VideoMakerFX Support

Hi,

While I appreciate that I didn't pay an arm and a leg for VideoMakerFX and it does do quite a lot more than other products in this niche, I have ended up wasting far to much of my very valuable time because of some poor coding and a lack of testing on your part.

Here are the bugs I have encountered so far which I have been able to replicate with the help of other users on different systems.

Saving / Save As:

a) When you create a new project your software assigns if a project name.  It doesn't matter what we call our projects or save them as, your software never updates the project name with the new name.  eg New project is called 'test1' - It is saved as - 'test2' - when "test2" is re-opened at a later date it is still called 'test1'.

- as seen in any .prj file

issue effect: when exporting a project the video file name defaults to the original project name

b) When saving a project to a non default location eg d:\video\project1\name.prj your software saves the file to that location.  However if you then click 'save project' your software does not update the project file at

d:\video\project1\name.prj - it saves to the default location \VideoMakerFX\projects

issue effect: you are not saving to the expected file, it's impossible to work on revisions, you overwrite files to easily, you lose work

Working with saved files causes incorrect rendering of video when outputting

It is currently impossible to produce and out put a video that renders correctly if you save a project file, close VideoMakerFX, re-open the project, make changes (add new slides) and try to output a video!!

Essentially we are forced into producing and outputting the video in one sitting which is totally impractical.

Issue Result: When you do the above the video renders but the backgrounds have shifted location (generally upwards) resulting in large white (or coloured) bars at the bottom of slides that were previously saved. The slides that were added in the current sitting render without issue.

It's also worth noting that some of the animations within some slides also alter position.

Issue effect: I've lost about three days work, got very frustrated and had to redo everything I've saved.

When will you issue a fix for these bugs?

How about sending me some slides as a sorry :) ?

Hi Kevin,

Thank heavens it's not just ME! 

I was expecting the "new" SAVE AS feature would work the same way SAVE AS has worked in every program I've used for the past 20 years-- but no, it doesn't.

I have spent hours today trying to work on a file I SAVED AS a new name, but even if I QUIT out of VMFX and open the new "saved as" project, all changes are saved to the ORIGINAL file - and boy, is this driving me nuts.

Conclusion:

• "Save As" appears to create a second file
  
• you cannot edit / update / save the "Saved As" project
• the original file is updated instead of the "Saved As" project.

Hi Kevin

I have had the exact same issues. I have had to redo videos several times because they just would not save properly. All in all this software is better than some of the others that I have used , as far as functionality when you are actually putting videos together, but nowhere near a service like goanimate as far as ease of use and actually saving what you create.

Caterina

2nd Sept 2014 -- After posting this a month ago, I have to withdraw this "solution".

It no longer works, and cannot be used under any circumstances on my Mac.

No matter what I do, I cannot create a duplicate Project, either by duplicating the .prj file OR by using Save As and following the instructions provided by Support.

I've spoken with a software developer who watched this in action, and advised me it was a very simple coding fix which would only take a few minutes to solve . Perhaps VMFX can spend a day fixing this one thing which would make thousands of people happy -- or simply remove the SAVE AS button as it's broken.

Hi everyone, I put in a Support ticket and got an instant response -- please do the same so you will get personalised service.

I found a slight glitch which I will now remember not to do again -- it might also help you.

Here are the steps:

1. Save Project before using SAVE AS
   
2. to make a duplicate Project, select SAVE AS and give it a new name 
   
3. immediately select File/Quit (on Mac) or File/Exit (on PC)
   
4. a dialog box pops up which says, "Do you want to save the Project before you exit?"
   
5. click "NO!" -- otherwise your original project will be overwritten with the new changes.
   

 Thanks for your comment Teena. Where can I find "

File/Exit (on PC)"?

Hi Johnpiquero,

There's no actual File/Exit button for the PC. You can just click on the "X" (Close) button on the top right hand corner of the VideoMakerFX button.

Kindest,
John

My problem is, after I have created my 12 slides, and I got my voice over almost correct, I wanted to create the Video. When i looked at the new Video (just created), the SPEED of the slides was incredible. The Voice over was left behind ,like the last horse racing in the Melbourne Cup.
 I am going to send a new support message, but I also want to send them the video (zipped).
Harry
P.S.  For my Voice over, I use a software called "Text Speaking" (I think),  which I purchased about 6+ years ago. It is great. but you have to play around a bit with both softwares DELAY setups.

 

@stuffgalore to be fair to VFX I thought the same thing until I actually rendered the video and then played it back.  In my case the 'in software' playback is misleading and it may be the case with you too?  I use it as a 'guide' to how the finished video might look.

render the video out, play it back and see how it sounds/syncs then.

 

Hi there, if you'd like more help, you might consider visiting the very active Facebook group where all the customers of the software (like me) are helping each other every day, and being inspired by all the videos being created, and learning from each other.

If you haven't used the Group yet, pop over and ask to be added:

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/VMFXGroup/951614154864868/
  

To: Kevin Polley,
  Thank You for your very prompt answer.but the actual problem is not how the video looked, but it seems that the Voice over was too slow for the video, as compared to the Slides (which were excellent).
Now, I have just had an answer back from Support, and the recommendation is this : Create a video using the Slides WITHOUT  any Voice over. Create your Voice over ( I am using "Text Speaker" > which is excellent), then go to Windows Movie Maker ( I am using Windows 7 - Home Premium), and adjust the sound and video together.
 I am going to do this tomorrow (Saturday.  Sydney, Australia Time).
I will keep you posted on the results.
Regards and Thank You.  Harry Deitch  (Sydney, Australia).

 

Hi there Harry, waving from the Gold Coast just up from Sydney :-)

I never add music or audio inside VMFX as the results have never been satisfactory.

I always add them via my video editing software (I use Screenflow for Mac, but Camtasia for Mac/PC is the same, and WMM and Mac iMovie all do an excellent job).

We have a very active and supportive Group on Facebook if you ever need to ask questions - I posted the link above.  I answer a lot of questions on the group so if I can help, give me a yell.

Cheers

Teena

Teena,
 Thank You for your comments.Gor some reason, and I have my own Facebook page, but I really do not know how to use it properly, and at my age (160++) I do not want to study anything else. If you can give me a SHORT, bullet point way to use it, I will be very thankful, but there is so much GARBAGE AROUND.
  On another topic. HEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NSW BLUE'S ????
After 8 years we managed to win.:)

 

Hey Harry -- are those dog years? :-)

Here's a quick overview:

• to use Facebook, you need (1) a personal account
• each person is allowed one personal account
• each personal account can (2) "attach/create" a multitude of PAGES which can be used for business, products or services, events, anything you can think of (please note that people visiting the FB PAGES --cannot-- see who "owns" the pages", meaning they have no idea whose "personal account" each Page is connected to, protecting privacy of those owners)
• each personal account can also (3) attach/create GROUPS which can be made Open or Private -- which means no-one can join unless they've been approved by the Owner of the personal account.

• https://www.facebook.com/groups/VMFXGroup/
  
• click the JOIN button, and you will be notified when the Owner of the Group has verified that you are a buyer of the software
• you will receive a Notification saying you're approved, so the next time you go to:
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/VMFXGroup/
  
• you will be able to see all the conversations
• scroll down the page, read what's there, click on the Comment box under any item to participate in the conversation
• if you want to start a new conversation, post a video or photo, go to the top of the page and type into the first TEXT BOX;  press Enter when you're ready to "post" it to the Group.

I am a new user and even though this program seems simple to use, I am having a terrible time rendering my file. Some of the slides (even very simple ones) are being corrupted when I export. I have even completely removed slides and replaced them with new ones, but to no avail! Still corrupted. The first few times I exported, it was fine, except the files skipped and stalled in QuickTime. But... the last few times I have exported at a lower resolution and size, several of the files are now corrupted and... are apparently going to stay that way no matter what I do.

Also... I followed the suggestion from Teena about how to save a new version of the file I'm working on, but when I exit there is no dialog box asking if I want to save the project. It would really, REALLY help if the name of the file I'm working on would show on the screen somewhere. Seems like a simple fix that is usually present on every other software program I use.

I am really excited about using this program to create simple videos for my business, but so far, it has been nothing but frustrating. And I, too, really have trouble using facebook, so even though I've asked to join, I don't know how to find out whether I'm accepted or not.

I have a business to run and can't spend endless hours trying to figure out how use this program successfully. I signed up for the monthly membership, but if I can't resolve these issues, I'll have to cancel, ask for a refund, and go to a different program. That would be too bad.
I have attached my prj and the mp4 files so you can see what I'm talking about.

Thanks for anything you can tell me.

 

Elaine,
  I had almost the same problem.
 look, the support is fantastic, but the product leaves a lot to be desired.
In my humble opinion,to make the software work so fast, something has to be missing. I am not a computer geek, and I have lost a lot of hours trying to make a simple Video work.
I now have deleted my account, and asked for a refund, which i got almost immediately.
As far as I am concerned, the product is GREAT, but I think that a bit more thought has to go to it, for what I need.
I have gone back to another product (ESP).
Regards  Harry.