Please note that I am not a Sony Tech. However, I've been using Vegas since version 3, when it was a Sonic Foundry product. I have found Vegas Video to be extremely stable in most situations, but I did come across a problem with Vegas 13 that, fortunately, I was able to resolve.
It is my hope that this post will help others who might be experiencing a problem of Vegas 13 crashing before a project is successfully opened.
HISTORY:
I recently had a system crash which required a re-install of Windows 8.1 and all programs for my workstation. As a result of the system crash, an additional hard drive was installed (for internal backup) which put the original Vegas Project external drive at a different drive ID. Because of the new drive ID, when an existing V13 project was loaded, Vegas got confused and asked to locate the missing files. Clicking on either "Ignore files and keep them offline," or "Search for a new location..." crashed Vegas causing an immediate shut-down. When re-locating files, it would appear that files were being located just fine, except that when clicking on the final file to be located, Vegas would crash without warning.
The SOLUTION to the issue is to install any 3rd party plugins that might apply to the project that crashes Vegas. A summary of the problem and more information is below.
This issue appears to be definitely related to Vegas 13, but may also apply to other Sony software that use audio plugins. What follows was also sent to Sony Tech Support.
PROBLEM:
1. Clean re-install of V13 after new installation of Windows OS - 3rd party plugins NOT installed or updated in Vegas prior to loading an existing project.
2. On opening the V13 project there is NO NOTIFICATION that Vegas needs to locate plugins. The "Locate Missing Files" dialog is the first - and only - dialog box to appear.
3. Clicking either "Ignore and leave offline" or "Search for new location..." and locating all files, will crash V13 either immediately or on clicking on last file to be located.
NOTE: There is absolutely NO dialog warning or error message that plugins are not installed and need to be installed before V13 will load projects correctly.
TROUBLE-SHOOTING:
1. Research on this form revealed that V13 projects are backward compatible with V12. This is something I was not aware of and turned out to be the key to finding a solution to the crashing problem.
2. Opening a V13 project in V12 brings up a dialog box that plugins are missing.
3. Searching for files or clicking on "Ignore and leave offline" does NOT crash vegas. A V13 project WILL load in V12 even though plugins are missing. Plugins appear to simply not be applied to tracks.
3. Once plugins are installed, a V13 project will open and play OK.
SOLUTION TO V13 CRASHING AT FILE LOCATION DIALOG:
1. Test a Vegas 13 project that is known to have 3rd party plugins applied by opening with Vegas 12 to determine that the project file is not corrupt. If the file can be opened in Vegas 12, the problem is likely with the plugin installation in Vegas 13.
2. Open an empty V13 project.
3. Install 3rd party VST plugins as needed, noting their location or consolidating the .dll files into a common VST folder.
4. Go to OPTIONS - VST Locations and set the VST location options Alt 1 & 2 (if needed). Upon setting locations for VST plugins, opening a V13 project may ask to locate files, but does NOT crash in either condition of either ignoring or locating files.
4. Once files are located, Vegas 13 appears to be fully functional, although other internal settings will likely need to be set in order to achieve optimal performance.
It is my hope that this post will help others who might be experiencing a problem of Vegas 13 crashing before a project is successfully opened.
HISTORY:
I recently had a system crash which required a re-install of Windows 8.1 and all programs for my workstation. As a result of the system crash, an additional hard drive was installed (for internal backup) which put the original Vegas Project external drive at a different drive ID. Because of the new drive ID, when an existing V13 project was loaded, Vegas got confused and asked to locate the missing files. Clicking on either "Ignore files and keep them offline," or "Search for a new location..." crashed Vegas causing an immediate shut-down. When re-locating files, it would appear that files were being located just fine, except that when clicking on the final file to be located, Vegas would crash without warning.
The SOLUTION to the issue is to install any 3rd party plugins that might apply to the project that crashes Vegas. A summary of the problem and more information is below.
This issue appears to be definitely related to Vegas 13, but may also apply to other Sony software that use audio plugins. What follows was also sent to Sony Tech Support.
PROBLEM:
1. Clean re-install of V13 after new installation of Windows OS - 3rd party plugins NOT installed or updated in Vegas prior to loading an existing project.
2. On opening the V13 project there is NO NOTIFICATION that Vegas needs to locate plugins. The "Locate Missing Files" dialog is the first - and only - dialog box to appear.
3. Clicking either "Ignore and leave offline" or "Search for new location..." and locating all files, will crash V13 either immediately or on clicking on last file to be located.
NOTE: There is absolutely NO dialog warning or error message that plugins are not installed and need to be installed before V13 will load projects correctly.
TROUBLE-SHOOTING:
1. Research on this form revealed that V13 projects are backward compatible with V12. This is something I was not aware of and turned out to be the key to finding a solution to the crashing problem.
2. Opening a V13 project in V12 brings up a dialog box that plugins are missing.
3. Searching for files or clicking on "Ignore and leave offline" does NOT crash vegas. A V13 project WILL load in V12 even though plugins are missing. Plugins appear to simply not be applied to tracks.
3. Once plugins are installed, a V13 project will open and play OK.
SOLUTION TO V13 CRASHING AT FILE LOCATION DIALOG:
1. Test a Vegas 13 project that is known to have 3rd party plugins applied by opening with Vegas 12 to determine that the project file is not corrupt. If the file can be opened in Vegas 12, the problem is likely with the plugin installation in Vegas 13.
2. Open an empty V13 project.
3. Install 3rd party VST plugins as needed, noting their location or consolidating the .dll files into a common VST folder.
4. Go to OPTIONS - VST Locations and set the VST location options Alt 1 & 2 (if needed). Upon setting locations for VST plugins, opening a V13 project may ask to locate files, but does NOT crash in either condition of either ignoring or locating files.
4. Once files are located, Vegas 13 appears to be fully functional, although other internal settings will likely need to be set in order to achieve optimal performance.