So they are using a modified subscription which is voluntary and allows you to keep using your current installation, but to upgrade there is an "annual" fee.

That seems like a good approach.

So they are using a modified subscription which is voluntary and allows you to keep using your current installation, but to upgrade there is an "annual" fee.

I agree that this is a good approach. It gives the company the incentive to make improvements and additions, in order to get people to upgrade.

If the Xara pattern holds with Vegas I think most folks here will be pleased. Responsive updates (though not every request is fulfilled), Xara has remained fairly autonomous. Frankly, I've had virtually no interaction with Magix in using the product, although they do try to slip in some of their software on installation which is usually optional. I use the Talkgraphic forum which seems to have a relationship with Xara but is independent. I'm thinking the COW is probably our future home for forum activities.

also, a big factor will be whether there's any carryover from previous SCS leaders and developers. My impression is most of them are gone, but hope I'm wrong. Hopefully, Magix gives them the resources and a decent leash and let's them run.

-- tom

Glad to hear there will be at least one more iteration of Vegas.

A few things...

If they bought everything SCS then there is no reason that this forum would 'need' to go away. They likely got the URL's and servers as well if they are taking over the building. I can understand the want to consolidate but a forum is not that technical or resource heavy.

PeterDuke, as to Corel, I have seen them swallow a lot of other software over the years to never be seen again.

I can't say I'm happy about the Magix upgrade model. You could buy the core and upgrades for a couple of years but then be stuck back at the core if you have to do a reload and don't subscribe. That could, potentially, be a loss of the upgrade dollars for the all the previous yearly upgrades. I would like to see them adopt more of the Cakewalk model. They allow you to keep all the yearly and monthly upgrades (as long as you bought one years worth of updates) regardless of your current subscription status.

Oh well, we'll see. What's the scientific conundrum quote? Answer one question and get three more?

Catalyst stays with Sony.

I must be an exception to that rule. I've been using DVDA for BD's for awhile now AND I play them on a couple different Panasonic Blu-ray players all the time with NO problems with chapter skipping or anything!

Overall I'd be very happy about the Magix takeover, especially given the sense of abandonment we all felt this past while. Magix have been around for a while, and I know their audio products are very well regarded. Sound Forge and Samplitude ... well, it's Sound Forge I'd be worried for, but I do think Vegas is going to be a keeper.

There's no comparison with Corel here, who in my opinion have killed off some of the best products I've ever had the pleasure to use. Pinnacle would be another predator in my opinion, I'll never forget what they did to Steinberg before Yamaha rescued them!

I think, however, with Magix we're in safe hands.

"I investigated Magix Video Pro X4 4 years ago and reported some findings in this thread:"

Jeeeeezz Peter....what that really 4 years ago!! Wow! time flies. I tried it myself at the time, and didn't find it tempting to take me away from Vegas. It will be very interesting to see what ideas they incorporate into Video Pro from Vegas.

I, for one, welcome our new Magix over-lords. - Kent Brockman.

Seriously, you'd think that being owned by Sony would result in so many synergistic advantages. I just can't remember the last time I noticed anything like that truly manifested.

So what happens to all of us that have the software still and use it? Will we still get support? Will we be allowed to upgrade to the next thing?? What on earth is going to happen??

Who should forebid that you can continue to use the Software? Nobody!

And I expect to see upgrade offers for the upcoming version. We do not know how that will look like yet. But better we see upgrade offers at all instead of nothing.

So all together that is agreat opportunity!

Is this new company a good company to deal with? What's their track record like?

I can tell you that Video Pro X has GPU support, as well as support for Blackmagic Cards. However, I have downloaded the trial of Video Pro X8, and the OpenFX integration is buggy to say the least. I could not get it to read my Red Giant, New Blue, or Boris OFX plugs.

I have been a steady user of Video Pro X7 for about a year, and have been relatively happy with it. It has some limitations, but overall it's a very capable NLE. Though at $399, it's a bit over-priced if you ask me. I bought it during a sale for $199. In my opinion, that should be what they charge for it.

Josh

I have been using Magix products for a few years and can say that they are not horrible to deal with. Tech support folks tend to reply within a day on average. Though they are German, so there is sometimes a bit of language barrier. Hopefully, moving an office to the US will help this.

Video Pro X looks more like Avid's interface. It will be interesting to see what elements of Vegas actually survive the merger. Hopefully the interface will.

On the bright side, if they continue development of Vegas as it stands, we should get h.265 and native support for Prores minus the need for Quicktime.

I also hope someone over there gets need for Smooth 32-bit full level playback of OpenEXR with compression, and possibly integrating the layered abilities of EXRs format. Make Vegas a linear gamma editing tool much the same way Nuke handles footage. This would make Vegas a very powerful film editing tool.

As long as they don't mess with the pink out of sync audio tracks and the blue markers I will be happy, at least for a while.
JJK

i shall wait with eager anticipation, but i wont hold my breath...

vegas's core is obsolete - vfw is long gone. gpu integration has for the most part been a joke.

i can't see magix re-writing vegas 'as we know it'. i can see them lifting useful / innovative bits of it and incorporating it into their existing software. but a rewrite, i doubt it.

as for catalyst, it's going to disappear as people realize it's not what it's cracked up to be and that they're actually paying for what amounts to be a beta release. i can see prepare being bundled with sony cameras as a very useful pre-post tool which might garner them some comfort, but little revenue.

meanwhile there's another release of resolve (beta) - lost count of how many this past few months, but it's quite obvious that bm are seriously forging ahead with development; their forums are populated with some very serious and extremely helpful pros, the actual software is quite amazing once you learn it, and did i mention it's FREE?

as the saying goes; may you live in interesting times (yes, i know those of you in the states have trump ;-))

I agree about hoping that the best bits of the one that's dropped make it into the one that's kept. I am a longtime Vegas Pro user. I had never even heard of Video Pro X before, but after viewing the Video Pro X tutorial video on their website, I have to say that I kind of liked the interface. If they could keep the best features of Vegas Pro, like it's audio capabilities that go all the way back to the Sonic Foundry days, and combine it with some of VPX's strong points, this could be a win-win for all of us. Let's face it, there are some aspects of Vegas Pro - like it's titling capabilities - that are sub-par, cumbersome, and have been since Day 1. We've had to doll out more cash to companies like New Blue to make up for it's inadequacies, even with regard to special effects. And, as used to it as we all are, the interface is beginning to look a little dated. So, I for one am excited about better days to come - I hope. I'll probably continue to use DVD Architect, but it sure would be nice to have a decent authoring program as part of the new editing package too,

If you have a Linkedin account and you care about these forums getting preserved, you might want to "Like" my (misspelt) comment on K.laus Schmidt's announcement. A few already have. You never know, it might catch his attention.

This feels strange to post here, but it gives some insight into the situation...

Quite some time ago, one of the Sony programmers -- Chris Dolan -- used to post on this forum every now and then. A very welcome presence here.

Back then, I searched and happened to find his Google+ page, which I bookmarked and check out from time to time.

By the way, it seems Chris is both a brilliant programmer and a passionate astronomer, and shares a lot of interesting topics in both fields. (The fact that he might be reading this post is why it feels weird... I'm not a stalker, Chris, I promise!)

Anyway, Chris posted this earlier today on his public Google+ page:


"As the press release below states, MAGIX has acquired Vegas Pro and several other Sony software applications. MAGIX did not purchase Catalyst Browse, Catalyst Prepare, nor Catalyst Edit (and some others) -- those are products I will continue to work on here at Sony.

So he mentions that he will continue working on Catalyst at Sony, and that others -- including some former Sonic Foundry staff -- will be heading over to MAGIX. So it seems SCS will still have a presence in Madison.

(Also, it appears that we should be referencing "MAGIX" in all caps...)

You're all running wild with speculation again. Why is that such a common hobby on enthusiast forums. You were all way off these past months, even holding a petition. This news should've been a wakeup call that you don't know what you're talking about because you lack too much information. Nobody had any clue this would happen, and Catalyst would be all that remains.

Now you're jumping the gun again with all this talk about merging of products? You have no idea what they're going to do. You don't even know what the code is like. Programming isn't just copy and paste. It's highly unlikely many components can easily be mixed and matched. They could've already implemented most of Vegas Pro features into their software if they were going to do that, they didn't need to buy Vegas itself.

You don't buy something to rewrite it. But even if they did, then it's not Vegas, it's something else with the Vegas branding. It's not like Vegas had anything so unique about it that they needed to buy the rights so they can build those same features without being sued. But I don't even know that for sure, because it's all a black box. They don't share anything with us.

It just sounds like you're all crazy. I wish these businesses would have more of an online presence where they openly talk about things. I don't understand why it's in their interest to have a bunch of people anxiously imagining every possibility because they're kept in the dark and can't know what's really going on.

But regardless, Catalyst is subscription beta quality software, and Vegas doesn't play nice with high-dpi displays, and this acquisition doesn't help with that right now. If there's going to be a good Vegas 14 update, it's supposedly not going to be out for several months, and it might be subscription or flawed in some other way.

For me personally, I'm going to take a more serious look at Resolve, and read more to see how the Vegas methods translate to that interface. People say you can't easily drag clips where the overlapping region automatically cross-fades, but maybe it can do something similar or even in a better way.

I didn't look very hard because I liked Catalyst more, but their subscription move excludes that as an option. I'll also see what else is available. Because the truth is, none of us can speculate about the future with the info we have. I have no idea what these companies will do in the coming months.

But I do know Resolve is downloadable for free right now, and I can learn more about it right now, and I can work with it tonight, while people are wondering what will happen with Vegas and Catalyst.

I kind of prefer 'dated' GUIs. Straightforward and uncluttered. The newer styles seem to me to be cluttered, less intuitive, and far less customisable (views). To me the main objective seems to be to pretty and trendy, at the expense of the workflow I prefer.

Hell, I didn't even like the new Vegas dark-gray colour scheme, and reverted. But that's just me ...

geoff