Feature Requests

[Yendor]

Where can I submit feature requests for EMC9?

 

Thanks,

- Rod

[gi7omy]

You can post to the General Chat area - but there won't be any new features added to an existing program or even the next one (that is usually well into alpha) - you might make it for v11

[ggrussell]

I don't think there is an official way, but posting something here would be a good place.

[Yendor]

I sure hope they are spending some time stabilizing and polishing this a little before moving on. I spend so much time wrestling with this thing that I haven't actually been able to produce anything yet. I've even tried using all the different tools to replace some of my more traditional tasks, and it's always a step backwards.

 

Here's some requests - I'm being conservative:

 

- When burning, provide an option to run the operation at a lower priority so that I can still use my computer.

 

- MyDVD: In the "Production Editor", provide a toolbar button and/or context menu to add a chapter mark. It's painful to have to go to the chapter editor.

 

- MyDVD/VideoWave: Speed up MPEG2 (and all other compressed formats) movie navigation/editing. I am embarrased to say that CyberLink kicks Roxio's rear end on this.

[gi7omy]

Any released version of a program is always a 'done deal' - there may (and in the case of EMC9 will) be patches issued but that will just fix problems that have come to light since release - they never add new features (that is always an upGRADE and not an upDATE)

 

However, in regard to 'lower priority for burning' that is outside the control of the program. You have to remember that video processing is INTENSELY CPU/GPU aggressive (check in Task Manager as to CPU usage and you will see it never drops below 100%). That's why commercial rendering is done on 'farms' - a LOT of computers linked together to form a 'super-computer' with loads of RAM and multi CPUs. Home computers (even multi-core) can't hope to even get close to the power of those. High end commercial machines can be up to 8 core with 16 GB of very fast RAM

 

As I said, it's a safe bet that v10 is already in alpha with all the components being in place and adding to that isn't really an option. None of us know what there will be in that so it's impossible to say if there will be better navigation or anything.

 

But - keep firing in suggestions - maybe someone will spot them

[Beerman]

I sure hope they are spending some time stabilizing and polishing this a little before moving on. I spend so much time wrestling with this thing that I haven't actually been able to produce anything yet. I've even tried using all the different tools to replace some of my more traditional tasks, and it's always a step backwards.

 

Here's some requests - I'm being conservative:

 

- When burning, provide an option to run the operation at a lower priority so that I can still use my computer.

 

- MyDVD: In the "Production Editor", provide a toolbar button and/or context menu to add a chapter mark. It's painful to have to go to the chapter editor.

 

- MyDVD/VideoWave: Speed up MPEG2 (and all other compressed formats) movie navigation/editing. I am embarrased to say that CyberLink kicks Roxio's rear end on this.

You don't mention your computer specs but I've not had any problems with using my computer while burning.

 

While I agree using Mpeg in VW is slow, it's a much, much better improvement over v8. I've not tried Cyberlink and don't know what the quality is but I'm pleased with the quality VW puts out.

[ggrussell]

regardless of computer speed, I still would not recommend using the computer while rendering. When something goes wrong, where do you start troubleshooting? Do you blame EMC or the fact that you where doing something else? Perhaps the 'other' app has poor memory management and overwrote memory that Videowave was using. Things like that 'should not' happen, but as a consumer, how do you know that it doesn't? If you're not using the computer, the render will take less time, too.

 

In the "Production Editor", provide a toolbar button and/or context menu to add a chapter mark.

There is already a way to do that. In MyDVD, load your prooject. Select your movie and click 'edit movie'. This brings you to the production editor. Switch to Timeline. Move the 'blue line' to a point you would like a chapter mark. Then click the + at the front of the timeline. See attachement. These marks are translated into chapter marks.

[Tom at Roxio]

Just to clarify, I think what Tom means is that he will take this information back to development and see what can be done about it. The reality is that nothing can actually fix a slow CPU but we can try an optimize the application to make better use of it. Of course I could only assume our next version will be even more CPU intensive, so I suspect a 1.3Ghz CPU wont ever be fast enough.

 

John - I wasn't replying to a specific issue... I was just letting people know that we're here, and we're listening to our customer's suggestions and concerns.

 

In regard to the question of CPU usage and priority while rendering, editing, encoding or burning... most of these operations are not synchronous. Rendering, editing, or encoding can be performed at any speed, and if your computer is doing other things it will slow down these operations, but this should not cause any fatal errors (crashes, or inability to do what you wanted) - unless you don't leave enough system resources (especially memory) for Creator. In general, it's not a good idea to try to do much else while you are working with video.

 

Burning is a slightly different story. A 12X DVD burner is trying to write 16 MB per second. If your PC can't keep up, the burning stops. This is known as a buffer underrun. In older burners the resulting disc would only be partially recorded (a useless coaster). Today's burners have technologies that allow them to restart the burning where they left off, after the memory buffer is re-filled. However, these discs may have some errors in the places where burning was stopped and restarted, and in general it is not a good idea to rely on these buffer-underrun technologies to save your bacon. I personally like to burn my DVDs at 4X, even with a 12X burner, just to help insure a higher quality recording. To make up for lost time, I use 2 burners, using Creator Classic's advanced feature to burn to multiple drives. Even though I'm using a fairly powerful PC, I avoid doing too many other things while I'm burning. A little web browsing won't hurt you if you have a dual-core machine with lots of memory. But I wouldn't fire up programs that need lots of CPU and memory (like VideoWave, PhotoSuite, or CinePlayer) while you are burning.

 

- Tom

[Larry]

regardless of computer speed, I still would not recommend using the computer while rendering. When something goes wrong, where do you start troubleshooting? Do you blame EMC or the fact that you where doing something else? Perhaps the 'other' app has poor memory management and overwrote memory that Videowave was using. Things like that 'should not' happen, but as a consumer, how do you know that it doesn't? If you're not using the computer, the render will take less time, too.

 

There is already a way to do that. In MyDVD, load your prooject. Select your movie and click 'edit movie'. This brings you to the production editor. Switch to Timeline. Move the 'blue line' to a point you would like a chapter mark. Then click the + at the front of the timeline. See attachement. These marks are translated into chapter marks.

The one thing I would add to Gary's post, is that I found that after marking the chapters that way, back in MyDVD you still need to open the "cahpter Editor" window (as you called it) for MyDVD to pick the marks up as chapter marks, which it does automatically in that window.

[Yendor]

Any released version of a program is always a 'done deal'

 

Ew. Well, I guess I'm not going to ever be satisfied with this product then. I don't have to give them any more money, so I guess that's a fair trade and I've learned my lesson.

 

However, in regard to 'lower priority for burning' that is outside the control of the program.

 

Balogna. It's just a matter of how much time the computer spends doing one thing vs. another. If it's going to take me 5 hours to burn a DVD, it seems reasonable to let me check my e-mail.

[John at Roxio]

John - I wasn't replying to a specific issue... I was just letting people know that we're here, and we're listening to our customer's suggestions and concerns. - Tom

 

No problem at all, i just didn't want the user to get the opinion that the problem relating to his slow machine could easily be solved by some software tweaks. Your response makes total sense to me.

[gi7omy]

Certainly - go check e-mail, run a game, have a chat with your friend on Yahoo

 

Just don't expect the DVD to come out right - it needs every bit of CPU power it can get to render. That's the bottom line in ANY rendering app

[Yendor]

You don't mention your computer specs but I've not had any problems with using my computer while burning.

 

While I agree using Mpeg in VW is slow, it's a much, much better improvement over v8. I've not tried Cyberlink and don't know what the quality is but I'm pleased with the quality VW puts out.

 

I have what is probably a minimum config -- 1.3GHz AMD, 1GB. But that has nothing to do with how the application selects its thread priority.

 

CyberLink is pretty lame over all, but for some reason they've really done well with MPEG2. I thought Roxio has een around a while, so they must be experts at this.

 

 

The one thing I would add to Gary's post, is that I found that after marking the chapters that way, back in MyDVD you still need to open the "cahpter Editor" window (as you called it) for MyDVD to pick the marks up as chapter marks, which it does automatically in that window.

 

Well, whaddya know, another Roxio gotcha. I'm an optimist, so I'll try it. But it defeats the whole purpose of my original request -- avoiding the chapter editor which is pig slow. I wouldn't doubt it has to render the whole silly video to get the thumbnails instead of just caching them once.

[Larry]

Well, whaddya know, another Roxio gotcha. I'm an optimist, so I'll try it. But it defeats the whole purpose of my original request -- avoiding the chapter editor which is pig slow. I wouldn't doubt it has to render the whole silly video to get the thumbnails instead of just caching them once.

Not for me on my pc, which isn't that much more "powerful" than yours from the looks of it.

I opened MyDVD, added a video file, edited it to add the markers, back to the menu, open the edit chapters window, unchecked create chapter menu, saved it. All in under 3 min. Chapter edit window took me about 15 secs start to finish.

[Tom at Roxio]

I sure hope they are spending some time stabilizing and polishing this a little before moving on. I spend so much time wrestling with this thing that I haven't actually been able to produce anything yet. I've even tried using all the different tools to replace some of my more traditional tasks, and it's always a step backwards.

 

Here's some requests - I'm being conservative:

 

- When burning, provide an option to run the operation at a lower priority so that I can still use my computer.

 

- MyDVD: In the "Production Editor", provide a toolbar button and/or context menu to add a chapter mark. It's painful to have to go to the chapter editor.

 

- MyDVD/VideoWave: Speed up MPEG2 (and all other compressed formats) movie navigation/editing. I am embarrased to say that CyberLink kicks Roxio's rear end on this.

Thanks. We're listening... and we hear you.

 

Tom

[John at Roxio]

Just to clarify, I think what Tom means is that he will take this information back to development and see what can be done about it. The reality is that nothing can actually fix a slow CPU but we can try an optimize the application to make better use of it. Of course I could only assume our next version will be even more CPU intensive, so I suspect a 1.3Ghz CPU wont ever be fast enough.

[Yendor]

Not for me on my pc, which isn't that much more "powerful" than yours from the looks of it.

I opened MyDVD, added a video file, edited it to add the markers, back to the menu, open the edit chapters window, unchecked create chapter menu, saved it. All in under 3 min. Chapter edit window took me about 15 secs start to finish.

 

How long is your video? Mine is roughly 1.5 hours worth.

[Yendor]

Just to clarify, I think what Tom means is that he will take this information back to development and see what can be done about it. The reality is that nothing can actually fix a slow CPU but we can try an optimize the application to make better use of it. Of course I could only assume our next version will be even more CPU intensive, so I suspect a 1.3Ghz CPU wont ever be fast enough.

 

The free CyberLink that comes with my video camera is able to do it. I've been converting some MPEG2 videos for my portable player with "homegrown" AviSynth+VirtualDub, it can do it. The CPU is not limiting Roxio.

 

Well, if Roxio thinks it's good enough, I guess there isn't much I can do there.

[gi7omy]

Check one thing - what bit rate does the Cyberlink render at - and bear in mind that EMC renders at 3 Mb

[Yendor]

Certainly - go check e-mail, run a game, have a chat with your friend on Yahoo

 

Just don't expect the DVD to come out right - it needs every bit of CPU power it can get to render. That's the bottom line in ANY rendering app

 

That's lame. Unless this "rendering" requires some one-chance timing, all it should do is go slower. Whether the computer calculates 2+2 fast or slow it's still going to equal 4. Again, I have used another app, VirtualDub, that let's me do this very thing. While it is rendering I can lower the thread priority thereby deciding which of my tasks should have more importance. 100% success rendering video.

 

HOWEVER, the "burning" I was referring to is actually the *burning*, not the rendering. I was burning a data disc when I experienced this, so all it is doing is ferrying data to the drive.

[grandpabruce]

That's lame. Unless this "rendering" requires some one-chance timing, all it should do is go slower. Whether the computer calculates 2+2 fast or slow it's still going to equal 4. Again, I have used another app, VirtualDub, that let's me do this very thing. While it is rendering I can lower the thread priority thereby deciding which of my tasks should have more importance. 100% success rendering video.

 

HOWEVER, the "burning" I was referring to is actually the *burning*, not the rendering. I was burning a data disc when I experienced this, so all it is doing is ferrying data to the drive.

 

This thread is no longer productive.