Sony Tech Support (or lack thereof)

Gujjuguy wrote on 11/13/2011, 11:09 AM
I am posting this in frustration after spending like a week’s effort (40 + hours) on Vegas Pro 11.

It does not work on my machine (Win 7 - 64 bit, 6 GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5870 with the latest Catalyst 11.10 driver set). Vegas Pro starts crashing as soon as I use any of the Video Fx and then stops rendering videos to .mp4 format.

I have been posting requests to Sony’s Online Tech support but so far have not received any response. I am thinking of purchasing their phone support. The challenge is they support only 9 to 5 during weekdays. I am using VP 11 for personal use, more of a hobby and need to sort this out either during late hours or weekends.

So far, I have done close to 6 factory resets of my computer, and have exhausted all the forums, New Blue Fx team support, the knowledge base and so on.

Any suggestions of a cost effective solution on how to solve or get support. I am feeling very frustrated after upgrading from Vegas Movie Studio 11 to Vegas Pro 11 and not being able to use it at all.

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 11/13/2011, 11:36 AM
What Effects and Plugins specifically are on the timeline when you experience a problem? What is meant by "crashing?" Is it an error message, does Vegas shut down, do you experience a system error or computer shutdown?

If you remove all effects from the timeline, are you able to edit and render normally?

Did you see this post from SonyForumAdmin?
" If you have the NewBlue Titler build 111013 installed, please update to 111024 as it can cause some DLL loading failures depending on lazy init order."

The more specific you can be, the more likely some of your peers will be able to help.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 11/13/2011, 1:29 PM
It seems to take ~a month for a response from support. I think you get some free phone support when you upgrade, can anyone else confirm?
Gujjuguy wrote on 11/13/2011, 8:59 PM
Thank you for the response.

Musicvid, I have tried to recreate the problem.

I have done a fresh install/ factory setting on my machine. I un-installed the Trend Micro Anti Virus that came pre-installed. Updated all drivers including Catalyst 10.11 from the AMD’s site.

I did a fresh install of Vegas Pro 11 and activated the software. No additional plugs or updates installed.

Step 1 – On the default project that opens with Vegas Pro 11, update properties to “Match Media Settings’

Step 2 – Add a single 30 seconds clip to the project. It creates one Video and one Audio track.

Step 3 – Select Render as,

Problem 1 – when I select “Match Project Settings’, Vegas Pro only shows Audio file options (.aa3, .ac3, .flac, .mp3, .wav and so on). It is as if Vegas Pro does not recognize the video at all. This is despite the fact that when I updated properties to match Media Settings, it was able to identify the aspect ratio, frame rates etc. of the clip).

Problem 2 – If I ungroup and delete the Audio track (keeping only the Video track), and then do a ‘Render As’ and select ‘Match Media Settings’, Vegas Pro shows a blank under the options.

Problem 3 – If I unselect ‘Match Media Settings’, and render as .mp4 (MainConcept AVC/AAC), it gives the following error after 1 second,
“An error occurred while creating the media file “Filename.mp4’. The reason for the error could not be determined.

The clip I was using was from Nikon D90 which creates .AVI files (1280x720, 24 fps). I have used these media files for making a lot of projects using Vegas Movie Studio 10 and 11 and never had any issues.
musicvid10 wrote on 11/13/2011, 9:14 PM
"The clip I was using was from Nikon D90 which creates .AVI files"

Ahhh. Do a system checkpoint. Download the demo version of the Mainconcept MJPEG VFW codec and install it on your system. See if that solves this particular problem. AFAIK it is untested on Vegas Pro 11 but does the trick on 8, 9, 10.

http://downloads.mainconcept.com/mdl/mdl.php?downloads.mainconcept.com+MotionJPEG+MJPEGCodec_RETAIL_v3.2.4.exe

The demo codec doesn't expire and will decode without a watermark. It will not hurt your system and can be completely uninstalled if you desire. Let us know how it works out.

Gujjuguy wrote on 11/13/2011, 9:39 PM
@musicvid - Thank you. I'm downloading and installing the Codec now. Though the same problem happens with .wmv file

I also converted the AVI file to mp4 using the AIT AMD Catalyst Control Center Utility. It converted and played on both Windows Media Player and QuickTIme. When I used the same .mp4 file in Vegas Pro, I had the same problems (gives error when I try to render).

The only time it seems to work fine is if I use .mpg file (Sony Camcorder 720x480 29 fps). The Vegas Pro crashes, as soon as I close the program, but it at least renders as .mp4.

Do I need to update any settings, configuration etc. after I installed the Codecs.

@TheHappyFriar - I checked all emails confirming my purchase, there is not mention of any free support on upgrade).

Thank you again.
musicvid10 wrote on 11/13/2011, 10:06 PM
"Do I need to update any settings, configuration etc. after I installed the Codecs."

No, just restart your 'puter, but it sounds from your latest description like this may be part of a larger issue that installation of the codec alone may not resolve. A few people have reported disappearing options and file support in Vegas 11. Are you using the most recent build 424/425?
Gujjuguy wrote on 11/13/2011, 10:07 PM
@musicvid - I installed the CODECs, restarted the machine and tried again. Still the same results.

Thank you.
musicvid10 wrote on 11/13/2011, 10:09 PM
Sorry, at least it cost nothing to try.
Gujjuguy wrote on 11/13/2011, 10:12 PM
@musicvid - Yes. I've done a fresh download of the 425. Any just in case there were registry or any other issue. Here are the steps I have followed,

Step 1 - Re-set machine to factory settings with a fresh partition of the entire HD, fresh install of Windows 7

Step 2 - Un-install pre-installed Trend Micro Anti Virus.

Step 3 - Update Drivers (Asus utility)

Step 4 - Update ATI Catalyst driver (Catalyst 11.10)

Step 5 - Update Windows 7 (all the patches, .Net frameworks, Service Pack 1 over 7 to 10 updates and systems restarts as required through Windows Update feature)

Step 6 - Install Wacom Driver (Driver 6.1.7-3 for Win 7 64 bit). Restart the macine.

Step 7 - Download a fresh Vegas Pro installer (425 for 64 bit)

Step 8 - Install Vegas Pro 11

Step 9 - Restart the machine.

Thank you.
Gujjuguy wrote on 11/13/2011, 10:23 PM
@musicvid Thank you. and now I am able to copy paste some of the steps, I have already tried and post them in the Tech Support forms with this additional details. I hope the Sony team will not have to start from scratch when they get to it, If @TheHappyFriar's estimate of 1 month is correct, then it will be a month. :)

Thank you again.

musicvid10 wrote on 11/13/2011, 10:25 PM
OK, these are longshots, but again can do no harm:

-- Roll back your video driver to an older version. Any change?
-- With Vegas closed, find the folder containing your OpenFX plugins and temporarily rename the folder. Any change?

Sorry, I'm about out of ideas. Maybe Grazie can jump in after dawn in England and give you some more ideas to try.
Gujjuguy wrote on 11/13/2011, 10:51 PM
I'm trying to find a way to roll back to earlier version of the ATI driver.

Out of curiosity. I'm reading another thread (comparison of activation process with that of Adobe) and there is a mention of limit of number of times the software can be installed, activated. Could that be the problem?

I have now done some 8 or so fresh installs and every time I had done a factory reset of my machine. I am able to register the software but then I get an email with 'Autehntication code'. The email says it completes the registration now to activate enter this Authentication code. There is no mention of where this 'authentication code' needs to be entered and how to complete the activation process.

Is activation different from the registration process where it takes the machine id and the Serial Number?

Any idea on what to do when I get an authentication code. If I go to Sony website and select hte option under 'REgister software', It makes me enter the Machine Id and Serial Number and sends me another authentication code with instruction to 'activate'.

Thanks.
Grazie wrote on 11/14/2011, 12:00 AM
When you start up Vegas you will be asked to insert/apply the authentication code. Simply.

- g

Gujjuguy wrote on 11/14/2011, 6:32 AM
@Grazie - Thank you. When I first start the Vegas Pro, I'm prompted for the Serial Number and register online. Post that, i've not been asked to enter the authentication code. So I'm assuming the first time registration is taking care of it. I may get an authentication promt 10-15 days down the line, if VP11 is just activating a trial feature.

Thanks.