Magix purchases Sony Creative Software products including Vegas Pro

browj2 wrote on 5/26/2016, 9:26 PM

Here is a link to one of the articles.

Here is what Magix says: ""We purchased the Sony Creative Software products, including the full Vegas Pro, Movie Studio, Sound Forge Pro, and ACID Pro product lines. We'll continue to innovate and support all SCS customers who purchased products from Sony. We already plan new versions of Vegas Pro and Movie Studio this autumn....."

What does this mean for us Magix users? Will development efforts be diluted, especially with the new 365 day subscription method?

So far, I haven't seen anything from Magix to reassure us. They have not even mentioned it yet in Magix Magazine. Seems to me that the first thing that I would do as a marketer would be to reassure my existing client base that this is all for the good and there would be advantages for existing clients. But Magix can't even fix the long-standing animation interface between the VPX (or MEP) and Xara, both Magix products. Is Magix giving up on Magix?

I took a quick look at Sony Vegas and the pricing. The main difference between Vegas and VPX that I can see is that Vegas does compositing, whereas the Magix products do not. It would be interesting to see a comparison in list form.

Comments

emmrecs wrote on 5/27/2016, 5:53 AM

What does this mean for us Magix users? Will development efforts be diluted, especially with the new 365 day subscription method?

So far, I haven't seen anything from Magix to reassure us. They have not even mentioned it yet in Magix Magazine. Seems to me that the first thing that I would do as a marketer would be to reassure my existing client base that this is all for the good and there would be advantages for existing clients. But Magix can't even fix the long-standing animation interface between the VPX (or MEP) and Xara, both Magix products. Is Magix giving up on Magix?

My feelings/worries also, John. I see the article you linked says that at least some of the Sony developers have been taken on by MAGIX so, perhaps, there is some indication of intent to continue with the full range of their own programs.

However, it stands to reason that at some point in the future they are bound to be looking at integrating/combining the two software streams. To be funding for the long term research and development of competing products is not really commercially sensible.

Grazie wrote on 5/28/2016, 12:30 AM

Hi there from a long-term Vegas Pro User! - I've been using the Vegas lines since 2002, then it was Vegas Video. It is a superbly intuitive and adaptable NLE.

This is really, really not an extensive list. To do that would require a lot of writing! Here are some of my key favorite features that get me productive in the morning and allow me to realize my ideas - and quickly too:

* A Clean and Uncluttered Workspace: Once using the Control Panes are fired-up, they can be rearranged to suit the user's workflow. Added to which the User has 9 Layouts to quickly KeyStroke into operation. You're only a KS to call up the Layout of Workspace you want, when you want it!

* Superb Audio Management: As VV started out as a product with its DNA coming from Audio, you'd expect it to be.

* Scripting: Appearing around 2005/6 (?) this additional feature allowed for many 3rd Party collaborators to create for either FREE or reasonably priced tools for making many of those repetitive, time-consuming NLE Editing processes a breeze and error free! How about syncing 1,000s of photos to the Markers set to the beat of a Music Bed? I've done this in maybe 4 seconds using 200 photos.

* Multiple Open Instances of VP at the Same Time: I can copy and paste from one open Project to another.

* Nesting: Project Files Treated as Media! Import an unfinished Project in another Project with all the controls you'd expect of the Project. This is a neat way to chain Projects together WITHIN a top level Project. To Edit those Nested Projects are only a right-click away.

Oh yeah, and then there is the User Base of VP. Truly Open support from some of the best collaborators in NLE activity in the business of creating video that is engaging and effective.

Best regards,

Grazie

browj2 wrote on 5/29/2016, 11:46 PM

Hi Grazie and welcome to the Magix Community,

Thank you for your insight into Vegas. I looked at the Vegas forum and also at the comparison chart on the Sony site. It looks like VPX is closest to Vegas Pro 13 Edit, same price, rather than Vegas 13 Pro. I still cannot see enough detail to properly compare the two so I will start with what you indicated:

A Clean and Uncluttered Workspace - ditto for VPX, at least in my opinion

Superb Audio Management: ditto for VPX, and remember that Magix also got its start in audio, as far as I know, with Samplitude and Sequoia being the top of the line. Magix does a lot of sharing of code and tools amongst the various programs. VPX and Samplitude can be linked together in a master/slave relationship, allowing simultaneous editing in both. I saw a comment on the Vegas site (the long thread about Magix) that mentioned using Sam with Vegas; it will probably happen like Sam and VPX.

Scripting: Vegas wins this one. Some users use macros, but VPX and MEP (Movie Edit Pro Plus/Premium) allow you to save, load and copy/paste effects. As well, VPX and MEP have a BPM wizard does something similar to what you mentioned, but allows the user to modify the location of the beats in case the tempo changes, then applies it to the images. There is also the SlideShow Maker which at its simplest, arranges all of the images and short video clips with the beat, assuming that the program can recognize the beat. Still, scripting in VPX and MEP would be a nice addition.

Multiple Open Instances of VP at the Same Time: Vegas wins this one. Cannot be done in VPX as far as I know. There is a workaround, but not as good as directly copying between projects. Samplitude has this feature and it would be nice to see in VPX.

Nesting: Project Files Treated as Media!: ditto in VPX. They are simply addional movies in tabs. There is a Project folder in VPX containing all element that are in a project. One is movies that can be dragged and dropped onto the timeline like an object. The original can be edited and the compiled copy gets updated automatically.

I noticed that NewBlue FX are included with the more expensive Vegas Pro 13. VPX has some NewBlue FX, but the best addition is the proDAD Mercalli V4 plugin. Does Vegas have this plugin?

Overall, I think that the addition of Vegas to Magix should benefit both. However, Vegas may end up replacing VPX as I don't think that its user base is very large. The size of the Vegas community is huge in comparison to VPX.

What Magix will do with the more consumer type products that are like MEP is anybody's guess. They may simply keep both and add the same new features to both, like Corel does with VideoStudio, Pinnacle and Roxio (yes, Roxio is a Corel product now).

I mentioned compositing as Magix products do not have this capability. The closest is the link with Xara, but Magix/Xara broke the animation part of the interface in Xara 10 and 11 and still have not got it working again, despite promises. I would like to know what Vegas does in this aspect.

To clear up a misconception about the subscription light method, it has been extensively discussed in the Xara forum (Talk Graphics) under the recently released Web Designer part. Xara confirmed that a reinstall, if required after not having renewed a subscription, would drop the user back to the latest subscribed version, not the first version. So the worst is the loss of one year's worth of upgrades that you were actually given in advance. The workaround, and one many of us do anyways, is to download the patch/update from your account in Magix support each time, and keep the file, or save the update file elsewhere before the update process is complete and the temporary file deleted. You only actually need the latest version. I also keep all of the original installaion files. Then if you have to reinstall, you don't have to re-download a couple of GBs of files.

As for the Forum, I'm guessing, but Magix will probably open a separate one for Vegas like they have for Samplitude/Sequoia and Xara. BTW, Xara personnel often intervene, answer certain questions, especially about features that exist in the program but that no one seems to have found, or simply say thanks for letting us know about this bug. Don't see that on the other Magix forums.

Interesting time ahead.