Digital Juice Templates for Vegas Pro
YesMaestro
wrote on 6/7/2011, 10:33 AM
Comments
bsuratt
wrote on 6/7/2011, 11:26 AM
UGH!
While it is nice to see some Vegas specific stuff offered, I have been disappointed with Digital Juice offerings since the time the fonts were introduced and the general quality of graphics products went downhill. I think they must be selling the good stuff to the networks now. They appear to be focused on reselling other products now rather offering their own.
And, I own a ton of DJ graphic products!
While it is nice to see some Vegas specific stuff offered, I have been disappointed with Digital Juice offerings since the time the fonts were introduced and the general quality of graphics products went downhill. I think they must be selling the good stuff to the networks now. They appear to be focused on reselling other products now rather offering their own.
And, I own a ton of DJ graphic products!
Chanimal
wrote on 6/7/2011, 12:10 PM
I love all the items from Digital Juice (I probably own about 70% of everything). These looks like some terrific examples of what can be done within Vegas. I wish the price was less ($49 would be an impulse), but they look great. It was the first time I've seen them support Vegas specifically.
CVM
wrote on 6/7/2011, 1:56 PM
Great looking stuff, but you really need the great music and awesome video to truly make it work. IMO, there is nothing worse than crappy video placed in a beautiful pre-produced animation like this. In addition, after the animated intro, the body of the video is crappy. (Sorry to rant!)
I would have liked to see targeted themes... that would make these irresistible: wedding, corporate, generic, family, memory, etc. Maybe that will come in later volumes. For now, I'm going to pass.
Nice work, DJ!
I would have liked to see targeted themes... that would make these irresistible: wedding, corporate, generic, family, memory, etc. Maybe that will come in later volumes. For now, I'm going to pass.
Nice work, DJ!
earthrisers
wrote on 6/7/2011, 4:10 PM
Ditto me.
I own maybe HALF a ton of DJ products, but this latest one -- while it would have been a quick impulse-buy at about $49, as someone else already said -- is too expensive until such time as I have at least a few projects that exactly match the themes in the DJ templates.
If it had been closer to $49, I'd probably have bought it just to be able to study the VEGs they built.
I own maybe HALF a ton of DJ products, but this latest one -- while it would have been a quick impulse-buy at about $49, as someone else already said -- is too expensive until such time as I have at least a few projects that exactly match the themes in the DJ templates.
If it had been closer to $49, I'd probably have bought it just to be able to study the VEGs they built.
Myerz
wrote on 6/8/2011, 9:37 AM
I think one thing to remember is to be a "supportive Vegas user". If they ( DJ) get a fair response from us Vegas users, they'll continue to kick-out Vegas specific products. You know... supply and demand. And, if they don't see a fair response, if we decide to "pass"... you can forget about DJ continuing the Vegas support.
I'll be picking this up for sure. Ya, $249 is steep but with the endless options that I see... it's worth it.
I'll be picking this up for sure. Ya, $249 is steep but with the endless options that I see... it's worth it.
Steve Mann
wrote on 6/8/2011, 2:55 PM
"I wish the price was less ($49 would be an impulse), but they look great. It was the first time I've seen them support Vegas specifically."
They're testing the market. (I think that everything DJ makes starts out at $249). I would expect to see the Vegas package offered at a discount shortly before they introduce the next package.
There's really not much here that you can't duplicate in Vegas with many of the DJ kits. But if I did a lot of title graphics, this would be such a time-saver.
They're testing the market. (I think that everything DJ makes starts out at $249). I would expect to see the Vegas package offered at a discount shortly before they introduce the next package.
There's really not much here that you can't duplicate in Vegas with many of the DJ kits. But if I did a lot of title graphics, this would be such a time-saver.
jmeredith
wrote on 6/8/2011, 5:46 PM
Just wanted to mention, so that nobody gets stung by pricing, that if you already purchased the same collection for AE, you can get the Vegas version for $99
See this thread on DJ forum
See this thread on DJ forum
vtxrocketeer
wrote on 6/9/2011, 7:41 AM
I jumped on this deal and got it. Graphics design is not my forte (heck, not even a piano, to suddenly wax musical), and so I find that the DJ products fill a nice gap for me when I'd rather spend time editing in Vegas. It looks like R2G essentially generates a veg that I can then further tweak. We shall see...
-Steve
-Steve
earthrisers
wrote on 6/9/2011, 10:24 AM
A question for anyone who does acquire that product:
One (apparent) limitation that struck me right away is that there seems to be a predefined number of "title screens" in each template.
Title 1, Title 2, etc.
What if you want to add some more?
Does the product make that straightforward, or would you have to do it "by hand" in Vegas, re-creating the kinds of timelines and layers that the product provides for its predefined number of screens?
One (apparent) limitation that struck me right away is that there seems to be a predefined number of "title screens" in each template.
Title 1, Title 2, etc.
What if you want to add some more?
Does the product make that straightforward, or would you have to do it "by hand" in Vegas, re-creating the kinds of timelines and layers that the product provides for its predefined number of screens?
vtxrocketeer
wrote on 6/9/2011, 11:30 AM
ER, I'll probably have a chance to play with R2G by the weekend, when I can report back on initial impressions. From DJ's promo video, it looks like R2G populates a Vegas timeline with all sorts of mixed media events. I'll learn whether, in addition to turning 'off' layers, one can add to the duration or, equally of interest to me, shorten duration by lopping off events. The DJ Juicer is pretty powerful, so perhaps DJ incorporated the elongation/truncation feature before an R2G gets 'sent' to Vegas.
I'd like to incorporate these somehow into a slick DVD or Blu-ray menu sequence, intro, or even background image. If so, they will beat the pants off what I'm capable of making from scratch right now.
-Steve
I'd like to incorporate these somehow into a slick DVD or Blu-ray menu sequence, intro, or even background image. If so, they will beat the pants off what I'm capable of making from scratch right now.
-Steve
vtxrocketeer
wrote on 6/11/2011, 7:42 PM
Preliminary impressions: today I installed DJ's R2G for Vegas. I got the "Pro" version, which offers more flexibility than the standard version.
Within the Juicer, I can only select pre-made templates and a few color choices of each. There are no settings other than dimensions and frame rates. Once the selections are made, the Juicer simply opens the appropriate veg file that came with R2G and populates a new project with the appropriate media. For instance, I had a go at the Steampunked template, which resulted in a Vegas project of 27 tracks. So, to reiterate, within the Juicer, your choices are take it or leave it.
In Vegas, I now see that the animations and masks are Quicktime files, along with some tracks of native Sony text events on top. A lot of these have many 3D track motion key frames.
Now, I was interested to see whether I could customize the template within Vegas by adding or subtracting the video events that the end user populates (in the stock template, these appear as "Video Holder" events; within the media bin, I simply selected "replace" and browsed for whatever media I wanted to insert). Well, I think the short answer is "no": a given R2G template comes with 4 and up to 8 video holder events, depending upon the particular template, and you are stuck with these -- no more, no less. They are all animated to fit seamlessly together, so in my feeble hands I couldn't figure out a way to subtract one, let alone add one! Bummer. The problem is that all of the masks and animations are themselves part of single events, so there is no sense in which I could "cut out" one. I have not tried the brute force method of selecting and deleting an entire 'slice' of the template (27 tracks or whatever). This very likely would result in mismatched animations.
I've never used AE, but from what little I do know, it seems more likely that one could really tweak these templates there. In Vegas, we get something more akin to a final baked product. Perhaps that is a result of R2G being ported to an NLE rather than a compositing application.
I'm curious to know what other users think of R2G...
Steve
Within the Juicer, I can only select pre-made templates and a few color choices of each. There are no settings other than dimensions and frame rates. Once the selections are made, the Juicer simply opens the appropriate veg file that came with R2G and populates a new project with the appropriate media. For instance, I had a go at the Steampunked template, which resulted in a Vegas project of 27 tracks. So, to reiterate, within the Juicer, your choices are take it or leave it.
In Vegas, I now see that the animations and masks are Quicktime files, along with some tracks of native Sony text events on top. A lot of these have many 3D track motion key frames.
Now, I was interested to see whether I could customize the template within Vegas by adding or subtracting the video events that the end user populates (in the stock template, these appear as "Video Holder" events; within the media bin, I simply selected "replace" and browsed for whatever media I wanted to insert). Well, I think the short answer is "no": a given R2G template comes with 4 and up to 8 video holder events, depending upon the particular template, and you are stuck with these -- no more, no less. They are all animated to fit seamlessly together, so in my feeble hands I couldn't figure out a way to subtract one, let alone add one! Bummer. The problem is that all of the masks and animations are themselves part of single events, so there is no sense in which I could "cut out" one. I have not tried the brute force method of selecting and deleting an entire 'slice' of the template (27 tracks or whatever). This very likely would result in mismatched animations.
I've never used AE, but from what little I do know, it seems more likely that one could really tweak these templates there. In Vegas, we get something more akin to a final baked product. Perhaps that is a result of R2G being ported to an NLE rather than a compositing application.
I'm curious to know what other users think of R2G...
Steve
Grazie
wrote on 6/12/2011, 2:19 AM
Well if they are "sampling the market", then this is from this market, me - ugh... There could be so much more to be done. That and BORIS!
Moving on.....
Grazie
Moving on.....
Grazie
Cville
wrote on 6/12/2011, 6:27 AM
I ordered the pro version also. I did it after they offered the free photo knock outs for a 249 purchase so I went for it.
I should get it sometime this week and I'll give a test spin. I was hoping to be able to add or subtract holder events. I'll be disappointed if i can not.
I should get it sometime this week and I'll give a test spin. I was hoping to be able to add or subtract holder events. I'll be disappointed if i can not.
vtxrocketeer
wrote on 6/12/2011, 7:02 AM
Some time ago I bought the entire DJ Fonts collection and am still blown away at how customizable they are. I use them in just about all of my productions.
In contrast, I get the impression that R2G was made to 'stretch' a product to the Vegas community, albeit in a sort of hobbled and baked-in way. Still, I think they're super slick . . . but maybe not $249 slick.
-Steve
EDIT: I would like to be shown that I am wrong: compositing is not my strength, so if there is way to shorten or lengthen an R2G template in Vegas, other than my brute force way, I'm open to being taught!
In contrast, I get the impression that R2G was made to 'stretch' a product to the Vegas community, albeit in a sort of hobbled and baked-in way. Still, I think they're super slick . . . but maybe not $249 slick.
-Steve
EDIT: I would like to be shown that I am wrong: compositing is not my strength, so if there is way to shorten or lengthen an R2G template in Vegas, other than my brute force way, I'm open to being taught!
Dan Sherman
wrote on 6/13/2011, 8:06 AM
Pass the limburger?
jimingo
wrote on 6/14/2011, 10:33 PM
I spend a lot of time making DVD menus and I bought these thinking that I could customize them and turn them in to menus...but now that I tried them out they're not as customizable as I thought.
These animations seem to be only usable for opening or closing credits, and there's no easy way to add a loopable background in case you would like to add more credits (which limits their use even further).
I'm wondering what the "Animated Elements" tab is? I'm assuming you have to do a full install for that (I only did the necessary light install) so it's not available in my Juicer. For anyone who did the full install...can you render out individual elements with that? If so, that would probably make the ready2go templates a little more useful.
These animations seem to be only usable for opening or closing credits, and there's no easy way to add a loopable background in case you would like to add more credits (which limits their use even further).
I'm wondering what the "Animated Elements" tab is? I'm assuming you have to do a full install for that (I only did the necessary light install) so it's not available in my Juicer. For anyone who did the full install...can you render out individual elements with that? If so, that would probably make the ready2go templates a little more useful.
vtxrocketeer
wrote on 6/15/2011, 4:33 AM
jimingo, I did the full install and so far I've seen nothing on the "Animated Elements" tab for any of the templates. I'm thinking it is a vestigial feature that made more sense, perhaps, for R2G templates in other applications, such as AE.
Like you, I had wanted to use these somehow as part of (or intro to) a DVD menu. No dice. However, since DJ places a lot of the individual elements on their own tracks within Vegas, I'm trying to use say, a loopable animated background that WOULD be useful for a DVD menu.
-Steve
Like you, I had wanted to use these somehow as part of (or intro to) a DVD menu. No dice. However, since DJ places a lot of the individual elements on their own tracks within Vegas, I'm trying to use say, a loopable animated background that WOULD be useful for a DVD menu.
-Steve
Steve Mann
wrote on 9/16/2011, 6:11 PM
DJ just put the third set on sale for $99.
Anyone here used them yet, and what's the verdict?
Anyone here used them yet, and what's the verdict?
Andrew B
wrote on 9/18/2011, 11:16 AM
I did pick up volume one. I like being able to pull everything apart and use the pieces I like. I also like being able to really see how other folks put their animations together. It leads me to try new things and generally opens my eyes to other ways of doing things.
As a musician, it is like recording all of your work by your self versus playing in a band. You always learn more by playing with folks who are better than you - just like this forum!
As someone who also owns quite a lot of DJ stuff, I made a vow to buy whatever Vegas-specific items they came out with - if we could afford it at the time. I really want to encourage them to keep producing more for Vegas. While these collections are OK, they are basically templates created with their other products. But they are a great starting point to create your own animations too.
We are purchasing volumes 2 & 3 this weekend - thanks to the $25 rebate and free shipping. We already own the #3 volume for after effects but again, we want to encourage more Vegas products, so we are buying it again for the more efficient platform. ;)
Oh, and BTW - you should get the 'PRO' versions as you can do much more editing with them.
Andrew
As a musician, it is like recording all of your work by your self versus playing in a band. You always learn more by playing with folks who are better than you - just like this forum!
As someone who also owns quite a lot of DJ stuff, I made a vow to buy whatever Vegas-specific items they came out with - if we could afford it at the time. I really want to encourage them to keep producing more for Vegas. While these collections are OK, they are basically templates created with their other products. But they are a great starting point to create your own animations too.
We are purchasing volumes 2 & 3 this weekend - thanks to the $25 rebate and free shipping. We already own the #3 volume for after effects but again, we want to encourage more Vegas products, so we are buying it again for the more efficient platform. ;)
Oh, and BTW - you should get the 'PRO' versions as you can do much more editing with them.
Andrew
Andrew B
wrote on 9/19/2011, 2:23 PM
#4 is available for $99
Plus if you apply today's coupon code "DJWED2599" you get $25 off and free shipping.
Total cost - $74.95
If you buy, the last page of their ordering system has a place for coments. Be sure to thank them for supporting Vegas. They really do read those comments!
Andrew
Plus if you apply today's coupon code "DJWED2599" you get $25 off and free shipping.
Total cost - $74.95
If you buy, the last page of their ordering system has a place for coments. Be sure to thank them for supporting Vegas. They really do read those comments!
Andrew
Dach
wrote on 9/20/2011, 9:24 AM
I also picked up Vol. 3 with their intro price and coupon. Even though I didn't have the budget for it, the savings made it a no brainer, since I do have a few projects that can utilize the templates.
- Chad
- Chad
Laurence
wrote on 9/20/2011, 9:38 AM
I already had volume 1, and just ordered 2 through 4. I do a lot of local ads and one or two uses will justify the price. Be aware that the backgrounds are multi-layered videos with alpha layers. This means that you can color each layer to your heart's content, mute individual layers, replace the video and text placeholders, but can't customize the sections beyond that. I was hoping that some of the layers would be actual animations that I could modify, but they aren't.
Also, these are pretty demanding of your CPU. There are lots of .mov clips in the background with alpha layer transparencies, and you all know how Vegas is with Quicktime. I get around this by having 8 GB of RAM and using shift B a lot. Probably a non-issue for those of you with faster CPUs.
The old "pro" and "not pro" versions have been rolled into a single "pro" version. The difference was that the "non-pro" version had a single layer of background and thus individual layers couldn't be muted or color adjusted. Now the only version available is the version with lots of layers.
Also, these are pretty demanding of your CPU. There are lots of .mov clips in the background with alpha layer transparencies, and you all know how Vegas is with Quicktime. I get around this by having 8 GB of RAM and using shift B a lot. Probably a non-issue for those of you with faster CPUs.
The old "pro" and "not pro" versions have been rolled into a single "pro" version. The difference was that the "non-pro" version had a single layer of background and thus individual layers couldn't be muted or color adjusted. Now the only version available is the version with lots of layers.
Laurence
wrote on 9/21/2011, 6:39 PM
OK, they came in two days ago. This software takes an absolutely ridiculous amount of time to install. No kidding, I'm talking days, no exaggeration. The files must be compressed in some horrendously slow to decompress format. I'm still installing and I'm only half way through. I had to reinstall the first set because I did it to a USB drive. I assigned the USB drive to the letter "M" so it wouldn't keep changing drive letters. I have never seen an install that takes so long! I am part way through collection 3 and will probably be installing this until the weekend.
Tom Pauncz
wrote on 9/21/2011, 6:52 PM
Just received volume 4 - first of the R2Go products I own.
Impressed with the content. NOT impressed with the construction.
Seems each part is a separate .veg, so a template is made up of a series of nested veggies. Preview at BEST FULL is useless and my system is not a slouch.
To change anything, you need to edit the veggie and NOT the project template .veg.
A little cumbersome in my opinion, but the results looks smashing.
Tom
Impressed with the content. NOT impressed with the construction.
Seems each part is a separate .veg, so a template is made up of a series of nested veggies. Preview at BEST FULL is useless and my system is not a slouch.
To change anything, you need to edit the veggie and NOT the project template .veg.
A little cumbersome in my opinion, but the results looks smashing.
Tom