Once I ate in a restaurant.

I got very sick from the food.

I never went back.

v

I ate in a restaurant once. The food was excellent, and I was permitted to fill not just my plate, but those of my family, too, all at no additional cost.

When the food wasn't quite as I expected, I may have had to wait a little for a waiter to attend, but when he did, he sorted the problem courteously.

Nice restaurant. I recommend it.

I went to a restaurant once. I paid for my food in advance on Friday, but then I was told I had to wait for my food until Monday to get to eat the food. Decent food, but terrible customer service.

Aw man, now I'm hungry.

kairosmatt

"I paid for my food in advance on Friday"

You paid without sampling first?!

... and a FREE sample, at that??

Let's face it. In today's world of ever-changing processors, systems and software, you download a free sample and try it out first.

If it works for you - you buy it.
If it doesn't - you pass.

I try a lot of crap every year, and occasionally find a gem.

A grillion years ago, I tried something called "Movie factory" or something like that. It was amazing, in what it could do compared to my $100k+ AVID media composer. I was asked to lecture about the transition from stills to video, and I recommeded this $99 software (with a free trial, BTW) to my audience.

Shortly thereafter, I began the journey from analog (BetaSP) to digital (Sony MiniDV - VX1000). The new technology blew me away! But my AVID wasn't really too friendly to the new medium. In checking back with the company (it wasn't with Sony, yet and I can't remember the name of it), they had a more "professional" software called Vegas v3.

I tried it - it worked - it didn't seem to crash any more than my AVID MC4000, and it was a straight digital workflow.

I've never looked back. I've done ALL of my professional work on Vegas, ever since. That's dozens of national commercials, about 20 or so high-end corporate films, and a multi-award winning documentary. Occasionally, I'd get stuck, but this web-site was as valuable to me as the software itself... right up to about two weeks ago, as I embarked on yet another "game changer" with my purchase of the Canon 5DMk2.

Vegas wouldn't load it. I asked right here. Within 20 minutes or so, I had a viable answer to my problem and cruised right on. I love the software. I love the geeks who design it. I love that it gets better every year. I love that it's updated when it ain't right the first time out of the box (HEY! Nothing that I've ever worked on with any degree of complexity is - including MS, Adobe or every other tool that we all rely on for our sustinence.) That's life in the fast lane.

Awww... I didn't mean to add to this rant - just got carried away, I guess.

If you don't like the software, write them a nice letter - maybe they'll send you a refund. If not - tough luck - crap happens. That's the reality in the new millenium. Most of us here are pretty happy with Vegas. And most of us use this forum to HELP each other, encourage each other, compare techniques and tools and basically advance ourselves as communicators.

If NONE of the above attempts to help you are working, I've written a nice book called, "Quit Whining - change it, leave it, or accept it - but shut the heck up!"

It's available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Quit-Whining-Victor-Milt/dp/1591098149/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261412305&sr=8-1

While it won't help you edit any better, it might help you live a more satisfying and successful life.

Most respectfully,
Victor Milt, DGA
www.VictorMilt.com

WOW - that was quite a post, Victor!
I want to frame this one. or maybe order the book, "FORMALIZED WHINING" - lol
It is reassuring that a person of your caliber do all your work in Vegas. Very reassuring. Vegas can do almost everything, I have eventually understood that. Myself I use After Effects for some special effects, apart from that - Vegas.
Thanks a lot for the post!
Ingvar

Exactly. I understand this may not be Adobe or Apple, and their budget is way smaller, but having a couple of employees at home check the support e-mail once per hour to see if there's a customer that cannot run their software because of the anti-piracy measures, and then run their serial and machine ID through the software that gives me the long activation code, that can't possibly cost them much, at worst one hour of overtime if it's a non-exempt employee, and those programmer positions are typically exempt, so it wouldn't even accrue any overtime.

Sebaz, its Monday and I hope you have resolved your problem with SCS. I can appreciate your frustration - like you I often work through the weekend and if I couldn't (re)install because I couldn't contact customer support I would be pretty frustrated. However, I have had exactly that kind of problem with Adobe, so SCS isn't alone in this practice.

I do believe SCS has a premium paid support but I'm not sure whether it provides 24/7 support.

While this may not have been the cause of your problem, I do know that Vegas will stop working if it is installed in excess of some number of times (10?) on what looks to it to be different hardware. I know this because a client changed out their HD and ran into the registration problem. I called SCS (during normal working hours thankfully) and explained the situation. The tech explained the install count strategy, and cheerfully gave me a new license number which reset the install count back to one.

Given that SCS is regularly closed for two or more days at a time, It would be better if we could get a temporary 5 day license through this support site, which would buy us enough time to continue working until they reopen.

Jerry

>>>
Oh, really? So I don't have the right to use the software that I paid for because I didn't purchase their support? Your reasoning is impeccable!<<<

You have every right to use it, but due to certain circumstances you'll have to wait a couple of days. If this were FCP and you called Apple, you'd wait not only this weekend but until the next weekend, and then they would tell you: "sorry call us next monday, we are closed for the weekend".

Through all the BS vanity of this thread, the FACT remains.

There is not the same amount of INSPIRED SOFTWARE that there used to be.

It is more like useless updates that create new bugs, cost more, and barely beta checked. This is now a theme with most software.

The thing that has changed is more customers are becoming aware to this FACT.

Please explain and describe in detail all of the useless Vegas updates. I'm curious.
JJK

I wish they would just make Vegas a webtop application.

Then most of the user equipment related issues would go away.

That's where Microsoft is heading, although in their case it's to prevent piracy.

It's been years since I've had activation fail with any SCS product and it was only due to a glitch in my ISP's network. I was still able to use the software though, I think you have 14 days from first use to activate before it locks you out.
Did you try simply ignoring the activation problem?


If all else were to fail and I had a looming deadline to meet from a PAYING client I'd just buy another licence.

Bob.

So it's Monday and I assume Sony support has been in the office since 9am central time -- did you get your license issue resolved and Vegas back up and running again?

I had an issue with VP9 today. I emailed support, and within an hour I was up and running again.

And on a Monday, too.

Plus, I'm in England.

That's superb service, in my opinion.

What TLF said.

Yes, great service. Can't complain.

"Quit Whining - change it, leave it, or accept it - but shut the heck up!" Vic, nice bitch slap....... and and little book promotion on top of it! ;-) And a smile too!

I feel like I'm talking to a wall. Why the hell would I do a restore when I already made very clear that the missing file is not missing anymore, and that my problem now, while it may have started from that missing file, is SCS's absolutely pathetic customer service??? And yet people keep posting, "do a system restore" and repeating the same thing over and over.

The reason to use a restore point is because when you go back to a point in time when the software was working - it will work again and you won't have to re-activate it. The missing file may be there now but you can't activate the software when you reinstall it - at least that is what I thought you wrote.

Uh, dude, you're going to PPro CS4 for stability? "Hello? White Star Line? Yes, my Holland America sailing was cancelled, I'd like to book a cabin on the Titanic. I hear it's fast and unsinkable."

A few things: first, when trouble-shooting, assume the software is doing something unexpected because something is out of place. Make only one change at a time (otherwise, how can you know what's working and what isn't). Yes, it's tedious.

Also bear in mind that troubleshooting is about finding stability and predictability. If you have a consistent problem, that's better than unpredictable results.

Finally, you choose any software because it is the best solution for you. Vegas is a pro piece of software chosen by professionals. This does not, however, work in reverse. Using pro software will not make YOU a pro, just like sleeping in a garage does not make you a car.

The fact that you upgraded your system and then reinstalled stuff at a critical point in your production timeline is kind of a bush league move. The axiom "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies, expecially in software/hardware. Professionals don't upgrade during the production cycle because, well, they're professional.

To wit (in my best Professor Farnsworth voice): "Good news everyone! I've completed my test period with a new ASUS P6T and i7 920 w/ Win7 x64 and VP9c - success! - and the 2.6 GHz can be comfortably overclocked to 3.2 Ghz without any, in my experience, stability issues. I'll be migrating over the holidays and will be editing merrily at high speed. ;-)

Amen to that

Uh, dude, you're going to PPro CS4 for stability? "Hello? White Star Line? Yes, my Holland America sailing was cancelled, I'd like to book a cabin on the Titanic. I hear it's fast and unsinkable."

Wow, I bet saying all that makes you feel sooo important. You sound like a professor! But it doesn't really have much to do with the motive of my rant, which is SCS going away for the weekend and not replying to emails of customers who have an activation problem. And when did I say that I upgraded my system and then reinstalled stuff at a critical point in my production timeline? If you would have taken the time to read my first post, I said that I couldn't open Vegas because of a file missing, and since the error said that reinstalling the app might solve the problem, that's what I did, and that's when I found that the activation bounced at the server. I never said that I had upgraded my system in the middle of a project.

Oh please...

Does anybody really care about this person, his words, what he thinks of vegas... or ANYTHING else he has to say.

If nobody adds to this then maybe Sebaz and this rather silly thread will sink out of sight..... where it all belongs.