However, at the moment, we're pretty busy developing and testing the tools of your trade. ;-)

Since we're all anxiously awaiting the release of Pro 9.0d, we're very happy (at least I am!!) to hear you say that :-)

Mike

Yeah, I had to correct that. It's only not there in the threaded view.

Thanks Kelly.

Bring back the "Ignore User" option and there should be no more problems!
How hard can the be?

Terry

"It was brutal, Tom. They're still trying to get the stains out of the drywall."

D, you made my day with that! Just to funny.

Terry

thanks scs.

nice to know you're listening.....

Thanks SCS and keep working on building a better SCS product world! ;-)


"the user should be tagged as "Timeout" instead of "Suspended". At least it's a little more positive.)" nice touch, rmack350! ;-) with that and the "Ignore User" button would "ease" some issues. But I think a "Zap User" button would be more useful and fun, especially for the random "I love Apple and FCP" diddle some posters push into any subject.

As a switcher from Final Cut Pro to Vegas, I have learned a lot from this forum. However, the amount of web based information, especially how to’s, is still easier to Google for Final Cut Pro. My next hardware upgrade is pending. The price cut for Final Cut Pro has put it back into my thinking. If this forums goes away, so do I. I need the experienced help that is found here until I become more proficient in Vegas Pro.

I watched the emergence of the newbie in question and admonished him to obey simple netiquette in this forum very early on. This simple admonishment was ignored. It may be that this forum needs user based moderators because this problem was long time forming and could have been nipped in the bud (so to speak).

Thank you to the experienced Vegas Pro users who have helped me so much. If this forum goes away, I will miss you as I resume my struggle with all the things that always drove me crazy in Final Cut Pro.

POV From Neither a Newbie nor a Pro

As someone who joined as newbie in 2006 (I think)...
As someone who has been on the Net since 1997 and has some moderator experience...
And who's been albeit absent from here more or less during the last year...

I wasn't witness to what happened recently,
I just read the long postings on it.

But my overall impression over the years mirrors that of others:

Compared to many online communities, this forum has been overwhelmingly civil with some rare occasional hiccups.

Last but not least from a purely selfish point of view, as I have put it...

This is "Vegas (& Editing) University" for me. While I've but scratched the surface compared to most of you, I've learned so much here it's kind of mind boggling to me.

And as in life, civility is simply win-win common sense.
IMO.

When I recommend Vegas or Vegas Movie Studio , one of the points I make is the quality of this forum. I would be much less likely to make such recommendations if this forum ceased to exist.

RalphM

A friend of mine just purchased Vegas Movie Studio with the intent to probably move up later to the full Vegas. She based her purchase on both my recommendation as well as the quality of these forums (she checked them out before her purchase). In many ways, the people here are the best advertising for Sony.

mikey

Could we do that? That'd be great.

I like the idea of sending someone a "howler" like in the Harry Potter books.

Ah, we can dream.

It may be that this forum needs user based moderators because this problem was long time forming and could have been nipped in the bud

I don't think anyone at SCS wants to put money into a forum if they don't have to, but a thumbs-up/down voting system with timeouts after, say, a hundred individual "down" votes might help. Then it becomes self regulating while still requiring a lot of people to vote. (no double voting in a certain period)

Better yet? no voting and everyone just maintains their usual sweet dispositions on their own.

Rob

Yes, we are listening. We closely monitor these forums to keep things running smoothly. In general, however, we will not respond to technical issues and feature requests publicly, for myriad reasons (legal, marketing, etc.). But the main reason is that this is a user forum, first and foremost. In order to provide you with the best possible customer service, we ask that you submit technical issues and feature requests through the appropriate portal. This gets you in contact with the right people to address your issue or question.

My observation has been that Sony hardly ever responds to technical questions in the Vegas Pro forum, but does frequently respond to technical questions in the Acid and Pro Audio forums. For example, SonyPCH (Peter Haller) had about 20 posts in the last 30 days in the Acid forum. As of now he has a total of 4799 posts. It would be really helpful to get the same attention here in the Vegas forum. It seems an appropriate way to handle the more routine technical issues, especially when we customers are bantering back and forth trying to guess what is going on behind the Vegas "curtain".

The technical support portal is definitely appropriate for the more complex technical issues, especially the ones where supporting vegs and/or media is required. But if only one customer benefits from the SCS response, this seems very inefficient.

I think the technical support portal would serve SCS and their customers better if:

1. Technical support resolutions were posted to the knowledgebase near real time, and...

2. There was an effective knowledgebase search capability along the lines of the one Microsoft provides, and...

3. The topmost sticky in the forum was a direct link to the knowledgebase search engine.

Longer term, it would be helpful to integrate knowledgebase and user comments into the online help as Adobe has done with their Creative Suite products.

Jerry

MS's knowledge base is horrible... ever try looking for a specific error message? Seems everything pops up. :p i've also dealt with support (not MS, Ms in general has good support) where there was nothing in the knowledge base & sent a support ticket, they told me to search the knowledge base. After I said there was nothing there, they said search it again!

But I agree about sony posting: One service I use & am a moderator on their forums does this: if you post a tech question & it's beyond a simple (as in follow the instructions) fix, they say "file a support ticket". Works really well! You at least know they're still there & reading.

>MS's knowledge base is horrible... ever try looking for a specific error message? Seems everything pops up

Learn more about keyword searches of MS Knowledgebase here. For example, "kberrmsg" is the keyword for querying against error messages.

Jerry

1. MS's knowledge base is horrible... ever try looking for a specific error message?

No problem. Really.

How?

Just use Google to do a site-specific search for the error message.

I see the same problem on many other sites too, where the built-in site search is abysmal.

2. Re Sony's staff participation in these forums: I think they have stated before that there a few staffers who do participate as volunteers, in their unpaid spare time.

To go beyond that would require a change in policy.

3. I agree that this forum is one of Vegas' greatest assets.

It fills a very important function in disseminating "real life how-to" information that is missing from the "what happens when you push this button" manuals that all NLEs seem to suffer with.

Avid's forums are not that great, but the assumption is that most new users will take the 4-day Avid 101 training (which is really good).

FCP has many forums, of mixed quality, and some professional blogs that most correspond to the quallity of information in this Vegas forum. Apple has also published a very wide-ranging and free Workflow help file that is focused on what you want to do as opposed to what each button does. And the wide range of APTS (Apple Professional Training Series) books with companion media DVDs are simply outstanding. They don't just teach what to do, they teach how to do it right.

The workflow-focused free information is something that Vegas should offer also, although it could be argued that Spot's and other's books and DVD training programs take up the slack here (at a price).

Anyway, I am saddened to see the suffering of so many working professionals who learned their NLEs only by playing with the software and slowly figuring out what worked for them.

It often takes them 3-10 times as long to do more complex work, compared to someone who invested the time and money in upfront training, learning how to do each task in the most efficient way.

The 4-day Avid MC101 training is $1295.00, and a 3-day FCP 101 training is $600-$800.

These courses teach the basics. Surely you can learn that on your own, right?

Yes, you surely can.

But when things get hectic, you'll deeply regret no having learned how to do the basics properly, as you may be going through four or five steps to do what the properly trained can do in one step.

"... We truly appreciate the contributions everyone has made to this forum and look forward to its continuing success, and for this, we rely on your cooperation. Thank you...."

But,,,, John Cline? He is one of Sony Vegas' most informed and generous forum users there ever was. Why would you terminate someone that valuable to this forum just because a troll sucker punched him?

He's not terminated Steve, just suspended - in fact I see Bud has returned from the sin bin ... hopefully we'll hear from John before too long ....

Apparently my suspension is up, but that doesn't mean I'm back.

John, it's good this sad event is over......... let's hope you can shake this off and move on. I think the majority of the forum members support you and you are definitely needed on this forum.... period. If you leave, think of the newbies that will miss your input.

"Why would you terminate someone that valuable to this forum just because a troll sucker punched him?"

Nobody "sucker punched" anybody. In fact that has to be about the silliest thing I have heard yet. We all make choices in life. Some of them good and some bad. John ACTIVELY CHOSE to demean some one on this board. John made that decision all by himself, and he paid the price. If you get pulled over for speeding for what ever reason, it's not the cop's fault for pulling you over... it's yours for speeding in the first place. Yet amazingly enough there are people out there who lack the ability to take responsibility for there own actions.... and blame the cop anyway.

I don't know why but people seem to believe that if you've been here a long time, or you happen to be knowledgeable of the subject at hand, then the rules should be different. Sorry, they are not.... and rightfully so. Sony will put up with a lot of things on this board.... OT topics, talk of competitive products... etc. But it is clear that the one thing they will not put up with (from ANYONE) is one person demeaning another and I fully agree with that. There is no reason for it. If you don't like what has been posted then you can always CHOOSE not to read or respond.

It's quite clear that John disagrees with Bud in many respects, so the question I have to ask is why John was reading (and responding to) Bud's comments in the first place. THAT'S how it all started.

I had hoped that the various posts from the Forum Adminnistrator and others had helped us to put this unfortunate incident behind us. and there seems to be little point in trawling over the why's and wherefore's yet again. Let us just welcome the end of the conflict.

For my part I welcome John Cline back as I have valued the contributions and assistance he has so freely offered over the years and do hope that, although he may be feeling bruised, he will feel ready to resume his important role in this forum.

Richard