One more BIG one... VEGAS Hub features are no longer exclusive to subscription users, users who have a perpetual license can now access them as well.

@fr0sty Hi, does 'Text Based Editing' have anything to do with whether you have a sub licence or perpetual as speech to text is sub only at the mo?

@Former user

There are no more differences, perpetual license holders now get access to all the same features that sub license holders have. I'm not 100% sure how those details will work, but I'd imagine that it would last for 1 year, with the option to renew those subscription features after the year is up, and you still get to keep the perpetual version regardless of if you renew, but don't quote me on that until there is official clarification.

Text Based Editing!!! OH YEAH!

Text Based Editing!!! OH YEAH!

A little clarification on that...it will be a beta feature. We are looking for user feedback on this feature before its full release for VP 22.

Text Based Editing!!! OH YEAH!

A little clarification on that...it will be a beta feature. We are looking for user feedback on this feature before its full release for VP 22.

Oh, ok.

Privacy-related question about the text-based editing: is the speech-to-text engine running entirely locally on the computer running Vegas, or is any audio/video data sent to a remote server or cloud for processing?

...  is the speech-to-text engine running entirely locally on the computer running Vegas

It's been mentioned a few times on the forum since s-t and t-s was introduced that the processing is done by Microsoft. I suspect that if the processing were done solely on our computers, the size of the program's database with all the voice choices would be enormous

Privacy-related question about the text-based editing: is the speech-to-text engine running entirely locally on the computer running Vegas, or is any audio/video data sent to a remote server or cloud for processing?

TTS and STT are cloud-based services. With that said, all of these features do adhere to the EU data protection laws.

@fr0sty @VEGASDerek Thanks, but it's still as clear as mud, You say 'perpetual license holders now get all the same features that sub license holders have.... I'd imagine that it would last for 1 year, with the option to renew those subscription features after the year is up,', - these two sentences almost contradict each other, which is it? 🤔 When I renew my perpetual Edit licence will i get TS/ST? Or will I have to buy a sub licence that after one yr will lapse into a perpetual licence & lose the TS/ST options? I've absolutely no interest in moving to a sub licence in any way,

@Former user  ... fr0sty did add to that comment:

... but don't quote me on that until there is official clarification.

Maybe wait until Monday when hopefully it will become clear with the official launch of update 3.

@Dexcon Yeah but I' not holding my breath, as @VEGASDerek says this will be a beta version which will no doubt only sort of work, similarly with Smart mask '1' that orig was a beta version & was added prematurely but 2yrs later is still rubbish, it's a failure, that's prob why 'Smart Mask 2.0 ' has been mentioned, & just like Smart mask 1 I bet this TS/ST will be prematurely advertised as a working feature even though it doesn't.

0 faith in Vegas, too many false promises. 'More work is being done on the engine', yeah yeah blah blah,, We'll see, but like I say I'm not holding my breath.

@Former user I have to agree, the smart mask is still unusable to this day.
Even Z-Depth doesn't compare results from other software... unfortunately :/

I do not have all the specific details as far as quotas and time length, but all existing VEGAS Pro 21 perpetual licenses will gain access to the Hub and cognitive services features (basically STT, TTS and stock content) when this update is released and it is installed on the user's system. No need to purchase anything additional if you already have a perpetual license.

Anybody expecting any AI auto masking plug-in to do the job entirely on its own without the need for manual adjustment afterwards is going to be disappointed no matter what software they are using. The goal isn't for AI to do all of it, but at least most of it.

Even industry standard motion tracking software like mocha still requires manual intervention.

Smart mask 2.0 uses a completely different method for masking out objects, it isn't meant to replace 1.0, it's meant to be used in cases where 1.0 is not capable of doing what you are trying to do. Z depth is the same, another technique for masking, it works better in some cases, worse in others than smart mask 1.0/2.0.

Every one of those tools (and all of the other AI effects) gets continually refined as the AI models are updated.

Z-depth works fine for me when it comes to things like color grading, where applying a feather to the edge of the mask is all you really need to isolate a subject enough to color correct just that subject... But I agree that in its current form using it for things like inserting texts behind an object, it is still too rough around the edges. And it's biggest flaw, it doesn't allow you to refine the mask after it creates it. If I could go in and manually refine it, then the effect would be great.

Smart mask does allow you to refine the mask after it creates it, which is great, but VEGAS' bezier masking UI needs some love... It would be a lot easier to adjust the masks if certain upgrades were implemented into the UI. I've made this clear to the team, and they have expressed an interest in doing so. Maybe at some point during Vegas 22's development cycle they will be able to get to that.

I do find Smart mask 2.0 to be more accurate, it does a really good job of chopping the entire scene into segments and letting you pick what you want out of it.

@fr0sty Yep I don't think anyone expects AI masking to work 100%, & yep Smart Mask 1 gets the first mask sort of there (a long way off perfect), but then tracking that mask results in a series of masks where every mask on every frame needs very serious adjustment, a cubist artist would be proud of the resulting shapes created, It def doesn't do 'most of it' , I've yet to see anyone post a successful usable track/mask.

Even in this video posted by Vegas Gary he doesn't move from that one initial frame & then after tracking he doesn't play the vid to show the tracked mask, that's because the result was prob a mess & really not in their interest to share that bit. This is very close to gaining under false pretences..

but VEGAS' bezier masking UI needs some love..

-- Yep I find adjusting the points on the mask nearly impossible, tiny & hard to grab without grabbing the bezier handles, every point has to moved individually & with the masks being created with the tracking being in such a bad state you might as well be creating them manually one frame a a time.. ,

I think the performance gains (with AVC and HEVC, so don't be disappointed if you edit on another format that hasn't yet been given this upgrade) are what many of you will be the most excited about... Please keep in mind I am only speaking for the format that I have edited, which is UHD 4K 10 bit 4:2:2 AVC at 24 or 29.97fps.

Like I said above, with the 10-bit 4:2:2 VLog video that my Panasonic s1 cameras produce, I used to always have to make proxies. If I didn't I would get playback that was in the low single digit frame rates, completely unusable from an editing standpoint.

I would spend hours with each project making proxies. If I put the project into 32-bit mode, it would be even worse.

This is no longer the case. I get real time frame rates, even in 32-bit mode. There's a little bit more of a stutter when I first hit play when I'm in 32-bit mode, but other than that it is buttery smooth, even when jumping around on the timeline or applying transitions, even previewing at full 4k.

Oddly, the frame rate counter will sometimes show that the frame rate is lower than it actually appears in the preview window... I'll be getting a silky smooth preview that appears to be playing at full frame rate, and the frame rate counter will be saying it's down to like 12fps for a second before speeding up to full 24/30fps. Not sure which to believe, my eyes, or the frame counter, lol...

But for the last several projects I have edited in Vegas, I have not had to make a single proxy. That is a huge game changer for me. No more seeing my video in low quality 1080p while I'm editing, and no more waiting hours just to get started to edit.

And just to reiterate it, this is only the first step of a multi-step video engine upgrade process. Vegas 22 and beyond will continue to receive these performance updates.

@fr0sty Don't get me wrong, I've given up on Smart Masks or Z-Depth, they don't work & shouldn't be advertised as such, as I say you might as well create a mask yourself manually.

I'm more interested in Vegas's stability, everyone knows Vegas doesn't hang, it crashes whether you've got your rose tinted glasses on under the blinkers on or not. but your tests are 10bit, I never use 10bit & I suspect a lot of the general users don't either, so I appreciate your reassurance but that doesn't mean much to me..

Most professional users use formats above 8 bit 4:2:0.

VEGAS has never been more stable with 10-bit, quite the opposite. If it's working better 8-bit should accrue similar benefits.

HEVC is what I have the biggest question about, as that's most of the complaints I've seen (esp. with NVDEC). I guess we'll find out soon!

@Former user
That's why I'm very curious about your findings after working with build 300. For myself I see a lot of improvements for working with 4K DJI AVC and 4K GOPro HEVC files because they now use the mxcompoundplug.dll

The first step towards overhauling VEGAS' video engine... Most flavors of AVC and HEVC now decode much faster on most hardware. I personally went from decoding in the single digit framerates for 10 bit 4:2:2 AVC from my panasonic S1's to real time, and even keep editable framerates in 32 bit HDR mode! It's a game-changer for me.
 

Thats wonderful news. As i too use 10bit 4:2:2 AVC from Panasonic GH6,which i believe is the same as S1 as format, i would like to ask you if you have experienced the following problems and if the new update solves them or not yet. I don't have so much problem on framerates as i mostly work 1080 4:2:2, and at that i have 50p all the time real time without effects, and when i use 4k i also proxy.

My problem is that when i make cuts on the events, there is a random stuttering when the playhead moves from one event to the next, that does not happen if the events have not been yet cut.

And the most serious one is that the specific file type randomly crashes vegas sometime multiple times within a day and some none. the specific problem happens only with gh6 4:2:2 avc files. when i use other camera video vegas does not crash ( i have also enabled legacy AVC [ compoundplug] as the [so4compoundplug] crashes vegas all the time, which i believe is the main issue as 4:2:2 avc decodes with [so4compoundplug] even when i have turned it off).