Hack conversion of .veg (trial pro) to .vf

opaque1um wrote on 11/19/2010, 8:39 PM
OK, so I used the trial pro 9.0 to create a project and later found out that version 10 was coming out with features I wanted in the Studio version. One problem I encountered was that the project files are not advertised as compatible. That is probably true in most cases, but the project I created used only basic features found in both tools. I was told via support that this could not be converted, but as a developer I found this unacceptable so I looked into the raw format of the project files and tried a simple swap of some header bytes that worked. Here are the instructions, but please be forewarned that this is not supported by sony vegas.

This required use of a hex editor, so pick up a free one somewhere and apply the following changes:

1) first open both project files in separate editors and notice the following blocks:
a) block 0x00 - 0x0F (16 bytes) is the riff header, do not change.
b) block 0x10 - 0x17 (8 bytes) is the size of the project file
c) block 0x18 - 0x27 (16 bytes) appears to be the unique headers for the specific versions. This is where we'll focus on

2) Copy the 16 byte block from the .veg file into the same location in the .vf file.

3) Save as a .vf file

That's it. Sure, it's a hack and please make backups of your files before you start. Again, this will probably NOT work for more advanced pro projects!

(If this is removed from this forum, then I'll post to another popular video editing forum... just trying to be a part of the solution here folks!!!)
OP

Comments

Kimberly wrote on 11/19/2010, 11:05 PM
Very interesting!

I am converting from VMS 9.0 to Pro 10.0. In most cases I just open the VMS project and do a "save as" to a new file name.

But yesterday I needed something a little different. I opened both Pro 10.0 and VMS 9.0. In VMS I opened a project, highlighed all the events, and then pasted them into a new project in Pro. Everything came over, including the effects. So this is a simple way to convert from VMS to Pro. I didn't try the reverse, but I imagine it would work except for any featuers/formatting not found in VMS.

Good luck with either technique.

Kimberly
richard-amirault wrote on 11/20/2010, 4:22 AM
In VMS I opened a project, highlighed all the events, and then pasted them into a new project in Pro. Everything came over, including the effects. So this is a simple way to convert from VMS to Pro.

Totally unnecessary. There is no problem opening a VMS file in any version of Pro.

The problem comes if you save it (made changes or not) in Pro. AT THAT POINT you will no longer be able to open it again in VMS. You would need to "hack" it as in msg # 1

If you think you may need to go back to VMS to work on that file .. save it in Pro under a different name .. so, at least, you have your original file intact.

NOTE: this is also a "problem" when opening VMS files in newer version of VMS. Once a file is saved in the newer version you cannot open it again in the old version. Again .. if you think you may need to work on it in the older version ever again .. save it under a different name in the new version.
Kimberly wrote on 11/20/2010, 7:03 AM
True.

When I save up from VMS to Pro, I am doing "save as" with a new name so I can still open the old project in VMS. I only did the copy/paste because I had already started a project in Pro and wanted to throw in some stuff from another project.

The real challenge is remembering to do the "save as" just as soon as you open the project in Pro. Otherwise I tend to forget and just save, which would indeed require the hack if I want to go back to VMS : o
Tim L wrote on 11/20/2010, 8:03 AM
@opaque1um:
I haven't tried this, but just reading your instructions I think #2 is the opposite of what you mean:

-------------------------------------
1) first open both project files in separate editors and notice the following blocks:
a) block 0x00 - 0x0F (16 bytes) is the riff header, do not change.
b) block 0x10 - 0x17 (8 bytes) is the size of the project file
c) block 0x18 - 0x27 (16 bytes) appears to be the unique headers for the specific versions. This is where we'll focus on

2) Copy the 16 byte block from the .veg file into the same location in the .vf file.

3) Save as a .vf file
-------------------------------------

Wouldn't you want to copy the ID block from the .vf file and into the .veg file? (and then save the .veg file as a .vf)

The risk, of course, is if the .veg file contains attributes or features that VMS doesn't understand. Maybe it would crash or hang on loading, or maybe it would just ignore the bits it doesn't understand?

Chienworks wrote on 11/20/2010, 9:07 AM
Tim, i think you're right.
opaque1um wrote on 11/28/2010, 8:37 PM
Tim is right... sorry that was a typo. Glad somebody is paying attention!
nighting wrote on 10/22/2017, 2:55 PM

@opaque1um worked perfectly for me! Vegas Pro file from 2015 imported into Movie Studio 14 :)