VideoStudio 19 Ultimate Installation Failure: This Procedure May Help You

January 16, 2020

DarkCyber has never in our previous 16,000 posts provided a fix for a problem with commercial software. We are providing a fix for Corel’s VideoStudio 19 Ultimate for these reasons:

  1. Corel technical support responded to our trouble ticket but provided zero useful information
  2. There are problems on the disc with the packaged version of the software to make the resulting installation malfunction
  3. None of the posts on the Corel user forum provided a fix for what seems to be a common problem—No filters for special effects were installed
  4. The Corel download page for the program offers two files, but each is different. Careless, coincidence, lack of motivation, indifference, or some other reason? We don’t know.
Context

A local group was unable to install VideoStudeo 19 Ultimate VideoStudio Ultimate 2019 on their Windows 10 computer. The big problem was that the software  would appear to install on the boxed version of the software. On the machine used by the group, the install typically took two to three hours. But the software would not provide access the “filters,” which is Corel’s word for “video effects” or “FX.” Annoying. You bet. That’s what triggered a request for DarkCyber to help out this group.

Symptoms

1. Program crashed when started
2. Filters (video effects) were not available

After quite a bit of fooling around, we hit upon a solution for a computer running version 18362.

General Approach: A Bird’s-Eye View

1. Examine the failed installation
2. Install VideoStudio Ultimate 2019 on a different machine
3. Move the needed files to a USB stick
4. Copy the files from the working VideoStudio 2019 Ultimate installation to the installation of the software that did not work.

What You Need

This fix is not perfect, but it was one which worked for this particular volunteer group.

Here are the steps you may want to follow:

1. Install VideoStudio Ultimate 2019 on a Windows 10 computer. We used a spare from our shop which was a clean install; that is, no other software had been installed on the computer. No plug ins, third party anti virus software, nothing. Verify that the program loads and that the components are available; for example, filters (which VideoStudio sometimes calls FX).

2. Get a USB drive or comparable storage method and copy this one file
vfilter.rsf
and these two folders:

vft_plug
vfx_plug

Here’s where you should be able to find these files on your computer:
vfilter.rsf is located at:

[root drive] \Users\ [user name] \AppData\Roaming\Ulead Systems\Corel VideoStudio Pro (x64)\22.0\VFilter.rsf

For the machines we used, the default locations were that the vft_plug folder was at:

[root drive] \Program Files\Corel\Corel VideoStudio 2019\vft_plug

The location of vfx_plug was at:

[root drive] \Program Files\Corel\Corel VideoStudio 2019\Vfx_plug

The Fix Which Worked for Us

We had to do several steps. None was difficult once we determined the names of the files and their location. Corel does not provide this information to its customers. We don’t want to speculate about why the company does not address this problem. A number of VideoStudio 2019 Ultimate owners have this problem. Therefore, we are posting this as a report of what worked for the non profit group. We used a legal copy of the software. We used a “clean” Windows 10 machine. No clean Windows 10 computer? No legal copy of the software? Well, you may be out of luck.

The Steps We Followed

The procedure we followed for vfilter.rsf was:

a. Navigate to the location of vfilter.rsf
b. Rename the file to vfilter old.rsf
c. Copy the version of vifilter.rsf from the USB or storage device.

For clarity, you are substituting the files from an installation of VideoStudio Ultimate 2019 which works.

The procedure we followed for the folder and its files vft_plug was:

a. Navigate to the location of vft_plug
b. Rename the folder to vft_plug old. (There is no need to fiddle with the files in the folder)
c. Copy the version of the vft_plug folder from the USB or storage device.

For clarity, your are replacing the vft_plug folder from the machine with the working installation of VideoStudio Ultimate 2019.

The procedure we followed for the folder and its files vfx_plug was:

a. Navigate to the location of vfx_plug
b. Rename the folder to vfx_plug old (There is no need to fiddle with the files in the folder)
c. Copy the version of the vfx_plug folder from the USB or storage device.

For clarity, your are replacing the vfx_plug folder from the machine with the working installation of VideoStudio Ultimate 2019.

Wrap Up

Corel support was not helpful. Corel documentation was not helpful. Most of the citations returned from Bing, Google, Yandex, and Boardwatch queries were not helpful. Therefore, we had to find a solution because the non profit group lacked the funds to buy a more robust video editor or find staff to learn how to use one of the open source options available.

For us, we rebooted the computer and launched VideoStudio Ultimate 2019. The Filters (FX) were accessible under “My Favorites.” Note: Our fix did display animated icons in the Filters (FX) panel. The user has to click “My Favorites” to see the installed Filters (FX).

The other functions of the VideoStudio Ultimate 2019 software were working when we left the office of the group contacting us.

If you find a quicker or improved way to get this low cost video editing software to work, use the comments section of this blog.

Stephen E Arnold, January 16, 2020

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