Movie Gift Won't Play in DVD Player

[Bob]

That would be pretty unusual if true. I've seen mainframe software that worked that way, but that was with an annual license and you received an authorization patch to install after you paid your license fee. The software issued reminder notices if you ignored your invoices and got too close to the renewal date.

The text that the fellow included in his "review" had to do with the redownload service where you pay extra for an extended time to download the software from the servers again. That's not the same as the software license expiring.

[Joanne]

Mark, do you like the PE3?

It is funny that a program would stop working after 2 years. But now you've said you've had a problem and that person posting on amazon said he/she called the company and they confirmed it. I looked all over the outside of the box on the one I have and couldn't find anything about that. But it may be in the software agreement license when you install. I guess it pays to read all the way through those long (boring) things.

[Joanne]

Bob, it sounds like he had the same problem as Mark with crashing and that's why he tried to reinstall:

"if you have to reinstall the program (or any part of it) two years and a day after buying it, you will have to completely repurchase the software.

What's especially fishy about Pinnacle is how it will suddenly start crashing at 2 years after initial installation. My video drivers stopped working at a point, I'd later realize, coincident with the 2 year anniversary of my having installed the Pinnacle software.

In trying to fix the suspiciously-timed program crash I was mystified to learn that a number clearly printed on a CD sleeve was suddenly "Not a Valid Serial Number." The Activation Keys I'd bought online, and had on file, were suddenly incorrect.

I contacted Pinnacle, who informed me of the two year statement in the agreement. Here is an excerpt from their email:

"The reason you are not able to obtain a redownload of your purchase is
that the Extended Download Service was not purchased with your download
and the time to purchase this service has expired. Unfortunately, this
means that in order to obtain the product, you will need to repurchase
it."

It would be interesting to see if anyone else has had the same problem with it crashing after 2 years. At any rate, this alone would make me want to return the program. If I bought another computer after 2 years, I wouldn't want to have to repurchase the same software after that short of a time.

[jackfalbey]

Joanne, in my research before I bought my first video editing program (Premiere Elements 2.0) I came across a ton of people who had issues with Pinnacle. That, among other reasons, resulted in my purchasing PE2. A year later I upgraded to PE3, and a year after that to Production Studio CS3 when I opened my videography business. I also have PE4 which came free with my ADS Pyro A/V Link. I use CS3 for most of my professional editing, but I still find myself going back to PE3 for quite a few smaller jobs; I just really like the interface and how intuitive it is for basic editing (not that it can't do advanced editing, I just find that CS3 is better for the heavy-duty stuff). PE4 is also very powerful, but I just don't like the redesigned interface. I'll probably always keep a copy of PE3 installed on my home PC because it's so great at what it does.

[mark hansen]

Mark, do you like the PE3?

Yes I do. I bought PE4/PSE5 and haven't loaded it yet. I was leary at first but then decided to wait until my projects were done before starting on the new program. Well, I seem to always have something in the works and haven't made the jump.

I haven't had any problems with capuring, editing or burning. When I need multple copies, I use a mixture of PE3 and take the first one over to the other PC and use Nero to push out two at a time (one from Nero and PE3 continues with the rest)

[Bill Hunt]

Joanne,

I am a heavy user of Adobe products and less a fan of anything from Pinnacle. However, if you have Pinnacle Studio 12, you should be good to go. I have not used a Studio version, since 9.4.3 and it was OK. Tried ver. 10 Plus (later called Titanium) and it killed a robust workstation - killed it dead. Because of that, I never loaded anything Pinnacle, though I had the full suite for 10. Version 12 is supposed to be much better, than earlier versions, but I’ve obviously not used it. I just added Premiere Elements to my system, to do some quick things with odd file types, that my P-Pro would not do well. It is a very good program, but if you own and have Studio 12 installed, I’d stick with it for now.

Now, to your problem:

As has been said, DVD players do not have to play any burned DVD’s. Most will, depending on the media used, the burn speed and the bit-rate, but they are not required to do so by the DVD specs.. This is the big problem with burned DVD’s and set-top players. Blue-ray Discs are fairly new and burned BRD’s are still in flux. Sony keeps changing the playing field. They seem intent to eliminate all burned BRD’s from use, so that only purchased, replicated commercial discs will work. Some have reported that auto firmware updates to their players have “eliminated” the ability to play a burned BRD. I do not have direct experience, so I cannot comment knowingly on this possible problem.

If you use Studio 12, I *believe* that it will burn to BRD, provided that your computer has a BR burner. I do not know about PE4. I do know that Adobe’s Encore will do this, but it is only available bundled with Premiere Pro CS3, which is a much more expensive solution. The learning curve is also higher, than either PE or Studio.

I would attempt to copy the existing DVD (provided that it is a DVD-Video and not a DVD-Data disc) to Verbatim -R disc. Set lowest possible burn speed. I use Nero for this Copy operation, but there are other programs. Just make sure that if you install any of these, that you do NOT install any packet-writing applications. You will need to do a Custom Install, and do NOT install InCD, or DLA, or any other packet-writing application.

If this does not get you to a playable DVD, I would look into Importing the files on your existing DVD into the NLE (Non-Linear Editor) of your choice. This might require a 3rd party conversion program. Once in the NLE, I’d burn to DVD and choose Verbatim -R media, burn at the slowest speed that your choice of media and burner can accommodate and also burn at below 7Mb/sec. Note, if you find that you have a DVD-Data, and the material is already in DVD-compliant MPG-2 form, you should not need to do any NLE work, or conversion. Copy the data files to your hard drive and then use Nero (or similar) to burn to a DVD-Video disc. This will write the files to a DVD-Video. If the data files are in any other form, then Copy them to your hard drive, and Import them into your NLE. You *may* have to convert these with a 3rd party application.

These are a lot of “ifs,” but it’s because we do not know what is on your DVD and what form of DVD it is.

First thing I’d do is view the files and file structure in Windows Explorer. Make sure that you have “Show File Extensions” on. Make a note of the entire structure and of the file types and where they are located. This will get you to a short answer.

You might want to start a new thread here, when you get that info, so people know what issues are being addressed and who is asking the questions. I wouldn’t want your questions to get buried in a very similar thread, just because forum members thought that the old thread had run its course. Were it me, I’d also add a link to this thread, for background info.

Good luck,

Hunt

PS while my old Toshiba laptop was still working, I ran Pinnacle Studio 9.4.3 for about four years. It was never a really stable program, but did quite a few jobs. I just Saved often. Others were still using Studio 7 & 8 during that time. I highly doubt that there is a time limit on any Pinnacle program, and any problems with them are related to hardware, other software or just plain old operator error. With the myriad number of problems with Studio 10, most were still using Studio 9 and working with it. In all of my years on the Pinnacle forums, I never saw any reference to a time limit on any version. Does not mean that one does not exist, but with 0 complaints, I'd be suspect of any thread elsewhere to the contrary. If I had the time, and inclination, to follow the Amazon thread, I'd be tempted to ask about the operator's hardware, all other software and their knowledge with Pinnacle. Like I said earlier, I am not a fan of Pinnacle and no longer a user of their products, but if you own it (and cannot return it for a full refund to buy PE, or other NLE), I'd keep it and use it.