Thnx Smokie.

I'm looking to see if there is a drive for better, that I'd witnessed with VP since 2002. There is so much I want from VP, that seeing another option is only sensible.

I'm planning on taking deeper workshops with APPLE to ascertain just would is possible, workflow and preview at top of my list of "better".

The maim reason I haven't really jumped into it yet is hardware. To edit 4K natively you need aMacPro and those are expensive and not upgradeable like the previous generation.

Not entirely true. You can edit 4K easily on a MacBook Pro laptop with FCP X. Also the 27" iMac Retina 5K edits 4K video like butter and they only cost ~$1,700 up to to $3,200 USD fully maxed out.

I saw a demo of a guy editing 4K on a MacBook (not the Pro model) and it was decent. Definitely not what you would want to buy to edit 4K but FCP X is finely tuned to the Mac hardware and outperforms an equivalent PC running Premiere. Speaking of which, here are the results from a comparison showing FCP X vs Premiere on a MacBook Pro 2016, MacBook Pro 2015, and Premiere on a Del XPS 2016 exporting 4K. (absolutely no comparison):

You can watch the video for yourself here:

~jr

JR

I have been to the Apple store just before last Xmas and no, neither the MacBook Pro nor the iMac 5K can edit 4K from my AX100 natively. It works in Proxy mode but so does Vegas. The other issue is storage. In all cases, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro and so on, you will need external Mac compliant storage and that is expensive again.

I have been to the Apple store just before last Xmas and no, neither the MacBook Pro nor the iMac 5K can edit 4K from my AX100 natively. It works in Proxy mode but so does Vegas.

Nothing is going to edit X-AVC S smoothly. It's a long-GOP acquisition format that should be transcoded to ProRes 422 for editing. You don't have to use Proxies. You can edit full 4K ProRes 422 quite easily on an iMac or MacBook Pro. With the iMac 5K your "preview" screen in FCP X can be a full 4K and there is still room for the timeline on the screen. It's a gorgeous piece of hardware. I don't have one but I too visited the Apple Store and edited 4K on one with FCP X and it was a smooth editing experience. I believe the files were ProRes.

The other issue is storage. In all cases, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro and so on, you will need external Mac compliant storage and that is expensive again.

I edit on external Western Digital 1TB USB 3.0 drives that I pay $49 USD each for when they go on sale. I also have two external RAID 5 enclosures for editing. It is very common for professional video editors to have lots of external storage. This has nothing to do with FCP X or the Mac. I bought those RAID 5's when I used Windows and Vegas Pro (they are still formatted to NTFS and I've been meaning to reformat them for the Mac which will make them perform faster).

Yes, you can spend a lot of money on a Thunderbolt Pegasus RAID but it is not required unless you are editing multiple streams of 4K. Then you need a fast pipe and lots of disks to keep up with the I/O. I have also worked off the SSD on my MacBook Pro. I keep my current FCP X Library on my SSD, do my editing, then when done, I move it off to an external drive and create a new Library for the next project. Because FCP X has the notion of a Library that contains all of your projects and media, it makes it very easy to move them around to different drives and computers. (in answer to Grazie's question: that's one thing that's missing from Vegas Pro that FCP X has... great media management) ;-)

~jr

Nothing is going to edit X-AVC S smoothly.

SVP13 has no issue with editing a single stream on my system. The only drop in fps is during transitions. If I need to transcode my 4K footage to make it smooth for editing, I must well transcode XAVC-S to XAVC-I which plays even better in SVP13 but it is a time consuming step in the workflow.

Yes, you can spend a lot of money on a Thunderbolt Pegasus RAID but it is not required unless you are editing multiple streams of 4K

And that is the future of my 4K editing. 4K 30p & 60p multicam editing. I currently run of a SSD RAID-0 limited to two drives because my aging x79 motherboard doesn't have sufficient 6G SATA ports for a 4 disk RAID-0.

I do like FCPX a lot but as mentioned before, the limiting hardware and jumping on the highly overpriced Apple wagon is holding me back. If Apple would have continued with the conventional Mac Pro hardware I would have jumped. The current Mac Pro is basically laptop hardware in a desktop casing with expensive and limited upgrade options.

I feel FCPX has overtaken Vegas a good 2 years ago. VP14 is a disaster in my book, unreliable and with the new icons unusable. I am still on SVP13 where everything is working and I can edit the whole day long.

I am still on SVP13 where everything is working and I can edit the whole day long.

Sure, I'm looking for when MAGIX will bust open the doors on "better".

I am still on SVP13 where everything is working and I can edit the whole day long.

Sure, I'm looking for when MAGIX will bust open the doors on "better".

LOL!!

...VP14 is a disaster in my book, unreliable and with the new icons unusable. I am still on SVP13 where everything is working and I can edit the whole day long.

How has VP14 been unreliable for you compared to VP13?

VP14 is a disaster in my book, unreliable and with the new icons unusable. I am still on SVP13 where everything is working and I can edit the whole day long.

not totally a disaster, but it does crash more often than 13, but really - those f'king icons!!! i'd love to talk to the idiot who thought they were a good idea!

as i've written before, working more often in resolve and if i do go anywhere it'll be resolve studio on linux. the whole apple / mac thing now revolves around shiny revamped iphones and little else. their desktops are a joke, (sorry jr) overpriced and limited expansion possibilities at best.

not totally a disaster, but it does crash more often than 13...

What makes it crash that didn't in 13?

Leslie, play nicely..... Evidence based results is what is needed to list your issues (Nick's request). However, here I've posted this request, regarding pros<>cons of VP<>FCPX. So, Leslie, do post your list - which I will read - of your bad VP14 experiences, so that if in making my decision I see MAGIX creating a longevity business case for VP, and for me that would mean scoping the further fit for M$10....M$n, then the case would be won! If not then we would be purely spitballing, which I can also do.

ok, here we go with a couple or so - these don't happen in 13

a. using gen arts sapphire and monsters, along with bcc9 chroma studio will more often than not cause 14 to simply freeze or whie out - as will using sapphire's preset viewer.

b. dropping tc on multiple xavc-i clips and trying to render to mc mp4 720p never renders completely. it will in 13

c. rendering very large .png stills with complex pan / zooms, etc., (to xavc-i)

there were others, but i can't recall exactly what was going on since i've gone back to 13 for rough to fine cut and thereafter resolve for final cut and everything else. i did bring the final print back into 13 for sound mixing to start with, but since my mixing requirements are relatively minimal, resolve (sadly lack anything in the audio dept) with a couple of vst's suffices now.

all this happened with the trial version - i'm looking to 15 to see what's been dealt with (especially gpu implementation) and as to whether the icons have been changed. this last point shouldn't be THAT important, but for me it certainly is ;-(

Your list should be a wake up call for MAGIX. Time will tell if these items will be part of their VEGAS line going forward. And I'm guessing the first we will hear or note this will be long gone for this VegHead to making a decision. FCPX not having Scripts is a major show stopper for me. But maybe a Script-Jedi will grasp the Sabre on our behalf.

not totally a disaster, but it does crash more often than 13...

What makes it crash that didn't in 13?

Nick, I cant really say what it is but simply working in it with a project that I had previously completed in SVP13 would crash it, well it's more a freeze than a crash. Something I don't experience in SVP13 at all. I also get the occasional crash screen on exit. These are mostly multicam projects, some have long HDV clips but some have the newer XAVC-S in it. I also must say the SVP13 feels "snappier" on my system.

I started my last years summer trip to the UK and Norway in VP14 about a month ago and gave up; I am working on it now in SVP13 and it's all rock solid. That was also when certain extensions where not yet available for it, like the ShowEventLength.

Aside from all that, I deeply despise the new icons, they are costing me time and frustration. I only bought it to show my support and to put my mouth where my money is. If you remember the infamous thread about upgrade prices and I said I will buy it if it's available again for 199 and I did.

The sad thing is that plugins will eventually only work with VP14 and higher, if there is a future for Vegas at all, and I will be forced to adopt to it or make a major change.

If not for the limiting and way overpriced Mac hardware, I would have left already. The fact that FCPX can align multicam out of the box is just amazing considering the cost of PluralEyes.

Let's see what VP15 will bring us, I did my part and supported MAGIX by buying VP14 even at a higher price, let's see what comes out of it. But, as the saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice...."

Hey, Oldsmoke, just curious what type of problems you had with your Hackintosh attempt. Did you use the "tonymac86x86.com" site as a guide? I've built 3 super stable hackintoshes using tonymacs installers etc, and they seem so straightforward now, compared to when I built my first one. Although some hardware just won't work.

Hey, Oldsmoke, just curious what type of problems you had with your Hackintosh attempt. Did you use the "tonymac86x86.com" site as a guide? I've built 3 super stable hackintoshes using tonymacs installers etc, and they seem so straightforward now, compared to when I built my first one. Although some hardware just won't work.

Yes, I used that website. I would think it's a hardware issue. I wanted to use my existing hardware which you can find in my profile.

Oldsmoke, looks like several people were successful with that motherboard, but your setup with dual video cards etc, pretty complex, obviously. I would think you would have to pare down your system for the initial osx install, and then once working, start adding in other stuff. One of those projects for a long rainy weekend.

Oldsmoke, looks like several people were successful with that motherboard, but your setup with dual video cards etc, pretty complex, obviously. I would think you would have to pare down your system for the initial osx install, and then once working, start adding in other stuff. One of those projects for a long rainy weekend.

I think the main issue is the Fury X. I don't want to go so far off topic here and sent you a message on that topic.

Rainy weekend with no paid work would be required... don't know when that is going to happen😒