had the problem, but went away when they upgraded to a 9800GT card. I have a lower end ATI HD3300 chipset on my motherboard and don't have this issue.

We have always recommended finishing any projects on the old OS and older Roxio product before upgrading either.

I seem to be having sort of the same type of problem. I'm trying to create a new "slideshow" in Windows 7. I start from scratch in VideoWave in the "widescreen" mode. Under "production settings" / "Default handling for non 16:9 Sources", set "Background fill" to "solid/black". When I use either "action or dissolve" styles, and pictures that are verticle, show the last picture displayed on each side of it and not the black "fill" that should be there. If I click on that frame (picture) then click on "view settings.." then onto "photo", click "OK"..the picture will fill each side with black just for that moment. When I go back to that picture the black "fill" will be gone and the last picture will be showing on each side again. I've changes "rendering" to software which makes all pictures black (can't see anything)
I'm using Nividia 9800GTX+ video cards (sli mode) if that helps. I've been a long time user and would hate to start checking out other products.

Thanks for the insight folks. Believe me, it helps.

That's a good description of the problem I'm having, Ski-bum. Does it seem to be related to the type of transition that precedes the frame, i.e. action or dissolve? I hadn't paid attention to that parameter. And you are experiencing it with a new project? What version of Windows 7? I'm going to have to do a little more experimenting.

Tucker/ski-bum:

Same/similar problem as described here?

So far, only posters with nVidia video card reported this issue, myself included.

I'm using Wiingows 7 Pro 64bit retail upgrade. The problem seems to be only during "dissolve or action" styles. If I set to "software rendering" with these styles and I try to preview my slideshow, the screen is completly "black" (nothing) so this is NOT a fix for me. I'm using Three Nividia 9800GTX+ in tri-sli mode with the latest drivers. (191.07) I hope someone can resolve this before I return this product. Other products seem to work fine, even Microsoft DVD maker which comes with Windows7.

"ONLY POSTERS WITH NVIDIA VIDEO CARD REPORTED THIS ISSUE".....Isn't that more than half the cards out there? I e-mailed support directly. They haven't responded back at all. On this board the "GURUs" ask things like what kind of camera are you using. Are you people kidding? Does Roxio even test their product or do they just let the customer do that for them? I've already downloaded and tried a couple of other brands and they ALL work perfectly. I've been a registered user since 2007 and this is no way to treet your customers. Maybe Roxio is just too big to care anymore.

"ONLY POSTERS WITH NVIDIA VIDEO CARD REPORTED THIS ISSUE"..... That is a fact. how do you want that statement changed?
Isn't that more than half the cards out there? Where did you get that fact?
I e-mailed support directly. They haven't responded back at all. When and have you checked your spam folder?
On this board the "GURUs" ask things like what kind of camera are you using. We need to know if it is an issue with the card or with the camera actually the format and the size ratio.
Are you people kidding? Not lately. If we were you would see a funny face.
Does Roxio even test their product or do they just let the customer do that for them? I'm sure they test just like everyone else but they cannot test all the computer hardware variations. 3SLI? You must be a heavy gamer. So far I think only you have posted with that configuration. You have given us another fact to share with others.
I've already downloaded and tried a couple of other brands and they ALL work perfectly. If you bought 2010 directly from Roxio in the last 30 days; return it for a refund.I've been a registered user since 2007 and this is no way to treet your customers. We are not "your" as in Roxio employees; we are people who try to help nice people.
Maybe Roxio is just too big to care anymore. That is speculation that I'm not sure anyone can prove or disprove. The fact that there has already been one Sp means that someone is listening.

Well folks, I opened this topic to see if anyone else was having a problem with this one aspect of VideoWave in C2010. I see that there. I'm hoping that Roxio folks are reading the forums and working on the fix for the next Service Pack.

I know they put 4 SP's out on C2009 and 1 already on C2010. C2009 was the first product from Roxio that I saw that had incremental service released for it. I guess they are getting a little more customer focused. This is one of the better support forums I've been a part of and it did have a WIN7 section during the public beta of Win7, much more than some other software sites offered. Enough on that.....

I tried a little experiment on C2010. I built a new project using C2010 on win 7 x64 Pro. It has 10 photos of various sizes and orientations. I put various transitions between them and set the background fill to be a gradient of three colors. When I previewed the project, the background fill did not appear at all. I removed some of the transitions, and the frames that followed the blank transitions DID have the background fill.

I booted Vista SP2 on the SAME machine and ran the project in C2010. Everything worked fine, with and without transitions.

My conclusion is that there is a bug in C2010 that applies to Win7 x64 (and perhaps to Win7 x86) when a project employs both transitions and background fills.

The Nvidia card was present to both Vista and Win7 operating environments so I don't know if it is relevant to the problem. I guess it could be an AND condition with Win7.

What's the best way to bring this bug to Roxio's attention?

Has already been reported. You didn't say if you booted into Vista 32bit or 64bit. Could be a 64bit driver issue. Anyone with Win7 64bit running ATI card can test this out?

Thanks Gary.

I booted into a Vista 32-bit system. I also booted into a Win 7 32-bit Pro system. The problem exists in the Win 7 32-bit system also, so it doesn't seem to be related to 64-bit drivers. I also have the latest Nvidia drivers installed in all three systems. I'd be interested in knowing if the problem exits in a Win7 -ATI card system.

I use Win7 32bit with ATI HD3300 and haven't seen this issue.

Just to finish up on the problem resolution/bypass..... after trying several different versions of Nvidia drivers, I swapped video cards and put in an older Nvidia GF 7300 GT card I had. The problem with background fills went away. So in my case, the Nvidia GF 9500 GT card was triggering the problem.

There was another user that upgraded to nVidia 9800GT and the problem went away. Maybe there is a unknown hardware problem with 9400 and 9500GT cards?

Just to close this problem out....I installed Service Pack 2 on Creator 2010. The background fill problem I was having with the Nvidia GT 240 card has been resolved. Installing SP2 seems to be the answer.