Version 8c soon

Comments

farss wrote on 9/9/2008, 6:33 AM
Well I built a new quad, passes all the system diagnostics I can find and still manages to produce problems with XDCAM EX and Vegas. The whole CS3 suite hasn't had a single crash yet running on it.
So nice also not to have to wrangle all the other issues that Vegas brings to the table.

Funny how things change. I came to Vegas after Premier because it crashed and I wanted the audio features of Vegas. Turns out the reason Premiere was crashing was because of dodgy hardware. The same hardware has run Vegas up until 7.0e without a crash.

Bob.
megabit wrote on 9/9/2008, 6:44 AM
I thought I might drop my $0.02; I also built my current PC and - neither under XP nor under Vista x64 - I didn't have ANY single crash of Vegas (starting back with 7.0b through the Pro 8.0b)....

The only problem I did have was clip import/merging from the DR60 drive; this never worked well - but I sold the drive along with my V1E.

AMD TR 2990WX CPU | MSI X399 CARBON AC | 64GB RAM@XMP2933  | 2x RTX 2080Ti GPU | 4x 3TB WD Black RAID0 media drive | 3x 1TB NVMe RAID0 cache drive | SSD SATA system drive | AX1600i PSU | Decklink 12G Extreme | Samsung UHD reference monitor (calibrated)

Randy Brown wrote on 9/9/2008, 7:48 AM
Just got this via email:

The Sony Creative Software team is jetting off to Amsterdam this week for the IBC 2008 tradeshow (International Broadcasters Conference). At the show we will be featurin Vegas Pro 8, DVD Architect Pro 5, Cinescore, and Blu-print software, as well as other Sony software applications. Additionally, Sony Creative Software will be showcasing the new Vegas Pro 8.0c and 8.1 updates, which will be available for download later this month.

Vegas Pro 8.0c update:

Enhanced camera and device support
New UI enhancements and workflow improvements

Vegas Pro 8.1 update:
Ready for 64-bit Vegas Pro? The advantages of running Vegas Pro 8.1 on a 64-bit PC with a 64-bit compatible operating system include increased computer memory and editing power, more files open on the timeline, more filters and effects, more cached frames, and faster rendering performance.

Stay tuned for information on the availability of both updates — FREE to registered users of Vegas Pro 8 soon!



ACID Pro 6 meets MIDI
by Craig Anderton

(Before getting into this issue's column, the August column on using Sound Forge to stretch audio in Vegas needs some clarification. That column gave the impression you can't stretch audio in Vegas, but you can by Ctrl-dragging the end of the audio file to the desired length; you can also Ctrl-drag the end of a video file to stretch it without having to use the velocity envelope. However, the method described in the column of opening the audio file in Sound Forge is more flexible, as Sound Forge offers several stretching algorithms that are optimized for processing specific types of audio. These optimized algorithms can often give higher fidelity compared to using Vegas' general-purpose stretching algorithm.)


A MIDI Track's output is driving Native Instruments' FM8 soft synth. Data has been recorded into the track; "Inline MIDI Editing" is enabled so data can be edited within the track itself. Note that the mixer includes a channel for the FM8's audio output.

MIDI was created in the mid-80s to answer the need for a "computer data language" that could "talk" to the new generation of digital music gear. For example, you could record data representing a musical performance into a computer, then play back the MIDI data into a MIDI-compatible keyboard capable of converting the data into music (conceptually, think "player piano"). However, when hard disk audio recording became affordable, MIDI lost some appeal because musicians could simply record audio directly to the hard drive, rather than using the more roundabout approach of recording data, which could then drive a synthesizer to create audio. Click here to continue

Author/musician Craig Anderton is Editor in Chief of www.harmony-central.com and Executive Editor for EQ magazine. He not only maintains an active musical career, but has also lectured on technology and the arts in 37 states, 10 countries, and three languages.





13-year old filmmaker (and Vegas user) Ben Kadie

Award-winning young filmmaker, Ben Kadie—now 13—grew up playing with video editing software and working on projects with his father. By age 12, he and a friend launched their own film production company, "Slugco Inc." and had picked up multiple awards, including twice winning the Seattle Times Three-Minute Masterpiece Youth Award. His films have screened at the Seattle International Film Festival and at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth. At these festivals he has often been the youngest filmmaker.

Switching to Sony Vegas
After upgrading from an older program called ULead, Kadie became hooked on Sony Vegas. "Sony Vegas was just the next step up with editing," says Kadie. "I found that Vegas is just so much quicker to use."

Ben made "A Friendly Game" with his school friend Dylan Forbes. "A Friendly Game" was filmed in HD and edited in the HD-ready Sony Vegas. But "A Friendly Game" wasn't Kadie's first editing project as a Sony Vegas producer.

"I used it on a 24-minute movie I made called '009' — it is a James Bond spoof," he explains. He learned the ins and outs of Sony Vegas while working on that film. The film "009" stars Kadie and his friend Noah Hirsch. David Hovel composed the score using Sony ACID Pro.

Editing in Sony Vegas
The "Friendly Game" project took just four days to edit. "I really like Sony Vegas," says Kadie. "There are just so many shortcuts and it's much quicker to use. And you can edit the film while you watch it in real time."

Kadie edited both "009" and "A Friendly Game" on a single-processor eMachine with an external drive, but recently upgraded to a quad-processor Dell with 3GB of memory for the work he is doing on his next film. Click here to continue



Tech tip: Scripting in Vegas Pro and Sound Forge
by Gary Rebholz

One feature that sets Sony Creative Software applications apart from all others is a robust support for scripting. Both Vegas Pro and Sound Forge support scripting technology. In this article, we're going to explore scripting and gain an understanding of just how powerful this feature is. I'll talk in mostly general terms about scripting in Vegas Pro, but for the most part scripts work in a similar fashion in Sound Forge.

First things first; what exactly is scripting? Basically, we've opened up the functionality in these applications to you so that you can streamline repetitive tasks, customize your application and workflow, and more. Think about things that you find yourself doing over and over when you're editing. Think about those times when you've thought, "Man, I wish there was a faster way to get this repetitive process done!" Those are the times that scripting was invented for!

Here's an example. Say you've got 300 video events in your timeline and they all have straight cuts from one to the next. You show the project to the client for review and she says, "This is fantastic!"

Your heart soars with your accomplishment and you can already feel that check in your hands.

Then she says, "The only thing I want you to do is create a fade out of 15 frames at the end of each clip and a fade in of 15 frames at the beginning of each so that they all fade to black before the next one fades in. And I need that done in 15 minutes, because the CEO is stopping by to see it."

Your heart sinks and that paycheck just flew out of reach. Even though we all know that working in Vegas Pro is faster than working anywhere else, that's a total of 600 different fades you have to create! Even if you had all the time in the world to do it, the task would numb your mind with repetition.

Here's where scripting can help. You can run a script—think of it as a mini program that runs inside Vegas Pro—to automate the job for you and get it done in a fraction of the time it would take to do it by hand. That's powerful.

Let's take a look at a script to see exactly how you can use them. Several scripts are installed on your system when you install Vegas Pro. One of these adds a timecode filter to every piece of media in your project. This can be helpful for a number of situations during the review process.

Open a project that contains several events that use different clips. Place your cursor within the different events and notice in the Video Preview window that none of your events show timecode, as you see in Figure 1.


The Video Preview window shows that the currently selected clip displays no timecode information.

To get the significance of how much time the script will save, let's add timecode to one clip manually and count the steps along the way: Click here to continue

Gary Rebholz is the training manager for Sony Creative Software. Gary produces the popular Seminar Series training packages for Vegas Pro, ACID Pro, and Sound Forge software. He is also co-author of the book Digital Video & Audio Production. Gary has conducted countless hands-on classes in the Sony Creative Software training center, as well as at tradeshows such as the National Association of Broadcasters show.

FuTz wrote on 9/9/2008, 9:48 AM
OT, but, still:

"Vegas Pro 8.0c update:
/.../
Vegas Pro 8.1 update:
/.../
Stay tuned /.../FREE to registered users of Vegas Pro 8 soon!"


...import/ ***e x p o r t *** of BWF files would eventually be nice huh ?
;)
MarkHolmes wrote on 9/9/2008, 10:38 AM
Good, it will be nice to have an update, finally. And I'm sure I'll continue using Vegas for smaller projects.

But I'll never edit another feature film with it.

It's obvious at this point that Sony doesn't consider Vegas a tool for professionals (despite its pro moniker). Whereas Apple and FCP and Adobe and PPro profiles industry legends like Walter Murch in their advertising, Sony gives us a 13-year-old boy. Now, my hats off to young Ben, and I hope he has a stellar future, but if that is their target demographic, the writing is on the wall. If you're a working professional, it's time to move on to a professional level NLE package.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 9/9/2008, 10:44 AM
I agree: sony should force someone to use Vegas in a big production (ie say "you work for Sony Pictures, you're using vegas" or buy them off, something, for a good reference.

But then again, look at it this way: ben bought his copy, sony gets ~$400 + a future user. Guy they buy off ditches sony when someone pays more. :)
MarkHolmes wrote on 9/9/2008, 11:33 AM
Force someone?

Why not profile Paul Fierlinger, who just completed a filmout for his new animated feature film, completed entirely in Vegas and featuring the voice work of Lynn Redgrave and Christopher Plummer. Paul has won a Peabody award and has been nominated for an Oscar. And the workflow required to get hand-drawn animation from the printed page, through Vegas and out to 35mm film, would be fascinating.

Or how about any of the independent feature filmmakers who shot their films, edited entirely in Vegas, have played film festivals all over the country and are now being distributed?

Or how about one of the many event videographers who use Vegas as their platform to support a full-time business?
TheHappyFriar wrote on 9/9/2008, 6:31 PM
because the point would be to get someone who's big to say "vegas is the best thing out there!" not someone who makes a living off of it but isn't known. You just want to attract the people who are greatly influenced by celeb "endorsements". if you're not impressed by celeb's you'll of already done your research & decided for yourself.
Serena wrote on 9/9/2008, 6:54 PM
That does require Sony to believe that Vegas is a pro NLE that has real benefits for pro production. There doesn't seem to be much evidence of that. Looking for a new laptop I visited a major Sony retail centre and asked if they bundled an NLE with the software. "Indeed", the 4 days a week sales guy enthused, "an excellent program that I use in producing my own show on Channel 31: Adobe PP". Vegas? "Well, yes, we have that. Only good for home movies. Not so? Well yes, they did give us a briefing some years ago when they bought the software. Never thought to try it."

People in other computer shops were more enthusiastic about Vegas than any Sony guy I've met. Perhaps Sony is allowing market forces to lead the way. Rather "if Vegas Pro is good, pro people will use it and then we will put money into support and marketing". Doesn't work that way because in this area people use that with industry credentials, that they're used to using, and that which isn't broken. That sound like Vegas Pro?
bigrock wrote on 9/9/2008, 8:16 PM
It will be interesting to see the reception for the Adobe CS4 suite when it comes out. Some people moved over the last time with CS3, CS4 if it moves the bar higher could induce a bunch more defections.

Biggest problem I have with changing is not Vegas, it's all the plugsins etc. I use with it that have significant investment that I don't want to throw away. I've seen one dead end already with Avid Liquid going nowhere, I rather not see that with Vegas as well.

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