Well...They said they'd have it by the end of the year.

I expect there to be two versions. There HAS to be a 32-bit version to support existing users. 64-bit will support people who want it.

Lot's of nice things in this release, but to be a whiner for a moment, the BD support is from the timeline, NOT from DVDa. Which explains why it's V 4.5.

I've got my credit card ready.

Rob Mack

Did they shed the VFW legacy? I didn't see that.

If they do, and I'm assuming they did, then it'll be DirectX, not Quicktime. Still you need quicktime to support Quicktime codecs.

Rob

Ok, John. I'll complain.

Where's the AVCHD support for other than Sony camcorders?

???

DVDA already supports layered PSD files for buttons.

Rob Mack

Unless it can be accessed via quicktime pro...

My quicktime pro can render VP6 FLVs but Vegas doesn't see it.

Rob Mack

Xena or BMD, I'd assume. Just like V7.

Gotta get an array for that.

Rob Mack

New! Digital signage support

Woot! YES!!! I'm surprised nobody else has gotten excited about this!

(Actually, does anybody know what that means? I'm still picturing the guy at the football stadium, doing Vegas multi-cam with up to 32 camera inputs, and now his highlights/replays are going to the JumboTron screen?)

Tim L

"Huh. I'm almost sure that's the first time they let the cat out of the bag ahead of time (officially, anyhow). I wonder what made them change their strategy."

No, there was an "accidental" release of product details on the Sony website a few days before the official release of V7. Sony did say "Oops, you weren't supposed to see that", but now we wonder....

Thank you Sony for giving us a new titler. This is wonderful news! Vegas
looks like it's back in the race...

Marc

Vista SP1 Beta is coming real soon now.

Sounds like all those who prematurely jumped ship due to the spin doctoring ad wizards from Apple, Adobe and Avid were fed a load.

Huh?

Because we got work done that we couldn't have done in Vegas?

I'm still using Vegas, and I still love Vegas, and I even prefer Vegas, but there are situations when I can't use it.

A man's gotta know his limitations.

And an NLE's gotta know its limitations too.

I would be extremely surprised if the upgrade cost is more than it was for V7. While I am impressed at the types of features added, the low number makes it hard to justify a higher price tage than what we got with V7.

BD authoring is from timeline only which means no menu support. Didnt see motion tracking support or improved plugin support so I guess there will be no Colorista for Vegas. Again, why no support for PSD layers on Vegas timeline seeing how we have layer support in DVDA? Is this just an oversight (gross) or a licensing issue?

For those remarking about those who jumped ship, what has Sony offered here that we didnt get in our jumps to Adobe? 32 cams instead of 4? Ill never own 32 cams. BD authoring from timeline? I have that and menu support with Adobe. New pro-titler? LOL I have had that in Adobe for quite a while. No recompress of Long HDV? Intermediaries is where its at. XDCAM support? Not everyone will own a XDCAM. AVCHD other than Sony? Doesnt look like it.

So those of us that have jumped yet keep a foot in the Vegas camp are able to enjoy Flash rendering, Flash DVDs with menus, puppet tools, brainstorm, onlocation, soundbooth noise removals, BD authoring with full menu support, motion tracking, and oh yeah, a bevy of plugins.

Vegas did nothing more than play catch up. Paint it anyway you want to, but the facts are the facts. Will I get it? Of course, why? Because I support Vegas and wish to see it be successful.

Requests for features were just answered way too late. Adobe has had six months of PR for their products and three months of sales while offering more new features. So call us ship jumpers all you want. Id rather jump than sink on any ship. Sony appears to have sealed the leak but its still a pontoon boat hoping to one day make it being a cruise ship.

Patrick,

Why do you say intermediaries is where it is at? It seems more logical to me to utilize one less step involving an encode when you can edit straight from what you capture. Care to explain your meaning?

j razz

YESSSSS!

Thanks a bunch Madison! Can hardly wait to get my hands on this puppy!

P,,you really need to quit slumming over here with us clueless folk

Its a well know fact stated here that if you plan to color correct any HDV youre better off with an intermediate codec as the generation loss from a second encode is major loss. I seriously doubt sony has discovered the way to smart render clips that have had effects added to them. Thats why intermediates are the way.

I feel that they need to 'Let the Cat out of the bag' early.
Look at the HUGE buzz both Apple & Adobe created by Letting the Cat out of the Bag early.
Vegas needs more coverage. What better way to get that coverage than to give adequate time before the release so the masses can prepare. Also, this may make those about to 'Jump Ship' hold up for a while and notice that Vegas 8 is about to give them what they've been asking for.

I also dig the direction of the look of the box. I hope the UI is also more 'Up to Date' looking.
I'm sooo not a fan of the Windows 2000 look of the previous versions of Sony Software.

winrock,
Did you disagree with any of P@'s points in particular?
I thought he stated his point pretty clearly and even said he's still hoping for the best for Vegas. Seemed like a pretty well though out response to this (happy) announcement. Just a little sober.

r jazz,
Hopefully someone will answere this better/more clearly than I can, but as I understand it, the HDV MPEG2 codec is extremely lossy. So if you do a lot of colour correction or compositing (both of which I do), you risk serious quality degredation by using the original M2T file.
A good intermediary (like Cineform, for example), will hold together after MANY passes of CC and compositing.
Edit: Sorry... my post was a few minutes after those others.

Winrock, I dont see it has slumming here. Heck, I love Vegas but it just doesnt do everything I need. Then you have those that are so BLINDED by brand loyalty that they feel the need to make ASSumptions about us "ship jumpers."

Just like Vic has said MANY times, this is a BUSINESS. Its not a beauty contest or a popularity contest. You do and use what makes you MONEY!!!! Vegas brings me a lower cost on investment (software) but it doesnt do everything I need it to. Instead of increasing my workflow by rendering from Vegas to AE and then render again back to Vegas, I am able to keep my project intact and make changes before having to render.

Its not a summing issue. Its requestes that have gone ignored for years that were met by other companies. Sony HAD to catch up or get left behind for good. Its all about business and where and what can make me the most cash.

mj,, you may be right,, sorry p ,,been a long week over here,, ,, it aint out yet,, so we will see. :}

No, there was an "accidental" release of product details

Which is why I used the qualifier "officially, anyhow" in my statement. ;-)

Rob

Will the 32 bit not allow for better editing of M2T files as it regards to color correction?

32-bit Floating Point Video Processing

j razz