In VV I am not sure overall...but if you use anything else it will improve a few things (At least in version 9b). Also if you have a newer graphics cards it will improve that (provided the card supports DX 9) . One of the things that the DX team did was re-work the DV side of things. I think Spot might be able to shed some light on that. I have not done any side by side tests but I understand the new version is far better than the older (DX 8.1) version.

In recently ordering an nVidia video card upgrade I ran across some chatter that DirectX 9 is easier to "program," I think referring to the super-gamers who set up a system to overclock, etc. DirectX 8 was programmable but very complex, sort of like making a web site with the HTML code instead of drag and drop. So the secret gamers' society or whatever has welcomed 9 as a sort of Virtual Basic with an easier interface.

I'm sorry, I dozed off while I was talking. Anyway, the new nVidia FX cards apparently take to DirectX 9 like ducks to water. I hope--I just ordered one.

I have only bad things to say about DX9b. I have recently had to reinstall XP on two machines so far. Both reinstalled without the DX9b update because of the following incident:

1. MPG2 renders for dvd worked from Vegas with DX8.1
2. Installed DX9b
3. Now MPG2 renders have horrible edgy lines (NOT interlacing)

However I do still ask the question - how is it possible to install DX9.0a to check one last time - but then remove it if it does the same thing it did before? Will a system restore point work?

Thanks,
Adam.

I think that Microsoft recommends that you do a restore point before going to DirectX9...or was that Windows media 9?... Hmmm...

In any event, it's always a good idea. I don't personally use system restore, since I already use DriveImage, which I guess is a similar concept. I'm currently running XPpro and DX9b, no problems. The biggest benefit is for gamers, from what I've heard. There are new "hooks" in the code which will allow programmers to do some graphics things better and faster. There is always a lag time so those improved games will probably be out next year. No improvements that would involve Vegas, as far as I know.

Thanks for the confirmation. I'll give it a try and post back.

Adam.

DX 9 (and my DX 9 ATI card) made the smoke in the game Call of Duty look really really really really...... really cool. :) But besides that I don't even see a performance increase. A 3d-card will help with satish's new plugin though. :)

Nice to hear about your game looking better. But read my first post and see why I'm really asking. If it totally messes my system up and I can't restore, I'm in trouble.
Still haven't done it - but I'll give it a go soon.

Adam.

Try the DX Happy uninstaller from http://www.superfoxs.com/. You will need your orginal XP CD in order to repair.

Tried it and it worked for all my previously captured footage. BUT... I did a new capture of the same footage through the same methods and then processed it the same way I had before, in Vegas. On comparison the new capture had extra lined parts, whereas the original capture didn't have them.

So, somehow DX9 is messing up my studio7 capturing software. Or perhaps the Morgan Multimedia mjpeg codec doesn't like DX9. I'm at a loss. But at least I know I can revert back to DX8.1 - at least that works. DX9 is definitely doing something...

The only reason I wanted to try installing DX9 again was, because I need it to run the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time demo. So I'm buggered until I get to the bottom of this. All the new DX9 games won't work unless I mess up my video portion. And no, I'm not interested in partitioning. Already have a music-only installation. I don't want to have a video one because the current inst was fine. Does anyone know what's wrong?

Peace,
Adam.

Did you try reinstalling studio 7 & your codec AFTER directX 9? Also, did oyu reinstall your latest video drivers? I forget if you're susposed to install DX first then the video, or vice versa.

I'll try the former suggestion you made. Interesting. I just hope it works.

Thanks,
Adam.

Just one last question before I go ahead with this. When you mentioned video drivers, did you mean the graphics card or the capture card?

Adam.

Video drivers. If you have an AITI AIW card, just install the video driver not the capture stuff. Make sure everything works before you install the AIW capture stuff.

Also, you don't happen to need an AGP driver for your motherboard will you? I think all non-intel AGP chipsets needs a driver. It would be supplied on the driver CD for your MB.

Hi.

Finally tried your suggestions and the result was the same old problem. The lined parts were present. Really displeased with that. It's such a shame because I know there will be games coming out that I'll want to play and it just won't be possible without making a dual-boot system. :(

On the plus side of things - while I had DirectX9.0b installed, I installed and finished Prince of Persia: Sands of Time! lol. Two solid days of hard play! So, no other games I want to play right now, which means I'll be going back to DirectX8.1. Unless, of course, you have any further pointers about this.

Thanks,
Adam.

EDIT: But most importantly I won't be able to create dvd's. I NEED to have this working soon as I have a paying customer coming up.

According to Microsoft changes made in DirectX 9.0 has the potential to affect two configurations:
1) Print to tape using a DVCPro device with a non-MS DV encoder may result in audio dropouts or complete loss of audio.
2) Decoding of a live or file-based DV stream with the PAL bit erroneously set in some frames may cause decoding to stutter or halt completely.
Microsoft has released a hot fix, article: KB831937.
Rather strange, typing the above ID article returns document not found, so here is the direct link:
Hotfix

Hi.

Not sure why I should download that file. Just to make sure:

I'm capturing video (Studio8) from my analog camera, then editing in Vegas4 and outputting an MPG2 file for dvd. If you still think I should try it, I will.

Thanks,
Adam.

I think I'll jump in with some (worthless?) advice.

When people complain about lines around moving objects, it is usually due to problems with field order. This is acutally a common problem in the Movie Studio/Video Factory Forum.

See this thread: http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=228422&Page=0

Just in case, I would also update all the software you have. Studio 8 is known to be quite buggy. There was an update released recently.

Studio 8 Updates: http://www.pinnaclesys.com/menusupport_n.asp?product_id=577&Langue_ID=7&loc=techSupport&division_id=

Morgan MJPEG Download: http://www.morgan-multimedia.com/morgan_products.htm

If you read the whole thread you would've seen that I never had any problems before installing DX9. I know what the field order is. And I usually try both upper and lower, just in-case, so that's ok. And I've used both Studio7 and 8 without any problems before. It's entirely down to whatever DX9 is changing.

Adam.

I don't know if the update file will help. You didn't mention whether you are using NTSC or PAL that's why I wrote "Just in case" meaning in case you are using PAL maybe this hotfix can help. I think all hotfixes do provide un-installing. Also you can create a restore point prior installing the update and roll back the system if you see no benefit from it.
Microsoft article doesn't say anything about mpeg but if a DV file is not read correctly then maybe strange things can happen during encoding.
If you have exhausted all other solutions then maybe you should give it a try (if you use PAL).

OK, so it's not field order problem.

AFAIK, Direct 9.0 didn't change much on the encoding side. However, it changed a lot on the decoding side. Perhaps, this is a playback problem? What are you using to playback the videos? Vegas preview? WMP? PowerDVD?

Anyway, here's a snippet from the "What's new in DirectX 9.0" from the DirectX SDK.

* Video Mixing Renderer Filter 9 (VMR-9). This new, redistributable rendering filter is similar in concept and design to the VMR that is available for Microsoft Windows XP. The VMR-9 is more powerful than the original VMR (now called "VMR-7") because it is fully compatible with the DirectX 9.0 graphics capabilities and it offers improved support for deinterlacing and ProcAmp control (brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation).

* MPEG-2 Sections and Tables Filter. This new filter enables an application to get PSI tables from an MPEG-2 transport stream.

* Microsoft TV Technologies now supports DVB-T (terrestrial) and DVB-C (cable), in addition to DVB-S (satelite). For more information, see BDA Network Provider Filter.

* New deinterlacing support in DirectX Video Acceleration.

* New deinterlacing support in the DV Video Decoder filter. The DV Decoder filter now supports interlaced output, as well as deinterlaced output. This feature enables the VMR to perform the deinterlacing, for improved rendering quality. This feature does not involve any changes to the DirectShow APIs.

* New Encoder API Specification. The Encoder API defines a standard, format-neutral way in which software or hardware encoders can communicate with applications and device drivers. For more information, see Encoder API.

* IGetCapabilitiesKey is a new interface that filters can implement in order to enable applications to query for the filter's capabilities.

* DirectShow Editing Services (DES) now supports plug-in video resizing filters. For more information, see Providing a Custom Video Resizer.

* The DVD Graph Builder enables applications to use the VMR-9 through the IDvdGraphBuilder::RenderDvdVideoVolume method. The DVD Navigator now supports playback of audio during fast forward; users can now watch a movie at speeds higher than 1x without raising the pitch of the audio track, on decoders that support this feature.

* The AmCap sample application now supports MPEG-2 program stream input, for example from analog TV Tuners that stream MPEG-2 content. A third-party DirectShow-compatible MPEG-2 decoder is still required to decode the streams.

* AVStream driver development and run-time support on all platforms prior to Windows XP has been improved for close functional parity with Windows XP.

* The Analog TV Tuner filter now supports adding new channel frequencies, via the registry. This feature extends the existing mechanism for adding channel frequency overrides. For more information, see International Analog TV Tuning.