CyberLink PowerDirector 2.55 Pro Readme

01/30/2003

This file contains the latest information regarding the PowerDirector 2.55 Pro software application. Please click on one of the options below for more information. Remember, before you start PowerDirector, please read this document in detail for the newest technical information.

This Readme is divided into the following sections:

• An Overview of PowerDirector Pro
• Differences between PowerDirector 2.55 Pro and PowerDirector 2.0
• Registering your Software
• Installation and Software Usage Notice
• Special Requirements for DV Capturing
• Compatible Capture Cards and Drivers
• Approved DV Camcorder Models
• Compatible CD/DVD Recordable Drives
• How to Access CyberLink's Technical Support Service

An Overview of PowerDirector Pro

Introducing the World's Fastest and Most Advanced Video Editing Software Program--PowerDirector Pro. PowerDirector Pro comes complete with easy-to-use tools for creating professional video productions. Plus, it offers Smart Video Rendering Technology (SVRT), which saves you more time during render than any other software program available on the market! PowerDirector Pro even includes a convenient wizard for you to produce movie discs, such as DVD, VCD, SVCD, or MiniDVD, without any hassles whatsoever.

Differences between PowerDirector 2.55 Pro and PowerDirector 2.0

Major new features of PowerDirector 2.55 Pro vs. PowerDirector 2.0 Pro include:

• New "Color Board" function allows users to generate Fade-to-Black video effects or create single-color backgrounds
• Improved VCD/SVCD/DVD video quality with new MPEG-1/MPEG-2 video encoder
• Modified graphics engine gives the application more stability and reliability by consuming less system resources
• New "TV Safe Zone" and "Gridline" features allows users to position Titles and PiPs more precisely
• New DV write back to tape interface ("Tape Copier") allows users to adjust DV tape position and arrange video writing back order
• More video and image format support: QuickTime, RealVideo, TIFF, DivX, GIF (alpha channel)
• New resizable video player giving you full-screen video playback
• Enhanced PiP Color Filter allows professional filtering for PiP video/images
• Enhanced Title mode allows users to preview and select text effects in the Library, similar to Transition and Effect modes. Users can also type text on the video screen in the new Title mode.
• Enhanced Transition mode provides new functions such as "Cut/Copy/Paste/Delete" and drag-and-drop to facilitate transition settings
• Support Constraint Variable Bit Rate in MPEG2 encoding. This optimizes the compression of any given sequence resulting in a much higher quality picture, and reduced file size
• Support the new Sony MicroMV-series camcorders and captures the data on MV tapes directly into MPEG2 files (Note: only VE does not support MicroMV)
• Support VOB(DVD-Video) and VRO(DVD-VR) video format import

There are additional 30 minor to medium new features in this release of PowerDirector, such as:

- New and improved trim bar design and mark in/mark out markers
- Audio gain control from 0% to 200%
- Auto file split when capturing DV AVI
- Able to delete both file links and physical files at once
- Able to control interface during video playback
- New "Cross-Fade" audio fading function in Transitions mode

Registering your Software

Please complete your registration card and mail it to CyberLink or use the online registration to register your software. You must register the software before receiving customer support service and product information.

Installation and Software Usage Notice

1. Before installing PowerDirector Pro, you may have to check your system resources in order to obtain the optimal performance.
2. In order to avoid many compatibility issues, please close all other software and utility applications including virus scans and instant messaging software.
3. Check your hard disk DMA setting to obtain the best video recording performance. Please check the Properties page from My Computer for the hardware settings list.
4. Smart Video Rendering Technology (SVRT). For SVRT to achieve its optimal rendering performance, the video clips on your Storyboard should be using the same recording profile. And if global effects, such as Master Audio or Master Watermark are applied to the final movie, the SVRT rendering option will be disabled.
5. MPEG-2 video editing issues. The Microsoft Windows operating systems does not provide a MPEG-2 video playback decoding engine. If your system has other DVD or MPEG-2 playback or video editing software installed, the 3rd party MPEG-2 video playback engine may conflict with the engine provided with PowerDirector. If PowerDirector Pro encounters any issues on importing MPEG-2 video files, please try to uninstall other MPEG-2 video playback or editing software applications. If the problem still exists, please check the FAQ published on the CyberLink Web site or contact CyberLink's technical support staff.
6. Microsoft DirectX®8 runtime library must be installed in advance. PowerDirector Pro requires Microsoft DirectX?8 installed runtime library on your system for certain PowerDirector functions to run properly. The PowerDirector Pro CD setup program will automatically install the DirectX 8 runtime library. However, if you purchased the Internet download version, or are using the free trial version, you need to download this module from the Microsoft Web site or from other Web locations. The Microsoft DirectX?8 is: www.microsoft.com/directx/homeuser/downloads/default.asp.
7. OHCI (Open Host Controller Interface) support. PowerDirector Pro supports the OHCI standard providing Microsoft Windows with a standardized way of interacting with the IEEE1394 port or I/O card so that it is unnecessary to install any other additional drivers when capturing DV video with PowerDirector Pro.
8. Hard disk requirement when using non real-time DV capturing. PowerDirector Pro will use hard disk as the buffering space to transcode the DV content captured into MPEG-1/MPEG-2 files. It is recommended to have sufficient free disk space before conducting non real-time DV capturing.
9. Burning issues. If you possess a DVD-R/-RW burner drive, PowerDirector Pro will automatically detect the fastest recording speed. For example, if your drive is capable of 2x burning, the 2x speed will be selected. However, please note that if you are using a 1x speed blank DVD-R /-RW disc, you *MUST* adjust your recording speed manually to 1x recording speed. Failure to do so may result in an unreadable DVD after burning is complete.

Special Requirements for DV Capturing

I. Minimum CPU requirements in DV Capture Mode (i.e. capturing video) for Analog Video Devices or Using Real-time Mode:

The non real-time mode uses buffering technology to avoid frame-drop when capturing video from DV, and greatly reduces CPU resources. However, we recommend having at least a Pentium III 450 CPU to conduct non real-time capturing from DV, for it is necessary to capture full raw frames before compressing into MPEG files. The faster CPU you use, the less time needed for offline MPEG transcoding.

When capturing in non real-time, if your hard disk drive (HDD) is nearly out of space (when less than 150 MB of free space, all capturing will be disabled), a warning message will appear in the Preview Window notifying you that a portion of the transcoding process will be paused and resume later after all the content in the buffer has been encoded by your HDD (a.k.a. "Capture Auto-Resume"). We recommend users to have sufficient free HDD space before proceeding with non real-time DV capturing. The recommended space depends on your hardware computing power and the selected profile. However, to be on the safe side, follow this table for non real-time DV capturing:

If your PC has sufficient CPU power (for example, Pentium III 800, Athlon 800 or above), it may require less free HDD space as recommended above, for the CPU may have enough computing power to consume the buffered frames. If PowerDirector Pro does enter the Capture Auto-Resume mode, it is necessary that your DV tape has sequential timecodes. If this tape's timecodes have been reset on your DV tape (e.g. turning DV camcorder on and off before recording new content or having rewound to record over existing content), when the Capture Auto-Resume resumes, it will seek to the wrong timecode and thus fail.

Compatible Capture Cards and Drivers

1. IEEE 1394 capture device compatibility list. The PowerDirector DV video capture modules utilize the Microsoft Windows driver. It is required that the IEEE1394 capture devices be compliant with the OHCI standard. Please visit CyberLink Web site for the latest models list at http://support.gocyberlink.com/

2. Analog to digital video capture device compatibility list:

Capture Devices	Chipsets	Bus Types	Win98 SE	Win ME	Win 2K	Win XP	Driver Version
ATI
ATI All-in-Wonder 128	Bt 829	AGP					4.13.7078 (Win 9X) 5.13.1.192 (Win 2000)
ATI All-in-Wonder 128 Pro	Rage Theater	AGP					4.13.7078 (Win 9X) 5.13.1.192 (Win 2000)
ATI All-in-Wonder 128 Radeon	Rage Theater	AGP					4.12.3056 (Win 9X) 5.13.01.3102 (Win 2000)
ATI Radeon 8500DV Combo	Rage Theater	AGP					5.13.1.3276 (Win 2K) 6.13.3276 (Win XP) 4.13.7189 (Win 9X)
ATI TV Wonder	Bt878	PCI					4.13.0003 (Win 9x) 4.12.3.0 (Win 2K/XP)
Other
Askey TView99 (CPH051)	Bt 878	PCI					3.1.28.0
AverMedia TV Capture 98	Bt 878	PCI					3.1.28.0
Hauppauge WinTV-Theater	Bt 878	PCI		N/A			2.3.17316 (Win SE) 5.1.2258.400 (Win 2K)
LeadTek WinFast TV2000	Bt 878	PCI					3.1.28.0
LiveView FlyVideo	Bt 878	PCI
NVidia NV11 Combo	Nogatech	AGP+BOX					1.04F
SigmaCom CyberTV	Bt 878	PCI					3.1.28.0
ProLink Pixel View Play TV	Bt 878	PCI					3.1.28.0

:Compatible :Compatible but with minor issues

Please visit http://support.gocyberlink.com/ for the latest model list.

Compatible DV Camcorder Models

The following list contains approved DV or DVCAM models compatible with PowerDirector.

If your DV or DVCAM model is not on this list, it does not mean it is incompatible with PowerDirector. CyberLink will continuously provide patches to work with new DV models. To see the most updated list of DV compatible models or to download DV patches, please visit: http://support.gocyberlink.com/

Compatible CD/DVD Recordable Drives

1. List of Approved Recordable CD Drives

NOTE: If you cannot find your drive in the list above, it does not necessarily signify that it is not supported by PowerDirector Pro. For the latest supported drives list, please go to http://support.gocyberlink.com/.

How to access CyberLink's Technical Support Service

CyberLink Web sites:

http://www.cyberlink.com.tw/

http://www.gocyberlink.com/

http://www.cyberlink-usa.com/

http://www.cli.co.jp/

Customer Service:

http://support.gocyberlink.com/

Copyright(c) 1997-2003 CyberLink Corp. All rights reserved.