Why there are no 64bit Vegas plugins yet...

Laurence wrote on 12/8/2008, 1:17 PM
I wrote a note to a plugin company's tech department recently asking if there were any plans to support 64 bit versions of Vegas. This is the response i got:

We have such plans, but you never know when it comes to Vegas.

It seems that the most recent plugin kit is http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/devkitsVideo Plug-In Development Kit v1.0b, from 2003-2004[/link]

Comments

rmack350 wrote on 12/8/2008, 1:42 PM
They're going to have to get off their butts then.

I think you're going to find that by late spring almost everything on store shelves will come with 64-bit Vista. If it's any indication of things to come then I think that Vista 64 will be the default choice by summer '09.

I have to assume that MS and/or Intel have been pushing this migration for a year or two which maybe suggests that 64-bit Vegas wasn't entirely SCS' idea.

Rob Mack
Sebaz wrote on 12/8/2008, 1:44 PM
Why doesn't this surprise me at all?
ingvarai wrote on 12/8/2008, 3:47 PM
Almost schocking.
Is Vegas itself still being developed? Any roadmaps you know of?

It is a major mistake by Sony - they do not help

This is alarming, I am sure Sony knows all about this.
What tools should we use then, instead of Sony Vegas? I tried several, but threw them away when I discovered Vegas.
blink3times wrote on 12/8/2008, 4:04 PM
This is nothing new and does not mean the end of Vegas. Sony has ALWAYS been this way with third party plug ins.
farss wrote on 12/8/2008, 5:21 PM
The comments you got have a familiar ring to them, sound much the same as what I got years ago from BMD. Nothing has changed on the audio side either. The rather expensive UAD card never seemed to work right. That's been replaced by the UAD 2 and it doesn't seem to work at all. I guess that's some kind of progress.

So much promise over the years. So many hopes dashed without a word of explaination.

Bob.
Himanshu wrote on 12/8/2008, 6:16 PM
Laurence,

Are you going by the copyright date on SDK 1.0b? If so, that's probably misleading. It was certainly updated much later, I'd say 2007, and probably first posted in early 2008 (I was in contact with the team at that time).

Let me give a plug and a big thumbs-up to the SDK team who are a group of friendly, helpful, and very responsive people. My questions have never gone unanswered.

I have successfully built and run my own 64-bit plug-ins (no, nothing available to buy/download). It isn't that difficult.
DavidMcKnight wrote on 12/8/2008, 6:29 PM


FUD

I know of at least two of the very popular plugins mentioned often in these forums that are working on 64 bit versions. Sounds like finger pointing to me. Others are progressing along nicely.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 12/8/2008, 8:02 PM
that plugin SDK was last updated in sept '06 (based on the file dates). Vegas 64 just came out so if they're going to release a new SDK it would most likely be for Vegas 9. I wouldn't see the point of releasing an SDK for a program that has a life of a few months (vegas 8 64-bit, if they release the new one withing a month or two).

EDIT: what company you write to?
Laurence wrote on 12/8/2008, 8:32 PM
I asked the tech guy if I could quote him on the forum and he said he'd rather not risk getting on the Sony's bad side, so I won't say. I'm not trying to badmouth anyone or spread FUD. I just really want to be able to use the 64bit version and I can't yet. I can't use Cineform on the 64bit version and I can't use any of the three third party plugins that I use constantly.

If the plugin SDK has been updated, why is it still called 1.0b instead of 1.0c or 1.0d? I think it is safe to say that it is still is the 2003-2004 version.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to jump ship or anything like that. This thread is meant to be a friendly gentle prod to the development team and nothing more.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 12/8/2008, 8:38 PM
odds are it was updated to change sonic foundry references to sony, or to update for something in DX.

The reason I asked is because I've e-mailed companies about vegas plugins & I've gotten the "we're working on it, it will be out soon" response & it never materializes. So my assumption is that the company doesn't want to for $$ reasons.
GlennChan wrote on 12/8/2008, 9:26 PM
The reason I asked is because I've e-mailed companies about vegas plugins & I've gotten the "we're working on it, it will be out soon" response & it never materializes.
It's probably because plugins aren't THAT profitable to begin with.

The people/companies making plugins aren't making huge amounts of money. An app like Final Touch/Color will sell for $15M... the most I've heard of a plugin selling is $1m (the Upoint / control point technology by Nik Software). And it's not like Silicon Color has 15X the employees that Nik does.
TLF wrote on 12/9/2008, 12:25 AM
"what company you write to?"

I *think* I know which company; I has a response that was almost identical when I asked the same question.

OT-ish: Sony has announced that it is shedding 8000 jobs, mainly in unprofitable areas... what are the chances of Vegas being affected by this? It could impact upon the development of 64 bit plug-ins.
Himanshu wrote on 12/9/2008, 5:25 PM
Laurence,

The 1.0b SDK ZIP file I have has folders last modified in 2007, and most files modified in 2006. The version number being 1.0b or 1.0c or d, or z is meaningless. The SDK doesn't need to be updated unless (a) there are new features they need to offer to plug-in developers, (b) there are some breaking incompatibilities with newer development tools, i.e. Visual Studio, or (c) breaking incompatibilities with required 3rd party components, i.e. MS DirectX SDK or others, which TheHappyFriar alluded to. Anyway, all this is neither here nor there.

If you want to assist your plug-in developer, send them this link from MS about 64-bit development. If they still can't figure it out and they're interested in hiring a consultant for their product, let me know.