VS9: Make Movie Manager

[Ken Berry]

I finally got my VS 9 discs today -- full retail version. It installed just fine, except for one small thing. When I go to Tools > Make Movie Manager, the latter is empty (whereas in VS 7 and 8 it contained all the usual formats). This does not particularly worry me, as when I go to Share > Create Video File, all the various options are offered. And when I go to the burning module, I am offered DVD (with a wide selection of possible sub-sets), VCD and SVCD. In Make Movie Manager, I can also create my own customised movie templates, and these show up in both Create Video File and Create Disc. But I am nonetheless intrigued by why it was empty in the first place. I have done a Repair through Control Panel > Add/Remove Software, but this did not help.

Before loading VS 9, I uninstalled both VS 7 and 8, including all the peripheral files which get left in hidden folders. I also checked the Registry to make sure reference to those programs had gone. And as I said, VS 9 installed neatly. The only non-standard thing I did was to install it not on my C: drive (which contains the operating system -- XP Pro SP2), but on D:, which is a larger partition on the same HDD.

(My computer is a P4 3.0 GHz 2GB RAM, with one 200 GB HDD partitioned as already mentioned, plus another 180GB HDD, and I also use external 250 GB and 190 GB drives as well, one of them exclusively for video capture.)

Apart from this minor problem, my first impressions of VS 9 are very positive indeed.

[maddrummer3301]

Same with my installation but I only installed more menu templates
from the 2nd CD.

Installed without any problems. So far runs with no problems.
Nice feature to toggle the "drop_frame" counter under "Preferences".

MD

[BrianCee]

The "available templates" box is also empty on mine Ken but if I click on "New" in the "Make Movie Manager" all the basics are available to me. I can also click on "Add" and browse to any others I want to import.

[Ken Berry]

MD -- thanks for your reply. I too added the extra menu templates with no problems during my original install. But it was the movie templates that I was "worrying" about.

Brian -- thanks also your reply. Nice to know that empty seems to be the default. And yes, I had already used the New function and added a couple of customised templates which, moreover, I have already used. But I am intrigued by your reference to ADD. I had not thought about that. But when I go to add, it seeks a filepath, and I confess I am not sure where the make movie manager templates hide in the VS 9 files. Any ideas?

[BrianCee]

where the make movie templates reside is the easy bit - they are in a file called "MovieTem.dat" which is located in C:\Documents and settings\*yourname*\Application Data\Ulead Systems\Ulead VideoStudio\9.0 - (or 8.0)

BUT being in a .dat file they are not accessable if you just browse to that file - I don't know how you are actually supposed to ADD new templates or in what format they should be to add them.

Incidentally you don't actually have to enter the file path - clicking on the little square button with 3 dots on it allows you to browse to a location.

[Ken Berry]

Thanks Brian. As I said at the outset, I am not particularly worried by the empty box (apart from my customised ones) and I guess I will just have to learn to live with it. And I was also well aware of the purpose of the three dots, but just didn't know where I should have been pointing the browser!! !!

[BrianCee]

Sorry Ken - I did wonder if it was a bit like teaching your grandmother to suck eggs - but on balance I tend to slant all my replies to try and help others as well who perhaps are not fully computer literate.

[Ken Berry]

Understood. No probs!

[plooger]

BUT being in a .dat file they are not accessible if you just browse to that file - I don't know how you are actually supposed to ADD new templates or in what format they should be to add them.

Has anybody figured out how to add a set of custom Movie templates to UVS9 using the ADD dialog, yet?

As Brian states, the dialog doesn't accept the 'dat' formatted files.

p.s. Bonus points: How to go about exporting/saving a set of templates as a separate file, for import via the ADD dialog?

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi

Make Movie Manager
Add
File path (browse and select one of your video files) Mpeg or Avi

Give it a name

A template will be created using the video file properties, and show in Share Create Video File

Trevor

[plooger]

Thanks, Trevor. Just confirmed this with tech support, too. Here's tech support's responses, sans editorializing, to my questions on the Make Movie Manager Templates dialog...

Re: how to create a new template based on an existing template? (a.k.a. Why not a 'Copy' button?)

> I'm sorry but you would have to do it manually - the purpose for not including a "Copy File" is to make the templates as different from one another as possible.

Re: What's the Make Movie Manager Templates ADD button? How to export a template file compatible with the ADD feature?

> There are no MMT files - when you use the Add function, you chose a video clip and MMT manager will copy its properties and use those to create a new template. Basically, this also answers question number 3.

[Telgaladhion_Greyskye]

When I installed the MPEG-4 plugin, the empty selection box in Movie Manager got filled with MPEG-4 templates. Well, just thought you guys'd like to know.

[Telgaladhion_Greyskye]

Hey, I was thinking, since I have Versions 8.0 and 9.0, and both have MovieTem.DAT in two places: In "Documents and Settings" and "Program Files", can I just copy the MovieTem.dat (with my created templates) from 8.0 and overwrite the one in 9.0? I don't have time right now to do an experiment (plus I'm kinda apprehensive to do it). Does anybody have the guts to do it?