Hot off the presses just for us :)
SONY ANNOUNCES LATEST VERSION OF VEGAS PRO SOFTWARE (http://blog.sony.com/press/sony-announces-latest-version-of-vegas-pro-software/)

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Middleton, Wis. – April 7, 2014 – Sony Creative Software, a leading global provider of professional editing and authoring solutions, today announced the latest upgrade to its Vegas™ editing technology.

Vegas Pro 13 brings new collaboration tools and streamlined workflows to professional content producers faced with a wide variety of multimedia production tasks.

“Vegas Pro 13 takes giant steps toward making the total multimedia creation experience faster and easier than ever. One example is the Vegas Pro Connect iPad app, which provides a remote collaborative review process for clients and team members,” said John Freeborg, vice president of Sony Creative Software. “We are excited to announce Vegas Pro 13 at NAB and provide live presentations and in-booth demos of the new key features. In addition to technological advancements that span the production process, from ingesting to editing to archiving, we’ve created a set of phenomenal values by bundling Vegas Pro 13 with other workflow-integrated professional applications, both from Sony Creative Software and key partners.”

The Vegas Pro 13 application arrives with new features that address the state of the art in non-linear editing technology, including:

Vegas Pro Connect – Using the iPad, Vegas Pro Connect solves the collaboration challenge on video productions. Eliminate tedious written review spreadsheets and notes by moving to efficient online and offline review workflows. Coupled with a gesture driven control surface feature, Vegas Pro Connect improves editing efficiency throughout your project.
Proxy-first workflow – Shoot XDCAM footage and send proxies to the cloud using the Sony Wireless Camera Adapter. Download and edit proxies, then relink to the hi-res files for rendering.
Project Archiving – Archive all media associated with a project, or just the media used on the timeline, including nested Vegas Pro 13 projects.
XAVC Intra Smart Render – Dramatically reduce render times when using XAVC Intra MXF render templates.
Loudness Meters – New EBU R-128/CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act) compliant metering helps you follow the new rules and avoid fines while maximizing the dynamic range potential of your audio.
Multi-tool paradigm – A convenient pop-up menu directly below the timeline organizes frequently used tools and provides fast access for a more efficient editing workflow.
New video plug-ins – Seven dynamic video effects from FXHOME, accelerated through OpenGL, are integrated directly into the Vegas Pro 13 application.
NewBlueFX Video Essentials VI – 100 presets in 10 sophisticated plugins; A NewBlueFX top seller.
iZotope® Nectar® Elements – One-click voice/narration processing plug-in. Apply task-specific style presets such as Voice Over or Dialogue and then customize your sound with dedicated controls like Presence, Drive, and Grit. Nectar Elements makes vocal treatment a snap.



The Vegas Pro 13 application is available in three new configurations:

Vegas Pro 13 Edit: Video and Audio Production – The core Vegas Pro 13 application including Vegas Pro Connect compatibility, FXHOME plug-ins, and CALM-compliant Loudness Meters.

Vegas Pro 13: Video, Audio, and Blu-ray Disc Creation – Vegas Pro 13, plus DVD Architect™ Pro 6, Dolby® Digital Professional Encoder, the Video Essentials VI plug-in collection from NewBlueFX (a US $129 value), and the iZotope® Nectar® Elements voice/narration processing plug-in (a US $129 value).

Vegas Pro 13 Suite: Editing, Disc Authoring, and Visual Effects – The core application, plus Sound Forge® Pro 11, DVD Architect™ Pro 6, HitFilm 2 Ultimate (a wide range of special effects plug-ins; a US $399 value), Dolby® Digital Professional Encoder, the Video Essentials VI plug-in collection from NewBlueFX, the iZotope® Nectar® Elements voice/narration processing plug-in, 100 sound effects from Blastwave FX, and 25 royalty-free Sound Series: Production Music tracks (a US $249 value).



Price and Availability

Vegas Pro 13 Edit software (MSRP $399.95), Vegas Pro 13 software (MSRP $599.95), and Vegas Pro 13 Suite software (MSRP $799.95) will be available for digital download on April 17, 2014 with physical products available May 5, 2014. For more information, or to purchase, please visit:

Sony Creative Software - Vegas video - ACID & Sound Forge audio editing (http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com).

Thank You, Mike :)

Does anyone know whether SVP 13 can handle DNG? Thank you

Even earlier Vegas versions can read DNG if only you installed the appropriate codec. I already did a lot of work with DNG files in Vegas Pro 12.

The inclusion of NewBlue FX Essentials VI makes it worth the upgrade price.

The inclusion of NewBlue FX Essentials VI makes it worth the upgrade price.

It depends :)
I already own Sound Forge 11 and DVDA 6 and have the Nectar and sound FX offerings from previous purchases so, unless the upgrade price is very attractive, I'll probably stick with the basic Pro 13 offer.

Aha, didn't look closely at the options, thanks for the heads up, Mike!

Jeff, I don't have HitFilm 2 Ultimate or NB Video Essentials VI (over $500 value) so it still might be a great deal. I hate waiting :)

Yes, me too, I'm anxious to see the upgrade prices on the different packages.

re:Even earlier Vegas versions can read DNG if only you installed the appropriate codec. I already did a lot of work with DNG files in Vegas Pro 12.


Where can I find this codec. I was under the impression Sony Vegas Pro 12 could not handle raw files such as DNG. Thanks

Adobe offers a DNG codec which is freely available at Adobe.com (http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=194&platform=Windows) (not sure the linked one is the latest one).

What doesn't work in Vegas Pro yet is the handling of Raw metadata.

I downloaded the codec and ran it but I still can't import the DNG files. What am I doing wrong? Right now the only way I can get the DNG files into Vegas is with Resolve which takes too much time. Thanks

The inclusion of NewBlue FX Essentials VI makes it worth the upgrade price.

Not to me. NewBlue refuses to run on my system claiming my GPU does not meet their minimum requirements. Well, gee, I have OpenCL on my system, what else do they want?

I like Vegas very much and have used it for a long time but I have them on a short leash now. I have grown very weary of the virtually guaranteed crashes with h264 renders. It occurs with both the Sony and Main Concepts encoders in Vegas. My current work flow when I need to render h264 files is to render Cineform files and then use these to render the h264 files in Adobe Media Encoder where it works fine on the same computers! I have a fast i7 desktop and an i7 notebook computer. All the good-speak about Sony listening and responding to customer problems doesn't mean much to me because I have seen no result. I have submitted crash reports many times - for what!?

I really don't want to hear any lip smack about my computer or nVidea video cards. That's just evasive double speak as far as I'm concerned. The h264 renders work with no problems on both my computers when I use Adobe Media Encoder. That just about says it all doesn't it.

As for me, Sony has two months to fix this once and for all. I already have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription for some of the other applications in the suite. If this isn't resolved within the next two months I am going to switch to Premiere Pro and never look back.

Bill, which Vegas version do you use and where does these DNGs come from?

I'm using Vegas pro 12 version 770. The DNG's come from CD 7Q monitor/ recorder. Thanks

Adam, that would only apply to Titler Pro. The other effects packages would work fine with your video card.

Without knowing what video card/driver you have, I don't know whether you can run Titler Pro. Here's the minimum specs for Titler Pro but the other products (such as the Video Essentials packages) have lower needs.

nVidia GeForce or Quadro card that supports CUDA with driver 285.62 or newer,
AMD/ATI Radeon HD 2400 or better with Catalyst 11.11 or newer,
Intel HD is not supported.

"The DNG's come from CD 7Q monitor/ recorder."

Never had a DNG from this particular device available. Any source to download such a sample DNG?

Sure. Download the 2k file. Use this link :
Odyssey7Q | Sony FS700 Raw Option (http://www.convergent-design.com/Products/Odyssey7Q/Sony.aspx)



Thanks

I downloaded the file "2K240SampleFrame.zip" from this source and imported the DNG namend "CLIP0000208_0000000.dng" into Vegas Pro 12.
This works fine and I see in Vegas Pro the file is decoded by the Adobe DNG decoder.

Not sure what goes wrong on your system. Maybe additionally (to Adobe DNG) the Microsoft Raw Codec Pack must be installed.

Without knowing what video card/driver you have, I don't know whether you can run Titler Pro.

Well, my previous computer died and, being short on cash, I bought an ASUS laptop with built-in Intel HD (so there is nothing I can do about it). No CUDA, but I have the Intel OpenCL driver. Vegas uses my OpenCL driver just fine. This is frustrating because I like what the plug-in does, or did on my old computer.

Yes, the Intel HD cards are not supported by Titler Pro.

In re to Marco Ba's suggestion I'll give it a try. Thank you

Jim I agree with you my work around is also to render to Cineform then let Adobe Media Encoder do the rest. As much as I've tried to switch to Premiere Pro, Vegas still wins on speed and edit satisfaction as long as you have a good work around.

I like Vegas very much and have used it for a long time but I have them on a short leash now. I have grown very weary of the virtually guaranteed crashes with h264 renders. It occurs with both the Sony and Main Concepts encoders in Vegas. My current work flow when I need to render h264 files is to render Cineform files and then use these to render the h264 files in Adobe Media Encoder where it works fine on the same computers! I have a fast i7 desktop and an i7 notebook computer. All the good-speak about Sony listening and responding to customer problems doesn't mean much to me because I have seen no result. I have submitted crash reports many times - for what!?

I really don't want to hear any lip smack about my computer or nVidea video cards. That's just evasive double speak as far as I'm concerned. The h264 renders work with no problems on both my computers when I use Adobe Media Encoder. That just about says it all doesn't it.

As for me, Sony has two months to fix this once and for all. I already have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription for some of the other applications in the suite. If this isn't resolved within the next two months I am going to switch to Premiere Pro and never look back.

Jim I agree with you my work around is also to render to Cineform then let Adobe Media Encoder do the rest. As much as I've tried to switch to Premiere Pro, Vegas still wins on speed and edit satisfaction as long as you have a good work around.

Glad to know im not the only one, who has to use this workaround.

The program does not actually crash for me when trying to render h.264 files. it just says failed to render.

The sad thing is i dont even have to do this on an older machine running vegas 10.

I have grown very weary of the virtually guaranteed crashes with h264 renders.

I can thoroughly recommend turning OFF GPU accceleration for renders. I know you shouldn't have to since it's supposed to be a key feature of recent releases but IMHE it's the one thing that causes crashes.

GPU off = stable Vegas Pro 12.

Regards
Dave

Yes, David is absolutley correct. If you have GPU accleration turned on and you're having crashes you must turn it off.

I do turn off GPU rendering but it still crashes, only less so. This still is a problem however. I waste a great deal of time (read money) on this. Does anyone have any good explanations for the fact that I have no problem on either of my computers with Adobe Media Encoder with GPU encoding enabled? I just wish Sony would own up to the problem and fix it.

T minus seven weeks.

Adobe's GPU acceleration has worked fairly well since close to the beginning (so I've read).

For some reason Sony's has been much less consistent. I personally have never considered GPU acceleration important and have kept it off since it's inception.

My processor is fast enough I get 2 hour Bluray files rendered in less than 2 hours and that is fast enough for me. I do get occasional crashes with Vegas but usually it is when I'm doing a huge amount of CC on multiple clips and copy and paste arrtibutes over and over again.

There is no way I'm switching NLEs over my issues. The fast workflow of Vegas beats all PC based competitors hands down for me.

Hi

Also worth noting that GPU rendering isn't always the same quality as CPU rendering. The encoder is different for GPU rendering, often tuned to see more of an improvement than perhaps there is (by reducing quality) to ensure it is fast enough to meet customer expectations and the marketing claims.

Regards

Phil

I don't know what the perfect combo is with Vegas 12 b770 and GPU. All I can say is I have nil crash problems with the following combo of CPU and graphics card. If it's of any help to anyone the system settings I am using are shown in the attached JPGs below.

Also there are two pix showing the sort of GPU performance V12 and good a working GPU can deliver. The 1080i pix shows a 2 hour 13 min timeline rendering from 1080i MPEG-2 to Sony AVC MP4 1280 x 720p. Render settings are set to 'Best'. You can see that 133 min timeline render will be completed in about 65 mins.

The 35-mbit EX pix shows a 51 min timeline selection of 35-mbit footage with color correction and levels applied rendering to EX 35-mbit MP4 in about 37 mins.

I'm not saying never had a crash but the last one was prior to a set of 12 x 90 min programs I'm currently working on every day. That would put me back at least three months ago and it involved one particular preset in the Sony AVC MP4 templates and the crash could be replicated consistently with that particular preset. Made a slight modification to the preset and no more problems. Just can't recall which one it was but will try and replicate the situation again.

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

I do turn off GPU rendering but it still crashes, only less so

Yes but (in my experience) you need to turn off ALL GPU acceleration, not just rendering - ie, turn off preview acceleration too.

Granted it's better on the more recent builds but not enough for me to leave it on during any serious projects.

Regards
Dave

Different experiences I guess.

I wouldn't be doing that here as our editing previews run super smooth. That's working with the rather CPU intensive AVC HD 1080 50p footage at BEST / FULL with the GPU on running a timeline with CC, Curves, graphics, titles etc.

Turn the GPU off and the playback frame rate starts to fluctuate on complex timelines. Similar experience with three different workstations all running different Nvidia cards. A 550 Ti, a 650 Ti and the GTX-680 I'm currently working on.

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

I agree, for me I must turn off all GPU acclerations functions. Don't know why it causes crashes, but I don't care either. It just does. Glad there are folks like you Chris that it works for but for me it's no good.

I often do multicam edits with various effects and filters applied. No doubt this makes the problem worse. I defininately won't stop using these. They are very important to my finished product. I don't have a problem when I render these projects to Cineform files which makes me think the problem is somehow related to the way Vegas handles the h264 encoders. The extra step to render the Cineform files to h264 files using Adobe Media Encoder isn't acceptable to me in the long term.

In case anyone thinks to ask, I have tried rendering the Cineform files to h264 files using Vegas but it still crashes.

I really don't understand why Sony won't fix this. It is a widely encountered problem that has been identified literally for years. It's a slap in the face to see Media Encoder do the h264 renders without a problem.

I am another one of the lucky one to have a excellent gpu acceleration. Never ever have a crash related to gpu that I can remember of. My project usually run between 120-140minutes long. And my footages is from Canon 5D mark III, 60D and Canon AVCHD camcorder. I often hang out in Sony Forum. Check out the link and you will find the detail of my system.

Sony Creative Software - Forums - Vegas Pro - Video Messages (http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=890094&Replies=53)

Bruce, what format do you render to? The problem occurs when rendering h264 format. I don't have a problem with other formats.

Main Concept AVC MP4 > the dual GPU works only on MC AVC MP4 but other than that I can render to any format.

Interesting.

I never use MC's AVC encoder in Vegas but just tried a render using MC's AVC/AAC mp4 Blu-Ray 25Mbps video stream. GPU CUDA usage? A useless 2-4%. In effect nil. Open CL? Same lame results, virtually nil. Slow as a wet week.

Same render using Sony's Blu-Ray AVC mp4 video stream set to it's max of 21,999,616 and using 'Render using GPU if available' and GPU usage shoots up to 30%. A vast difference in render times!

I also have MainConcept's Reference encoder installed. It has a preset called 'H.264 @ GPU.' It also can't see the GPU cards, it comes up with error dialogues that say 'Can't initalize H264 CUDA video encoder.'

So obviously not much going well with MainConcept and CUDA either in MC's own software or Vegas. Shame really. Whether it will ever get fixed with MC being bought by Parallax Capital I somehow doubt. It appears Parallax's main development concentration is now centered around, quote

"...accelerating the adoption of the HEVC/H.265 video standard across the video supply chain with solutions for 3rd party software integration, transcoding applications, and protected playback on consumer electronics devices."

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

Actually, I have not been honest, but forgot that I have tried GPU accleration for Sony AVC and it worked pretty well. I'm just lazy and don't think to turn it on for the few times I use it. When I render I usually go eat or do something else so a few minutes just doesn't make a huge difference to me.

I would find preview accleration much more helpful, but as I've said before that is where things fall apart for me.

I do have Vegas crashes while editing even with GPU off, but they happen when I'm doing a large number of CC adjustments in quick succession. Vegas is not nearly as stable for me as it used to be during version 7 and 8. It's never seemed to be the same for me since.

Its kind of bad when you feel like you have to assign a mouse button to quick save so you dont loose too much work every day.

I have one of my thumb buttons as play/pause and another as save. I love vegas, it has the best workflow of any NLE but since version 8 I have never seen a stable release.