Latest Photostory Deluxe 2022 very slow

donjen33 wrote on 5/16/2022, 10:40 PM

When I open the current version of Photostory I keep getting a message saying that there's an update available but when I click on the link I only get an option to upgrade. I don't want to do this.

I'm very disappointed with this latest version as it's extremely slow to respond, particularly when I click the undo arrow when I'm endeavouring to create a slideshow. In fact it's so slow that I have to close the program down and start it again and when I do that I lose any of the changes I've made!

I find the website impossible to navigate now ... I used to be able to find a button to click on which would take me to any available updates but I've no idea where to find how to do that now. I just keep going around in circles.

I sent a message using the online Support option but underneath the icon it says "offline". I also used Facebook to send a message to Magix but I haven't heard anything back, in fact it looks as though no-one has actually seen the message.

I'd appreciate any suggestions anyone may have.

Jenny Grant

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 5/17/2022, 3:45 AM

@donjen33

Hi Jenny

. . . . . latest version as it's extremely slow to respond, particularly when I click the undo arrow when I'm endeavouring to create a slideshow . . . .

We need more information:

Computer specification and program version, see this topic for what is required and please quote processor and graphics card make/model in full - I would suggest you put this information in your profile signature so we do not have to keep asking for it.
Are the graphics card drivers up to date?
A screen shot of the Program settings, Device options tab.
Are you working with images, video or both.?
What is the format and resolution of the images?
For video download and install MediaInfo and analyse one of the clips and post the results, see this tutorial if you are not familiar with MediaInfo on how to setup MediaInfo and analyse a video clip.
The amount of free space on the hard drive(s) you have.

. . . . . I keep getting a message saying that there's an update available but when I click on the link I only get an option to upgrade. . . . .

This could be the Update Notifier program - if you do not use the Cloud storage option in Photostory or Camera MX for wifi transfer of images from an Android phone to the PC, uninstall the notifier - it may be called Magix Cloud, Update Notifier Magix Connect, or Magix Network Sync

John EB
Forum Moderator

donjen33 wrote on 5/17/2022, 9:11 PM

I'll do my best to answer your questions John but please bear in mind that I'm elderly and have only a very basic understanding of my laptop!

1. I've added the details to my profile signature.

2. Yes, the two drivers are up to date ... I use the Avast Driver Updater regularly

3. I can't work out how to do this!

4. I use both images and videos.

5. Predominantly .jpg and varying resolutions, all taken on my iPhone SE 2nd generation, and this current project has no videos included. I've never had a problem before and I've been using Magix for years ... from way back when it was called ULead! I've created countless holiday DVDs, more lately BluRays, which each play for at least 90 minutes each and which have had none of the sluggish issues that this latest program has.

6. I've not needed to do this with any of the previous Magix Photostory software programs ... this is all too complicated for me now.

7. 1.89GB of free space. This hasn't changed since I created a similar short DVD back in February, before I installed Photostory Deluxe 2022.

I have an iPhone not an Android but would Magix Cloud Import be the program I should uninstall?

Many thanks for your help.

Jenny

johnebaker wrote on 5/18/2022, 4:36 AM

@donjen33

Hi Jenny

For the screenshot of the Device Options dialog (item 3) - it is the same procedure as you have done for the two images you have posted in item 2, however the screenshot may not be necessary, the 2 images told me what I needed to know.

Open the dialog by selecting File, Settings, Program settings, and select the Device options tab.

In the Video Mode option drop down, see example below, try changing the setting to the Intel HD Graphics or AMD R7 and test to see which gives you get a better performance.

iPhone SE:

If you are recording 4K video on this phone then your computer is underpowered for this resolution video, and the editing experience will be slow, video recorded at 1080p HD should edit relatively smoothly.

The MediaInfo data (item 6) will tell us more about the video formats details as there is another potential issue with video from the iPhone.

The Magix Cloud Import is not necessary and can be uninstalled.

HTH

John EB

donjen33 wrote on 5/18/2022, 4:48 AM

Thanks John. I'll change to the Intel graphics option and see how I go. I'll test it out using the Undo button which definitely wasn't working as it should when I wrote my post.

I was trying to find Item 3 in my Windows settings, not Photostory's!!

Cheers,

Jenny

donjen33 wrote on 5/18/2022, 7:35 AM

Hi John.

I changed to the Intel card but it made no difference.

1. When I clicked on the 'x' in the picture to remove the text box, the program froze for 1:52.50 and the text remained, however I was able to removed the text box in Timeline mode.

Somehow or other the Soundtrack Maker popped up while I was trying to type some text. I didn't want to use the Soundtrack maker so I clicked on the 'x' and this is what happened:

It was the second time the program crashed while I was using it tonight.

It took 5.73 seconds to change from Timeline to Storyboard where in the previous program it happened more or less instantly. It's instant when going from Storyboard to Timeline though.

I'm tearing my hair out as it's taken well over an hour to edit my way through just six pictures on my project. Do you know if there's a way to reinstall the old program and return this one to Magix for a refund? I started using this program when it was known as Ulead back in 2007 and I've continually upgraded & updated since then so you can probably understand why I'm not a happy camper right now!! I really don't know what else to do as I really don't want to stop using Photostory. When it works it's excellent.

Jenny

donjen33 wrote on 5/18/2022, 8:04 AM

I forgot to say that my iPhone is set to record videos at 1080 HD 30fps. I'll download MediaInfo and hope that I don't need to use it!

johnebaker wrote on 5/18/2022, 11:25 AM

@donjen33

Hi Jenny

The processor is underpowered having only 2 cores (4 threads), the recommended is a quad core (8 threads), however the times you are getting do appear to be too long for the processor in the laptop.

Are the drivers for the Intel HD 520 and the AMD R7 M340 drivers installed by HP or have they been updated with those from Intel and AMD ?

. . . . I started using this program when it was known as Ulead back in 2007 . . . .

ULead was an independant company acquired by Corel in 2006. Photostory started out as Photostory on CD and DVD in 2003 and AFAIK was not a ULead product.

John EB

donjen33 wrote on 5/18/2022, 5:26 PM

I didn’t realise that they were different companies John as when I could no longer buy ULead and started using Photostory, they worked in pretty much the same way! I just thought that they’d been taken over by Photostory.

I’m pretty sure that the Intel driver came installed when I bought the laptop but I don’t know about the other one. My Avast Driver Updater updates the drivers as far as I know & it’s saying that they’re up to date. I haven’t had any troubles with the drivers before this, if that’s what the problem is.

I just wish this version would work like the last one. I always update with the latest version as I think that’s the right thing to do, even though I definitely don’t use the program to anywhere near it’s fullest potential.

Many thanks for your continuing interest in my plight.

Jenny

johnebaker wrote on 5/19/2022, 4:42 AM

@donjen33

Hi Jenny

. . . . My Avast Driver Updater updates the drivers as far as I know & it’s saying that they’re up to date. . . .

I assume that you also have Avast Antivirus, in which case the Core shields may be too sensitive - I had issues with this on my PC - I reverted back to using Microsoft Defender, though it too needed tweaking.

Try temporarily disabling Avast - if the program then runs faster then see this article to tweak the core shields.

HTH

John EB

donjen33 wrote on 5/24/2022, 5:30 AM

I disabled the Avast Anti-virus John but that made no difference. The biggest problem seems to be when I either use the undo arrow or the cross in the top right-hand corner of the 'box' I'm working on and either of these actions causes the program to crash. It can take up to 2 minutes for the undo to work or for the X to get rid of what I was doing. This is very frustrating, as you can imagine!

Many thanks again for your interest in this issue and for the suggestions to try and rectify it.

Jenny

Vijay-Sridhara wrote on 10/16/2022, 1:49 AM

I have a Quadro RTX4000, 16GB , and a Ryzen 7 CPU 4.5Ghz with 32GB of DDR4 ram. Still Photostory deluxe, to navigate from tabs, clicking back buttons, terribly slow.... It works like a Java application built over another Java application, built over Another Java application. Being a product developer, designer myself, I understand the caveats and performance issues. But PS Deluxe has unacceptable performance issues... sorry to say. I reported this for a previous version also, and no improvement in 2022, and so I will not upgrade it even if you offer it for free. Coz my time goes waste.

Remee wrote on 11/1/2022, 11:07 AM

Having the same problem using Photostory 2022 as described above.
Works VERY slowly. Sometimes a minute delay for execution of a command.

Regards / Hans Jørgen

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1035G1 CPU @ 1.00GHz 1.19 GHz, Ram: 16GB.

Win11, same problem using WIN10