In Retrospect

rextilleon wrote on 4/21/2004, 9:58 AM
After a couple of days of thinking about it, I guess I understand what Vegas is (and I thought it was an NLE) Vegas is an AV tool--not an audio tool and not a video tool and the development cycle seems to confirm that. Unfortunately, I don't have A-V needs. I do documentary and most of my work involves shooting lots of footage and then cobbling it together into a story. I have little need for sophisticated audio control or video compositing etc

In retrospect, I think that Sonic/Sony's marketing strategy is very interesting and might turn out to be very successful. I think that what happened with version 5.0 is that much noise was made about the lack of new audio features in version 4.0 and thus, the developers seemed to have focused more on that end of the equation in the latest release. My problem is that I have been waiting for several very basic features that never seemed to get addressed. For the near term, I will continue to use Vegas fully understanding that it might not evolve into what I want it to be.

By the way, when looking at some of the other major players out there, it seems that most of them are going to the all in one AV solution, however there is one major difference. It appears as if they offer their audio, compositing, authoring units as seperate modules. Sony seems to be attempting to integrate it all into one. Which makes me think---Why not combine Vegas in its audio clothes with Sound Forge and make a kick ass audio module that is only an audio module. Then you could develop both seperately and please all parties. Just some thoughts.

Comments

BrianStanding wrote on 4/21/2004, 10:06 AM
Sonic Foundry did that when Vegas first came out. There was a Vegas Audio and a Vegas Video. They eventually combined them, since the two applications were virtually identical.

I could see Sony going the other way and combining Vegas, Sound Forge and Acid into one giant uber-app. There's barely a hair's breadth of difference between them now, anyway.
Nat wrote on 4/21/2004, 10:11 AM
Sound forge serves a different purpose.
I personnally don't want to see sound forge integrated to vegas.
Vegas (on the audio side) is a multitracking program. Sound Forge is a mastering tool. Very different approches
BrianStanding wrote on 4/21/2004, 10:14 AM
How 'bout Vegas and Acid?
hugoharris wrote on 4/21/2004, 10:38 AM
My projects generally involve a lot of songwriting for video using virtual instruments (eg GPO, VSTi like Steinberg Hypersonic, etc...). As it is now, I have to finalize my video (more or less), render out a reference file, import it into my DAW, and then complete my sound design. I know I am probably in the minority here, but if Sony would add MIDI and VST/VSTi/Rewire support to Vegas, they would effectively create my dream application. Then I could dump Cubase SX (and their brutal customer support) for good.

Kevin.
Rednroll wrote on 4/21/2004, 11:04 AM
I'm working on writing a post, to give everyone a little history on Vegas, a little trip down memory lane for me and could probably give everyone a little insight on how the confusion of NLE vs DAW came into play. I'ld just like to point out though, I'm not familiar with what Vegas has and doesn't have compared to every other Video NLE out there, but I am very familiar with what Vegas has and doesn't have on the audio side, and this release has definately narrowed the gap, which benefits everyone. I also understand the frustration of not getting a feature, that you think is eccential to a pro app, we've lived this on the audio side for the past 2 versions and have been cursing the video features that got in there in their place.
TorS wrote on 4/21/2004, 11:14 AM
MIDI in Vegas is very unlikely. Peter Haller told me so years ago and since then they've started adding MIDI to Acid, making the possibility of it appearing in Vegas even smaller.
Tor
Rednroll wrote on 4/21/2004, 11:25 AM
Tors,
That was then, and this is now. I actually think, midi in Acid is more appropriate, and it could use some improvements on the Acid side. The gap has narrowed a bit between Vegas and Acid, and also a lot of Vegas users are looking for midi functionality. Also Peter and myself have had some midi functionality discussions recently, and Peter's viewpoint now is that Vegas could be a little more musical friendly. I would consider the possibility closer than you think.
hugoharris wrote on 4/21/2004, 12:11 PM
I'm a recent convert to video, and I can tell you, many people would welcome an app that can synthesize advanced DAW functions (a la Sonar, Cubase, Logic) with the Vegas video tools. There is a real marriage going on between electronic music and video production, and as far as I know, there isn't a single software package that can handle both video and audio (in this sense) well. I say again, if Sony added MIDI/Rewire and virtual instrument support, many people would migrate from other DAW's due to the awesome video features in Vegas. Not to mention the fact that Vegas is the most stable piece of software I have ever owned (no kidding), encompassing 20 years of computer-fiddling-cursing-crying.

Imagine - edit your video while writing a string part with Garritan Personal Orchestra. Trim the video...edit the string part at the same time. Add a bass part with Spectrasonics Trilogy. Dump in some sound effects with a virtual sampler such as Kontakt, or (thorugh Rewire) Gigastudio. Place everything in a surround field. Pop in a drum loop in ACID or Rex format, tweak the video and audio here and there, and voila!

Dare to dream!

Kevin.