I'm at a loss for what 'Skin Support' really means. I've been running Window Blinds for quite some time and it has allowed me to skin VEGAS 4 with numerous skins. Is this new 'Skin Support' something different? I can't seem to figure out how to associate a skin to VEGAS 5 using the Sony Method. (but I'm yet to see any documentation that points me in the right direction.) As we speak my VEGAS 4 & 5 interface is a comination of the AVID colors with the FCP metal/glass look.

I'm stoked on the new features of V5 and although V5 does look pretty awesome, I would have like to have seen an even bigger change in the overall look. When sitting beside PremierePro, FCP, AVID, and Media100 (comparison done because these are the other NLE's I use) VEGAS 5 still does not have the visual flare. Just looking at the interface I would guess that VEGAS was the least Professional of the pack. But since I have edited on them all I know the main difference is on the inside. I just wish they would make an interface that visually blows the socks off the others. As a 'creative mind' I like to also have a creative/progressive/impressive looking toolset.

VEGAS... You just won NLE of the year. Don't you think it's about time you start to look like it? If you want the world to know you are the CEO, you have to dress like the CEO.

And YES, I am a proud VEGAS Groupie.

When sitting beside PremierePro, FCP, AVID, and Media100 (comparison done because these are the other NLE's I use) VEGAS 5 still does not have the visual flare. Just looking at the interface I would guess that VEGAS was the least Professional of the pack.

This wouldn't be an issue if Vegas were to never enter a professional environment...uh oh, maybe that's what Sony wants, or is indifferent about...

And yet, if you read the reviews over the past couple of versions, the interface is seen as one of the high points. Clean, uncluttered, and functional--without all the digging through palettes you do in Adobe apps. I can't really speak for Avid and Media100 as I haven't used them, but cluttered interfaces seem to be the norm in the NLE business. Even though the colour scheme has changed slightly (very slightly, in fact), the basic interface--Vegas' claim to fame and distinctiveness--is essentially the same, with a bunch of nice little extras.

This whole debate has become completely ridiculous. All of Adobe's apps have adopted the XP look, and some even have candy-coloured icons. If you don't like colours, DRAG THE SATURATION AND TINT SLIDERS ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT for monochrome icons.

If your bottom line is simply that rounded corners equals unprofessional, you really need to examine your priorities.

Please, help an idiot like me. What "visual flair" are you expecting or looking for? It's a computer program for crying out loud. I don't do this for a living (I'm an actor), but I have a very hard time believing that those of you who do are ever going to lose a customer over a program's UI. Isn't it what comes out of the program that actually counts?

I concur. I've been using Vegas since version 2, and the new icons and minor UI tweaks are the last thing on my mind when I explore Vegas 5. I honestly was thinking I downloaded a different version of the program than everyone else, since the "horrible new hello kitty" UI was getting so much attention. I even opened versions 4 + 5 simultaneously and ALT-TABed between them to see what the hell people were crying about.

Everyone cursing the new interface, claiming it will cost you business or respect from your clients and co-workers, I'd very much llike to see one video or web site that you've developed. If you're this uptight about what your opacity sliders look like, your work must be phenomenal.

If your bottom line is simply that rounded corners equals unprofessional, you really need to examine your priorities.

Excellent point. And isn't EVERYTHING in the Mac OS rounded?...

If Vegas were only purple with sharp-edged icons, then I could finally lift up my head when using it to earn my living...

This is really bordering on the ridiculous.

This wouldn't be an issue if Vegas were to never enter a professional environment...uh oh, maybe that's what Sony wants, or is indifferent about...

Jim, this is getting tiresome.

You don't like the interface. Point made.

Now because you don't like the UI, there must be all these paranoid theories about the nefarious reasons behind it.

Sony made a UI you didn't like. They didn't kill your dog.

LOL thanks busterkeaton for speaking up! I like this forum because it gives the individual a lot of power to be loud (new posts always appear at the top and bump older ones off the front page). But when they keep saying the same thing over and over - they're just trying to get what they want by annoying us to death. Oh I WAS going to use Vegas to make my new feature film but NOW with the new icons I don't know blah blah blah...

Well, let's say some people want a distinctive look. Something that says "this is special and different from other software".

I think the old look was kind of like a brown paper bag. The new look? a ribbon on a brown paper bag. There was probably a lot of input at a lot of meetings.

What people aren't considering though is that the entire product line has a very uniform look. So it's not just a matter of what the Vegas users want. The entire line gets the same colors, the same control widgets, similar menus. It's consistant but not terribly inspiring. Sometimes the widgets aren't even all that helpful. Who wants to set a shadow angle with a slider?

Rob Mack

Righteous!

Rob

Word!

Buster

I think a lot of you seem to be missing how the UI "misstep" and other, more pressing concerns, are potentially interrelated. This doesn't call for black helicopters and men in black, it's quite clear...

Take the UI gripe out of context and it might seem petty. Insignificant to some. Fine.

Now, sit and think for a second -- what did the Sony team spend a lot of time and energy on over the past year? Addressing the needs of pro editors? Hardly. A lot of time and resources were spent on making the UI look soft and cuddly...

The other time was spent divided across a series of features that are nice, but arguably not necessary for an NLE. Many of the so called “improvements” can certainly be gotten elsewhere, and gotten better for that matter. Since when was it a hallmark of SoFo products that features offered were primitive when compared to other packages? Is that something you're proud to throw your money at?

Take bezier masking, for example. I like that. Like -- not need. For all zero times I've used a bezier mask, now that it's here I might use it once. But, then again, if I was doing bezier masks regularly I'd probably want facilities that automate mask generation across frames. This isn't particularly new or revolutionary an idea -- they're called "trackers," and for the best masking/compositing apps they're the norm, not the exception. In other words, they're masks done right. Intuitive, simple and very functional. Exactly what I've come to expect from a SoFo product, only...

...this kind of functionality isn't here. It's not only not present in the bezier masks, but missing from just about every other "feature" added to Vegas in this upgrade cycle.

We asked for better "filmlook" controls and instead we got uncustomizeable presets (I mean really, do you want your film to look just like The Matrix, or do you want to be original? I know where my desires lay...)

We asked for 3D planar controls -- well, some of us did (I'm not among you.) Well, we got it for free a while ago -- what's there to be that excited about? Maybe Vegas 5 works better than Satish’s plugin, but it was there and I’m not sure a little ease is worth the $200…

We asked for a better looking UI, and instead we've got a UI that at the very least splits people 50/50 on whether or not it's good looking. I think it’s nearly unanimous even among people who like it that it doesn’t look “professional.” Maybe this shouldn’t be a lynchpin, but read on…

Look...after it's all said and done, a whole host of update needs seem to have gone unanswered – things that simply put Vegas out of the running for some of us. I haven’t done longform yet, but I know when I do, Vegas 4 isn’t up to par with its media management. Well, I and many many others were holding out for Vegas 5 to answer this problem. I had my eye on a whole HD workflow that has now been deflated by the obvious gap in Vegas’s media management. Excuse the hell out of me for thinking my money and previous loyalty to a product line mattered.

Instead of real updates to media management, we get the gesture of added “subclips.” A gesture without a framework in which to organize them properly. We get nested sequences that aren’t really nested sequences at all. We get, in essence, a grab-bag of half-hearted updates with a lot of icing smeared ontop.

So what I’m saying is:

It’s not the fluffy icons that bug me so much as that it appears that fluffy icons were more important than proper media management for this round of Vegas updates

Where's the shock or inanity that those priorities seem ass-backwards to some of us?!

For people like me, that puts Vegas out of the running in the long term, and now we’re left looking elsewhere – and in our wallets – to solve a “problem” with an app we’ve already spent money and time working with. Funny, I didn’t feel that way when Vegas 4 came out.

- jim

Where's the shock or inanity that those priorities seem ass-backwards to some of us?!

Perhaps the "shock" isn't there because a lot of people "like" it. Yes there are some problems with the interface, but I'm confident that (as in the past) the Madison team will address them quickly.

I didn't ask for Bezier masks, 3d compositing, or film looks either, and I don't really see myself using any of them more than once or twice either, and I still think it is a great upgrade for $200. That's my opinion based on what the new features can do for me. Stuff like SWF import, nested compositing relationships, better scripting support, saved layouts, realtime event reverse, sub clips, dual preview monitors, custom keyboard mapping, etc...

Please get over the delusion that you know whether 50% of people agree with you on any topic. MY girlfriend took one look at the new Vegas interface and said. "Looks just like the old one."

I for one am getting sick and tired of a few harping about some feature they wanted and didn't show up in this version. Me thinks we have several zippys in the making.

Point being if you think some other video editor does what you want better, then use it instead of pissing into the wind in this forum. Vegas isn't perfect or all inclusive. No software is. But for sure Vegas beats just about anything out there regardless of price IF YOU TAKE THE TROUBLE TO REALLY LEARN ALL IT CAN DO which obviously some haven't or won't.

And to be griping about the look of icons or skins, give me a break. How mickey mouse can you get to get upset of such trivial issues. Reminds me of some joker that said he can't use Vegas when it it had Video in its name, other complaining about the name Vegas and still others harping on new color scheme of this forum. Talk about a bunch of old ladies.

I don't think we have seen all of Vegas 5.0 yet.

When they add decklink support which we know is coming, I think there is going to be a bunch more functionality.

but for $249 we got
a major upgrade to the audio tools
a major upgrade to DVDA
3D effects
bezier masks
network rendering
improved compositing tools
improved track motion tools
automation
a more responsive editor
2-pass VBR MPEG-2
more flexibility in screen layout
transition envelopes
SWF import

Now if you don't need or want any of that, then don't upgrade, but I think the engineers were spending time on lots of things not all of which are soft and cuddly.

And the business folks got us
a better titler
some fimlook plugs.

This is ridiculous...

If Some of you guys had a date with Angelina Jolie, you'd probably be complaining about her tatoos.


LOL.

get over it.

There WILL BE (real) timeline nesting and improvements to media management and the UI. It will happen in 5b or c. How do I know this? Of course I cannot be sure but the demand is so strong and the competition need some asswhoopin'. They DON'T want to be left behind. My guess is that SONY did not have time to implement all this in order to be ready for NAB. At the moment it is more important for them to market V5 to make it a stronger and more well known brand. As the revenue will increase they will slowly put more efforts into development. Moneywise they did pay some millions to Sonic Foundry and they need to see some return on investment to satisfy the board and shareholders. Remember, V4 had a lot of things happening to it from a to b to c.
I love Angelina Jolie.
Best/Tommy