DVD Architect bundled with Sony Vegas Pro 9: Okay to use with Magix Vegas Pro 15 Edit?

[John Rofrano]

[Tom Burgess] “1. As a Windows user I’m pretty much assured of being able to run a new OS on my old box, within reason. It worries me that a newly released operating system can render a recently-purchased refurbished Mac Pro obsolete. The price for a refurb 2008 or 2009 Mac is lower than I thought it would be(!) but those machines are 9 and 10 years old. Are they likely to survive the next Mac OS release?”

They already have not survived. The latest macOS 10.13 High Sierra supports 2010 Mac Pro or later. So the 2008, 2009 Mac Pro are not supported by the latest macOS. Having said that, I updated a 7 year old PC I had to Windows 10 and I quickly downgraded it because performance was too slow to use. So while Microsoft doesn’t stop you from installing it, it doesn’t mean it’s usable. This is also one of the reason’s macOS is so lean and mean. They don’t include support for all the hardware that was ever manufactured. They drop support for very old hardware which keeps the OS lean.

[Tom Burgess] “2. If not, I’d be forced to remain with the existing OS for a year or two. Is that a viable option? Does running the previous Mac OS cause security issues? Would it be difficult/impossible to update/upgrade audio/video software applications?”

My 2008 Mac Pro is running macOS 10.11 El Capitan which is the latest that it can run. The only restriction is that is I cannot run the latest Final Cut Pro X on it which requires macOS 10.12 Sierra because it takes advantage of some GPU support that’s not in the older OS versions. That’s why I have the 2010 Mac Pro. My son is using the 2008 Mac Pro for his Graphic Design business and it runs Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator just fine. Apple has patched older versions for vulnerabilities but at some point (maybe older than 2 versions) that stops so you are taking a chance running an OS that is not getting security patches.

[Tom Burgess] “3. Are these the two applications you use and recommend for video editing?
a. Final Cut Pro X @ $300
b. Motion 5 @ $50

I’m not a videographer; I use video to further my work in other areas. If those two applications are all I’d need, $350 for both is a good deal. It makes the purchase of a Mac Pro make real sense.”

I would include $50 for Compressor 4 which is the batch rendering utility that also allows you to create new render templates and export them to FCP X. So all totaled it’s $400 for FCP X + Motion 5 + Compressor 4.

[Tom Burgess] “4. I see Final Cut Pro X online for as little as $95. Is that legitimate, or just a Problem Waiting to Happen?”

You cannot buy Final Cut Pro X from anyone except Apple. It is delivered through the Apple Store and only through the Apple Store. Anything else is a scam.

I did not pay $399 though… I waited until Christmas when Apple iTunes Gift Cards go on sale. I found a 20% off sale and purchased 4 x $100 iTunes Gift Cards for $80 each. I took that $400 in iTunes Gift Cards that I only paid $320 for and purchased Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, and Compressor 4, for effectively $320 making my own Apple sale. ???? (I buy all of my Apple software this way. I pick up a few iTune Gift Cards whenever they go on sale and make all of my Apple Store purchase with them)

[Tom Burgess] “I never thought I’d seriously consider a Mac…but here we are.”

Same here. I use a PC for over 30 years. Our neighbors had Macs and my kids begged me to get them a Mac I told them they were overpriced and I would never buy one. Then I got my father-in-law an iPad and when I helped him set up his email, it asked for his userid and password and the next thing he was in his mail! What? Why didn’t it ask for his SMTP server or POP3 server like my PC did??? Because the Mac developers don’t expect you to be system administrators… you only need to be an end user. Then I bought an iPad, and an iPhone, and finally was given a MacBook Pro at work that had the exact same specs as my PC laptop but it ran apps faster and could handle much heavier workloads without breaking a sweat. Workloads that would bring my PC laptop to it’s knees. I was sold. In fact, I sold all of my PC’s and bought Mac Pro’s and never looked back. You couldn’t get me to use a bloated Windows PC again if you paid me. So that’s my story.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasstsoftware.com

[Tom Burgess]

Ah, and there’s the rub. Refurbished Mac Pros for $500-$600 is great, but they’re too old to run the current OS. My limited looking around suggests that new Mac Pros cost 5X that: $2,500 to $3,000. That’s a horse of a different color…

If I were to purchase a new Mac Pro at approximately $3K, how long would I likely be able to run current OS upgrades and software apps? Three years? Five years? Longer?

I enjoyed your “How I Came to Mac” story. I get it, and it points out the eternal relationship: If you don’t have money, you have to bridge the gap with effort and time. It looks like I’m destined to “moonlight” as my own Windows IT Hack for the foreseeable future…

Money won’t buy happiness, but it buys LOTS of convenience. =]

The $400 software combination you suggest sounds GREAT, and I like the way you think…HA! Your Gift Card Scheme is a stroke of genius and I’ll definitely put it to work when I finally enter Macdom. Too good.

Most of my core audio and visual software is Mac/PC compatible, except for CorelDRAW and its bundled apps. CorelDRAW runs circles around Adobe Illustrator, but will likely NEVER be ported to the Mac. Do you have personal experience with any reliable and quick method of running Windows graphics apps inside the Mac OS?

Thanks, John. Your advice is priceless,
Tom

[Tom Burgess]

I just read this online article which discusses the five options listed below:
https://www.howtogeek.com/187359/5-ways-to-run-windows-software-on-a-mac/

1. Virtual Machines
Paralles ($80) or Virtual Box for Mac (free)

2. Apple Bootcamp
Excellent performance, but a dual-boot approach that does not enable running Mac and Win apps together

3. Wine
Apparently a potentially buggy Linux compatibility layer. Probably not a good option.

4. Crossover Mac
GUI and other improvements added atop the Wine Linux core…. Probably not the best option.

5. Remote Desktop
Makes it possible to access a running remote Windows machine from the Mac desktop.

I want to run Windows apps alongside Mac apps, and don’t play 3D games. The free Virtual Box for Mac is said to provide mediocre (even troublesome) 3D performance, but that shouldn’t be a factor.

Can you recommend any of these from personal experience?

[John Rofrano]

[Tom Burgess] “Ah, and there’s the rub. Refurbished Mac Pros for $500-$600 is great, but they’re too old to run the current OS. My limited looking around suggests that new Mac Pros cost 5X that: $2,500 to $3,000. That’s a horse of a different color…”

I’m sorry if you misunderstood me. I pointed you to OWC (MacSales) because their 2010 Mac Pro’s start at $1,049.00 and run the latest macOS so you don’t need to spend $2K plus.

[Tom Burgess] “If I were to purchase a new Mac Pro at approximately $3K, how long would I likely be able to run current OS upgrades and software apps? Three years? Five years? Longer?”

I would not purchase a new Mac Pro right now. There are rumors that a new Mac Pro may be coming next year so I would wait on buying anything new. Having said that, judging that 7 year old 2010 Mac Pro’s can still run the latest macOS 10.13 I’d guess that would be greater than 7 years. Now that technology has slowed and everything is 64 bit, I’m guessing that hardware will be compatable longer.

[Tom Burgess] “Most of my core audio and visual software is Mac/PC compatible, except for CorelDRAW and its bundled apps. CorelDRAW runs circles around Adobe Illustrator, but will likely NEVER be ported to the Mac. Do you have personal experience with any reliable and quick method of running Windows graphics apps inside the Mac OS?”

I run Windows programs on my Mac inside of the free VirtualBox and with VMware Fusion for Mac all the time. That’s how I maintain the plug-ins that I wrote for Vegas Pro. Here is Vegas Pro running on my MacBook Pro desktop using VMware Fusion Unity Mode:

That’s an advantage of owning a Mac. You can run Windows programs in a virtualized environment if you need to.

Having said that, I use Affinity Photo to replace Photoshop and Affinity Designer to replace Illustrator so you won’t need to run Windows to get outstanding graphics programs for the Mac. No subscription. Only $49.99 each. They even have an iPad app that is outstanding.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasstsoftware.com

[John Rofrano]

[Tom Burgess] “Can you recommend any of these from personal experience?”

I use Apple Bootcamp for when I need GPU support. Otherwise I use VMware Fusion or VirtualBox. Fusion is a bit better than VirtualBox but VirtualBox is free.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasstsoftware.com

[Tom Burgess]

[John Rofrano] “I’m sorry if you misunderstood…2010 Mac Pro’s start at $1,049.00 and run the latest macOS so you don’t need to spend $2K plus.”

That misunderstanding is entirely on me. It falls under the heading, “We see what we want to see” or perhaps, “I’ll see it when I believe it” (as opposed to “I’ll believe it when I see it”). I wanted to believe in the $500 Solution. Ha!

[John Rofrano] “I would not purchase a new Mac Pro right now…a new Mac Pro may be coming next year. 7 year old 2010 Mac Pros can still run the latest macOS 10.13. Now that technology has slowed and everything is 64 bit, I’m guessing that hardware will be compatible longer.”

PURE GOLD. This information forms the basis of My Mac Plan.

[John Rofrano] “I run Windows programs on my Mac inside the free VirtualBox with VMware Fusion for Mac all the time. That’s how I maintain the plug-ins that I wrote for Vegas Pro. That’s an advantage of owning a Mac. You can run Windows programs in a virtualized environment if you need to.”

MORE GOLD. I like Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, and don’t want to use Windows 10. Assuming The Mac World doesn’t spin off its axis in the meantime, I’ll find a Mac Pro (new or used) that can run 64-bit OS and AV software apps for 5+ years. For the few Windows programs I continue to rely on I’ll run Windows 7 64-bit on the Mac by way of free VirtualBox with VMware Fusion for Mac just as you do. Sounds great!

BTW, that’s some very interesting footage in your Vegas Pro screenshot there… =]

[John Rofrano] “I use Affinity Photo to replace Photoshop and Affinity Designer to replace Illustrator so you won’t need to run Windows to get outstanding graphics programs for the Mac. No subscription. Only $49.99 each. They even have an iPad app that is outstanding.”

$50 each and no subscription = TOO GOOD. Thanks very much for the links. I see both are also available for WINDOWS(!) Man, you are really rocking my world here. HA! If the two Affinity programs turn out to be right for me I may go ahead and buy the Windows versions in the meantime. I can’t tell yet whether I’ll have to buy the Mac versions additionally. Even if that’s necessary, being familiar with the software when I switch to Mac will be a big advantage and worth an extra $100.

I have to bide my time due to budget and the anticipated Mac developments you describe, so I took advantage of BlackFriday to update Vegas Pro from v9 to v15 (just $25 per version) and that should hold me until I’m ready to take the Mac Plunge. And yes, I’ll implement your “Gift Card Discount Strategy” then. Ha.

I much appreciate all this perspective, John, but there is a downside…now there’s a damned iPad in my future, as well. Ha! Actually there are lots of reasons to get one, not the least of which, my audio recording software (PreSonus StudioOne) enables remote control of all transport operations and more via iPad. That alone would be reason to invest.

Sounds like a plan, man. =]

[John Rofrano]

[Tom Burgess] “…but there is a downside…now there’s a damned iPad in my future, as well. Ha!”

Yea, that is a device that you don’t know what you would do with it until you own one and then a week later you wonder how you every lived without it. lol ???? Good Luck!

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasstsoftware.com

[Tom Burgess]

Just thought I’d mention this:

I’m strapped for time lately so I miss lots of details. It finally dawned on me to click the two links at the bottom of JOHN ROFRANO’s posts.

YOW! There’s a TON of useful information there, as well as John’s amazing VASST augmentations for those of you knowledgeable/talented enough to make use of them. I don’t belong in that category, ha. Clint Eastwood in the character Dirty Harry Callahan said, “A good man knows his limitations.” Words to live by.

So little time. So much to learn.

[Nick Frankiewitz]

John,

I’ve thought about making the jump from a PC to a Mac. The thing holding me back is the seemingly daunting task of starting over with a whole new NLE. I’ve been using Vegas for 15 years – I mostly learned how to use it on my own. I’ve gotten very comfortable with Vegas and really know my way around with it and I produce high quality results.

So the big question – how long and how difficult was it to make the jump from Vegas to FCP for an experience Vegas user?