Because of new features added with new versions, the projects have very seldom been backward compatible. You might try exporting in some of the other formats and see if they work.

As per RogerS' comment, copy/paste is really the only option there is to bring a Vegas Pro .veg file back into an earlier version (other than VP12 and VP11 as far as I can recall because there was little difference between those 2 versions - maybe it was 13/12?).

Anyway, it's easier enough to do. In the later VP version, just Ctrl+A (copy all) on the timeline and then Ctrl-V (paste) in the older version of VP. The only considerations are that the track header FX needs to be manually set in the 'lower' VP version as per the 'higher' VP version; and that the 'lower' VP version has all the same audio/video FX as is in the 'higher' VP version.

Project Files from v19 can't be opened by v18 (or in general, lower versions of VP can't open project files from newer versions).

I work with a number of different editors who have older versions of VP (ranging from 15 upwards). So how can I make sure that the project file I'm working on can be edited by someone with a lower version of VP?

Just for edits (no Fx, settings etc) there's no need for a project file. You can export your project as an EDL text file which can be also imported by lower versions of Vegas.

Example:Export from VP19 and import into VP17

OK, it's obvious now that there is no solution. How do I submit this as a feature request?

With so many different versions in circulation nowadays (usually from about v15 to v19), it's actually impossible for me to collaborate on projects with anyone else. I seem to be the only person in our extended group that has Vegas 365, and therefore v19. I have another computer with a v17 license, but when I bring in a freelancer to help with a project, I have to give up my computer coz the project files don't open on that computer. Same when I sent the files to a professional editor to treat some audio for me using a product that I don't have a license for. I also have extra Steam licenses and many of the other freelancers have these too.

And I wouldn't class myself as a heavy, pro or power user. And yet already I'm completely stuck. If there's any chance that I might have to collaborate with someone else, I may have to downgrade my version of VP to v15 or v17. What's the point of upgrading or buying a subscription in this case?

I don't know any NLE than can import project files from other versions of that NLE. I think that's already an advantage that Vegas can open project files made by earlier versions.

When there's a real need to edit projects in collaboration with others, than at least all should have the same Vegas version. I think this is obvious for every collaboration using PC software.

gary-o, that is not something for a feature request, as 3POINT pointed out above, that's how it is all across the board for all Editing tools. If there is a need for collaboration, the norm and best solution is for all to be using the same version..... Software developers has a reason why this is done!

I don't know about other NLEs, but what's so difficult about saving a project as a v15 or v17 project file, say? Sure, some features might not be available in a downgraded version, but at least it can shared/exported to others with different versions. Just display a message to that effect (and link to an article that explains what features are NOT available in each of the project file versions).

There was a converter that switched project files interchangeably between several versions, but I don't think it's current anymore - or doesn't go beyond v18 or something. Surely, a similar solution could be implemented seamlessly into the current versions of VP? Or perhaps just a separate utility, but provided directly by Magix, rather than a 3rd party, in order to keep it up to date...

First, Magix has nothing to do with providing a utility...that would be the same as a 3rd party providing it. We at VEGAS Creative Software would need to provide it, however it is not quite a straightforward as you would hope it would be. The primary reason? Well, it's not straight forward because of the fact that much of the project file is a pure binary dump as opposed to something more modern like XML or JSON. We have other reasons that we have not provided this as well...but simply put, we do not intend to do any work to make current project file versions readable in older versions of VEGAS Pro in the near future. The effort would likely take 2 or 3 engineers several months to do, and with a team as small as ours, that is really quite a lot to ask.

...which brings us back to what @3POINT wrote above, export as an EDL.....

Well, that's disappointing. There's obviously no proper solution. Copying timelines or EDLs is pointless because you can't bring the modifications back into the timeline in the same way without losing all the fine edits (and FX and envelopes, etc.)

Derek, I also understand that there's no commercial incentive to support backwards compatibility - it's more lucrative to force everyone to upgrade to the latest version and not settle comfortably with a previous (and often more stable) version.

Saying that, this is how I encountered the problem in the first place - all the freelance studios that I work with (and I contacted several others to help me with different aspects of my projects) have all told me that they've standardised on V17 primarily to be able to share project files amongst themselves. It's not even a price issue, because one studio that edits movies for Netflix even has told me the same thing.

That means I have to standardise on V17 too, I suppose, if I ever anticipate having to collaborate with others. Trouble is that I switched to Vegas 365 after I bought V15.

So my new question is how do I download and install V17? I already uninstalled V17 and V18 on my computer when I upgraded recently. Is it possible to run both versions on my computer with the 365 subscription model?

I've been discussing this problem with a couple of the studios - one solution is simply to get a one-month subscription for $20 as and when any collaborative work is required. The other is to buy a standalone license of V17 (which is currently available here in Thailand for about €55).

There's yet another solution that's been proposed, and that is to dedicate an old laptop (mine is already quite old) and use that as the "collaboration" computer, simply resetting Windows and downloading the trial version of Vegas Pro each time I need someone to work on any of my projects - and then just set up a shared folder for all the project and media files so the other (expensive) tools (like RX Advanced) can access them on the network.

It's all a bit fiddly and unsatisfactory.

Is there anyone else who does collaborative work? Any other ideas or suggestions?

If I understand correctly, 365 is not forcing you to use the most recent version only. While your subscription is active you can use any version you have had installed.

If you already uninstalled older version, you can download standalone installer, install and activate it again.

@fifonik, thanks but that's why I'm asking the community: the installer doesn't have any option to select a previous version. I've tried already. How does go about doing so?

Not sure what do you mean.

From the link provided you should be able download exact build of exact version. Do not use download manager, Ctrl+F/read to "VEGAS Pro 18.0 direct links", "VEGAS Pro 17.0 direct links" etc.

You can also go to the News forum of this web-site, navigate to version announcement post and download installer using link provided

Example: VEGAS Pro 17 Update 6 (build 455)

@fifonik "do not use download manager" - thank you

@gary-o,

...it's more lucrative to force everyone to upgrade to the latest version and not settle comfortably with a previous (and often more stable) version.

I wish I didn't have to say it, but such cynical reasoning does not factor into our decision to release new versions, nor our inability to provide backward compatibility.

If you have registered a serial number for VEGAS Pro 17, you can log into your MAGIX account page to find your registered serial number and a download link.

You can keep that version around forever (or at least for as long as the operating system and hardware supports it) and run it concurrently with any other version of VEGAS Pro, so collaboration should be a non issue for you.

I don't know of an official way to do this. If you have both copies installed on the same computer you can copy and paste the timeline into the older version of Vegas.

Thank you @RogerS and @Dexcon for this. I'm tearing my hair out (and wasting a lot of time) with v19 crashes, while v18 is totally stable on the same system. I was dreading having to rebuild a project from scratch, so this simple suggestion saved hours.

I don't know of an official way to do this. If you have both copies installed on the same computer you can copy and paste the timeline into the older version of Vegas.

This could be a decent workaround solution, thank you. Does everything get copied across, including event or track FX, volume/transparency control, pan/crop, envelopes, etc.? Or just the events assembled in the same edit list on their respective tracks?

And I'm wondering if one has to match up the various settings like autofades for overlaps (or not) or switch off ripple on the timeline.