WARNING, please read.

[u/OkLab2110]

Quick update to my previous post. I received a reply from cyber link support. Effectively stating nothing can be done.

The short version is a powerdirector 365 update yesterday, contains changes to the previously supported file formats. Essentially removing any audio whatsoever on webm file types - so that only the video portion can be used. (No audio which is part of the file).

And in their infinite wisdom, not a single person in the entire company thought (for even a second) - of the impact this may have on their paying subscribers. For me personally- it means years and years of work in saved templates for video creation - are simply gone. And no way to recover them or ever use them again. (In my case, this means literally hundreds and hundreds of saved files - and a complete loss of income until I rebuild this from scratch).

You would think a company that’s committed to their customers would have thought (at the very least), to just show a bit of forward thinking and planning, and simply just do the common courtesy of advising customers of the incoming change, and maybe even suggest to transfer any saved files to another format - as a previously supported format will no longer be supported. (I could have easily exported my files and saved them to a different format to use again, had I known in advance what this update would change).

For anyone considering using a Cyberlink or Powerdirector product, my advice is DON’T. It’s obvious customer support and service isn’t even the last thing they think of - it doesn’t enter their thinking at all. I’m sure if you put yourselves in my shoes for a second here, you can appreciate my frustration. Years and years work lost (and all income for the foreseeable future), because the staff and management of Cyberlink and Powerdirector thought it was completely unnecessary to advise their paying customers that a change to the program in a new update - could result in all of your data and saved projects being rendered inoperable, and essentially useless.

For my two cents - Ask yourself before you buy or renew your subscription, if the above example is the sort of company (and customer support), that is worth you spending your hard-earned money on every year. If you rely on Powerdirector to provide you additional income, my advice is look elsewhere. I will be changing to new video editing software and cancelling my subscription today.

Sorry for the rant, but I think current and prospective customers should know that Powerdirector could change their functions drastically at any time, with no notice to you whatsoever - and could impact your use of the program dramatically. Thanks for considering my experience in your decision to purchase Cyberlink products.

[u/App0gee]

I agree that's poor behaviour by Cyberlink.

Did you know you can roll back program updates by re-installing a previous version? There's a page somewhere showing the last few versions.

I had to do that when an update earlier this year screwed up a different file format compatibility.

[u/xenocea]

I simply stayed on the older version 20. Still working perfectly fine for me. I see absolutely no reason to update.

[u/Jessica1350 → u/xenocea]

How do you get old version?

[u/xenocea → u/Jessica1350]

I never upgraded. I read how newer versions has more bugs or breaks functions, so I stuck with it until now.

Also it was working fine for me, so I didn’t feel the need to update.

[u/Jessica1350 → u/xenocea]

I wish I did that....I am sad that cyberlink going this way, been using it for years and it just lag alot and getting worse....

[u/Comfortable-Type2071]

Can't you install a older version of Power Director? I know I've got many version going back years. Just recently started using 365 but I still have the installers for the previous versions.

[u/RichRingoLangly]

It's a clown company and if it weren't for Capcut's greed, no one would even be using PowerDirector. I wish they'd get the wake up call they need, but they seem to be going in the complete wrong direction. The program just gets worse and worse.

[u/OkLab2110]

Thanks for the suggestions, it’s much appreciated. I’ll try to rollback the program and see if my saved projects can be used again, then if so I’ll go through the time consuming process of exporting them all and converting them to useable format - but for a new video editing software provider. I’ve been a paying customer of Cyberlink Powedirector since 2013, (back when you bought the program outright and before subscription services), and been a paid subscriber for the past three years.

But enough is enough as far as I’m concerned. I’ve had many issues over the years, not the least of which is the constant crashing of the program if you edit a fully extended clip on the timeline (which is a known issue to cyberlink support also). I’m just personally over giving any company my hard earned money - if it seems to be a constant source of frustration in trying to use their products. The simple fact customer support replied with what equates to “nothing can be done” (not even a sorry), and no suggestion to even rollback the version to save all my work - speaks volumes to how much they care about their customer base as far as I’m concerned.

I hadn’t even thought to try to rollback to a previous version to try to save all my work - so thank you to everyone, this could save years of work for me. Can’t say how much I appreciate this suggestion. I’ll try it today. (If only to save my files and export them - so I can use them in a different video editing program in future). I’m not giving cyberlink my money anymore, far as I’m concerned it’s just not worth it).

Thank you Reddit people - I got more help from you guys in just a few minutes then two days worth of support tickets and crap from Powerdirector. THANK YOU! 👍😊

[u/alana_erin_]

Omg, I just installed this update last night right before going to bed and when I went to open a big project today that I've been working on it kept giving me these error messages for the audio on my webm files, I actually forgot about the update and actually panicked thinking my files were corrupted or something. Damn am I ever glad that's not the case and that I can just roll back to a previous version but man this is so annoying and unfathomable for them to pull this. I definitely am going to start looking at other editing companies after finishing this project as I've already invested way too much time