Vegas Pro 9 available for pre-order

[John Cline]

You guys sure are getting worked up into a lather over a product that hasn't yet been released. This thread has 120 posts in it and no one, except Ed Troxel, has ever used the new version for any length of time and his review was rather positive. His review also revealed some new features that weren't mentioned on the SCS web site. I'm going to wait another nine days until I have it installed on my own machine before I comment on this release.

[Jeff Harper]

We'll see how great this release is soon enough.

Maybe Sony is not listing the really cool new features 'cause they want to surprise us.

[Ian Stark]

Originally Posted by Jeff Harper

Maybe Sony is not listing the really cool new features 'cause they want to surprise us.

Yeah, that'll be it! ;-)

@John: We're discussing the new feature list, not our experience of using the new release which, as you rightly say, is limited to a few people outside of Sony.

I have little doubt that we will be reading a similar selection of comments from the 'post May 11' threads, i.e. a load of 'I'm underwhelmed' responses, along with a load of 'it's the best release ever' responses, as well as a healthy batch of 'I'm waiting for 9.0a when those bugs will be ironed out'. I think that might be me . . . :-)

As has already been suggested here, some of us are waiting for the eager beavers to buy/ install/use/report back before we make the jump. I'm happy to be an early adopter if there are sufficient features to make it worth the effort/cost/risk. Just don't see it in this release. I will almost certainly check out the trial version though, and I will gladly and publicly eat my words when it turns out to be a stormer!

Interestingly, of the 35ish individuals that have posted in this thread, just over half fall into the disappointed category. But close behind are those who think it's a good release. Too close to call, and too few numbers to draw any conclusions, but clearly not the overwhelming shout of approval that Sony would have liked. For that they have to turn to their own board where the majority seem to be giggling like drains about the new features!

[John Cline]

I think that everyone has their own personal wish list for features they would like to see added and not everyone has the same list. For example, lots of people want Vegas to include a built-in deshaker plugin, but that doesn't mean much to me since I don't shoot shakey footage to begin with. Personally, I'm not looking for major new features, I'm more interested in things that make editing easier and, therefore, faster. I'm in Vegas literally 10-12 hours a day, if I could make that 8-10 and still be able to crank out the same quantity of material, that would make me very happy. A little over an hour of my time pays for the upgrade, so it's a no-brainer for me.

After reading Ed Troxel's review of Vegas v9, it turns out that it has a lot of seemingly minor functional enhancements which are going to greatly increase my productivity. Some of them don't necessarily rate a feature "bullet point" on the Vegas web page, but I'm pretty jazzed about them nevertheless. Just the change to the envelope tool could have literally saved me an hour today alone.

If you haven't read Ed's review, check it out here:

http://www.jetdv.com/tts/TTS07-01.pdf

[Jon McGuffin]

Originally Posted by John Cline

I think that everyone has their own personal wish list for features they would like to see added and not everyone has the same list. For example, lots of people want Vegas to include a built-in deshaker plugin, but that doesn't mean much to me since I don't shoot shakey footage to begin with. Personally, I'm not looking for major new features, I'm more interested in things that make editing easier and, therefore, faster. I'm in Vegas literally 10-12 hours a day, if I could make that 8-10 and still be able to crank out the same quantity of material, that would make me very happy. A little over an hour of my time pays for the upgrade, so it's a no-brainer for me.

After reading Ed Troxel's review of Vegas v9, it turns out that it has a lot of seemingly minor functional enhancements which are going to greatly increase my productivity. Some of them don't necessarily rate a feature "bullet point" on the Vegas web page, but I'm pretty jazzed about them nevertheless. Just the change to the envelope tool could have literally saved me an hour today alone.

If you haven't read Ed's review, check it out here:

http://www.jetdv.com/tts/TTS07-01.pdf

You make some very good and fair points here John... I've already ordered it and am anxiously waiting to see what I get... At this point though, I'm basically hoping for surprise performance and stability increases that didn't make the 'bullet point feature set' that you referred to.

If the program is more stable, a little faster (more efficient), throws in some usability enhancements, and adds to the table support for other formats (RED, etc), I'll be a happy camper and at $200 to support this software every 12-18 months, I don't consider that too bad.

Jon

[Adam Letch]

if Vegas is your editor you'll have to buy 9 at some point, because effectively it must mean there are no more releases for 8 to fix known problems or enhance useability, which means a purchase of version 9 is essential.
If you've given up on Vegas and moved to another NLE system, you'll probably wait at least to the 9.0a to get inital teething bugs removed prior to any thought of purchase, unless of course, if people cry from the rafters how wonderful it is, people like me, who have a love/hate relationship with Vegas may jump in early.

Until then........

[John Cline]

I've never had any problems with v8.0c, 8.0a was a little flaky, though.

Typically, the X.0 releases have a couple of minor problems which can only be discovered once the program goes into wide use, these issues are usually fixed within a couple of weeks with an X.0a release.

Thankfully, one can keep v8 installed and play with v9 until it stabilizes. I've got v7 and v8 on my machine now, but I haven't used v7 in a year or so.

[Lee Kennedy]

Well hopefully I'm not retreading old ground too much from the past 100 or so posts, but personally I am disapointed.

I saw the feature list when it was released and was instantly disapointed. I read Ed's review just then, and while there are some minor tweaks which may be useful and I'm sure no doubt it will be a bit more effecient and stable, it wasn't exactly convincing enough for an upgrade. I guess it just comes across as Vegas Pro 8.0D rather than Vegas Pro 9.0. Which is disapointing in that Vegas Movie Studio version 9 came out quite a long time ago, so with the delay in the pro version of 9, I was expecting something a bit more groundbreaking I think. Maybe 9.0a will bring some amazing new feature list, but going by history, those updates are just bug fixes.

Maybe if the production assistant was included, I'd be more keen on upgrading but still think I'd still wait around for version 10 (especially considering the AUD is so poor right now compared to when I bought v8.0). But maybe I'm just expecting too much from probably the best value video editing software out there (not that I've used Avid, Premiere or Final Cut for a few years, so hard to compare).

I can see some users will think it's great, in particular Red and XD cam users, but considering I just bought a Z7 last year, those features are not going to be any use to me personally for at least a few years. If I wasn't upgrading, but just buying 9 fresh, or if I was upgrading from an older version like 6 or 7, then yeah it would seem good.

I think what I am waiting for, and would be more interested in paying for, is a Sony equivalent to After Effects/Motion etc. I liked the fact they added Pro titler in version 8, but I didn't find it that use-able, and from the looks of it, there's no advancement in that area in version 9, nor a new seperate effects specialist program released (though maybe that's in the pipeline?).

That all said I still love Vegas, though it does prompt me to maybe try out the latest version of competiting software.

[Sean Seah]

As an XDCAM user I am very pleased with the upgrade. It is still attractive in terms of value as compared to the rest of the NLE list prices in my country. I just hope that the software is a lot more stable now, esp with the 64bit compatibility.

[Bryan Daugherty]

Originally Posted by Ian Stark

...Interestingly, of the 35ish individuals that have posted in this thread, just over half fall into the disappointed category. But close behind are those who think it's a good release. Too close to call...

Ian,
You probably may have included me in the disappointed category, but I am moving to the optimistic side of the fence and placed my early order 2 days ago. I should probably go read Ed's review now so i can get really psyched but for me it was the issue of keeping up with the newest updates and bug fixes. I think SONY is highlighting the new features that appeal to users they have not reached out to in the past and are counting on many of us loyal Veggies to stay loyal. I don't shot Red but if V9 can handle 4k, how much better will it handle 1080i/p? I think we have a gem here and are going to see that once it is out, there are alot of improvements that have been understated. I will check back in after the 11th and let you know if I am eating crow or performing a victory dance...until then i will remain optimistic...

[Jeff Harper]

Actually, after reading Ed's review for the second time I now have done somewhat of an about face.

I now suspect in terms of performance the upgrade may be worthwhile, thought still disappointing in several key aspects. As has been pointed out, many of us have been waiting for hardware support. For a professional NLE to NOT offer HW support to me seems like an unforgivable oversight with HDV taking over the market. Even Nero offers hardware support via NVidia graphics cards which makes it seem even more ridiculous.

At any rate, several aspects of the upgrade sound nice, and for under $200 I'll do it.

[Ian Stark]

I don't want people to think I have a downer on v9. I don't.

My only point is that for ME the new feature list doesn't contain anything that really gets me excited. Some nice enhancements, yes, but nothing that makes me want it NOW!

With v8 things were different - there was the new ProType Titler, for example, which had me giggling with anticipation. And then I saw it . . . ! And then I tried to USE it! This time I'm being cautious.

If there are marked performance and stability gains in the new version I will rush out and buy the upgrade, but I haven't read anything official - or unofficial - that says those improvements are there.

I really hope they are.

[Jeff Harper]

It IS disappointing Ian. But with the grieving process they say there are 5 stages. My first reaction to the feature list was anger (stage 1). Now I'm in the denial stage (stage 2), saying it's OK. I don't remember the other stages but I'm sure I'll find out as this continues.

[Ian Stark]

Ha! Actually, stage 1 is shock, then follows denial, then anger! Your next stage, if you get back on the correct Kubler-Ross grief cycle, is bargaining. That's where you offer Sony $50 for the upgrade.

Can you tell who watches Frasier?

[Jeff Harper]

It seems you are right about the order. I went straight from shock to anger. This upgrade has got me so screwed up I'm doing it out of order.

I smell a lawsuit here based on psychological distress. I may need to call a few of you as witnesses.