I've been telling the devs this for a while...

As for when to expect 21, previous releases usually drop around the end of the summer, so there's that...

What else can I say... Well, Smart mask was a beta feature in Vegas 20, so it might be a safe bet to assume that it might be coming out of beta, and some big limitations that prevented it from being useful in full motion video will no longer be there. Time will tell.

That's about all I can say for now, but there's some stuff to get excited about in 21, for sure... With more coming throughout its life cycle.

They usually do announced the features in the weeks before launch, so it shouldn't be long before you'll learn what to expect.

One thing you do need to keep in mind, when the new features do get announced, is that Vegas is on a more continuous delivery model now, so the features that are announced at launch are not going to be all the features that Vegas 21 is going to get. It will get regular updates every few months that will add new features to the feature list. So if you see a feature list that isn't as big as you might have hoped for, that's because some of the features are planned for the updates that will be released throughout its life cycle.

@Dexcon I see your point, but I don't believe that sharing some details would put Magix at a disadvantage. Saying something like, "We're upgrading our TTS system to better animate subtitles and improve user workflows," or "Vegas's upcoming version will introduce new transitions designed specifically for social media projects," doesn't really give away any secret.

It's not about revealing everything that's in the update. It's about giving customers like us a taste of what's coming, which could make us feel more valued and excited about continuing with our annual $250 subscription. Instead of feeling left in the dark, we'd have something to look forward to. That, I believe, is a competitive edge, not a weakness.

@fr0sty You've made excellent points. I agree with you, especially about the continuous delivery model. As a subscriber, I'm not just investing in the current version of Vegas Pro - if that were the case, I would have bought VP20 outright.

Instead, I'm subscribing because I want to be part of Vegas Pro's evolution and experience the improvements as they happen.

Let's consider a car manufacturer for a moment. If they were about to launch a new model, they wouldn't need to detail every feature. A simple statement that it's their fastest, most efficient model yet would generate anticipation.

In the past, there was some speculation about VP20 being the last version of Vegas. But I think this uncertainty arose primarily because Magix was not forthcoming about their future plans. This example just underscores why a roadmap or some insight into future plans would be valuable. It keeps the user community engaged and helps avoid unfounded rumors.

Again, name a company that currently does that.

The latest release of iZotope RX10 had a minimal teaser about what was coming up but the RX10 release had many welcome surprises. Ditto with BorisFX's recent 2023.5 updates to both Mocha Pro and Continuum Complete.

In principle, your request is desirable but unfortunately unlikely to be met from a basic marketing pov.

Let's consider a car manufacturer for a moment. If they were about to launch a new model, they wouldn't need to detail every feature. A simple statement that it's their fastest, most efficient model yet would generate anticipation.

It's interesting that you should mention cars because I worked for a long time in a large advertising agency whose major client was a huge international car manufacturer. While it was quite some time ago, there were never any teasers (other than maybe some 'rumours' in the media) about the imminent release of a new range of car models. The biggest clue was a sale of the then current model cars - but without reference to an upcoming new model. And that was a common approach across a whole range of products.

@Dexcon You raise a valid point.

With respect, I feel that this kind of mindset limits the potential growth of both Vegas Pro and its community.

I don't need to provide examples of other companies doing this to validate my suggestion for Vegas Pro. Isn't the purpose of feedback and suggestions to inspire change and innovation? Why should we limit our aspirations to what other software already offers, instead of hoping for Magix to do its own thing?

Edit: Thank you for your feedback by the way this matter is important to me so it is nice to hear others perspectives

@fr0sty You've made excellent points. I agree with you, especially about the continuous delivery model. As a subscriber, I'm not just investing in the current version of Vegas Pro - if that were the case, I would have bought VP20 outright.

Instead, I'm subscribing because I want to be part of Vegas Pro's evolution and experience the improvements as they happen.

Let's consider a car manufacturer for a moment. If they were about to launch a new model, they wouldn't need to detail every feature. A simple statement that it's their fastest, most efficient model yet would generate anticipation.

In the past, there was some speculation about VP20 being the last version of Vegas. But I think this uncertainty arose primarily because Magix was not forthcoming about their future plans. This example just underscores why a roadmap or some insight into future plans would be valuable. It keeps the user community engaged and helps avoid unfounded rumors.

There's a lot I wish I was legally allowed to say that would get you really, really hyped about the future of VEGAS... some things happened recently that are enabling the one thing that all VEGAS users have been begging the development team to do for years now to happen, and happen a LOT faster than they would have been able to just a few months back... That's about the most I can detail about it. You may not see these things manifest on the day 21 launches, as these things take time to complete, but there is a lot of hard work being done, Magix is finally throwing its weight behind VEGAS, things are looking really good behind the scenes right now. We've been talking about some of these things happening for a while now, but with the VEGAS dev team working with such limited resources in the past, those changes were a very long way off... that is no longer the case. While they'll still take time, it won't be as much, and we should start seeing big changes before too long.

Wish I could say more... but rest assured, VEGAS is going to be giving the other NLEs a big reason to worry soon.

Again, name a company that currently does that.

The latest release of iZotope RX10 had a minimal teaser about what was coming up but the RX10 release had many welcome surprises. Ditto with BorisFX's recent 2023.5 updates to both Mocha Pro and Continuum Complete.

In principle, your request is desirable but unfortunately unlikely to be met from a basic marketing pov.

Let's consider a car manufacturer for a moment. If they were about to launch a new model, they wouldn't need to detail every feature. A simple statement that it's their fastest, most efficient model yet would generate anticipation.

It's interesting that you should mention cars because I worked for a long time in a large advertising agency whose major client was a huge international car manufacturer. While it was quite some time ago, there were never any teasers (other than maybe some 'rumours' in the media) about the imminent release of a new range of car models. The biggest clue was a sale of the then current model cars - but without reference to an upcoming new model. And that was a common approach across a whole range of products.

The difference is though, the cars I own are paid for in full, I don’t expect anything more from them. Vegas (in my case) is an ongoing subscription, I expect and want to be able to anticipate more.

You'll get at least some of that. VEGAS Creative Software has always revealed at least a partial feature list in the weeks leading up to a new version launch. They only just now acknowledged 21's existence via an email announcing a sale of V20, it'll be a few more weeks at least before they drop that feature list. Even then, it may not be a complete one.

@fr0sty You've made excellent points. I agree with you, especially about the continuous delivery model. As a subscriber, I'm not just investing in the current version of Vegas Pro - if that were the case, I would have bought VP20 outright.

Instead, I'm subscribing because I want to be part of Vegas Pro's evolution and experience the improvements as they happen.

Let's consider a car manufacturer for a moment. If they were about to launch a new model, they wouldn't need to detail every feature. A simple statement that it's their fastest, most efficient model yet would generate anticipation.

In the past, there was some speculation about VP20 being the last version of Vegas. But I think this uncertainty arose primarily because Magix was not forthcoming about their future plans. This example just underscores why a roadmap or some insight into future plans would be valuable. It keeps the user community engaged and helps avoid unfounded rumors.

There's a lot I wish I was legally allowed to say that would get you really, really hyped about the future of VEGAS... some things happened recently that are enabling the one thing that all VEGAS users have been begging the development team to do for years now to happen, and happen a LOT faster than they would have been able to just a few months back... That's about the most I can detail about it. You may not see these things manifest on the day 21 launches, as these things take time to complete, but there is a lot of hard work being done, Magix is finally throwing its weight behind VEGAS, things are looking really good behind the scenes right now. We've been talking about some of these things happening for a while now, but with the VEGAS dev team working with such limited resources in the past, those changes were a very long way off... that is no longer the case. While they'll still take time, it won't be as much, and we should start seeing big changes before too long.

Wish I could say more... but rest assured, VEGAS is going to be giving the other NLEs a big reason to worry soon.

THIS! Even this is enough to tie me over. A list of features—great. But knowing that the team behind a project is proud and dedicated to the work their doing is even greater. With Sony updates stagnated, then Magix took over and it just felt like new management. These last two release updates have shown me that maybe Magix can do a little work on their own. But to hear that they’re finally really taking the reins on the project IS exciting to hear.

I've been working behind the scenes with the team since VEGAS 16, and I've never heard them sound this hyped about what's going on right now. There were times in the past they sounded downright defeated, and I worried about the future of the project. That fire has been re-ignited better than ever before now. In the past, they've taken VEGAS from a corpse of a product to something competitive against far better funded projects with far bigger teams, all with a team small enough to fit into a SUV... so now that there's some changes happening to help them out a lot more than before, I'm really excited to see where it goes from here.

I don't think they should talk too much before they really do something. VEGAS Prepare, promised by the Magix, is a good example. The official has ever promised it to the user, but it was aborted in the end.

This shows that they have ever actively worked hard to develop VEGAS Prepare, but finally failed. They revealed its existence to users in advance before they finally finished it, but in exchange for many users' final disappointment.

Therefore, unless Magix really completes something and is 100% sure that it can finally be implemented in the next version of VEGAS, it is right for Magix not to disclose some development roadmaps in advance.

More about Vegas Prepare here:

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/what-happened-to-vegas-prepare--127630/#ca793517

Jøran Toresen

In the past, there was some speculation about VP20 being the last version of Vegas

This was a misinterpretation of the announcement that VEGAS would move to a continuous development model where features aren't just put out in the first build. While the naming convention may change in the future there is zero suggestion that development of VEGAS will come to an end.

The latest announcement from MAGIX about its strategy explicitly included VEGAS so it sounds like a greater focus on it, not less: https://www.magix.com/us/press/detail/news/magix-new-strategy/

VEGAS Prepare wasn't an in-house project according to that thread so it sounds like there were factors outside their control that meant it couldn't be released. For anything the main developers are working on they should know if it's viable enough to announce in advance. I look forward to learning about what's in the next version in the coming weeks (if past years are any guide).