6 replies to this topic

[jcd]

Hi all.
Ok, i've finally decided to give up and through in the towel on Roxio's Easy Media Creater 9 product.
I'm totally disappointed with its stability. The "very" few times i can get it to work it doesn't
stay working for long. Not even a week. Before problems occur.
Wether they be burning, encoding, re-installs, cleaning issues, etc.
No product should be this difficult to keep working.
I am very computer savy and as a business owner i waste WAY too much time trying to keep this product up. In reality i have had this product functioning only about 30% of the time.  I've spent just over a year trying to get or keep this product working.  And i don't even make changes to my own system. So it not as though my environment is changing.
Anyway, i'm giving up on it. I am getting no production done at all, and with no timely online/direct help from Roxio its a shame.
What do all of you think is a superior package for a business owner who does a lot of video editing.
I'm looking for a package that has good editing options. Since I do alot of editing (importing from DV or VHS) i burn to DVD often.
I run on the following:
Platform: Gateway M50 LapTop
Mobile Intel Pentium 4-mcpu @ 2.2ghz
512 RAM (i'm upgrading to 1024 very soon)
WinXP Home Ed w/SP2
60G drive with 15G free for editing

I am aware of Pinicle and Adobe products, but don't know how they are or their robustness or (more importantly) their stability.
Just looking for other peoples experience with these or any other recommended products.
When I bought the Roxio products (MyDVD, Media Creator, etc) I did my homework and comparisons on Consumer reports, etc. Even asked the forums for their advice. This is how I chose Roxio the first time.
(Wasn't a very good decision through!)
Thanks in advance, please respond soon, am way behind in editing projects.
Jeff

[Beerman]

I don't think it's actually fair to come to Roxio's forum to ask for advice on other products......especially when a quick web search will get you the info you seek.  
I saw your only other post form May in which you said it worked 'mostly ok' but since then, you've not asked for help or given any info in order for us to attempt to  help you.

[grandpabruce]

I'd start by getting a computer, other than the older laptop with which you are trying to use the software.

[jcd]

To be totally 'fair' i have used this forum for some of my issues, but have gotten no lasting results.  Hence, i've sought out secondary forums for 'videoediting', etc which include manu users of emc products.
My platform as it stands now was adequate for running this package when i bought it, that is why it is running on here.  (pentium 4, plenty of open drive space, supported os platform, etc.)
My projects are never over 4.7 gigs anyway.
It may not be ideal (over speced), but it is within specs according to your product.

I'm not trying to lay blame, i'm just frustrated in its performance.  I don't have hours to spend at a time trying to resolve issues.  as it is, i only have a few hours a day to work on my projects.  The rest of the time i'm out filming them.

The issues I experience are the same ones that other people on your knowledge base suffer from as well.
Irregardless, i spend way more time trying to patch or refix issues with the product when nothing on my machine has changed (no new added software or hardware).
The few times I have been able to get it to fully work, i can capture, edit, encode, and burn dvds, but it is only temporary.  I won't get more than a few burns out of it before the issues repeat themselves.
I've been up and down your knowledge base doing everything suggested: re-installs, patches, package clean installs, firmware undates, driver updates and reinstalls, etc.  
All of which are up to date, but still don't produce repeatable consistant results for me. (i cannot explain why, just that it sporadically works.) Again, when it does work, it works great and i am happy with it.

My issues range from: hangs during encoding, not being able to recognize the product key on clean installs, not recognizing my video capture device, to issues with working with media (be it cd or dvd).
when i first bought the product i had to find the type of cd or dvd which would work (not an easy task since product specs say it is "+-RW, etc" compatible) so i narrow it down to a specific type of cd or dvd brand that works.  I have not changed brand that i am using since i found a brand that works.  the only thing that changes is that the media speeds always increase from the manufacture (naturally).  using only media i know should work, i still get these strange issues!.  Makes totally no consistant sense to me.  Can't begin to tell you how many dayyyyysss i spend trying to get this to work.  The time spend on fixing is just not worth it.  i get nothing done.

I am very short tempered with this at this point.  I'm not getting lasting results.
If i'm on an unsupported platform or os i could understand.  But i am not, according to your docs.
If i could get this running correctly and have it last i would be Quite Happy, since i do like the features that the product offeres.
Forgive me for ranting, but i'm not getting lasting results.

I would be willing to try solutions with advice that would result in lasting success.
Thanks in advance,
jeff

[Beerman]

Besides the RAM issue Bruce mentioned (and I see you plan on adding more), it's a good bet to defrag your hard drive, especially for video work.  Hangs during encoding can be caused by poor video hardware or drivers, too many programs running in the background, not enough hard drive space and even a messy hard drive. While you're system meets specs, the low RAM and slower speed will definitely take some tweaking to perform well with EMC9 while doing video work.
Have the other programs in the suite worked ok such as audio discs?

[myguggi]

To be totally 'fair' i have used this forum for some of my issues, but have gotten no lasting results. Hence, i've sought out secondary forums for 'videoediting', etc which include manu users of emc products.
My platform as it stands now was adequate for running this package when i bought it, that is why it is running on here. (pentium 4, plenty of open drive space, supported os platform, etc.)
My projects are never over 4.7 gigs anyway.
It may not be ideal (over speced), but it is within specs according to your product.

I'm not trying to lay blame, i'm just frustrated in its performance. I don't have hours to spend at a time trying to resolve issues. as it is, i only have a few hours a day to work on my projects. The rest of the time i'm out filming them.

The issues I experience are the same ones that other people on your knowledge base suffer from as well.
Irregardless, i spend way more time trying to patch or refix issues with the product when nothing on my machine has changed (no new added software or hardware).
The few times I have been able to get it to fully work, i can capture, edit, encode, and burn dvds, but it is only temporary. I won't get more than a few burns out of it before the issues repeat themselves.
I've been up and down your knowledge base doing everything suggested: re-installs, patches, package clean installs, firmware undates, driver updates and reinstalls, etc.
All of which are up to date, but still don't produce repeatable consistant results for me. (i cannot explain why, just that it sporadically works.) Again, when it does work, it works great and i am happy with it.

My issues range from: hangs during encoding, not being able to recognize the product key on clean installs, not recognizing my video capture device, to issues with working with media (be it cd or dvd).
when i first bought the product i had to find the type of cd or dvd which would work (not an easy task since product specs say it is "+-RW, etc" compatible) so i narrow it down to a specific type of cd or dvd brand that works. I have not changed brand that i am using since i found a brand that works. the only thing that changes is that the media speeds always increase from the manufacture (naturally). using only media i know should work, i still get these strange issues!. Makes totally no consistant sense to me. Can't begin to tell you how many dayyyyysss i spend trying to get this to work. The time spend on fixing is just not worth it. i get nothing done.

I am very short tempered with this at this point. I'm not getting lasting results.
If i'm on an unsupported platform or os i could understand. But i am not, according to your docs.
If i could get this running correctly and have it last i would be Quite Happy, since i do like the features that the product offeres.
Forgive me for ranting, but i'm not getting lasting results.

I would be willing to try solutions with advice that would result in lasting success.
Thanks in advance,
jeff

The basic problem is your laptop computer which is just barely able to handle the video projects. If you do a lot a video editing you need a better system With 15GB of free space you will continuously run into problems unless you do almost hourly maintenance

[grandpabruce]

Besides the low amount of RAM, the onboard video chip may be your greatest downfall.  Make sure you get the latest drivers for it, and run you burning in Software render.