Excited isnt the problem for me. Frustrated is more like it. Bought VV4+DVD today so I could get the free upgrade only to not be able to use VV5+DVDA2 because I dont have correct serial numbers and still havent received a reply back from support. Excited?Yes Frustrated? Even more so. Guess I have learned that there is nothing easy about a "free" upgrade.

Well, it looks like I spent about 100.00 less for this upgrade than I did for the last.

Considering the Sony purchase probably shook things up and slowed everyone down, I'm not too worried.

However, I think they didn't get as far as they should have in a couple of areas.

I like the "Hello Kitty" look over the "Brown Bag" look of V4.
I like the dockable child windows but it's kind of a rubick's cube puzzle to put them all back.
I think they may have done a good thing with external preview but I have to get home to check it. Looks like the internal preview gets updated when you stop playback, which means it'll be easier to grab a still frame without having to switch back and forth from external to internal.

Rob Mack

Oh, there are some things I know I will really love in version 5 such like the new automation functions (combined with external control). This is a great workflow improvement especially for the audio section. Also customizable keyboard functions is something I will love. Subclips belongs to kind of "most wanted". Improved MPEG-2 rendering is great. Optimized Pan/Crop and Track-Motion functions are a bit late after we got all that stuff and even more with Wax. But it's a nice to have anyway.
I'm a bit dissapointed because of some bugs which still exists after years and I really wished there'd been some more improvements to media management which I think should be the MOST important part for an editing tool. "Real" nesting is what it would have made it a "real" upgrade for me. More flexibility in the use of MediaPool bins is still one of my "most wanted", a way of sorting clips within one bin.

Let's wait and see. I like this new version very much anyway.

Marco

Talk about EVERY DAY tools, I'm compositing two parallel tracks for stereo 3d video, but synchronizing pans/zooms with the Track Motion always required two separate keyframed tracks. That really curtails the creative flow - having to copy keyframes back and forth EVERY TIME you want to see how the motion is looking. Now I can make my Left Eye / Right Eye tracks children of a single parent, and animate the Track motion from there using the new "Parent Motion" track!

Hello Kitty took no time to sink in. I like it. I'm also hopeful about what 5b might bring to the table.

I think they may have done a good thing with external preview but I have to get home to check it.

Yes they did and it's much better. If you drag the new "dragable" cursor (YES!), both the firewire and the preview window update. Workflow is smoother this way.

Ah-hah! Didn't see that.

My request was that the preview update when you stop playback. That way you can grab a still without a lot of shuffling. This is great! Really happy about this.

Now, if ONLY the snapshot tools could grab a full rez frame at best quaity no matte what your current preview setting. In fact, i'm not sure why anyone would want to grab frames at 360x240 anyway.

Rob Mack

I'm with Rex

As a software application matures there's less than can be added in the way of features and we all know Vegas is virtually bug free, so no obvious bugs to stamp out.

Vegas 4 was already loaded with features. I haven't downloaded version 5 yet, but I did scan the PDF files, which shows many refinements well worth the upgrade price which was kept in the reasonable range.

I'm quite glad about this version.

However, I hope version 6 as nested timelines or better ways to organize tracks on the timeline, this is the only feature I would like to see added to vegas now, the other features has already been added in 4/5.

After looking at V5 and giving it a day to sink in, I can't shake the feeling that what was once a feature-laden, bang-for-the-buck best NLE around has now been lopped off at the knees.

Say what you will about bezier curves (this looks like a good effort but not the real thing...i.e. a version 1.0 of a feature that needs to mature to be truly useful), network rendering (which is about the only major selling point here for me), but Sony is doing some real slight-of-hand that has my skepticism running high.

I can't get past the UI and the fact that it looks like I've just been sold the Tonka version of what used to be a real V8 pickup. Even if it's as -- or even more -- a robust app under the hood than 4.0, the gummy icons and after-dinner-mint colors lead me to believe that Vegas is indeed being pushed into a Mom-n-Pop, point-n-click world. Not that my ego's that tied up with how the app's used by other people -- I just have to worry that if they're doing this to the surface of the app, what's going to happen to the underpinnings as time goes on?

Why was the icing put before the cake? Bezier masks and 3D planar motion is FUN -- so are "Movie" looks for that matter -- but with all the jumping around and fun everyone's having I can't help but feel left behind. Better media management, better bin structure, better capture tools, and real nested sequences would be the mark of an NLE with its eyes set beyond the top of the heap -- instead we're thrown the bone of network rendering and given a lot of glitz and glitter to distract us from the glaring -- and glaringly PRO -- omissions.

I think for now I'd rather keep my money and stick to Vegas 4.

- jim

is your windows xp using the classic scheme ?
It doesn,t look that bad...

>> Vegas is virtually bug free, so no obvious bugs to stamp out.

Disagree here. Especially in PAL projects there are still some annoying bugs which are in there for years now. I reported about the main ones in another thread.

Marco

icing before the cake - hang on -

The way Vegas looks is the icing.

And Nested Timelines maybe nice, but they are just an organisational tool.

The "cake" is what Vegas does ...

Bezier masks and 3D Planar motion mean it does even more.

....and we do have subclips.

Interesting feedback. As I have posted elsewhere, it would be nice to hear from someone from Sony particularly regarding the near universal complaint about media management and nested sequences. I do know that people have often requested these features but for some reason they still aren't available.

I've said this elsewhere before I read this thread but in summary, too much focus on what makes good marketing copy and not enough on core editing functionality:

EDL Support.
Machine Control
Proper TC handling
Media management
A/V Sync
Ripple Edit bugs

What we've been given is nice and well worth more than we're being asked to pay but seems to me if you really needed it you've already bought a 3rd party app to do it. What NO 3rd party app can address are the issues in the core editing tools.

Bob.

I second that. For FX-stuff there are so much other ways to go. Take a look at Satish' Wax. There is more 2D and 3D stuff integrated as Vegas would probably offer in the next 10 years - for free! Only take a look at Wax' masking tool. It is superior to Vegas 5 new masking tools in several manners (for example drawing them and blurring masks edges).

But most important for Vegas - as it is a NLE - should be editing and media management. And except of those subclips which are very limited in use I can't see any improvements here. I fear Vegas could lose some ground compared to other NLEs if nothing happens to those basic features in future.

Marco

I'm glad to see someone agreeing on this critical point. Last time I checked EDITING meant cutting and reorganising. It has nothing to do with media creation. It's nice to have all these fancy tools to do what used to go off to another department in another building to get done but not at the expense of the basic functionality required for editing.
The first thing I had a hand in editing we shot on 16mm, a dissolve meant marking up the work print with a pencil for the optical printer to do. But the most basic tool (apart from scissors) was a syncroniser. And we still don't have that in Vegas, oh hang on we can buy a 3rd party tool to resync audio, yish. Of all the 3rd party thingies that should have been in V5 that'd have to be the most obvious, even Premiere (shudder) can manage that.

EDL Support.
Machine Control
Proper TC handling
Media management
A/V Sync
Ripple Edit bugs

Farss , you nailed it,except A/V sync my list exacly,I work around most of the list ,but the media managemnt is a huge problem for me,, did i say HUGE problem,, come on sony pls address the obvious. I did upgrade ,kind of a sheep thing, counting on some fixes in later builds.

And, as commented on here - http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=271375&Replies=2&Page=1 - what about some proper support for native MPEG editing ?

Tony

This bears repeating:

Last time I checked EDITING meant cutting and reorganising. It has nothing to do with media creation. It's nice to have all these fancy tools to do what used to go off to another department in another building to get done but not at the expense of the basic functionality required for editing.

Thanks for that farss -- you're right on in my book.

- jim

'EDL Support, Machine Control,Proper TC handling, Media management, A/V Sync, Ripple Edit bugs '

we all look at it different.
i have no need EDL , machine control ,
i've had no problem with TC handling ,
i manage my folders - i know where all media is at any given moment,
no sync problems or ripple problems here.
so if vegas 5 only had the list above i guess i would be posting that it didn't have any real improvements.

i have had BIG problems with WAX and it wasted too much of my time. perhaps the bugs have been corrected ??

i do use commotion and combustion

i find the 3D , beziers time saving. = worth 199
the new pull down removal ( from media pool) works excellent on my film to dv tape transfers , love the YUV codec, i capture whole 60 min tapes and do not need the "subclip" thing but perhaps for some it is useful. do use the network rendering.
the 199 will save me some time = $ worth it in my book ..
but if one needs the list at the top (edl etc) then maybe it isn't worth the upgrade or perhaps you have outgrown V ? and should look at other NLE 's ??

Vegas suits my needs .. i've been shooting on FILM and finishing on tape.. however if i needed to finish back to FILM on most of these projects i would be using a NLE that had matchback ...

Last time I checked EDITING meant cutting and reorganising. It has nothing to do with media creation. It's nice to have all these fancy tools to do what used to go off to another department in another building to get done but not at the expense of the basic functionality required for editing.

I agree. There are plenty of "NLE"s on the market that are great for EDITING. Vegas has gone beyond pure editing since version 2.0 - where have you guys been? I don't understand why anyone would be surprised that the upgrades weren't directed at pure editing. Vegas is a different animal. I really like the new possibilities. I feel like people must not really be using Vegas's deep features if they are disappointed by this upgrade.