@Johan_Hackman Hi, basically you haven't upgraded you've bought a completely different program. Read the first few comments in this link https://www.magix.info/us/forum/where-d-the-track-options-go--1342723/. Same applies for Magix Movie Studio & Video ProX.

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2. The track protocol is different. The background goes on the lower numbered track, foreground and overlays are on higher numbered tracks. In other words, back (track 1) to front. Thus there is little need for moving tracks around. Inserting tracks above track 1 is not required; you keep your background on track 1 and you normally leave it on track 1. This makes for good housekeeping.

@browj2 Hi, I wish you wouldn't write this as if it's a bonus feature, to me the tracks have always felt upside down in MS. & you don't need to 'insert tracks' in Vegas, drag media in or move a whole track up & it will auto create a new track at the top. To me Vegas has a much better system of manipulating tracks & writing as you do just shows your lack of experience with Vegas. Like I say the Magix way is not a bonus, in fact it's limited.

@Gid

Hi Gid

Under the Feedback tab, in VPX16, the track order 'issue' is 'in development' for VPX: 'For the clear display of video and audio tracks. The track order can be freely set for each project.'

MMS 2025 feedback tab does not have any indication whether this will be available, IMO it may be a distinguishing feature between products.

The 'top down', 'bottom up' which is best is a matter of personal preference and an opinion.

. . . . you don't need to 'insert tracks' in Vegas, drag media in or move a whole track up & it will auto create a new track at the top.'. . . . .

You don't need to insert tracks, or for an 'auto insert', as you do in VP, they are already there in MMS and VPX waiting for media to be inserted. If you want to manually insert a track between existing 'occupied' tracks it is a single left click on the + sign in the track header.

The X in the track header in MMS deletes a track, oddly this is 'missing' in VPX which requires a click on the dropdown next to the + .

John EB

@Johan_Hackman

Hi

There is a list of tutorials here which will enable you to familiarise yourself with the features of Magix Movie Studio.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

@Johan_Hackman

Hi

There is a list of tutorials here which will enable you to familiarise yourself with the features of Magix Movie Studio.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

I am surprised at how many quick and great answers I got already! I have a lot to digest but before I do that, I see that you have tutorials both for Movie Studio and Video Pro X and would like to ask - are they similar? I downloaded both as trial versions and noticed that Movie Studio did not look similar to my Movie Studio Platinum 15.0.

Johan

As this is a thread about upgrades the correct upgrade from Movie Studio Platinum 15 would be to Vegas Pro, we all accept that buying a different product isn't an upgrade, Therefore we are comparing the 'upgrade' programs which are VPX or Vegas Pro.,

You don't need to insert tracks, or for an 'auto insert', as you do in VP, they are already there in MMS and VPX waiting for media to be inserted.

@johnebaker There is no need for 'Inserting tracks', it's simply not an issue & it winds me up when it gets mentioned so often, the way @browj2  preaches about the way MS/VPX does it is or any reference to 'having them already there' is not in any way a bonus, it's simply not a thing,

The track order has been discussed a few times & I accept that is an opinion, but @browj2's comments like -

 Thus there is little need for moving tracks around. Inserting tracks above track 1 is not required; you keep your background on track 1 and you normally leave it on track 1. This makes for good housekeeping.

make it sound like the MS/VPX way as some kind of improvement, or that other software is unorganised in some way, they're hollow comments made by someone who lacks knowledge of what they're discussing. 'little need for moving tracks around'.. what the h*ll is that about? Who has to move tracks around? & on that subject as seen in my video it's much easier to move tracks around in Vegas, In fact it's not possible to move tracks around in MS/VPX!. & for me personally a background track that stays at the top is just cluttering up the timeline, a background can happily disappear of the bottom of the screen,

I can't sit back & read erroneous comments without needing to respond.

@Johan_Hackman

Hi,

VPX is an advanced version of Magix Movie Studio. There is a comparison table of features on the Magix site. PhotoStory is a stunted version of Movie Studio - 8 tracks, no track headers, less tools, made for those creating movies mostly from photos. Strangely, it has acquired some new features not yet in VPX and MS.

There are a couple of things kind of missing in VPX that are in MS, but most users probably wouldn't notice. MS has a Storyboard mode which is very convenient for rearranging objects - photos in particular - on track 1. In VPX, you have to switch the Edit Mode to Basic, which gives Storyboard mode. It would be simpler to just have the button like in MS. The other is the missing Share entry in the top menu. I use to use it for quickly getting part or all of my video to Music Maker for scoring/dubbing.

One thing that you should look at is under Window, Window Arrangement. You can move the windows around, use 2 or 3 screens, and save and recall your arrangements. F9 gets you back to the default.

Next, go through the Project settings and Movie settings. You should get audio and video on separate tracks, unless that is not what you want, and the playback marker to stop at the location when you press stop(spacebar or stop button). Reduce the default photo duration from 7 seconds - I use 4. Etc.

Vignette:

Here is what a simple mask vignette can look like. Put effects on the video/photo, load a mask, adjust size and location, and select effects on the video that you want to see inside or outside the mask. Note that the Source Monitor (open the hamburger menu) is set to show the selected object without effects.

I show how to do this kind of thing in this tutorial:

I currently have two tutorials underway. Part 2 will show pretty much how to do the above effect. To be out in about a week.

@Gid

In Vegas:

drag media in or move a whole track up & it will auto create a new track at the top. 

Not very intuitive, in my opinion. So let's not go there.

@johnebaker

Hi John EB,

I hadn't noticed that there was no X in the VPX header to delete a track. Never had cause to do so.

One can also cut, copy and paste tracks, so that is an alternative.

John CB

Having edited both ways, it is a matter of personal preference and what one is used to. One need to only look to the professional editing software and ask why they edit the way they do. I do have my personal preference. And comparing products, there will always be something that one has that the other doesn't. It doesn't make one better over another unless you use that particular feature. For me, it's the overall feature set, not one or two features that I can live without.

As for VPX, it is a very capable editor that does more than MMS. I have both, in addition to Vegas Pro 22 and Davinci Resolve Studio 19.1.2 (doing the training certification right now). Every editor has stellar features. And a lot of people have more than one editing software on their computer. Use the right tool for the job.

Learn VPX since you already have an financial investment in it. You will find some things from Vegas are now incorporated into it, such as the AI features and the Hub, albeit, not as fleshed out as they are in Vegas Pro.

My daily editing driver is Vegas. I do recommend MMS to a lot of people just starting out, and have even gifted to others MMS. VPX at the moment is more than they need, and Vegas would give them cause to not even want to edit with its many menus and things that you can adjust and work with.

I would like to thank you all for your warm welcome and great responses to my newbie question.

The confusion I had is now more apparent to me but I still haven't got the hang of what version of the software is called what. I'll call it Movie Edit Pro although I have Video Pro X16. 😂

Now, if I were to thank each contributor to my enlightment individually, I really need to now the difference between John CB and John EB. 😬 The tutorials put out by one of them, but recommended by the other in this thread, has meant the world to me. I now feel confident to use Video Pro X16 from Magix. (Or is it Vegas?) Thanks!

Johan