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Yeah, strange.  I've trial all the above steps and nothing seems to work (except it actually removed my AC3 Studio as well).  I'm all for the workaround if I can get it to register.  😒

In the "About" menu, it even registers the DLL and shows the version number 13.0XX, but does not show up in the "Render As" menu.

I've tried 3 different version of that DLL.  373, 428 & 453

I also thought that the DLL cert might be old (which it is) and that's why it would disappear on both 13 & 14 installs, but nothing I did with permissions or cert installing worked.

Any other ideas?

With respect you probably shouldn't share links to that DLL openly on the forum. It looks like the AC3-Pro codec hasn't been licensed by MAGIX and is not offered in VP14, but that DLL would enable new users (who don't have previous versions with the AC3-Pro codec) to get it working. I don't think MAGIX or Dolby would take kindly to that. But I think it should be OK to share instructions for users who have a licence for older versions as well as VP14.

As long as we dont have an official statement from Magix that there are legal or other reasons for the pro encoder not being included in VP14 I treat it as a manufacturer oversight.

I think it's safer to publicly share intellectual property when it's beyond reasonable doubt that you have permission, rather than assuming or hoping. I can't find any reference to "AC3" or even "Dolby" as an included feature in the VP14 specifcations or release notes. It's a bit different to that mc_dec_avc.dll that was shared (to fix the GoPro issue before VP13b453). That was an obvious bugfix, whereas this adds a feature.

Anyway I totally agree that they shouldn't have taken it out without telling us and explaining why.

Anyway I totally agree that they shouldn't have taken it out without telling us and explaining why.

I almost never heard of a company which advertise feature removal. Anyway, should be great if a Magix representative can tell us why.

Anyway I totally agree that they shouldn't have taken it out without telling us and explaining why.

I almost never heard of a company which advertise feature removal. Anyway, should be great if a Magix representative can tell us why.

I wouldn't expect them to shout about it, but a heads-up to the long-standing, loyal users of the software on the forum would have been appreciated. It's better for them to inform us and explain why it's gone, even if it's just for financial reasons, than for someone (who depends on it) to buy the upgrade and then discover after the fact. Anyway the loophole discussed above sort of gets them off the hook.

I am going try to unstall VP11 and reinstall it because I want and need to have my AC3-Pro back..  As I can not get AC3 Pro  to work for me in VP14.  I have to have deal with the workaround.via VP11.

Maybe this "trick" works with the AC3 Pro dll from Vegas Pro 13 only?

As long as we dont have an official statement from Magix that there are legal or other reasons for the pro encoder not being included in VP14 I treat it as a manufacturer oversight.

That is a very optimistic approach. According to the EULA, no user has the right to modify the software. However, if one has purchased a plugin (also the AC3 Pro encoder was sold as plugin in former days), it is legal to install a plugin. Otherwise we would not be allowed to purchase and install Mercalli, BCC, Hitfilm and so on.

What is not a good idea is to offer a download of dlls. That is for sure not ok. I think admins will have to delete that.

Rather hoping this is just a mistake by Magix. Interesting to note the filenames downloaded and installed by the paid for VP14 installer are "VEGAS_Pro_14.0.0.161_Trial_14_0_0_161.exe", and "VEGAS_DVD_Architect_7.0.0.38_Trial_7_0_0_38.exe", so if we're really lucky they just bundled the wrong thing or forgot there was a difference!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Just had the following confirmation from Magix Support that they're aware of the lack of AC3 Pro and it's intentional:

Thank you for your message.
The AC3 Pro plug in is no longer included in Vegas Pro purchases.  AC3 studio is still included in Vegas Pro.

I think this mess is totally wrong on Magix's part.  Why the hell do you want to remove AC-3 Pro when you want the world to think this is a professional NLE; a new era in video editing. What hell are they thinking.

Agreed. Incredibly cross about this. The AC3pro encoder was pretty much our raison d'etre for using Vegas/DVDA. This is an absolute show stopper for us. Looks like we've just wasted a whole pile of money on pointless VP14 upgrades too. I have absolutely no idea what Magix are playing at!

What's next to go.. all audio fuctionality. Vegas 1: audio only, Vegas 15: video only.

Probably didn't want to pay the license fee.

First of all there has been a trick/fix communicated how to fix it.  This should work for most people.

Second, there will be reasons behind that. So we will see if the encoder will be available in the future. 

Be aware that if Magix has not included the AC3 Pro codec, then any fix/trick is a hack, thus not legal. 

How is the  VP13 Pro AC3 dll behaving in VP14Pro?

I copied the ac3plug folder to VP14, renamed it to ac3studioplug, opened it and renamed just the dll to ac3studioplug.

I am sure the registry can be hacked too to allow both versions again but I don't need the studio version anyways.

I renamed the folder and the file and replaced the one in VP14.  Now when I open VP14 and hit the render button, VP14 hangs and crashes, and wont even open the render options dialog.  Any tips?

Be aware that if Magix has not included the AC3 Pro codec, then any fix/trick is a hack, thus not legal. 

Very true. It is up to Magix to decide if this discussion can be accepted or not by them.

Nevermind I guess.  I was copying from VP11 and VP14 did NOT like that apparently.  When I copied from VP13, it seems to work.

Finally.  For those of you still trying to get this to work, I had Vegas 14 installed, DVD Architect 7 installed, did the renaming trick, then the Dolby Pro codec only appeared after I installed and activated DVD Architect 6 alongside the software above.  No Vegas 13 necessary.  I hope, along with all of you, that Magix supports the plug-in one day.  I don't just want to see Vegas be a good and stable NLE, but a leader and game changer in the industry.

Ok..., I try search the alternate way on encoding ac3 externally, and when I googled AC3 encoder, I found this one:

https://github.com/wieslawsoltes/wavtoac3encoder

There are several choices. Haven't tried any of it.

In DVDArchitect user manuel (version 7), page 98, it's written

"The AVC, MainConcept MPEG-2, AC-3, and Wave/Wave64 encoders provide templates that, if used without any modifications, result in files that do not require any recompression (unless the file size is too large to fit on a disc)."

Then in page 99

"If you're using Vegas Pro software, you can use the Blu-ray rendering templates to render your video stream. You'll need to render your audio stream separately according to the parameters listed in the AC-3 audio or PCM audio headings in this help topic."

The above only apply for MPGE-2 rendering though. Having tested this in DVDA7, the ac3 audio rendered using VP14 encoder is not compliant and need reencoding

AC3 audio rendered with ac3 pro in VP13 or ffmpeg command line is compliant.

However for AVC video, it's written to use the AVCHD template.

Anyway, by removing AC3Pro from VP14, the user manual is not correct anymore...

Not sure but I think the manual of DVD Architect Pro 7 in fact is the manual of DVD Architect Pro 6 with no adaption made.

Not sure but I think the manual of DVD Architect Pro 7 in fact is the manual of DVD Architect Pro 6 with no adaption made.

DVDA 6 manual (English). DVDA 7 manual (English). I started some comparison this morning and got myself totally confused. One or two references to Dolby have certainly been removed.