Using the COM interface for VEGAS automation...

jrsunshine wrote on 1/27/2004, 11:39 AM
Back about the middle of last year one of the Vegas scripting gurus stated, "..The Vegas scripting API is not intended to be accessed directly using the COM interface."

Although the API is not intended to be accessed directly using the COM interface, I would like to know if it will work for a developer to use the COM interface to automate VEGAS?

What are my options?

I know I can write scripts, but that is not my best option for protecting intellectual property. I would like to have any 3rd party VEGAS tools I create be compiled.

The only downside I see is the COM interop API is crude compared to the script classes which have collections and I would need to develop my own classes to handle iterations and such.

Any help from the Sony tech guys?

Thanks,
Roy Hinkle

Comments

jetdv wrote on 1/27/2004, 11:59 AM
I know I can write scripts, but that is not my best option for protecting intellectual property. I would like to have any 3rd party VEGAS tools I create be compiled.

Have you seen the Obfuscated scripts I've made? Download a demo of Excalibur, Tsunami, or Neon for an example of a plain script that expires after 15 uses. These are straight Vegas scripts. If you'd like to see a sample of one of your scripts obfuscated, just send it to me and I'll encode it for you as an example. A link at www.jetdv.com/tts points to the obfuscating software.
jrsunshine wrote on 1/27/2004, 2:10 PM
JetDV,

Thanks for the info. The Obfuscated scripts would certainly be one option. I really do prefer the ability to compile the code though.

The other option I noticed was to create a compiled managed code DLL which can be loaded using a minimal startup script. I have seen this method mentioned in the forum as well. It would then be possible to put code in the managed DLL to allow for demo and licensed versions. Is there any reason you chose the Obfuscated scripts over this method?

Hopefully one of the Sony scripting gurus would still answer my original question: Is there any technical reason I cannot use the COM Interop interface for VEGAS automation so I can create my utilities as compiled VB.NET applications?

Thanks,
Roy Hinkle
roger_74 wrote on 1/27/2004, 2:35 PM
Regarding the managed DLL you would need to obfuscate that too if you're paranoid, since the full sourcecode is included in it.

jrsunshine wrote on 1/27/2004, 4:31 PM
Not really a matter of being paranoid but a matter of business. I'm sure JetDV does not want people getting his code and then reselling it.

I am seriously considering developing some new 3rd party value added tools for VEGAS and want to make sure it is worth my time and effort. I plan on providing some useful free tools and full featured tools at a reasonable price.

There are ways to protect source code in .NET. I still need to research those to find out more.

Thanks for the comment.

Roy