Vegas Video 2.0 $149.95 at Best Buy!

[wkulecz]

Not a mis-print on their web site (www.bestbuy.com), reportedly the $399.95 packages in the stores are marked down at the register.

Looks like VV 3.0 will be out soon, here's a chance to get into the game pretty cheap. If audio is very important to your video, you owe it to yourself to check out VV. You can download a free trial first (www.sonicfoundry.com).

--wally.

[Fred H]

Vegas Video (VV) was up here at the Forum, for about a year ago.
It has a couple of nice functions, and some bad too, but the general conclusion was that it isn't worth the money, if one has MSP6.0.
I'll wait to upgrade my MSP 6.0 to 6.5, but still happy with 6.0.

Talking about audio, the SoundForge 5.0 is more than enough for me...

Fred H

[dchip]

Still, that's a sweet price for those who have OHCI firewire card and want to add to their arsenal of editing packages. MSRP on that package is about $550, if I read correctly.

[Jerry Jones]

Jerrold Jones

If one orders MediaStudio Pro directly from Ulead *normally* one would pay $495.

But Ulead has - for a long time - been offering rebates up to $200 to users of competing software packages:

http://www.ulead.com/store/rebate/msp6.pdf

But MediaStudio Pro FULL version can be purchased WITH an ADS Technologies PYRO DV board for only $199:

http://www.videowarriorstraining.com/hardware_pyro_prodv.htm

In addition, the bundle above includes:

1. Animation Master 2000 3D software
2. Sound Forge XP 4.5
3. Acid Style 2.0
4. BorisFX 4.0 LTD.

...and much more...

In addition, one gets the benefit of MEDIASTUDIO, which unlike Vegas Video, is supported by a much, much wider array of third-party plug-ins:

1. "Vixen" for color correction:

http://www.xentrik.demon.co.uk/ViXen/Screen/screen.html

2. Cayman Power CG for enhanced titling:

http://www.caymangraphics.com/mspro.htm

3. Intergraph "ViZfx" for special effects:

http://www.vizone.com/product/vizfxmsp/vizfxmspscreen.htm

4. Pixelan SpiceMaster for MediaStudio:

http://www.pixelan.com/details/mspro/info.htm

5. BorisFX & Boris RED COMPOSITING APPLICATIONS

for MediaStudio:

http://www.borisfx.com/company/ulead.htm

6. HollywoodFX for MediaStudio Pro:

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage.asp?Product_ID=19

[wkulecz]

And you accuse me of cheerleading in another thread!

Fact remains, if audio is really important to your video project both Premiere and MSP are lacking.

Sound Forge may indeed be a good solution. I am in a position where VV might help, as I've a near zero budget edit of some very poor event video and an "MTV-like" edit with a dynamic audio track is its only hope. I may be returning VV unopened if SF doesn't send me an activation code soon. I wouldn't have bought it at all if I knew about this "timebomb" registration scheme beforehand.

--wally.

[mikiem]

Thanks Wally!

FWIW, I've just seen they have Video Factory2 out now, for $30 upgrade, while I was there looking for any info on Vegas 3.

I had problems running the Vegas 2.0 trial with my matrox setup a year ago, so I'm really interested in their next release -- been waiting for it in fact. Now I've just got to figure out whether it'll be best to wait, or pick up v. 2 and go the upgrade route.

Also FWIW, since I was scared away from Vegas, I tried the more recent Video Factory 1, and found that when it was capable of doing what I wanted (with it's more limited feature set), it became my editor of choice -- so much so that I've come to dread necessary trips into prem or msp..

RE: activation codes -- a royal pain but nothing near the hassle of dongles or having to always place the CD in the drive etc... I am surprised they're giving you any delay -- normally use the option: registering from another machine, and recieve the activation via email within hours if not minutes.

mikie

[Jerry Jones]

Jerrold Jones

For the record, I have nothing against Vegas Video. I think it has some interesting features.

But if I really need more audio tools, I believe Sound Forge is a better alternative to supplement my Ulead MediaStudio Pro NLE.

Vegas Video:

1. Offers very little in the way of plug-in support (I have already posted the long list of support available for MediaStudio Pro in the prior post).

2. Offers no rotoscoping support whatsoever.

Still, it does have some strong audio features and real time previews.

But MediaStudio 6.5 will be released at the end of this month and will offer real time previews... *including* real time previews of Ulead Cool 3D compositions and third party plug-in composites such as those done in BorisFX!

That Vegas Video registration issue has been complained about already in an older issue of DV MAGAZINE.

[wkulecz]

Audio and real time previews are why I think it might be worth $150 to me right now for this project. Learning curve issues are working against me, but since this project has no real budget it has no real deadline either!

If I'm to salvage anything, integration of the audio and video is the key and using a third party audio package (none of which I've very familiar!) with either MSP or Premiere seems like an even longer learning curve.

As to the activation code delay, I'm giving SF the benefit of the doubt -- given the net screw-ups due to SirCAm and Code Red worms lately, but this only adds fuel to the fire as to why I won't buy things that depend on the net working!

--wally.

PS anyone know how to make my posting default turn off Email notification?

[dave m]

Wally, go to cp user at the top of the page, go to Edit Options, go to Use email notification by default and select No, then submit modifications. If like me you get a Vbulletons message of:
ADMINISTRATOR: you MUST revert your modifyoptions template, then I guess we'd better contact ANT
I guess that doesn't help much
Dave

[wkulecz]

Thanks Dave!

Somehow "user cp" never registered as "user control panel" so I ignored it.

--wally.

[mikiem]

Hi all!

re: the registration stuff, I remember the review in DV magazine, and that's where I think I read the guy preferring a dongle of all things! All the stuff at the back of my PC, I'd have to run a crack just to use it in that case!

Not that you aren't correct, any sort of registration bs stinks, but considering some of the alternatives out there... I mean, at least I don't have to re-register every time I swap hardware, or with some software I've deleted, aprox once a month 'cause it felt like it. And FWIW, sonic does let you register over the phone.
-----

That said (sorry, but I'm still peeved at the DV dude's suggestion of a dongle ) The next version of VV is supposed to be really killer -- looking at the features just added to Video Factory 2, I believe it.

I don't think any sonic product will suit everybody. The interface just works differently then what we're used to in apps like MSP and premiere. I love it, but I'm sure there are folks who disagree. I mention it because it can have a learning curve all it's own if you're really used to doing things in another NLE; I know it took me a while because I kept thinking, "that's just not the way you do ...".

There's little doubt that Sound Forge is the best app to work with audio files on a PC, that's it's thing -- I just like their video apps 'cause often I don't have to make that extra trip, and anything that makes life simpler to my simple mind, well, that's a winner. In my experience, often time stretching the audio for sync for example, the sonic apps also are the only ones to give me the same quality I'd get in the audio only apps I was using previously, & faster.

One thing I forgot to mention that might be of interest Wally, depending on how much you're going to slice and dice the audio, you might also want to check out Acid Pro 3, where you can lay your video track down and work to it same as with Sound Forge 5, but with a whole 'nother tool set that might be ideal for what you're doing.

mikie

[wkulecz]

Registering over the phone is worse that the Web or Email! Unless they can give me a toll-free number that'll be answered in three rings or less by a human that knows exactly what to do I'll not waste my time with it. Even if that works, I just don't want to give out my Name Address and Phone Number -- I get far too much junk mail, telemarketing calls and SPAM as it is thank you.

I'll not buy into any "machine locked" scheme. First its a presumption of guilt that I find offensive. Secondly I've been paid for entire days of sitting around while an expensive Sun workstation based system (connected to a rack full fo dedicated custom hardware that defacto is the ultimate dongle) refused to do anything due to an adminstrative screw up in the "Machine ID" given to their field service personel! Never on my dime!!!

Anything I use will be installed at least twice, once on a junker (backup?) machine to catch any show-stopper don't play nice with other software issues. And then again on my machine where the real work gets done. We'll pretend that hardware incompatabilities don't happen just for the sake of arguement. Will any of these software companies give me my money back after package B breaks package A when installed? Let alone compensate me for my wasted time!

It looks like SF has some machine locked scheme based on the additional info they asked me for when they finally got around to answering my Email. I haven't opened the CDs yet and since I can't give them what they want without installing it first I'm returning it instead. Maybe I'm missing out on the perfect tool that I need, if I have time I'll fire up the demo I downloaded months ago but never installed, but it'll have to actually be better than my wildest fantisies for me to buy into one of these registration schemes.

Typing in the ridiculous "install codes" of Windows, Adobe, Ulead etc. is all I'll put up with given the general unreliabity of this stuff.
When software companies accept liability for the damage done by their bugs then I'll accept these forced registration and/or machine locked schemes. Not before!

--wally.

[mikiem]

Which is why a good percentage of registered users still use the cracks, regardless the app or platform you're talking about.

Not disagreeing -- just saying you're not alone.

[wkulecz]

It seems SF customer service was confused. Supposedly the serial number in the manual works the same way Premiere, MSP etc. do, which while a PITA to find and type in, means I have everything I need to re-install as necessay when (if? I wish!) needed. There is a seperate activation code for some MPEG plugins that they will need to send me.

I played with the demo I had downloaded some months ago and now that It seems there is no stupid machine locking scheme involved I'll probably keep it as for $150 its a useful tool for some things. No way I'd go for it at $400 though.

Biggest plus, it seems to handle mixed Type 1 and Type 2 DV on the timeline without problems! Biggest minus nothing seems to play out the G450 DVDmax feature :-(

--wally.