Norman Willis
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Wow, I’m glad I asked!
Thanks for letting me know.
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org -
>>Just ask if you need any clarification on anything and one of us here will gladly help!
The Vegas Forum on Cow is the best forum I have found anywhere.
I am very thankful for all of you guys.
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org -
Hi John.
Cineform is practically lossless. Without Cineform my processor works pretty hard (Intel CoreDuo Quad at 3.0 GHz, running at 95%+ on all four cores). With Cineform it runs at about 57%. And I am no expert, but the colorspace is supposed to be a lot better.
And Cineform is really nice guys.
>>If I get a AVCHD camera that shoots 1920x1080i would I be able to resize that somehow to standard definition, if I were sending the stuff out for SD broadcasting? Would it just be as simple as cropping it in Vegas a bit?
I don’t know this for sure, but I think all AVCHD cameras probably shoot a progressive picture, so if you record at 24p (why?) then outputting to 24p should be a snap. Again I am not the expert, but I think to output to SD you would just choose the appropriate settings under ‘Render As’.
I sure hope that helps.
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org -
People who realize that time is even more valuable than money, or people who are forced to place a much higher dollar value on their time (a la Hollywood video editing professionals) jump at the chance to purchase a ‘closed’ system such as a Mac, precisely because it promises (however falsely) to take away the ‘hardware headaches.’
If Sony Vegas were to actively maintain a list of ‘approved hardware configurations’ (as Avid does), and update it once a month, then the lower price point for Vegas might be worth it to them (provided they start providing the basics, such as P2 support). But until busy professionals can be assured of getting a hardware/software package that is even more stable than Apple, and at a better price point, you can bet that Apple users will not find any reason to switch.
Until Sony does that, Sony will continue to lose the war.
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org -
>>Sony really made a big mistake by releasing Vegas 9.0 before it was stable. As a video proffesional I cannot afford these kind of issues when I have a deadline to maintain. I’ve been using Vegas since 2005 and I love it, but this is unacceptable. As a result I have purchased the Adobe production suite and if the new Premiere is as good as they say I will consider switching from Vegas completely.
…I hate to do it but I gotta keep the machine running and be able to pay the billsI’m right there with you, brother.
I’m struggling through, but I am looking.
Sony! Are you listening???????
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org -
>>I have meet diffrent videographer’s during my years and I have meet more that use Apple then Sony, the reason? because that’s what’s popular and they feel the more $$ they shell out the better it will be.
Yes, perhaps: but more importantly, they have so many irons in the fire, and so many deadlines, and so much pressure to meet deadline (whether that pressure is self-imposed, or external), that they can not stand the thought of down time. And they are willing to trade away many thousands of dollars (!) if someone, anyone, can take those headaches away, and keep them from losing their precious time.
Enter Apple: who proposes that their closed system can take those headaches away ‘for a few dollars more’: and busy professionals consider that an excellent trade.
And if Sony will propose Intel-standardized specs for prebuilts and homebuilts, then the potential dollar-savings might mean something to the Hollywood Industry, who pays their professionals upwards of $100,000.00 per year, and cannot afford down time.
But if Hollywood professionals do not know how to maximize uptime with Vegas, and if they cannot use a format so standard as P2 (!), then saving a few hundred/few thousand dollars is meaningless to them, because the lost time will translate to thrashed reputations, and lost client bases.
And the Media Generators thing did not help, either.
I have said it before, and I will say it again: I love Vegas, and I find it very easy to use; but I would rather pay more money for a product that had more functionality, and was tested better, and would not drop out from under me when I need it most; because I lose way too much everything when my NLE and platform won’t work, or when key features cease to work, like it has with Sony Vegas.
So how does one really get Sony’s attention in this regard? Because I am not the only one who loves Sony Vegas, but who, out of self-defense, is reluctantly looking at other NLE’s.
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org -
>>So what these people are saying is, “Help me, I’ve purchased a very limited system and I need you to work within the same limitations to be compatible”. It’s very sad actually (these poor mislead people) 😉 (…said with tongue planted firmly in cheek) lol
Except with all due respect, John, it is not really funny. If we really believe that Vegas is a superior application, then we need to make sure Sony does something about it, or else it will go by the wayside.
I would suggest that the real reason people ‘go Apple’ is because they want to avoid headaches, and/or lost/down time. At the ‘home user’/hobbyist level, one can sometimes trade off a little bit of time in order to save money: but how many people have you met who are frustrated with the PC platform, because they cannot get things to work, and don’t know about the importance of an ‘Intel standard’ PC (as you recommend on your website).
Most people are willing to pay a certain sum of money in order to save time; and I am one of them (and I strongly recommend the practice). I am almost totally new to Vegas, but I almost ditched the program not long ago (I am sure you remember) because my Dell was giving me problems. Nobody told me that Dells were finicky with this stuff, or else I would have gone HP (or IBuyPower).
If Sony were to keep an updated list of configurations for both pre-builts and homebuilts on which Vegas could be expected to function reliably (a la Avid), and if they updated it actively (say, each month), then the superior price-point of Vegas and its ease-of-use become viable bonuses. However, without such a list, saving a few hundred dollars (or even a few thousand dollars) is meaningless: and Hollywood will never adopt it unless you can guarantee them that they are not buying into headaches, and lost/down time, because the costs of lost/down time are just far, far, far too great. It just falls quickly into the ‘not worth it’ category.
If the current practice continues, then most people are going to buy a Dell (or an AMD, or a whatever), and then expect Vegas to work on their truly-open-platform PC; and they are going to get upset and frustrated (just like I did) when they lose eight weeks (!) of their precious time (which they don’t have enough of to begin with), banging their heads against the wall, trying to figure out what in the world is wrong, that they cannot just begin editing right out of the box, like Apple claims.
I read an article in DV magazine about a couple who ditched their Apple G5’s for HP 4800’s (or something) because the Apples kept crashing with Avid Media Composer 3.5. Time is money, and when one is working under deadline, time is really more precious than money; because if you cannot make deadline, you lose the job, and the client, and your business; and then you don’t get any more.
It’s just not funny: it is serious.
Avid has the right idea with their ‘pre-approved’ systems. The blessing on Sony is that Sony is supposed to be less finicky than Avid, and so the ‘pre-approved’ list could be even much looser/more extensive, and still provide a stable ‘out of the box’ experience; and Sony could also include your ‘home-built’ recommendations, for those who prefer to ‘buiild it themselves.’
If you know people at Sony, please tell them to take this seriously. If Sony will reliably and actively update a ‘recommended hardware list’ or a ‘prebuilt approved’ list (say, monthly), then the better price-point and the features will become a viable lure for those video professionals who cannot afford to lose time. But if they don’t know how to get a rock=stable system with Vegas, or if uncertainty exists (which I can absolutely guarantee you that it does), then Vegas will not thrive in Hollywood.
It’s all about Time, and Time being money, reputation, and job. In other words, it’s all about workflow. Until Vegas can guarantee people a better positive workflow experience for less dollars than Apple, Apple will continue to dominate the industry.
[P.S., and while you are at it, please tell Sony that they are being very short-sighted, and are shooting themselves in the foot by not supporting Panasonic and P2. You would think they would know that the way one dominates an industry is not by limiting one’s own functionality and compatibility with other industry standards: the way one dominates an industry is by building a reputation for providing superior functionality and compatibility with industry standards, for less money.]
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org -
>>Schools are adopting FCP more and more to use for the sake of compatibility. They can put in a bunch of bays with Apple systems and forget about them. Pretty soon a majority of editors are using one type of NLE. In media wars, usually the most common/popular system wins over lesser known but technically superior system. So, I guess yeah, we’re losing the war.
John:
I am new to video editing, but not altogether new to computers. If I may say so, it seems to me that the reason Sony Vegas and the PC open platform is losing the war is precisely because Mac is a closed platform, and PC is altogether ‘too’ open, with no standardization.
Avid specifies certain configurations that they will support. If Sony were to issue a truly professional-grade product with all sorts of format support (P2, anyone?), and were to offer enhanced services based on certain pre-approved configurations, then I would imagine that Apple’s imaginary superiority would be seen for the imaginary superiority that it is (according to all reports, seeing as I have never used it).
To wit: please see also John Rofrano’s system recommendations, which specify an ‘Intel standard everything.’ This effectively closes the PC ‘open platform’ to the point where the machine configuration will behave stable.
I cannot, and do not agree that price is everything. Yes, people like Vegas because it is good, and cheap. However, when one is working at the Hollywood level, time is more important than money. HP even markets the Z800 workstation with the come-on that if one is working professionally at the Dreamworks level, the Z800 ‘with everything’ for $15k pays for itself in about a month, because the machine is rock-stable, and saves that much time when rendering truly 3-d applications.
Even at my level, as a next-to-total noob, time is more important than money. I will always trade away money if it will save me time, and I was ready to go Apple because I could not figure out why I could not get my Dell T3400 Workstation to play right. I got that figured out, with JR’s help, but the point is that at the Hollywood level, and when they are paying $100,000.00+ a year for editors, they just don’t have eight weeks to fight with the hardware/software combination. They need a closed system that they can expect to pull right out of the box, and set it up, and begin using it. If Sony and the other big dogs could guarantee the Hollywood boys just exactly that, then (and only then) do I believe Sony Vegas would begin to find true acceptance. You know what I mean?
So Sony, if you are listening, or if anyone knows anyone at Sony, please pass this message along to them, because now that I know the problems I was having earlier could have been altogether avoided by purchasing an Avid-style ‘pre-approved’ hardware configuration, I am sure I would have done that.
You know what I mean?
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org -
Yes, you should be able to edit to Bluray in Vegas, and with much better editing options.
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org -
Yes, VP9 is corrupting the Media Generator files. It is dreadful. It seems that any Undo operation can wipe out all generated text, at random, and when you least expect it. Sony has been made aware of the problem, so we are all waiting on VP9.0b (and some are switching to Edius).
As I understand it, there are two basic options for continuing in VP9:
One is to make your media generator files, render them out (say, as .avi) and then bring them into your project as .avi.
Another is to generate your text in Photoshop (if you have it), and then bring those files in as .png. Either way is time consuming.
Another is to do as you have done, which is to drop back to VP8 until VP9.0b comes out. (Why they don’t call it VP9.2, I don’t really understand).
I still love Vegas, but it did kind of hammer me. I lost a couple of days’ worth of work.
I hope that helps.
Norman Willis
http://www.nazareneisrael.org
servant@nazareneisrael.org