Hello everyone,
We are happy to announce the release of VEGAS Pro 21 Build 300. This is a large update which includes phase 1 of our new Video Engine work, a new, more intuitive and accurate Smart Mask plugin, and a beta release of an exciting new workflow, Text-Based Editing.
Please be aware that project versioning was incremented for this update due to some fixes that resulted in compatibility issues with previews versions of VEGAS Pro. This means that projects saved with build 300 will not be able to be opened in earlier builds of VEGAS Pro 21.
Please post comments in the general thread for this update.
Below is a list of the features and changes associated with this release. You can see detailed information about how to use the new features for this update and all the other new features from previous updates of VEGAS Pro 21 from here.
New Features:
- AI Text-Based Editing (beta)
- You can use the Speech to Text features to create a transcript of your project video and then edit the transcript—for example, delete a section of text or cut and paste text, etc.—and VEGAS automatically edits the events on your timeline to match the edits you made in the transcript. The opposite is also possible. For instance, if you trim an event on the timeline, VEGAS Pro automatically edits the transcript to match. This workflow can greatly speed up your editing process. (Please provide feedback on this feature, so we can improve it for the full release in the future.)
- AI Smart Mask 2.0 plugin
- This plug-in uses AI to identify objects in your video and accurately mask them. You can create up to eight separate masks and apply tracking to them so that the masks follow along with objects in the video even if they’re moving. This can help you replace backgrounds without having shot in front of a green screen.
- AV1 GPU support
- Support for AV1 continues to grow in VEGAS Pro. With this step, AV1 decoding utilizes GPU decoding codecs on Nvidia and AMD hardware which supports AV1 decoding.
- New preferences to manage .sfk files
- Two new preferences enable you to manage newly created SFK files. The Hide new .sfk files preference flags newly created SFK files as hidden so that they honor your Windows Hidden Files settings. The Do not create .sfk files to store peak data preference prevents VEGAS from creating .sfk files.
- Optimized GPU processing for AVC & HEVC files
- VEGAS Pro now employs a newly optimized, more efficient pipeline for decoding more AVC & HEVC file subvariants. This results in much better timeline playback performance with higher, more consistent framerates for accurate previews.
- VEGAS Content media can now be added directly to the timeline
- In addition to the original Download button that enables you to download any VEGAS Content file to your local drive, two new buttons have been added. The Add to Project Media button enables you to download the file and add it directly into the Project Media list of your currently open project. The Insert on Timeline button also downloads the file and adds it to your Project Media list, but in addition, it adds it to the timeline of your currently open project where you can instantly begin to edit it. The download buttons now also use a default file type for a faster workflow. Finally, a new audio homepage has been added to help you find the audio content you’re looking for even faster.
- New menu option to allow user to download the VEGAS user manual for offline help reference
- This menu option enables you to download the user manual so that you can access it even when you do not have an active internet connection. You can also then easily print all or part of the document if you need a hard copy of the help content.
- Media Share
- This window consolidates the Quick Upload and File Drop operations of previous versions of the VEGAS Hub Explorer into one central location. You can create a new Media Share collection and upload files to it by dragging files into it or scanning a QR code with your mobile device camera. You can create links that enable collaborators to view files you’ve uploaded, invite them to upload their own files, and manage your existing upload/download activity from this window.
- VEGAS Hub features for perpetual users
- VEGAS Hub features are no longer exclusive to subscription customers. Perpetual users can now enjoy the benefits of Text to Speech and Speech to Text, VEGAS Content downloads, Media Share, and so on.
- HEIC/HEIF support
- VEGAS Pro now contains a native HEIC/HEIF decoder which allows you to add your HEIC/HEIF files shot on your mobile device to the VEGAS Pro timeline and edit them along with any other video format.
Improvements and Bug fixes:
- The Normal Edit tool in Mask mode of the Pan/Crop window now uses the correct cursor icon
- Picture-in-Picture interacts are now correct upon initialization when in Free Form mode
- Eliminated a loud burst of static noise that could occur when decoding some file formats
- Motion tracking in the Smart Mask renderer now works as expected
- A rendered Smart Mask now accurately matches what you saw in preview
- Fixed a problem where objects remained highlighted in Smart Mask even when they were not selected
- The Smart Mask Transparency checkbox now properly remembers its checked state when you close and reopen the Smart Mask UI
- Fixed a crash that could occur when using Smart Mask
- Fixed issue with reading MKV files
- All VSTs now properly appear in the VST Effects tab of the Preferences dialog box
- Fixed an issue that could cause significant performance problems with some VST effects
- VST plug-ins applied at the track level no longer completely redraw after an undo/redo operation
- VST plug-in automation UI now properly updates after an undo/redo operation
- Renamed mxhevcplug plugin mxcompoundplug
- Color Grading panel is now properly reset when a new project is created
- Intra-4k-PCM files now play correctly
- Fixed sizing problems with the Color Grading panel
- Improvements and fixes for Adjustment Events
- Fixes for multiple GPU setups
- Fix crash which occurred when initializing some browser based windows
- Bottleneck causing performance problems for WAVES plugins has been resolved
- Default to route AVC decoding through the mxhevcplug decoder to fix some issues with that format
- Fixed crash which may occur on exist if project is not saved
- Fixed crash which may occur when reading audio data
- Video FX now route properly to the new online help system
- XAVC media is now decoded through the mxcompoundplug by default
- Improvements to the OFX Interact Suite (for third party video plugins)
- Fixed Crash with the Slow Motion plugin
- Mask creation with Smart Mask now works correctly
- Removed blacklisting of some file formats to avoid So4CompoundPlug has been deactivate as files work properly now with the mxcompoundplug
- Problem with media information not displaying properly in the Open dialog for specific media times has been resolved
- Resolved some performance reduction that may occur when repeatedly opening and closing the color grading panel
- VEGAS now properly reads media with HE-AAC SBR audio
- Smart mask tracking now works properly when Reduce Points has a value greater than 0.00
- Fixed problem where the audio streams from AVC media with formats other than AAC were not read properly
- Render statistics are now displayed properly for AV1
- New shortcut added for bypassing preview zoom
- Separated out update notifications from general NewsFeed preferences
- Added an option to the Taskbar jump list that resets the user preferences
- Fixed crash which could occur on application exit
- Repeatedly opening and closing the Color Grading Panel no longer affects performance
- Missing controls in audio tools are visible again
- Improvements for handling of iZotope RX VST plugins
- AVI media with JPEG video stream is now read properly
- Fixed an issue where some video decoders where not being closed properly
- Updated to most recent BlackMagic RAW SDK for expanded support for BMRAW files
- The Render As dialog and the Render Progress dialogs now open in a more efficient manner
- Fixed a problem in the Edit | Editing Tool menu where the proper tools are not displayed as selected
- Ctrl+Shift+G now properly selects the value in the Selection End field
- VEGAS Pro now properly displays the FPS in the Render Progress dialog for ProRes encoding
- Fixed problems for machines that have older, incompatible versions of the OpenCL library installed on them
- Fixed various issues with the Credit Roll media generator
- Smart Mask now works properly with 32 bit projects
- Improved load speed for some MXF files
- Fixed an issue that caused a VST scanner warning to mistakenly appear
- Color Grading panel properly releases resources when changing event selection
- Fixed crash which may occur when using the GL Transition plugin on machines with an incompatible GPU
- Improved the time it takes to open large projects with MXF files
- Fixed a problem that sometimes caused an extended white-out screen to occur upon UI initialization at startup
- Fixed a crash that could occur when using the Motion Tracking window
- Sony FS7 MXF import now works as expected
- Media with AC3 audio is now loaded correctly after an initial launch of VEGAS that follows a system reset
- Project settings no longer become corrupted after navigating to the Advanced tab in the Project Properties dialog
- Fixed a crash which could occur when rendering a project that uses Mocha
- VEGAS Pro now properly cleans up scripting data which could cause a crash
- Improved general performance of playback of MXF files
- Fixed scaling issues with 32 bit VST plugins
- Fixed problem where error message displayed when the Welcome Screen opened and one of the recent project files is not found
- Preference File I/O tab now displays all the controls properly in all languages
- Improve GPU memory handling for BRAW decoding
- Fixed problems with MP4 and MKV HEVC media with AC-3 audio
- Fixed a problem with Nested Timelines that could result in black frames on output
- Improved performance of 32-bit VST plugins
- Fixed alignment of controls in the preferences dialog for French and Japanese languages
- Fixed a crash which could occur when opening the Customize Keyboard dialog
- Removed a memory leak in some legacy File I/O plugins
- VEGAS Pro installer now properly prompts user for a reboot if needed when installing from the update service
- Some EXR files which VEGAS previously was unable to import now are supported
- Fixed a hang which could occur when using Credit Roll at the same time as some VST plugins
- Fixed crash which could occur when dragging a point in the Color Grading panel’s Color Curves
- Renders of less than 11 frames no longer add bad frames
- Improved metadata reading for some media formats
- Fixed crash which could occur when switching between projects that use the Upscale plugin
- Opening Help via the F1 button no longer opens multiple tabs in the user's browser
Known issues:
- Blue and Red colors may be swapped in VEGAS Effects and HitFilm when using recent AMD Adrenalin drivers. It is recommended to revert the driver to version 23.7.2 to avoid this problem \
- Project versioning has been incremented. This means that you will not be able to open project files created or saved with this build (and later builds) with older builds of VEGAS Pro 21 or VEGAS Pro 20 or earlier
You may download this update via the auto-update feature or directly from the links below:
Thank you and warmest regards,
The VEGAS Creative Software Team