I have tried all of the above and everything else I've read here to get V18 working nicely. But still importing media, selecting and dragging it, and previewing are stuttering. For general usability V18 has proven to be a downgrade not an upgrade from V15, and I am regretting it.

The media I am using has not changed from V15. It is out of the camera 4k 25fps mp4 files from a current lumix camera. If V18 really is processing these differently leading to these performance issues, then I think that is unacceptable from Magix.

Please have a look at the minimum specs for 4K in Vegas Pro 18:

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-pro/specifications/#productMenu

Maybe 16GB RAM is not enough these days for 4K unless you use proxies. I know that doesn't answer the question as to why 15 is okay but 18 is not so good for you.

I have tried all of the above and everything else I've read here to get V18 working nicely. But still importing media, selecting and dragging it, and previewing are stuttering. For general usability V18 has proven to be a downgrade not an upgrade from V15, and I am regretting it.

The media I am using has not changed from V15. It is out of the camera 4k 25fps mp4 files from a current lumix camera. If V18 really is processing these differently leading to these performance issues, then I think that is unacceptable from Magix.

Can you provide more info about these files? Are they 10 bit? Please use MediaInfo to answer.

You did a reset already?
You did the driver update?

Is your project set to 8 or 32 bit?
Please share a screenshot of the file i/o tab in preferences.

I don't think the ram is a problem. I edited 4K with 8GB ram with this Dell until I saved a bit of money and upgraded it to 32GB. I've also used GH4, GH5 and G85 4K files with it.

I just loaded a project I made in VP 15 with about 400 files, mostly Panasonic G85 24p UHD.

It took a while to load but once it did playback was fine. VP 18 is using hardware decoding (so4compound) for this media as expected. It plays back at full FPS at best/full. Adding a LUT drops it below 24fps, so reducing preview quality or creating a proxy file is recommended. This is better performance than I had with 15 as I noticed I had created proxy files for all of them (I deleted them before loading the project).

VEGAS 18 has higher system requirements than 15 did, and your system is not up to par for editing 4k. You need twice the RAM, twice the number of CPU cores, and your GPU only barely scrapes by the recommended specs. Your system needs an upgrade before you dive into 4K. 1080p, you should be fine.

I think I figured out what the difference is. It's that VP 15 automatically created proxy files for UHD media (that must be why my folder was full of them) and VP 18 does not.

Here's VP 15 preferences (I unchecked the proxies at some point):

Your system is adequate for native 4K AVC editing in my experience. Your GPU is also a generation better than the minimum requirement for VP 18, and is fine.

Stick to an 8-bit full project unless you are working with 10-bit files and must work in a 32-bit mode. In that case you probably want to right-click on media and "create proxy file."

If it's still sluggish, do the reset as I recommended above and the driver update. Feel free to share a sample file and I can test it on my XPS 9560 if it's different than the Panasonic UHD G85 files I mentioned I was using.

VEGAS 18 has higher system requirements than 15 did, and your system is not up to par for editing 4k. You need twice the RAM, twice the number of CPU cores, and your GPU only barely scrapes by the recommended specs. Your system needs an upgrade before you dive into 4K. 1080p, you should be fine.

Sorry I just can't believe the above. If it is true, then V18 is definitely not an upgrade for anyone currently using V15 as by the logic of your post above, it will be slower.

I have done all the things recommended here and elsewhere including upgrading drivers, doing a reset etc etc.

My V15 was not creating proxy files for UHD. In fact for everything being the same, V18 is slower to load and open the identical project media, and annoyingly sluggish to use during editing, with choppy preview in preview mode, all compared to the same project in V15.

I have to say that based on my experience, avoid upgrading from an older Vegas such as V15. As a Vegas user for some 10 years, this latest experience will lead probably me to look elsewhere.

@craneman
As I understand it (with my limited computer knowledge) - and I read a lot of posts here - the code of the software has been partly reprogrammed in the last versions, because many users have complained that the code often still comes from the early phase of Vegas and does not use the modern architecture of the current CPUs and GPUs.  

Now, of course, it could be that this is the reason why users with older PCs are the ones who suffer from this advanced software programming.  

That's just my guess - perhaps someone with more understanding and background knowledge than I can judge this better.

Hi @craneman,

Unfortunately, my experience has been the same as yours. Your system is superior to mine and I have to use proxies for UHD which I have no problem with. The issue is that with Vegas Pro 15 I could play a proxy clip, from a UHD source, with a LUT smoothly at HD resolution but with Vegas 18, I have to use quarter resolution (960x540) for the same clip. I found this issue bad enough to request a refund but Magix doesn't seem to be a company that responds to these anymore. I am fortunate to have Ignite Pro which works with 18 but it seems most like I will simply return to using Vegas Pro 15 in the future. I will continue to try anything that can improve playback performance on Vegas Pro 18.

@craneman If you're unable to automatically enable proxies for some of your 4k media, you can always do it manually by right-clicking on the clip in Project Media and choosing "Create Video Proxy". There are also add-ons like HOS that add more proxy options and functionality. You might also look into getting a memory upgrade to 32gb for your dell laptop... my Intel NUC only has only 4 cores but with 32gb ram it is quite adept editing, playing, and rendering 4k media with Vegas 18.

If you aren't aware, you can run 15 and 18 on the same machine.

While this won't get you your money back or magically make 18 work for you, it will allow you to recover the features you lost when you upgraded.

At the very least, you can continue to get work done with 15 while trying to find a workable path with 18.

@craneman You might also look into getting a memory upgrade to 32gb for your dell laptop... my Intel NUC only has only 4 cores but with 32gb ram it is quite adept editing, playing, and rendering 4k media with Vegas 18.

Thank you, but I think you are missing the point. I have "upgraded" my Vegas, and using now the same project and the same input media as I used for V15, the real life editing performance is worse. Rendering is a little quicker now, but editing is frustrating and laggy. If I wanted to upgrade hardware I would have gone a different direction, and I should not need to add RAM to get V18 to perform the same as V15.

If you aren't aware, you can run 15 and 18 on the same machine.

While this won't get you your money back or magically make 18 work for you, it will allow you to recover the features you lost when you upgraded.

At the very least, you can continue to get work done with 15 while trying to find a workable path with 18.

Thanks. Yes, I can continue with V15, but it seems V18 is slower at some basic loading and editing actions than V15. In no way can I consider V18 an "upgrade" over V15 because some basic functionality is slower, and I certainly would not recommend it to anyone using an older version of Vegas..

Do you want to share sample clips and a project? Doesn't have to be a real one you are working on- shoot a few clips of a cat or outside the window or something. I'd be happy to test it and see if we get similar playback performance as we have almost the same hardware (you have a faster GPU). I also have VP 15 and can compare that, too.

Do you want to share sample clips and a project?

Thanks but I don't think that will help. The issue is that on my computer V18 is slower than V15 doing the same simple editing and loading tasks with the same data.

I have watched the Task Manager and as an example even just clicking to move the position of the cursor on the time line is causing V18 to use the CPU intensely for 2 or 3 seconds, and I think this is what is causing the sluggish and irritating V18 performance.

It's a pity you don't accept the help of @RogerS.

"He who does not try has already lost".

It's a pity you don't accept the help of @RogerS.

"He who does not try has already lost".

As I have said, the issue is not the imported media or the projects I am running as these work fine on V15.

Even if they were the "problem", they will not be changed to suit this V18 so-called 'upgrade'.

Well then, what michael-harrison has suggested to you, is then your best solution!

Well then, what michael-harrison has suggested to you, is then your best solution!

I think that is the point. If the best 'solution' is to carry on using V15 then my upgrade to V18 is a fail!

I cannot recommend upgrading to V18 to other users based on my experience.

Freely according to the motto:
If I buy a new car and it doesn't get up to speed, then I continue to drive the old car, because I don't want to check whether the accelerator pedal is stuck, the injection nozzle is clogged or the fuel line is blocked.

Freely according to the motto:
If I buy a new car and it doesn't get up to speed, then I continue to drive the old car, because I don't want to check whether the accelerator pedal is stuck, the injection nozzle is clogged or the fuel line is blocked.

If I buy a new car and it does not work properly, I expect the maker to fix it!

Well, we are not the makers craneman, We cannot fix it for you! We are all equal end users just like you, trying to assist with the knowledge we have why Vegas Pro 18 works well for us..... So if you shoot down everything we suggest for you to try, then this thread is pointless and going nowhere.