Imagine if these "change the UI with every release" people designed cars. You might walk into a showroom and find that the steering wheel was gone - steering was now controlled by a joystick, which also incidentally was throttle and brake. Turn signals, lights, and wipers? They're controlled by buttons you press with your feet. What about the other steering wheel controls recently added, like cruise control, infotainment controls, etc.? Oh, we removed those because they detracted from the new minimalist design... Anyone who thinks that the result would be anything but a huge uptick in accident rates would be kidding themselves.
I agree with all of the "Luddites" above. I want not one bit worth of displayed information removed from the interface, nor one single control. And I do not want the "click count" for any existing function to be any higher than it is now. And I do not want to spend one second looking for where anything has been moved.
If that makes for a complicated-looking, not "clean" interface, so be it. If you want a "clean scifi" look, go use Windows Movie Maker or My Little Pony's First Video Editor, maybe with an LCARS skin.
Or edit your videos on your iPad or your Android tablet, where the UI designers think that more area should be given over to whitespace than anything else, with giant, lightweight, poorly-contrasting fonts in second place.
But don't remove anything from the existing UI, and in the existing UI, don't waste precious pixels on prettiness or flash.
Don't make me hunt around the menus and toolbars for where things have been moved, either.
I think snazzy, latest-look (which today means "minimalist") UIs are fine for the casual user. But Vegas Pro is not aimed at them. It's a professional-level editing tool - it says so right on the label, but more, it has professional-level capabilities and is priced accordingly. Professionals are people who get paid for doing the work. They (we) are not anxious to move to a tool that uses the latest in what seems now to be called a "design language". They most especially don't care if their NLE matches the "design language" of their OS. What they care about is how fast they can get their work done. UI changes are speedbumps at best, obstacle courses at worst; nobody wants to spend time off the clock to deal with them. The more the existing UI and functionality are changed, the more likely professionals are to say "well, as long as I have to learn something new, I might as well look around at what else is out there."
In short, it's not about being a Luddite, it's about getting the work done as efficiently as possible.
(btw, I think anyone at Microsoft who has the term "design language" in their daily vocabulary should be summarily fired for what they did to Windows 8 and later. If the Office Ribbon was a speed bump, the Windows 8 Start Screen was a punji pit.)
If there are UI changes to be made, they should be in the direction of getting work done faster... but without changing what's on the screen now.
Personally I would like to see a re-think of the way Vegas picks "default directories", i.e. the directory path you see when you open an Open or Save As dialog; the current system hasn't changed, as far as I can tell, since Sound Forge 4 if not earlier, and it just doesn't do what is needed, unless you only ever work in the same directories for all time.
"My Little Pony's First Video Editor" - Classic! LOL 😂
I have edited my original message and taken out the reference to "Sci-Fi", so that it does not disturb anyone else.
All I can really say, is that I agree with the thoughts/feelings of the original poster of this thread.
It would be nice to have a small refresh of "the look and feel" of the Vegas Pro interface, something that remains clean and definitely does not hide controls in ridiculous places. A small design change to icons/controls would be nice, to give a newer look. Personally (and I am only speaking for myself of course), I would like to see a slightly darker coloured interface or the ability to select what shade of grey you prefer.
Whether anyone on this forum wants to believe it or not, the next generation of video editors on places like YouTube, overwhelmingly do not like the look of Vegas Pro and see it as a big turn off. I have had this comment thrown at me over and over again on my YT channel. Now I know as an adult that this is only a superficial comment, however there is some truth to it.
I am quietly confident that Magix will add a bit of magic to Vegas Pro and not go to far. Hopefully someone in the new Magix design team is from the land of the right brain and will push for some slight cosmetic changes, so that Vegas Pro does not lose any of it's Yin and Yang ☯
"Video editors on places like YouTube" are not looking for a near-thousand-dollar product. They're looking for free. They're not the market for Vegas Pro.
"Video editors on places like YouTube" are not looking for a near-thousand-dollar product. They're not the market for Vegas Pro.
Really? That sounds a bit arrogant to blow off content creators from YouTube like that. There are large numbers of Movie Studio users on YouTube who eventually upgrade to Vegas Pro, so they can gain more functionality. If they're not welcome, no wonder they switch to Premier Pro instead.
You may be surprised with just how smart and tech savy many YouTubers are today. Surely we want to foster and encourage the next generation of Professional Vegas Video Editors. We need content creators from all walks of life to enjoy using Vegas Pro and help Vegas to become more widely accepted again as a real option.
An open inclusive community is far more valuable than a closed exclusive club.
If you're posting on YouTube, unless you're one of a very, very few, you're giving your content away for free. I'm not saying YT creators aren't "smart" or "tech savvy", just that they're not very likely to spend the better part of a thousand dollars on a video editor when there are free tools that do everything they need. In other words, yes, Vegas Pro users are a fairly exclusive club, simply because of the price tag of the product (which is what pays for all the functionality). You want to make it less exclusive? Convince Magix to sell it for ninety-nine bucks. Or better yet, thirty bucks. And say good-bye to the functionality because it will be dumbed down to be friendly to the newcomers.
Great to be able to bearwitness to us not having lost any of our vitreol and passion for Vegas Pro, as a result of the transfer from SCS. This will be music to the ears of MAGIX.
Start slow... and please fix any existing problems with Vegas 13 first—like GPU acceleration that once worked on nVidia GTX cards but no longer does, then go to town on Vegas 14. If we like it, we'll buy it. Longtime users will probably respond best to keeping what's not broken and fixing what's broken and adding support for emerging formats. Vegas is one of the few programs that claimed would be fully compatible with Windows 10 Pro x64 and initially worked great but has since degraded in direct inverse with improvements that Win10 should bring.
Vegas Pro does not cost $1000 !
US $600 is the current retail price.
It's been on sale for the last 2 months for only $200.
When Sony had there promotions on, Movie Studio users could upgrade for $400-$500.
That is extremely affordable for anyone who is serious about what they do and there are many YouTubers who are serous about their ability to create great content - free or not.
Over the many years on YT that I have taught Movie Studio users, I have had 100's of students upgrade to Vegas Pro or swap to Premier Pro when they were ready to advance. I would like to see more people stay with Vegas, than abandon ship and go with the mob to Adobe. The end.
Shading things like scrollbars and edges to make them look 3D has really gone out of fashion, so I expect we'll see a "flattening" of the GUI, which will also make it look more like MAGIX' existing products.
I really hope they don't move things around for the sake of it, and that they keep the configurable position and size of all the windows.
I notice that MAGIX other NLE's GUIs have a blue tint (I verified this by sampling the colour). I really really hope Vegas stays with a totally neutral colour scheme (R, G and B all equal). A tinted colour scheme can't help but affect colour-correction and grading decisions.
Dr Zen... "the better part of $1000" means "more than half of $1000".
And if you want more people to stay with Vegas, then you don't want the UI to change.
I do agree that Vegas should get better at "default paths."
In both Outlook and now in Windows Live Mail, if I create a new folder, then go to move a post to a new folder, it assumes that I want to put it in that new folder I just created. I'd like Vegas to become smart like that.
For instance if I save a new Veg file, then later I go to render, Vegas could go straight to the folder in which I saved the veg, and it would only be one click to the "Renders" folder - it can currently be 8 or 9 clicks ...
From my receipt for upgrading from VP11 to VP13 Suite Ultimate:
1x Upgrade to Vegas Pro 13 Suite (Download) @ US$449.95
1x Titler Pro 4 (Download) @ US$99.00
Merchandise Total: US$548.95
Discount Total: US$200.00
That's respectable portion of $1000 just for upgrading.
Sony got greedier on upgrades during it's tenure with Vegas.
I've spent many thousands over the past 17 years on most of Sonic Foundry / Sony Creative and cross-promoted products and upgrades.
I'd like to see MAGIX offer a significant discount on the next upgrade for users who choose to remain, but I suspect a good number of us will also explore other options.
I'd like to see the GoPro Cineform codec included in the next version without the need to buy a GoPro camera.
If only GPU acceleration worked again in VP13... I'd be on the wagon for trying VP14... but just in case I'm reluctantly trying to get up to speed with working with Premiere.
lol. An LCARS skin... obscure but funny!
Perhaps they can have a youtuber/hello kitty interface and the 'classic' interface and let people choose in the app. What it ultimately comes down to is keeping the existing user base (that has bought many upgrades over the years) or try for a more mercurial (if not warez mentality) of a possible market increase of new users.
As I was curious in another post, how do we know those wanting change so badly are even vegas users? What is to keep detractors (or developers in disguise with an axe to grind) from advocating for a change that few actual Vegas users want?
As Vegas Pro is a tool for professional editors, the interface shouldn't change too much. It may be updated, but everthing must be found in more or less the same place. Otherwise editors will loose too much time and loose confidence.
Some small changes are possible : the ability to set a darker interface quickly (with grading this is important) would be a plus for instance...
Same goes for not quite pro editors!
-1 glovercover
@jeh
+10
The minimalist look of many new UIs are really about dumbing down the functionality of a program in order to cater to amateurs.
I love change too but where it really counts, not on cosmetics.
The user interface of Vegas, Acid and Sound Forge took decades to grow to where they are now.
All these minimalist UIs are the result of low-IQ marketing people having their say and not the result of it's users.
Just an observation
I post on YouTube. And I am an amateur (OK I might make a few quid here and there, but I mainly do it for the love of it)
Because I'm an amateur and don't make a living out of it, why does this mean I value my time any less than professionals? There's an argument that says I value it more because I have to find time within my leisure and family time to edit. The one signifcant difference is that my deadlines are self-imposed, rather than coming from a client.
I'm happy to pay for a professional product that works efficiently for me.
Editing-wise, I exist in an amateur world. Virtually all amateurs I know use professional products. Those who start with Movie Studio, Pinnacle, Premiere Elements, iMovie, rapidly move to Vegas Pro, Premiere CSx, FCPX.
Yes, these products are designed for professionals and there is some functionality that we amateurs may never touch, but I can assure you that we amateurs appreciate not dumbing down the interface every bit as much as people who make a living from editing.
So please do not suggest that because I make videos for free I expect to use free products. I value and am happy to pay for stability, efficiency and functionality.
For instance if I save a new Veg file, then later I go to render, Vegas could go straight to the folder in which I saved the veg, and it would only be one click to the "Renders" folder - it can currently be 8 or 9 clicks ...
Agree about cleverer paths but the suggestion above is exactly what I would not want. (I'd never render to the same folder as my veg file, but that's clearly the way you work)
I would like, on a per project basis, Vegas:
When looking for media in the explorer or "import" to remember the last folder from which I selected source video
When rendering, to remember the last folder to which I rendered.
When saving "As", to remember the folder to which I saved the current project (this last one is what happens at present)
Others might want a different setup, so perhaps this is why it's never been done.
I don't mind to see new User Interface updates, but maybe it would be also cool to save the old UI for users that don't want to migrate to new UI. Someone mention Office Ribon ui, something that was so wrong from my point of view, I wouldn't like to see some drastic UI changes.
What I like with Sony Vegas Pro, it is not complicated as Adobe Premier, I have both programs on my system, and some project I do faster and better on Sony Vegas, because it has simplicity, and on Adobe Premier I need to spend more time working on it.
Vegas works beautifully and everything is found where it should be..I'm happy with the current look. It gets the job done, FAST!
+1 Julius...
For instance if I save a new Veg file, then later I go to render, Vegas could go straight to the folder in which I saved the veg, and it would only be one click to the "Renders" folder - it can currently be 8 or 9 clicks ...
Agree about cleverer paths but the suggestion above is exactly what I would not want. (I'd never render to the same folder as my veg file, but that's clearly the way you work)
I would like, on a per project basis, Vegas:
When looking for media in the explorer or "import" to remember the last folder from which I selected source video
When rendering, to remember the last folder to which I rendered.
When saving "As", to remember the folder to which I saved the current project (this last one is what happens at present)
Others might want a different setup, so perhaps this is why it's never been done.
I don't think you two are in much disagreement, unless you'd be putting your "render" folder somewhere else than underneath the "veg" folder. In any case, PeterWright didn't say that the "veg save place" would be the only place to render. Rather that the first save of a veg would simply set the default for subsequent file ops in a new project. If you want to render to elsewhere, then the first time you render, simply nav to where you want that to go, and then that would be the default render path for that project.
With a little bit of programming you could even have default relative paths for all of these things. Say you create a new project and save the .veg. Maybe you set a "default render path" in the global settings to %vegpath%\render , then your "Render" dialog would follow that, and etc. for other paths. And YES! all this stuff should be saved with each project, so when you open a previous .veg, all of the last paths you used in that project would be restored. As it is, Vegas just assumes you want to keep using the last path you used in Vegas... even if it was in a different project, for opening or saving a different type of thing... and that is often just monumentally useless. (Thank goodness for "Recent places". Alas Windows 10 broke that... it's now "Frequent places". But you can have "recent places" back if you want it.)
I'd also like Vegas to have an option to automatically put a "version number" in the .veg file names, e.g. youroriginalvegname_0001.veg, ..._0002.veg, etc.... with no limit (veg files are tiny and modern HDs are huge). Of course I can do this myself with Save As, but I'll bet a LOT of people do that and it would help us if Vegas could do this automatically.
+1 jeh