SonicEPM is here quite often as well as other folks... don't forget that these guys/girls are actually the programmers... they are quite nice to come here and help us.

In a recent thread one of the techs confirmed they still monitor the forum. Some people for reasons known only to them keep posting silly 'oh no, the sky is falling' type posts suggesting that Sony has abandoned the forums. NONSENSE!

Things to keep in mind:

1. This is and always was a peer to peer forum.

2. While the techs monitor this forum it isn't their main focus. Unlike other company forums where some junior level "tech" may mostly hang around to answer mostly complaints in this forumn you're getting to talk the actual guys that develope the software. A BIG advantage. Common sense suggests you would prefer these guys actually work on the next version of Vegas instead of commenting on another thread that talks about rendering times or other topics that have been beated to death.

3. The less frequent appearance of the "techs" is more a sign the answers you're getting are correct. Nobody is being abandoned, things are simply running smoothly. Because Adobe still "actively" participates in their forum suggests to me they are responding more to bugs and software not working as advertised issues, not discussing features which gets the lion's share of attention here.

4. Even though I've been hanging around for over a couple years it still is surprising how fast many questions get answered and by multiple people within minutes. That's a sure sign you got a core of devoted people contributing. I could understand if dozens of questions go unanswered or get a wrong answer but that simply isn't happening.

This IS one of the best technical forums regardless of topic anywhere on this planet. So I got to ask, what if anything do you think should be isn't being addressed here?

I've visited the Adobe forum. The popular responce in a "Is there a way to do this? Adobe says it can." is "Premiere is a profesional product. Pro's don't do that kind of thing. They would get another program to do that."

We have a GREAT asset with Sony/SoFo programmers actuatly reading and posting.

Just a couple days ago, I asked if we would get a Vegas update ssoon because the catalog showed "Sony Vegas" in the program screenshots, not Sofo Vegas. I got an answer that same day from SonyEPM that said they will release an update.

So, the programs are alive, kicking, spitting, and cursing at computers just like us.

I certainly hope we are able to continue meeting like this. The very helpful SoFo corporate culture we're used to would seem to clash with (at least my impression of) the Sony culture.

Hey, Sony can be humanized. It's sensitive to the impact of the Vegas-Acid-SoundForge product line and the loyal following. It had the vision to acquire this growing property and foster faster growth.

If the Terminator can become governor of California, Sony can be humanized.

BilyBoy is on the ball as always. This is not a moderated forum, if it was ZG would never have seen the light of day. We can say what we like about the product here and the world can read it.

I'd say there is only one other forum I've foundas useful and that is the MSDN developer forum, I only throw that in because uStuff cop a lot of flack and most of it unjustified. I've never posted a question on their fourms that has gone unanswered, if no one else answers a uStuff guy will, on more than one occassion they've even written the code for me.

What does need some serious input from Sony though is the DVDA forum. There are several serious problems with DVDA for which no workaround seems to exist.

Sony could take a note out of uStuff's book, just about every known bug in their code is documented, how to fix the problem, if it was resolved in a later release etc. As a developer this saves countless hours and money.

Not being able to easily determine if a problem I've got is real, if the developers know about it, if there's a workaround or if it's likely to get fixed is a waste of resources for both the users, developers and help desk staff.

For an industry so much into smoke and mirrors being honest about your product could really make Sony standout. I for one will always prefer to buy something thats limitations are well known over something with all the bells and whistles that may trip me with undocumented problems.

BilyBoy is on the ball as always. This is not a moderated forum, if it was ZG would never have seen the light of day
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All forum rules universally prohibit personal attacks. Most large forums are monitored to police this universal rule. That was the point.

John