The Release Notes don't have much listed in the way of improvements. They have also posted DVDA 1.0d, but the Release Notes only go up to 1.0c

John

I belive SonyEPM said a couple weeks ago this would be an update to cahnge "SF" to "SONY" in their programs. :( I was hoping tfor bug fixes.

Guess I'll skip it. I'm into nostalgia.

John

Usually the update notice is posted here - hmmm. Well - here are the "highights" -

=======
Vegas® and Vegas LE 4.0e
Release Notes
November 2003
Copyright © 2003. Sony Pictures Digital Inc. All rights reserved.

[SNIP]
2.0 What's New
Notable fixes/changes in version 4.0e

* URL flip metadata commands are now supported when rendering to RealMedia 9.
* A bug has been fixed that caused gain reduction when track envelopes are used and the pan mode was set to Constant Power.
* A bug that prevented Vegas from closing some DV files has been fixed.
* A bug has been fixed that could cause Vegas to crash when pressing the Down Arrow key when the Master bus fader has focus.

[SNIP]

3.0 Known Issues

* Some projects may be incorrectly truncated when prerendering and burning to a disc-at-once audio CD. We are investigating the problem, but in the interim, you can avoid the issue by clearing the Render temporary image before burning check box.
* Some Windows Media and MPEG source files may not play back or render properly when used in a Vegas project. If you are having troubles with black frames or a/v sync when using Windows Media or MPEG source files, rerender these files to .avi prior to using them on the Vegas timeline.
* If you render a 5.1-channel Windows Media Audio or Windows Media Video file, your rendered file will be identified and played back by Vegas as stereo. However, your file will be correctly identified and played back as 5.1 by Windows Media Player 9 (as long as you have a 5.1-compatible sound card and speakers).
* Some Sony Pictures Digital audio plug-in parameters may cause glitches when adjusted with effect automation envelopes. If you experience glitching, try right-clicking the envelope segments and setting the curve type to Hold.
* For record input monitoring, ASIO or other low-latency audio drivers are highly recommended. Additionally, you are advised to monitor through lightweight plug-ins only, such as Sony Pictures Digital Reverb.
* When using ASIO drivers, many sound cards allow only specific sample rates for playback. Vegas cannot play your project until you choose the appropriate sample rate on the Project Properties dialog. Please refer to your sound card's documentation to determine its required sample rate.
* If you open a Vegas 3 project in Vegas 4, please save it immediately with a new name. Vegas 4 projects will not open in Vegas 3.

In version 3.0, there is this known issue:
Some Windows Media and MPEG source files may not play back or render properly when used in a Vegas project. If you are having troubles with black frames or a/v sync when using Windows Media or MPEG source files, rerender these files to .avi prior to using them on the Vegas timeline.

Has it been inproved in 4.0e? I don't think so but the release note is not clear.
Thank you.

I was hoping on someone making it more stable when using DirectX sound drivers. It constalstly crashs with those on my computer (hence i only use them when mixing surround).

Also, I noticed yesterdsay, in the pan/crop & track motion, if you have more presets then what will fit on the dropdown menu, no scroll bar appears. :(
bummer.

oh well. it's still downlaoding now on my 28.8 connection speed!

Strange. I can't install that update on any of my systems. That self-extracting process tells me I don't have write access to the chosen folder but definetely I have. And I can't choose the extracting folder on my own. Don't really like that ... :-(

Any hints?

Marco

As I said before, this is a "rebranding update" with really NO fixes of note- most of you don't need to install this unless you want a Sony splash screen. Note that because this is a transitional update (SF>Sony) there will still be SF paths in various spots- by design.

You should be able to install 4.0e over the top of your existing copy of Vegas without trouble, but there can be issues if you fidlle with the default paths the installer points to. Release notes, k-base and at last resort CS can help if you run into trouble.

hmm, my 4.0d was installed on my D: drive and 4.0e just updated that. will i run into problems now? i like to leave C: for my system and utilities and install all my apps on my larger D: partition.

>> You should be able to install 4.0e over the top of your existing copy of Vegas ...

But my problem is: I cannot even extract that file.
Trying to do so it says I wouldn't have write permission for the given temp-folder. But this is nonsens. I have write access, can manually store files to that folder and many programs do use this folder. Only app which seems to have trouble with that folder is that new Vegas-update. And this happens on two totally different systems.

Marco

I have a short note for the "suits" at Sony (not intended for the good folks who started out life in Madison, WI):

Spending your precious development resources on "re-branding" is a glorious waste of time. You should be ashamed. We need bug fixes and features, and you are concentrating on corporate logos. You have your priorities completely screwed up.

Your priorities should be helping your current customers, winning new customers, beating the competition, and making a profit. This release will not help one iota to achieve any of these goals.

Get your priorities straight, or lose.

I've competed against Adobe on three separate occasions, and they WILL beat you if you take your eye off the ball.

You just lost a precious release cycle chasing vanity.

John,

I don't disagree. Not one bit. But, speaking as a developer who has gone through three - count 'em, three - mergers/buyouts/name changes in the last few years, it may be initiated from their legal department and could be a contractual obligation stemming from the SoFo sale. Obviously, I don't know. Just in the cases I was invoved in, it was mandatory and not just vanity - but certainly not far from vanity, in my opinion. And not at all functionally useful.

As an addendum to this, hopefully they had junior staff do the re-branding while core development continues unabated.

Programmers have been pretty absent from the forum lately and I suspect them to be hard at work bug fixing and working on Vegas 5 and Acid 5.

I wouldn't worry too much if I were you.

But I do seriously worry. It seems I can't install any of the Sony Pictures self-extracting download files anymore. This way even a version 5 of Vegas would be of no use to me if I can't extract and install the file.

Sony Pictures - what have you done to the self-extracting download files??? I've tested 3 of them now (the Vegas update, the Preset-Manager and the Soundforge 6 demo), but all of them fail to extract on both of my systems.

Marco

Having launched over 400 products, for over 150 vendors (from Netscape to Microsoft), I agree that a new build, just to change the name may be neccisary, from a marketing point of view--especially since they must now market the product as "Sony."

It is confusing as a new user to buy a SONY branded product (i.e., all new inventory of the box would say SONY), only to see no reference to the SONY name within the product (i.e., who the heck is Sonic Foundry). This is part of a neccisary change for brand conversion. This forum is actually helping to maintain the previous brand equity, but it is of little relavance to many new buyers, who may have decided based on the Sony brand.

Hence, the agreement that consistent branding, and avoiding confusion with new users, would justify a new build--and it looks like there were a few minor fixes. In addition, as suggested earlier, Sony may have completed a contractual obligation--besides, Sonic Foundry must "re-build" their own brand equity now.

You should be happy that all they did was change some logos for this release. It's something they have to do eventually anyway (can't keep calling it Sonic Foundry forever).

And since there are no significant bug fixes or enhancements, you don't need to install this one (in case they screwed something up).

I've also been through several mergers, including the sale of my own software company to Xerox. I fully understand why they did this. It has to be done. What I don't understand is why they decided to only do this, and why they did it after so long a time. They either should have:

a) Done the re-branding a month or so after the acquisition (in May or June)

or

b) Combined the re-branding with a real release that has many bug fixes and maybe a few features.

They did neither, and that has me puzzled.

Also, consider this: Would they do a re-branding release just a month or two before a major new release? I don't think so. Therefore, what this "re-branding release" signals to me is that it will be quite a long time before we see a new release. For Vegas, that is OK, because it is a great product, and quite stable. For DVDA, this is a darn shame, because this product is badly flawed and needs help.

So, in summary, I fully understand the corporate obligations, having been there myself, but I don't understand why they waited so long to do so little.

Marco,

Did you get your problem solved? I found 2 references that possibly may be helpfull:

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=3&MessageID=217514

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=210130

HTH,

Suzan

If I just paid $17 million Dollars for something, I think I would want to put my name on it.

Plus, I have a couple of clients that may be more agreeable to me using Vegas on their projects (instead of Avid) if they see the Sony name on it.

James

>>a) Done the re-branding a month or so after the acquisition (in May or June)

The final sale of the assets did not occur until Aug 1. That is when Sony took over.

Hi Suzan,

first of all: Sorry, I think I was completely wrong thinking it was Sony Pictures fault something went wrong with that installation on my systems. Last night I tried reinstalling some older SoFo files which made no problems some time ago. But now - same problem like I had with the latest SP download files. I could no more install them, getting same error message.
Half of the night I was working to get things running fine again, but no way ...
Only thing I was sure then was it must be something wrong with my systems.

To shorten the story:
The advice of the first link you mentioned - deleting the temp folder - that was it!!!
Did it and I could install the files!

So once again: Sorry for the trouble I made and thank you very much for the help.

Marco