Hello.

set:

Thanks for the link and info. This being said: I don't see why any of us should have to resort to using other software. This yet another issue!!! Yes: WAV is capable of storing surround mutichannel audio. Problem: DVDA will not recognise these files!!! Nice huh!!! So VP can render these files no problem but DVDA will not recognise them!!! Now IF DVDA recognised these files well, then, there would be no need for the Dolby Pro encoder now would there MAGIX. You know: just a thought!!!

Dale.

Yes, exporting to WAV, for encoding to AC3 using EncWAVtoAC3, not to put directly to DVDA.

Well, I don't like this kind of workaround as well, but just trying to find the possible alternative solution.

Hello again.

Well like I said: thanks for the link. I've downloaded the software and will test it shortly. Very keen to see whether or not DVDA7 deems it "fit" to re-encode the files. Also keen to see if it solves the preview problem in DVDA7 (5.1 surround panned right when using the Dolby Studio encoder). First prize would be if it can read the Sony WAV64 5.1 files from VP14 (if so: my problems will be solved anyway no thanks to MAGIX & Co.).

Regards,

Dale.

If Magix came out with a stand-alone authoring tool that supported Blu-ray and UltraHD with surround support for a reasonable price, I would purchase it. What's out there is very expensive.

If Magix came out with a stand-alone authoring tool that supported Blu-ray and UltraHD with surround support for a reasonable price, I would purchase it. What's out there is very expensive.

+1

Agreed.

set:

That software doesn't like Sony WAV64 but has no problem with the other 5.1 WAV files (just be careful here as there is a limitation on the size of the non-Sony WAV64 files).

Also (surprise, suprise): DVDA7 does NOT deem it "fit' to re-encode the files.

Only bad news really is that it doesn't solve the audio preview problem in DVDA BUT I've managed to tie this down to the 90-Degree Phase Shift option in the Dolby Pro encoder (in Vegas) i.e. if this is not checked then the problem occurs. This being said: if it's ONLY the preview that's an issue then this could work for me to be honest. At least it reconises 5.1 WAV files!!!

Thanks.

Still want Dolby Pro re-instated in VP14 please!!!

Dale.

Same here . Did buy the 13->14 upgrade but did not install yet and have no intention to do so as long as this is missing .

Agreed.

set:

That software doesn't like Sony WAV64 but has no problem with the other 5.1 WAV files (just be careful here as there is a limitation on the size of the non-Sony WAV64 files).

Also (surprise, suprise): DVDA7 does NOT deem it "fit' to re-encode the files.

Only bad news really is that it doesn't solve the audio preview problem in DVDA BUT I've managed to tie this down to the 90-Degree Phase Shift option in the Dolby Pro encoder (in Vegas) i.e. if this is not checked then the problem occurs. This being said: if it's ONLY the preview that's an issue then this could work for me to be honest. At least it reconises 5.1 WAV files!!!

Thanks.

Still want Dolby Pro re-instated in VP14 please!!!

Dale.

Thanks for testing it... so EncWAVtoAC3 is still not yet a solution.

I wish that AC3 Studio at least automatically have 90-Degree Phase Shift 'turned on'..

Hello.

Well. In the absence of the Dolby Pro encoder at least the software that you found gives access to all parameters (and more) that we USED to have with the Dolby Pro encoder. Only thing missing is the 90-Degree Phase Shift option really. I noticed somebody above had level issues with Dolby Studio encoded files and this should at least solve that problem for them (although I personally have not experienced this issue).

But again: still want Dolby Pro re-instated. I paid for it!!!

Dale.

alex-bar presented an alternative workaround here for enabling the VP13 AC-3 Pro encoder in later versions. It's a bit more elegant than the previous workaround and it leaves the AC-3 Studio encoder exposed as well as AC-3 Pro. Here's a step-by-step for VP15. For VP14 just change the number.

1. Copy the C:\Program Files\Sony\Vegas Pro 13.0\FileIO Plug-Ins\ac3plug\ folder to C:\Program Files\VEGAS\VEGAS Pro 15.0\FileIO Plug-Ins\ (if you have the Magix VP13 build 545 then the folder location may be different)

2. Copy C:\Program Files\VEGAS\VEGAS Pro 15.0\Release-x64.fio2007-config to your Documents folder or somewhere you have full write permissions.

3. Add a line to the top of the file in a text editor such as Notepad so it looks like this:

[FileIO Plug-Ins]
ac3plug=FileIO Plug-Ins\ac3plug\ac3plug.dll
ac3studioplug=FileIO Plug-Ins\ac3studioplug\ac3studioplug.dll
aifplug=FileIO Plug-Ins\aifplug\aifplug.dll
.....

4. Copy the edited Release-x64.fio2007-config back to C:\Program Files\VEGAS\VEGAS Pro 15.0, overwriting the original version.

Notes:

1. You need DVD Architect installed for either this or the old workaround to function.

2. The ac3plug folder from VP12 or earlier will not work (Vegas won't start).

3. In VP14 build 270 and VP15 this will work and the ac3 file will be rendered but you will get an error message like this:

4. This modification will cause Vegas to hard crash when you subsequently attempt to open an ac3 file, rather than just fail to open it.

I tried it for VP14 and it worked exactly as stated. Yesterday I bought VP 15 (Build 216) and I repeated the procedure, but it doesn't work. Any hint?

Alessandro

I just installed VP15 and am curious too if this work-around will function.  Also, is there any intention as far as any of the 'mods' know if Magix will restore this ability.

Bob

Hi

I've just tried this as well and can report it isn't working in 15 build 216. One step forward two steps back, guess they call it Magix.

Regards

Phil

Well for what it's worth:

Upgraded to VP15 (only because is was at a discounted price) and the "old" workaround still works i.e. copying the files from VP13 to VP15 and renaming them. I've not tried the "fancy" fix proposed above though (not going to bother).

A very kind forum member, some time ago, posted an alternative to Dolby Pro called "WAV to AC3 Encoder". I can confirm that this works just fine. Matter of fact: The Dolby Pro encoder as supplied with VP13 and DVDA 6 doesn't even render the correct length of audio file (just compare the length of your video file to your audio file in DVDA and you'll see what I mean i.e. that last few frames of audio are "chopped off" when rendered by the Dolby Pro encoder). I've not even bothered to report this either because, as we all know, Magix couldn't be bothered with our Dolby Pro encoder issues. This is not an issue with this "WAV to AC3 Encoder" software. As I've noted before: it sucks that after paying all of this money I still have to resort to using a third party encoder but, well, "it is what it is" I guess (as they say in the classics).

Although, and true to (Magix) form, I see VP15 has a whole new set of issues (the above so far as I can tell being the least of our worries).

Regards,

Dale.

Well for what it's worth:

Upgraded to VP15 (only because is was at a discounted price) and the "old" workaround still works i.e. copying the files from VP13 to VP15 and renaming them. I've not tried the "fancy" fix proposed above though (not going to bother).

A very kind forum member, some time ago, posted an alternative to Dolby Pro called "WAV to AC3 Encoder". I can confirm that this works just fine. Matter of fact: The Dolby Pro encoder as supplied with VP13 and DVDA 6 doesn't even render the correct length of audio file (just compare the length of your video file to your audio file in DVDA and you'll see what I mean i.e. that last few frames of audio are "chopped off" when rendered by the Dolby Pro encoder). I've not even bothered to report this either because, as we all know, Magix couldn't be bothered with our Dolby Pro encoder issues. This is not an issue with this "WAV to AC3 Encoder" software. As I've noted before: it sucks that after paying all of this money I still have to resort to using a third party encoder but, well, "it is what it is" I guess (as they say in the classics).

Although, and true to (Magix) form, I see VP15 has a whole new set of issues (the above so far as I can tell being the least of our worries).

Regards,

Dale.

 

Hi

Thank you for your update, I will try the copy option and see if that works. I only upgraded as well because they emailed a cheaper offer and I thought I would obtain use of improvements from hardware encoding/decoding support and the fact my own machine was recently updated as well (Kaby Lake with the latest QuickSync encoding options).

So far I've found issues with the meta data on rendering, and I can't make any use of the Kaby Lake support for 10 bit encoding with HEVC as it crashes with an unknown error the moment I try, plus I've lost the Dolby Pro encoding options I'd always had before. Think it would be more honest of Magix if they just stole my credit card and took the upgrade fee and left me with my old version 13 :-)

Regards

Phil

Think it would be more honest of Magix if they just stole my credit card and took the upgrade fee and left me with my old version 13 :-)

Too funny. Made me laugh!!! LOL!!! I know how you feel.

Come to think of it: it's not THEM it's US i.e. WE are the ones that "keep feeding the monkey"!!!

And yeh: last time Vegas seemed to be "hundreds" was when it was SONY VP13!!!

Oh well. Have fun. Waiting now for VP16.

Regards,

Dale.

I agree with Phil. Magix is one of the most unethical companies I have ever had to deal with. They remove functions without notifying users or new buyers (false advertising). For awhile their tech support was based in Madison and was honest about this. Now the German tech support just covers up deficiencies and omissions in the software with a lot of irrelevant blather and they will not admit they removed anything. I will not buy any more Magix products. They are as bad as VW and should not be in business.

I tried the 'fix/hack' that was suggested by 'alex-bar' above.  Without adding that first line in the config file the AC3 Pro option did not show up. After adding that line, both options for the studio and pro showed up.  I rendered a test file and when it got to 99% it hung Vegas and I had to exit.  However, it did seem to create the file but I do not have any software that can play it so I have not tested it to see if it really works yet.

Bob

EDIT: I just created a scratch video project so that I could create a .dar project using the above created AC3 (Pro) file to test in DVD Architect 5.2.  It seemed to work fine, however, I didn't render anything out for a Bluray disc just as I wanted to see if the .ac3 file was playable and it was.

Are you using VP14 or VP15?

Hi.

Not to be a "prophet of doom" or anything like that but I'd be very careful relying on these fixes / patches to enable Dolby Pro in VP15 and onwards i.e. it would not surprise me in the least if Magix codes some type of block into future releases / updates that would simply not allow the (old) Dolby Pro encoder to be recognized / loaded. Put another way: they've seen the uproar that its removal has caused and have not done a thing about it (not even provided an explanation as to why it was removed in the first place). If nothing else: it strikes me as strange that in the original release of VP14 and subsequent updates to VP14 the Dolby Pro encoder worked no problem but in the last update to VP14 (and in VP15) an error is generated after the render. Who knows: maybe this was a crass attempt to eliminate the Dolby Pro encoder for good. We'll never know I guess. Anyway: just some thoughts on the subject is all. Unless Magix "as if by magic" decides to reinstate the Dolby Pro encoder then I'd think time is better spent finding a decent alternative as opposed to workarounds that may (or may not) stop working in the future.

It's (still) shameful how this issue has been handled by Magix though. No question about that.

Regards,

Dale.

I imagine it must have simply been an issue of cost. It's highly likely that Dolby licensing has become increasingly expensive over the years. The Vegas "Product Owner" explained in this comment that Magix have managed to control the COGS of Vegas by implementing agreements with 3rd-party codec vendors whereby they only pay if a user actually uses the codec (hence the "phone home" for "additional activation"). Perhaps Dolby either wouldn't offer such a deal to them, or they did but it was still prohibitively expensive.

I also guess Magix may have inherited an agreement whereby they are prohibited from publicly discussing the cost of Dolby licensing in perpetuity.

If both those are true then they would have little choice but to remove the codec and not give us a reason.

The only standalone software solution I've found for Dolby 5.1 is the Minnetonka encoder that costs $600 and doesn't work in Windows 10. What other NLE's support it?