Pictureshow 0 - ProShow Gold 1

[BladeRnR]

Well like a lot of Users here I tried Ulead Pictureshow 3.0 CD & DVD and had nothing but issues. Basically the program decided to start when it felt like it and when it did it was horribly slow. Rendering speed on a 3.0Gig Slideshow was in the vicinity of 10+ hours where it had reached 25% - what a joke. I have an extremely high spec machine (3.8Ghz P4, Hyperthreading, 2Gig RAM). The program even compained about lack of virtual memory which is set at 2Gig on my system! Again a joke. I simply did not create a single successful project with Ulead's sorry excuse for a program.

Do not pass Go and do not collect $200:00. Go straight http://www.photodex.com/products/proshowgold/ here and get this program. What a difference compared to Ulead's lackluster effort. Proshow Gold is FAST, renders a DVD (Full disk) in 32 minutes + burn time. The program didn't falter, is dead easy to use, has over 200+ transitions and the audio support is flawless.

Ulead go and buy Proshow Gold to learn how a program SHOULD be produced then go back to the drawing board. I literally threw Ulead CD & DVD into the bin after using Proshow Gold for 20 minutes. BTW the Slideshow results of Proshow Gold are IMMACULATE - no skipping, hiccuping, pops, cliks or bad transitions. Just a perfect product. Go and get it.

[jderr]

I received V3 and all it did was crash. I also purchased ProShow Gold and never looked back. Sent numerous email's to customer server asking for a refund, and what do you know, I never got a reply. I've had photo impact since v5 and just purchased v10. However since Ulead does not seem to care about it's registered and long time customers this will be that last time I purchase anything from them.

[Rob T.]

You are right on in all regards. I was fortunate enough to learn about Proshow Gold on this forum a month or so ago -- Great program . . . I wouldn't even call PS# a program -- it is worthless garbage.

I hope many read this post and act on the advice before angrykiller (or whatever) deletes the info . . . As if I care about your Forum rules -- Message to ULEAD - SPEND YOUR ENERGIES FIXING YOUR PRODUCT!!!

I've just about given up on getting a refund from Ulead but hope I can use this forum to prevent others from making the same mistake (or more accurately stated - getting the shaft from Ulead).

[Teuvot]

ULEAD should immediately inform what they are gonna do with PS3.
Are they gonna fix it or not. If the answer is no, they must refund all the customers whose are not satisfield with the program.

[Crash]

One Big Bump

[htchien]

Try the DVDPS 3.0.1.8 Update Pack to see if it solved your problem in DVDPS 3.

I feel sorry that you guys have bad experiences with Ulead, but if you want to advertise non-Ulead products, you should try other forums.

Nothing is perfect, but if you still have problems in DVDPS 3 after you apply the update pack, please indicate your problems in this forum with more step by step details, I will see what I can help and transfer your problems to Ulead.

Hope this helps.

H.T.

[PicShow3Sucks]

ProShow sucked too Screw that

I eneded up with Arcsofts DVD Slideshow

This is a great product almost similar to Picture"SUCKS"show

Many more templates and many more transitions to choose from

I installed it had my first DVD Burned in less the 2 hours.

Hey 2 hours is better then Picture"SUCKS"show exception error in 3 hours

I found Proshow was just as horrable in the perfomrance area, it took almost an hour to format 201 pics in my DVD, that was one slide show out of 8 in the DVD

My Vote

Picture"SUCKS"show = -100
ProShow (NotsoSucks) = -500
Arcsoft DVD Slide Show = +100 Four Thumps Up

[Rob T.]

I haven't visited in awhile. So, does the ULEAD Pictureshow product still Suck . . . I'd wager that one can get much more for their $ elsewhere!!!

[sjj1805]

ProShow gold is as stated above brilliant at creating the slideshows.
However I still prefer to take the resultant MPEG file and place it into my Ulead products. The Slideshows are only a part of my projects.
If I go on holiday I take with me my Camcorder and a Digital Camera.

Proshow Gold brings the digital camera stuff to life then I mix and match it with the footage from my camcorder in VS9 / MSP8 and finally create a spectacular finished result in DVDWS2.

I also like to export my sound tracks from VS9 to Audacity for further rendering and then import that soundtrack back into VS9.

Its all about picking the best bits from a variety of programs.

[hpankin]

I felt compelled to register to this forum so I could post my experience. I, too, had the same problems with PS4.0 but fortunately for me it was only the demo. Based on the feedback I've seen, the demo accurately portrays the full program: it suffers the dreaded fail to burn problem as well. Plus, I think it's funny that users have taken the helm at finding "DLL fixes" involving PS3.0. You'd think that a patch from tech support would be somewhere on Ulead's list. Granted, the revenue from this particular software package probably isn't sending all their kids to Harvard, but their support sure speaks volumes about the ranking customers have.

Anyway, I've been using ProShow Gold as well and it's so much better, not just because it burns DVDs successfully/quickly but the layout and the interface is intuitive, the time transitions to music feature (this alone is a huge timesaver) the support for video and so on. PSG is a joy. It's not perfect, as there's no way to save DVD burns unless you make an .iso file, but it's a joy when compared to PS4.0.

I tried the ArcSoft DVD Slideshow and I was turned off by it's rather pedestrian approach. With ArcSoft, you can't single out specific slides that you might want to show longer or shorter. Plus, you can't maximize the program window to allow for a larger workspace (why the hell do they do force those tiny windows on us?)

Chalk up another one for the theory of You-Get-What-You-Pay-For. ProShow Gold, baby!

[michaeltee]

I've been using ProShow Gold since the product was first introduced in March, 2004. Although I love the program I have to mention it's had it's share of problems. Between Version 2.0 and 2.5, no less than 22 "bug fix" updates were released over a 13 month time period. Of course in addition to bug fixes, 2.5 brought an impressive list of additional features to the party. That said, with the release of Build 1635 in April of this year, PSG is at last stable and (IMO) represents the "gold standard" in slide show presentation software. Yeah, I'd love to give the new ProShow "Producer" a test drive but at $500 I'll have to pass for the time being. In any case, ProShow Gold is an absolute joy to work with and well worth a few extra bucks for anyone who takes their presentations seriously.

As for Ulead's PS4, I do use it on my notebook PC from time to time simply because it's wizard-like interface and "theme" capabilities are convenient when I'm in a rush to bang out a presentation. In spite of what you'll read in this web board, I'm living proof that the program actually works for "some" users. I'm not trying to wave the flag for Ulead but let's face it... web boards are mostly about problems, not success stories. Considering the fact that Ulead (having been acquired by Intervideo in April, 2005) expects to generate something like $125 million in revenue this year it's probably a safe bet that there are a number of PS4 users out there who haven't had major difficulties with the program. Still, this doesn't excuse the fact that PS4 is much too fragile of an application. Programs of this sort (targeted towards a mass market) should be robust and highly compatible with the majority of comsumer PC's. Photodex, a much smaller company, has certainly proven it can be done with ProShow Gold.

[Crash]

I have to mention it's had it's share of problems. Between Version 2.0 and 2.5, no less than 22 "bug fix" updates were released over a 13 month time period.

Many of those updates were to introduce new features, free of charge to existing owners of Prowshow gold.

This should be a testement to how promptly Photodex addresses bugs in there product. (Non of which had to do with burning).

Photodex e-mailed me informing me of every update. I didn't have to hunt them down.

In contrast, Ulead introduced a new version of their product for people to buy (PS4), before fixing the bugs in PS3.

I paid $50 for PS3. By the time I tried every patch and DLL, it was too late to get my $10 rebate, not to mention a full refund.

I still come here hoping that there is a fix for PS3 so I could give it to someone to use.

[michaeltee]

Many of those updates were to introduce new features, free of charge to existing owners of Prowshow gold.

This should be a testement to how promptly Photodex addresses bugs in there product. (Non of which had to do with burning).

Well, I agree it's evolved into an awesome product (probably the best of it's kind) and yes, Photodex made great efforts to correct problems on an ongoing basis. But for a period of time the updates were almost overwhelming and some of them were in fact related to DVD burning. Anyone who might be interested can view a complete accounting of the version history (see below). The vast majority of updates begin with the phrase "fixed problem", not "added feature".

http://www.photodex.com/products/prosho ... ons25.html
http://www.photodex.com/products/prosho ... ons20.html

Don't get me wrong... having spent good money on the software, I did appreciate the frequent updates (too bad Ulead doesn't take a similar approach). Anyway, it's all water under the bridge at this point but there's a valid argument to be made for debugging software BEFORE releasing it to the public. That goes for Photodex, Ulead and all the rest of 'em.