Dear VEGAS Pro Development Team,
I'm writing to offer some detailed suggestions for the upcoming VEGAS Pro 23 which is probably in development, and based on my extensive experience with VEGAS Pro 21 and 22. My aim is to help make the next iteration of VEGAS Pro even more robust and reliable.
Context and My Experience:
VEGAS Pro has been my go-to editing software for a long time; I have been using it since 2010 and appreciate the continuous development. However, my feedback will focus specifically on my journey through versions 21 and 22, as their recent development and shared characteristics highlight persistent issues that significantly impact workflow and productivity. I will now detail those experiences.
Feedback on VEGAS Pro 21 (and its Video Engine Development):
VEGAS Pro 21, with its new video engine under development, showed steady improvement with each build, culminating in what seemed to be a stable build 315. However, it had several critical shortcomings:
Adjustment Events and Memory Issues: A major problem was the unreliability of adjustment events, especially on longer video projects. Rendering projects with adjustment events frequently resulted in "low memory" error reports, even when system resources were clearly not exhausted. This forced workarounds and significantly hindered efficiency.
Third-Party VST3 Plugin Performance: The application of third-party VST3 audio plugins made the program incredibly slow to open and save projects, rendering it almost unusable. Furthermore, basic audio clip operations like cutting or dragging with third party VST3 plugins applied would get stuck for few seconds then became laggy it was excessively time-consuming.
Codec and Project Compatibility: There was a noticeable inconsistency with codec handling. While some codecs worked better with the Legacy Decoder, others with the new video engine. Opening older projects (from previous VEGAS versions) in VEGAS Pro 21 with the new video engine often led to clips being out of sync and cuts being misaligned by several frames.
VEGAS Effects Integration: As the last version to support VEGAS Effects, which I found very useful, especially for short films and documentaries that i made, it's unfortunate that VEGAS Pro 21's ease of all-in-one project editing was undermined by these unresolved bugs.
Color Grading Panel Lag: The color grading panel, whether applied to video clips or adjustment events, suffered from significant loading and adjustment lag. When applied across numerous clips, it became almost unusable, with even simple opening and adjustments taking an inordinate amount of time.
Feedback on VEGAS Pro 22 (Improvements and Remaining Issues):
VEGAS Pro 22 successfully addressed many of the issues present in version 21, and I've experienced the fewest crashes to date with this version, making it arguably the best version of VEGAS Pro so far.
Improvements:
Most of the initial problems from VEGAS Pro 21 were resolved, indicating a strong focus on stability.
Third-Party VST3 Audio Plugin Performance (Ongoing Concerns): While showing some improvement in project opening/saving times and overall reliability compared to VEGAS Pro 21, Third party VST3 plugins still present significant performance issues. They perform exceptionally slow when using the Legacy Decoder. Furthermore, applying any third-party VST3 plugin takes a noticeable amount of time to load and become usable. A persistent issue, and almost all Waves Audio plugins, causes the master volume audio meter to behave erratically—it becomes laggy and inconsistent. Moreover, while Waves' stereo plugins generally function, applying mono Waves plugins inexplicably boosts the audio signal of that track, leading to unexpected volume increases.
Crucially, the adjustment events issue was largely fixed, allowing for their reliable use even on longer videos.
Remaining Issues:
Adjustment Event Compatibility with Older Projects: A notable issue persists when opening older VEGAS Pro 21 projects containing adjustment events in VEGAS Pro 22. These adjustment events often exhibit cropping problems and lead to rendering anomalies on certain clips.
Color Grading Panel Lag (Continued): The color grading panel issue, while perhaps less pervasive than in VP21, still manifests in certain projects, indicating that further optimization is needed.
Memory Leak with LUT FILTER and other Video FX Plugins: A significant and still unresolved problem since its release is a memory leak specifically observed when using the LUT FILTER plugin. This critical flaw has made many of my VEGAS Pro 21 projects (which heavily utilized LUT FILTER) unworkable in VEGAS Pro 22. I've also seen reports from other users experiencing similar memory leaks with various other video FX plugins. This is a critical stability concern.
Overall Summary and Suggestion for VEGAS Pro 23:
My experience has been a cycle of moving from one VEGAS Pro version to another to escape specific bugs. While VEGAS Pro 22 is a commendable step forward, the lingering memory leak issues, especially concerning common LUT FILTER, and the backward compatibility problems with adjustment events and the inconsistent behavior when using either the Legacy Decoder or New Video Engine on certain projects, are major pain points that impede long-term project management and efficiency.
My primary suggestion for VEGAS Pro 23 is to prioritize absolute stability and backward compatibility with project files and essential features (like adjustment events and widely used VIDEO FX FILTERS). Specifically, please focus on:
Eliminating all known memory leaks, particularly with common video FX plugins like LUT FILTER. This is paramount for professional workflow and long-term project viability.
Ensuring seamless and bug-free backward compatibility for older projects, especially those using adjustment events. Cropping and synchronization issues when upgrading projects must be resolved.
Significantly optimizing the performance of third-party VST3 audio plugins, aiming for near-instantaneous project loading and saving times, and fluid manipulation of audio clips. This is crucial given that VEGAS originated as an audio editor, and robust audio performance remains a cornerstone of the user experience.
Achieving consistently fluid performance for the color grading panel, even when applied to numerous clips or adjustment events.
Fundamental Performance and Stability: While new AI filters and features are exciting, the absolute priority for VEGAS Pro 23 should be achieving a fast, snappy, and nearly crash-free experience, particularly with demanding media like longer projects with large 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 videos, and even raw footage. Core performance and reliability must be paramount.
Consideration for Future VEGAS Effects Integration: While the immediate focus must be on core stability of VEGAS PRO, the possibility of a future, robust, and stable integration of VEGAS Effects (or a similar powerful compositing/VFX application) into the VEGAS Pro ecosystem would be highly beneficial for a comprehensive post-production workflow.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I believe addressing these core stability and compatibility concerns will significantly enhance the user experience and solidify VEGAS Pro's position as a leading NLE :)