Total Frustration

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dondoesright
  • Start date Start date
D

Dondoesright

Running Movie Maker2 on a Windows XP Home system with
lots of Ram and over 40gb of unused harddrive capacity,
but I have still experienced the same problems many of
you write about. Is there a reliable alternative out
there from another vendor?
Moviemaker2 used to connect numerous small movie clips
and or create slide shows from numerous individual
jpg/bmp stills.
1) Moviemaker does not recognize CD R/W drive. On each
use occasion, I must go thru the multistep routine within
MY COMPUTER, select drive, select properties,
select "Recording", then check "Setup this drive for
recording".
2)Having overcome obstacle 1), I load about 25-30 minutes
playing time of stills or clips, play the storyboard or
time line then select "Auto Movie".

Now the save to selection becomes a huge problem.

a)Getting MM to recognize recordable drive, only to find
out an hour later that the CD in the drive is still
empty. Since the drive indicates significant reading is
taking place, the assumption here being that a temporary
file is being created somewhere? but where?

b)or Attempt to record to harddrive, only to have the
system come back and tell me that (example 1420 minutes
remaining), and this to record 20-25 minutes of viewing
time.

c)Pace the floor for three or four hours waiting for
completion only to find that Moviemaker has frozen and is
not responding.

Question: 1)Does Microsoft monitor anything on these
boards? 2)Is there a second or third party vendor that
provides a product Microsoft promises, but does not
deliver?

Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Don
 
Hello Don,

The not recognizing CD drive has happened/mentioned before in here (i
think) and other newsgroups. So far it has always been shown to be the
fault in the setup rather than a Movie Maker issue. Have you checked
whether or not there is a small question mark next to this device in the
Device Manager (Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Hardware >
Device Manager)

The Part 2a) of your message would be sorted at the same time as you sort
part one out finally.

Part 2b). 1420 minutes is small fry, really Basically, the more transitions
you have the longer it will take to create the movie. In addition some of
the transitions add significant processing requirements and some of the
effects (Brightness and Contrast for example) make large inroads into your
systems resources, So I would not worry to much on this issue. I made one
about a week or so ago, it tied my system up for almost two days. I have a
much more advanced video editing program with some spectacular effects,
they are so spectacular that I have to cut the bit I want to work on out of
Movie Maker, do the work on it in the other program and then send it back
to Movie Maker because MM is a lot quicker with the basic stuff.

Part 2c) Well this sounds like it might be a codec problem. If you have any
OEM software (Came free with CD Writer or whatever) such as an early
version of Cyberlink or Intervideo DVD players, then the now out of date
codecs that come with them can cause big time trouble. You can take a look
at www.papajohn.org under acceleration and codecs which is in the problem
solving section. In addition you can purchase from people like Cyberlink a
codec package for their products which do work very well with Movie Maker.
 
My old moviemaker worked fine. Moviemaker 2 however, and
I can't record/save a movie.
 
Hi Don,
I relate. Movie Maker is colossal joke. I couldn't get
past trying to chop up a 30 second vid into 2 clips. It
just quit with that unbelievable cop-out message "blankity-
blank has experienced a problem and must close. Sorry for
the inconvenience" Seen that one? I've run into it so
many times I just laugh.
Try Pinnacle Studio 8. I believe they are offering a free
trial still. I've used it and although I'm no expert, my
experience is that it at least does what they claim it
will do. And they also provide REAL support unlike some
other outfit we all know and love.
If I ever get some decent raw material I intend to try my
hand at a little celluloid of my own and MS products will
NOT BE USED.
Does MS monitor these boards? Are you kidding? Wouldn't
knowing how to read be a pre-requisite? Have you read
some of their 'fully disclaimed' solutions to some
incredibly sloppy design and coding bugs? My God, it
would be easier to write your own code than apply some of
their suggestions which are probably untested as is
obvious with all of their products. They are so out of
control that I hope I live long enough to witness their
complete demise.
Migrate to other vendors who are dependent upon good old
fashioned business ethics of providing quality,
reliability and SERVICE!!
There, I feel better for venting.
dj
 
DJ,

Can you tell us a bit more about what kind of video files you were using?

-Gareth
 
Hey Compadre thanx for your input.
I have no doubt that the replies from Kelly and John the MVP, are well intentioned and probably reflect their technical understandings, plus tons of time and patience. I however am not a techie, and even after visiting Johns dedicated site, I still cannot find the answer. Color me a Moviemaker 2 Dummy.
CODECS: How the heck can one be sure what you have on board after several years of installation and uninstall activity?
INSTALLATION: Not one to wait and wonder, I have uninstalled, downloaded and re-installed numerous times and there are no Question marks associated with the program.
ALTERNATE PROGRAMS: I have been a long time user of ULEAD products and I am now going to pick up the VIDEO STUDIO software.

----- (e-mail address removed) wrote: -----

Hi Don,
I relate. Movie Maker is colossal joke. I couldn't get
past trying to chop up a 30 second vid into 2 clips. It
just quit with that unbelievable cop-out message "blankity-
blank has experienced a problem and must close. Sorry for
the inconvenience" Seen that one? I've run into it so
many times I just laugh.
Try Pinnacle Studio 8. I believe they are offering a free
trial still. I've used it and although I'm no expert, my
experience is that it at least does what they claim it
will do. And they also provide REAL support unlike some
other outfit we all know and love.
If I ever get some decent raw material I intend to try my
hand at a little celluloid of my own and MS products will
NOT BE USED.
Does MS monitor these boards? Are you kidding? Wouldn't
knowing how to read be a pre-requisite? Have you read
some of their 'fully disclaimed' solutions to some
incredibly sloppy design and coding bugs? My God, it
would be easier to write your own code than apply some of
their suggestions which are probably untested as is
obvious with all of their products. They are so out of
control that I hope I live long enough to witness their
complete demise.
Migrate to other vendors who are dependent upon good old
fashioned business ethics of providing quality,
reliability and SERVICE!!
There, I feel better for venting.
dj
 
Hi Mr. Howell

About 90 percent of clips that I use have been MPG/MPEG, 8 percent WMVA (created on those rare occassions when I was able to save to HARDDRIVE), and an occassional ASF, Plus (not mixed) .BMP or .JPG stills.

----- Gareth Howell [MSFT] wrote: -----

DJ,

Can you tell us a bit more about what kind of video files you were using?

-Gareth
 
Don,

Yes, in my case it's mostly the time and patience more than technical
understanding.

People I know who use Ulead products are happy with them, as most I know are
with Movie Maker. Good luck.
--
PapaJohn
www.papajohn.org

The Problem Solving... Acceleration and Codecs page has a couple pix of the
codecs installed on my laptop, and a pointer to the utility that is used to
see them.



Dondoesright said:
Hey Compadre thanx for your input.
I have no doubt that the replies from Kelly and John the MVP, are well
Click to expand...
intentioned and probably reflect their technical understandings, plus tons
of time and patience. I however am not a techie, and even after visiting
Johns dedicated site, I still cannot find the answer. Color me a Moviemaker
2 Dummy.
CODECS: How the heck can one be sure what you have on board after several
Click to expand...
years of installation and uninstall activity?
INSTALLATION: Not one to wait and wonder, I have uninstalled, downloaded
Click to expand...
and re-installed numerous times and there are no Question marks associated
with the program.
ALTERNATE PROGRAMS: I have been a long time user of ULEAD products and I
Click to expand...
am now going to pick up the VIDEO STUDIO software.
 
Thanks DJ,

Do you still experience the problem if your timeline is made up of just WMV
clips?
I'm thinking you may be experiencing the codec problems that are oft
mentioned on this newsgroup - especially if the MPEG is MPEG2 (in which
case you're relying on a non-MS codec, and it's unlikely that it was tested
in Movie Maker). We're aware of this issue at Microsoft. For now Papajohn
has some good advice on how to work around a lot of those issues.
Unfortunately for MPEG2 the workaround is to install (i.e. buy) a decoder
that works with Movie Maker.

I'm sorry that you've had such a rough time with Movie Maker.

-Gareth

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


Dondoesright said:
Hi Mr. Howell

About 90 percent of clips that I use have been MPG/MPEG, 8 percent WMVA
Click to expand...
(created on those rare occassions when I was able to save to HARDDRIVE), and
an occassional ASF, Plus (not mixed) .BMP or .JPG stills.
----- Gareth Howell [MSFT] wrote: -----

DJ,

Can you tell us a bit more about what kind of video files you were using?

-Gareth

--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


Hi Don,
I relate. Movie Maker is colossal joke. I couldn't get
past trying to chop up a 30 second vid into 2 clips. It
just quit with that unbelievable cop-out message "blankity-
blank has experienced a problem and must close. Sorry for
the inconvenience" Seen that one? I've run into it so
many times I just laugh.
Try Pinnacle Studio 8. I believe they are offering a free
trial still. I've used it and although I'm no expert, my
experience is that it at least does what they claim it
will do. And they also provide REAL support unlike some
other outfit we all know and love.
If I ever get some decent raw material I intend to try my
hand at a little celluloid of my own and MS products will
NOT BE USED.
Does MS monitor these boards? Are you kidding? Wouldn't
knowing how to read be a pre-requisite? Have you read
some of their 'fully disclaimed' solutions to some
incredibly sloppy design and coding bugs? My God, it
would be easier to write your own code than apply some of
their suggestions which are probably untested as is
obvious with all of their products. They are so out of
control that I hope I live long enough to witness their
complete demise.
Migrate to other vendors who are dependent upon good old
fashioned business ethics of providing quality,
reliability and SERVICE!!
There, I feel better for venting.
dj
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Back
Top