Surprised by lack of features in VMS6

TLF wrote on 3/26/2006, 12:49 AM
I recently bought VMS6 based on reviews in the computer press and after having used the trial version. It's a nice, polished, quite of utilities, and DVD Architect will be incredibly useful (as will Acid).

However, I am surprised by the lack of some incredibly useful features. To put it in perspective, I was using Magix Movie Edit Pro 10 Plus, so the features I think are missing in VMS are ones I used extensively in MEP...

1. No Automatic Scene Detection. In MEP, there is a scene detection tool that works with both digital and analogue recordings. It does a great job. Just like VMS, however, MEP will automatically detect scenes in DV-AVI when it is used to import those DV-AVIs from tape.

2. No way to display the timecode in DV-AVIs. In MEP you can right click the AVI clip and have the timecode display as a title. This is invaluable when making home videos where to know the date is essential (I'm thinking videos of children here!).

3. No single keystroke to split and delete an unwanted clip. In MEP I can split a clip (T), and at the next split automatically have a segment deleted (K or U). I don't see a way to do this in VMS. I have to press S to split, then press delete. No great hardship, but when yuo're used to just one keypress it just seems a bit weird.

Now, to balance things... VMS is so much smoother to use. It's responsive. MEP crashes like hell and is very intolerant of files that do not meets its stict compliance criteria. For instance, it will crash when working with MPEG2 files recorded with Hauppauge PVR cards; it can never correctly sync audio and video in MPEGs; it crashes with DV-AVI files if the audio and video are out of sync. In fact, MEP is crash city.

Anyway, I'll get used to the foibles of VMS, and I know any problems I have will be sorted here... unlike in the MEP forums where Magix is next to useless.

Thank you Sony!

Worley

Comments

cbrillow wrote on 3/26/2006, 3:18 AM
Welcome to VMS & the forum. Just a comment:

"Now, to balance things... VMS is so much smoother to use. It's responsive. MEP crashes like hell and is very intolerant of files that do not meets its stict compliance criteria. For instance, it will crash when working with MPEG2 files recorded with Hauppauge PVR cards; it can never correctly sync audio and video in MPEGs; it crashes with DV-AVI files if the audio and video are out of sync. In fact, MEP is crash city."

Balance? As I see it, this is like putting the elephant on the scale with the mouse. Sure, the niggles you list add some convenience factor, but they're certainly not job-stoppers. It just doesn't work the way you'd like to see it. Nothing wrong with having a wish list.

Although you'd been using Magix, this looks a lot like the inexplicable Pinnacle Studio Syndrome, in which users are seduced by a slick-looking interface and ballyhooed features that don't work as they should, and put up with intolerable performance issues, workarounds and instability, then cite its ease-of-use. Might as well say 'The operation was a success, but the patient died.'

I think you'll find VMS to be very feature-rich as you learn to use more and more of its utility. And I think you'll also begin to wonder how you could ever put up with software that crashed repeatedly, even at the expense of an extra keypress here and there.
TLF wrote on 3/26/2006, 4:25 AM
I quite agree! If I didn't I'd still be working with MEP.

MEP worked satisfactorily for me, and generally it does everything I want - and more - but the last steraw was when it failed REPEATEDLY to correctly capture my AVI files. Every single one contained an audio video offset, and although this is easy to correct in MEP, I found that the program crashed so often that I was forced to save my project after EVERY edit.

Not good. Not good at all.

I know others here would like a means of extacting time code and performing scene recognition on analogue video. Yes, Scenalyzer does the job very well, but an integrated tool would be useful. Not essential, merely useful.

Well, I'm looking forward to getting to grips with VMS. Before I start, though, I have to read the rest of the manual. I am curbing my enthusiasm and being very disciplined so that I don't end up frustrated.

By the way, I also considered Adobe Premiere Elements, but from perusing the Adobe forum, it appears that Elemets has just as many issues as MEP, and the audio capability is somewhat limited.

I know I've chosen the best option (for me!).

Regards,

Worley
allyn wrote on 3/26/2006, 7:11 AM
vms does scene detection if you enable it under options in the capture utility.
TLF wrote on 3/26/2006, 8:06 AM
And a good job it does too. MEP can do it at capture, or afterwards. This is handy when working with an MPEG2 file captured using a TV card, for example. I believe the scene detection in this case must be done by comparing one frame with the next to see how different they are... Filming thunderstorms leads to a huge amount of scene detection!

I'm happy to use Scenalyser, though. This does a good job too, and there is freeware edition available.

Worley