is Corel Motion 3D a dead horse ?

[brouillette]

I got Motion 3D with VSX6 but never used it. I now udgraded to VSX8 and used Motion 3D extensively and included resulting video files (1080p ; .m2ts) into some of 7 VSP files that combined together into an elaborate travel bluray movie (50 minutes). Each VSP produced a bluray iso video correctly. When I combined all VSP together and included the corresponding .c3d files from Motion 3D to allow final bluray rendering (and possible future 4K rendering), it crashed before the final iso file was produced .

Since then one VSP file cannot be opened by VSX8 as I am getting a message "Corel Video Studio has stopped working : closing program" each time. I cannot open that VSP anymore (corrupted ?) so that is weeks of editing lost. I contacted Corel Support to be told that Motion 3D is not supported under Windows 10 and bugs/crashes often ....ouch...!!! Corel is still selling it without any warning that it does not work under Windows 10 when everybody is converting to free Windows 10 (Ken, I see that you did too) . What a shame !

I suspected Motion 3D as the culprit for corrupting my VSP as I was at times also getting this message when I used Motion 3D with elaborate 3D titles but could at least reopen it. It worked fine for many weeks under Windows 10 before this mishap so I thought I would reload a fresh Motion 3D to "replace it" but since, it's worst as it jams when it opens automatically the Corel Guide dialog box (to access Help & Tutotial) and closes the program.

As a long time customer of Corel & Ulead, I am so disappointed at Corel for "hiding" that Windows 10 bug and depressed for having lost weeks of work due to this lack of transparency from Corel. Anyway !

(1) Ken, do you have the same problems with Motion 3D under Windows 10 ?

(2) Can you open it in Windows 10 without getting this message and closing of the program when the "Corel Guide" dialog box opens ?

(3) is there a way to bypass that dialog box ? (by erasing a file in Motion 3D program ?)

(3) Do you know some other way to re-open a VSP file and bypass that "Corel VS has stopped working" to recover and correct my VSP file , or am I dead in the water ?

Thanks for your help !

Guy
VSX8 Ultimate with Bluray MyDVD , Motion 3D, i7-4790K 4.0 Mhz, Gigabyte z97X-UD5H, 32 Gb ram, Zotac GT-640, Windows 10

[Ken Berry]

I have no trouble at all using Motion Studio 3D in Windows 10. And just in case something might have happened e.g. a Windows update, to disrupt it, I just opened it now, and again had no trouble with it. The Do More Guide opens, but closes normally. And as far as I can see, the program continues to function normally. But I am equally as surprised as you about Corel saying it is not compatible with Windows 10.

I think, though, that where this might become relevant, or at least marks a significant divergence in our respective uses of the program, is that you use MS3D .c3d files in your VS projects. I have never done this at all; just as I never use .vsp files to burn a disc, whether it be DVD or Blu-Ray. With the video projects, I always convert them first into a new video e.g. Share > MPEG-2 and then choose either a DVD or BD option for the properties. Then I add these new videos to the burning module for producing a disc.

Similar, with MS3D, I almost always convert the title I am creating into a video file for insertion into a VS project timeline. I do this in MS3D by using File > Create Video File, and using the AVI option. Sometimes I have also used File > Export Video Overlay. The AVIs are very large but very high quality. And I can still do this and MS3D remains quite stable in Windows 10, just as it was for me under Windows 8.1 and Win 7.

I think all that answers your questions 1 and 2.

As for 3, I'm afraid I don't know how to bypass the Corel Guide box. The only problem I have ever had with it related to registering the product (in this case a version of VS itself, which also has a Guide), which would not allow me to gain access to the Guide, but nothing crashed even then. And I rectified it by going to Control Panel > Internet Options > Advanced and resetting the Internet Explorer setting using the button on that page. (This was in itself strange since I never use IE, but it is a well know solution which works.) You might want to try that just in case it relates to your problem.

As for your fourth question, I'm afraid I don't know of a way of opening a .vsp file, though hopefully someone else might. We always say .vsp files are only small text files, but if you open one using a text editor like Notepad, it is mostly filled with confusing symbols and very little text. So I suspect you may indeed be dead in the water with that particular project.

[brouillette]

They say « Better late than never », but still I’m sorry for the long delay in getting back to you. It took me a while to solve my problem but still I thought it could be of interest to the other forum members for me to share the outcome.

To reopen my corrupted VSP files, I had to reload my PC with dual boot (Windows 10 and Windows 7) which was quite a feat for me. I then succeeded under Windows 7 in opening my corrupted VSP files, extract the culprit (.c3D files), replace them with MS3D output video files, then render.

Nevertheless, to retain the overlay transparency of the .c3D files, thanks to your advice Ken, I had to produce AVI files using MS3D File>Export Video Overlay .AVI files, insert them into the VSP, and everything worked fine, even when I switched back to Windows 10.

So my conclusions are as follows:

• (1) MS3D produces gorgeous 3D effects but is very complex and not obvious to use (very time-consuming)
  
  (2) Per Corel technical support, MS3D is not supported under Windows 10 and can bog.
  
  (3) Inserting MS3D .c3D files into a VSP file under Windows 10 can make VS crash (message ”VS stopped working...”) and could corrupt the VSP file
  
  (4) MS3D seems ok under Windows 10 if, per Ken’s advice, we produce MS3D .AVI overlays to insert into a VSP file instead of a .c3D file. Also, I cannot say if that contributed or not but I upgraded from VSX8 (which was designed under Windows7-8 era, I believe) to VSX9 which was designed under Windows 10 era ???
  
  (5) However MS3D .AVI overlays are huge files even for a short 10 seconds 3D effect (we are talking gigabytes); if resulting MS3D .AVI overlays are to be kept for future rework or upscale of the VSP file, the overall project package will be huge (alternative is to keep only the .c3D corresponding file in archive and rebuild a MS3D .AVI file later if ever needed, as long as MS3D still works or exists then).
  
  (6) Also scrubbing with a huge .AVI file like that results in jerky preview and tougher synchronization.

I still use MS3D under W10 with VSX9 and it works OK up to now. If anyone has suggestions on how to better use MS3D under Windows 10 or can suggest an alternate/equivalent 3D program usable with VS, your input will be greatly appreciated.

[Sualdam]

To be fair, Corel doesn't say it works beyond Windows 7 in their system requirements list. In other words, it is for Windows 7 and earlier users.

I just had a similar issue with PhotoImpact. Corel only say it works up to Windows Vista in their system requirements (they stopped developing it before Windows 7 was released). I was lucky to have it work for all of Windows 7's lifetime, and for a good year of Windows 10's. It is becoming clear, though, that it will stop working if what I have experienced with W10 insider previews gets passed over to W10 proper. Unless a company is actively developing a product, it can only ever be trusted with OS versions up to the point at which development stops.

I did think about using a virtual machine to keep running PhotoImpact. My system could handle it. But I bit the bullet and switched to PSP instead.

Have you looked into this alternative to Motion 3D?

[JaRo]

I’m inclined to say yes to that question and here’s why I think so.

Brand new computer and, this is quite frustrating, Motion Studio 3D gives me the message : ‘’DirectX needs 8.1 or higher version’’. It is sure that with Windows 10 that DirectX is higher than 8.1. Skype 5.0 needs DirectX 9.0c or higher. I have Skype 7.37.0 and it is functional.

Therefore, what is the problem with Motion Studio 3D. I believe that Corel just simply doesn’t want it to be compatible with « new computer » that comes with new Windows 10, although they still have it on sale on that site : http://www.corel.com/en/?_ga=2.89085789 ... 1499385147 . See image below.

[Ken Berry]

I wonder if it is a problem with recent Win 10 changes, and I am talking about the full OS changes in the Win 10 Anniversary edition or the more recent Creators version. As I wrote above, I had no trouble installing MS3D to Windows 10. But you will note that was in January 2016 when my computer was running the original version of Windows 10. It worked fine then, and still does even though the computer it is on has the latest build of the Creators version of Win 10.

But I just tried installing the TBYB version on another computer which has never had MS3D on it and is also running the latest build of the Creators version of Win 10. The installation went normally, even noting that it was configuring DirectX. But when I tried opening it I got the same error message as you, i.e. saying it required at least DirectX 8.1 to run!

I tried Run As Administrator but got the same message. I changed the compatibility to Win 7 but also got the same message.

Since it continues to work on my main editing computer, I can only assume that since it was already installed under Win 7 when I updated the computer to Win 10 in 2015, that the subsequent upgrades to Anniversary/Creators Win 10 simply incorporated it into the build. But trying a fresh install into Creators Win 10 causes the problem.

I will raise this with Corel, but I suspect they are not going to devote much time to it...

[lata]

Hi Guys

Am running CMS3D on widows 10 without problems
Although I did have an activation issue, contacted Corel who rest my activation counter.

I have DX version 12 installed, I assume you have the same

Even so it works without problems and no warnings regarding DX

[RobertOZ]

JaRo said,
I’m inclined to say yes to that question and here’s why I think so.

Brand new computer and, this is quite frustrating, Motion Studio 3D gives me the message : ‘’DirectX needs 8.1 or higher version’’. It is sure that with Windows 10 that DirectX is higher than 8.1. Skype 5.0 needs DirectX 9.0c or higher. I have Skype 7.37.0 and it is functional.

Had same issue installing on new laptop, but easily fixed, go to Control Panel/Programs, select Turn Windows features on or off, turn Legacy Components and DirectPlay on (tick boxes) issue resolved, program now opens, but I still get a script error, have done since installing on desktop years ago

[lata]

Hi Robert

Interesting, just checked my settings and Direct Play is already selected.
The script error refers to Vimeo, not sure why that should be unless the guide is using Vimeo to access/display the Guide?

I am sure the guys will try the direct play approach.

[Ken Berry]

Thanks Robert. That worked for me and MS3D is now working -- although I also got that Vimeo error, which I have never received before on other computers in the past running the same program. And I have never tried accessing Vimeo...

[JaRo]

[Had same issue installing on new laptop, but easily fixed, go to Control Panel/Programs, select Turn Windows features on or off, turn Legacy Components and DirectPlay on (tick boxes) issue resolved, program now opens, but I still get a script error, have done since installing on desktop years ago

Thank you so much RobertOZ for your answer. Motion 3D is now working, but also starts with 2.60.1 error and https://player.vimeo.com/video/25783186. Export to VS is available, but opens in Ultimate X6 contrary to my other computer (that has Ultimate X4, X5, X6, X8, X10) opens in X8. Not much a problem as I can import the c3d file into X8 or X10 with my brand new computer.

[lata]

Hi JaRo

I think your file associations for Video Studio may be set to launch X6.

If you have another VS version running X8 or X10 then using M3D should open the file ok.
So run Video Studio before exporting the project.

The file associations for a VSP are set using Open With and choosing an application / program, however for Video Studio that option will not change things.
Each version of VS has a vstudio.exe file that launches the program, the “open with” does not recognise the difference so always opens the same program. Details are set in the registry.

We can fool the system, first double click any VSP, which version opens? Close the program.
one workround is to rename the vstudio.exe, say for X6 to vstudio_old.exe.
Now try to open a vsp again, this time use right click via windows explorer should activate the “Open With”

Do not select the VS icon instead Browse the PC
Windows 10 shows “ look for another app on this pc” find the X10 vstudio.exe file.

All vsp’s should now open using X10 and as far as I know C3D should also open X10.

Hmm, just checked my system and C3D opens X9. I’ll dig a bit deeper for C3D

[JaRo]

Good evening Trevor,

When I double click on a VSP project on my new laptop it opens in X10. Once X10 opened, C3D project are exported in it. If X8 is opened, it is exported in it. If no VS is opened, it exports and opens X6. As I already wrote, it is not a major problem for me as long as I can open and use Motion 3D.

Thank you for everything.

[Luna Esterhuizen]

Thanks RoberOz after I restored Windows Motion Studio gave me the same error. Turning on DirectPlay worked perfectly. I've reinstall it many times and never experienced this, anyhow it was solved in an instant.