@Reyfox

Thanks for showing how it's done in MMS.

Any track can be anything you want it to be.

Not quite, I just tried to put a photo on an audio track. I couldn't.

...we can import text from the timeline directly into TTS.

How does it work? I presume that there is at least one track that has text on it in Vegas. So, what goes to the TTS, subtitle events, title events, or something else? In other words, how is the text on the timeline? Is it continuous, meaning that all text will go to the TTS, or do you select an event (or several events)?

John CB

@browj2

In Vegas Pro (or any professional editing software), if you put audio on that specific track first, then only audio clips can be on that track. When you start a new project in Vegas though, any track can be anything you want at the start. Once audio (voice, music, sfx) is the first clip on that track in Vegas, only audio can be there. I know you can put a photo on the same track in MMS, but that is not how professional editing software works.

As for importing text from the timeline into TTS, I haven't tried it yet and have no idea how it works.

@Reyfox

My standard phrase is "In MMS/VPX you can put anything you want on any track, photos, videos, text, and audio, not that you should, but you can." Doing so can create management problems.

"professional editing software" sorry, too good to pass up. There is no such thing; software cannot be professional, even though software makers like to say so (Movie Edit Pro, Video Pro X). I know what you mean, it's software intended for professionals, so you don't need to comment.

I'm thinking out loud here, so please bear with me.

I really would like to know how it's done in Vegas to see if there is any potential for something similar with MMS/VPX or just to see what the differences are. I understand titles, because MMS/VPX has them, but that is where it ends. If you ask a MMS/VPX user, a subtitle is just title that you put at the bottom of the screen, same with a caption - lower third - very limited. But Vegas also has subtitles and closed captioning and the ability to read in text files which, if I understand correctly, will create a subtitle (or title?) with one object/event per line of text from a txt file. Great feature!

Subtitling in Vegas appears to be subtitles that can be "displayed in the captioning area of the Windows Media Player located below the video display area. To view captions during playback in Windows Media Player 9, choose Captions and Subtitles from the Windows Media Player Play menu, and then choose On if Available from the submenu." There must be more to it than this, I think.

The terms get confusing as, from what I read, in some parts of the world closed captioning is the term used and in other parts subtitling is used to mean the same thing - that CC that we turn on/off for the hearing impaired - or for a different language than the dialogue. Vegas has text, titling, subtitles, and closed captioning from what I see.

Which text gets sent to TTS in Vegas and how? Is it a right-click thing on whatever has text - a title, subtitle, closed caption text event (or something), send to TTS? Perhaps you can take a look and tell us.

So, if Magix were to add a new feature using what is already there, perhaps it could be to right-click on a title object, send to Hub TTS. That is about all that I can think of unless Magix were to add subtitling/closed captioning. I can't see that happening.

CONTENT

This leaves one other question. Where does the downloaded content go? On to the timeline at the selected location? Where do the files go? I see under the Import tab - MAGIX Hub - which is located in Documents\MAGIX\Movie Studio or Video Pro X\MAGIX Content. Is that where the downloaded content goes to by default? Maybe you can try one out and let us know.

To get back on-topic, the HUB has been added to the tabs, with the capability to log in, with or without a subscription. With a subscription, one can to Text-to-Speech creating a file that will be put on the timeline at the selected location (selected track and playback marker position), and, if I understand correctly, download content with up to 10 items per month for Movie Studio, 20 items per month for VPX.

John CB

@browj2, when I say "professional" I am referring to the higher end editing software for films, video, events, etc.. Where more control and editing features are needed to get the desired results. That includes codec support, exporting, editing, color grading/correcting, etc.. Things that are missing in say, Video Pro X, Videostudio Pro, etc. Yes, you can add "pro" to anything, as it has been done with software. So if you knew what I meant, why the comment? Oh, that's right, "sorry, too good to pass up". As for "so you don't need to comment", I'll borrow your quote, "sorry, too good to pass up".

With TTS, they have changed the interface since my last post. You were able to highlight anything with text on the timeline and import directly into the TTS interface. Right now, as far as I can tell, that feature has been removed. I can import into the TTS interface any text to speech audio that has been done in it and on the timeline, to edit the text audio and send it back. But this is a feature that at the moment, I don't use at all. I mess with it to see what it can do. But "we" (Vegas) already has Speech to Text, so I guess the point is mote.

Concerning subtitles and close captioning, Google would be an asset in this. Again, a feature I do not use.

Downloading content, you set up a folder location where the downloads go. With Vegas, you can also have it go directly to the timeline and Project Media Tab also. Otherwise, you would have to log into the HUB, let the project "search" for that media, so that the project on the timeline can be played back. I have all the content I downloaded on my hard drive.

The HUB is also there in Vegas. If you don't have a subscription, you will still have access to What's New, Learn, Example Project (Learn by Doing), and direct access to the user forum. Stellar support from within the software. And then there is the 3rd party addons you can buy that integrate directly into Vegas, such as Boris Continuum and NBFX, or VST plugins. Yeah... nice!! In What's New, you see what you have installed. With the drop down pointer, you see the patch list of what was fixed. Also nice!

As far as how much you can download, I can download 4K with my Vegas Post 365 account. You can only download HD with VPX subscription. I see no limit for the amount of downloads for Vegas Pro subscriptions.

Overall, the HUB in Vegas is surprisingly beneficial and helpful. The subscription has been something I did not personally expect to be so useful. And then, we also have the HUB Explorer. There is so much more that you aren't seeing in Vegas Pro 21. The HUB Explorer is one of those items. All the additional features in Vegas Pro vs VPX are features some might not ever use, or, once they see them there, find out what they have been missing and will use them.

The question is, is it worth the additional cost to the user. For me, it's a definite "YES".

A short video I did using one of the subscription pieces of music. My desktop audio consists of M-Audio BX5 Carbons and SuperDAC. I love the solid bass line. This is where I live.

@Reyfox

Hi,

Great video!

Thanks for the info on Vegas. I went through various parts of the manual trying to understand how the different titling/captioning features work. It's best to try at the same time; I'll get there eventually. Just not something needed or used by most home video makers, but nice to have just in case.

The amount of content that you can download is on the Magix.com web site.

For VPX:

Whether you need music, sound effects, stock footage, or animations, MAGIX Content provides subscription users with an unlimited collection of royalty-free HD videos and audio files. Download up to 20 files every month for permanent use.

For Movie Studio:

With a subscription to MAGIX Content, you get access to a limitless selection of royalty-free HD music, sound effects, stock footage and animations. Download up to 10 files every month for permanent use. You'll find exactly what your project needs right here!

For Vegas, there are 3 flavours:

• Edit 365 - Limited HD stock footage
• Suite 365 - Unlimited HD stock footage
• Post 365 - Unlimited 4K stock footage

Of course, there are significant differences in annual subscription fees.

John CB