@Phil-Swisher

Phil, Magix bought (or Sony sold) Vegas Movie Studio. The last "real" Movie Studio was, I think, 16 or 17. Magix then "re-issued" Vegas Movie Studio as Movie Studio 18, but it was actually a clone of Magix Movie Edit Pro, a completely different program. This "re-issue" has caused considerable angst amoungst the old Vegas Movie Studio users because it was not advertised at all. You were just given an upgrade button which people understandably clicked, only to end up with a completely different program That is the one you are using now, by the sounds of it, being Magix Movie Studio 18.

Now, to your issue. Magix Movie Studio 18 (there is no Vegas Movie Studio 18) is almost exactly the same as Magix Movie Studio 22 (MMS 22); 22 is simply an update of 18. In MMS 22, there is currently a bug in the cropping mode which is annoying if you do lots of cropping of videos or still images eg for slideshows. But otherwise, the numerous bugs that were in the initial release have been ironed out over the 4 or so patches Magix has made. MMS 22 will export/render/encode video faster than MMS18 because it better-utilises the graphics cards (if you have a modern card and CPU).

So, to your options. If you are coping with the (extreme) change from the old Vegas Movie Studio to Magix Movie Studio 18, I'd say well done and persevere. By all accounts, the Magix version, while completely different, is basically simpler to use. And you'll get good support from the users on this forum if you get stuck. I personally would wait for the next iteration of Magix Movie Studio, 23, to come out later this year, when hopefully that cropping bug will be fixed.

If you don't like the Magix program, you can continue with Vegas Movie Studio 16, or as others have done, ask Magix for an upgrade to one of the (Magix) Vegas programs. Magix may come to the party, considering you were basically misled in the first place. Have a look at the links here for what's available.

@CubeAce

Can I ask what is wrong with continuing with Vegas Movie Studio 16?

Ray, I would ask the same question the other way round. Why wouldn't you upgrade? For normal software, upgrades mean more/better features and better performance. For example, you'd be nuts to stick with Windows XP or MEP 15.

Wanting to upgrade to the latest version is in my view entirely logical. That fact that old Movie Studio users have been virtually hoodwinked is another issue entirely.

@AAProds

Hi Al.

As I said. I am running Vegas Studio 16 as well. (17 was the last Vegas version)

The program runs well enough. Export times are not that bad on my machine and I still have access to features taken away by later updates to the newer Magix programs such as the main concept encoder. I have only bothered to upgrade for some of the third party plugins on offer. Basic editing in 90% of projects remains the same. As the newer versions have been released I have found playback on my machine to get worse not better, not handling multiple tracks as smoothly as the older version. The 2020 version actually ran smoother using multiple tracks than the current 2022 version and there was no problems with cropping images either. Still had Mercalli V2 and 'other' bonuses.

As each release really takes more advantage of newer versions of Direct X and it's abilities when combined with newer and more powerful graphics cards the only way I will get back to the performance I had with MEP will be to upgrade my graphics card again. Then again the older version of the program also gets a boost from using a newer graphics card as well.

In this instance where someone has to go through the learning process of using new software and a new workflow I am just questioning the reason for the upgrade. If the old software was getting a but laggy on the inquirers old system (I assume that because of the newer specs being posted) then the old Vegas version should run much better on the new system. It can still export to a recognised surround sound format as well.

I do appreciate your opposing argument though and giving me a chance to expand my thoughts on the matter.

Ray.

I haven't checked but I assume Magix still offer a 30 day trial of software so @Phil-Swisher could download the trial and determine for himself if it's worthwhile him updating. But he needs to check whether his pc meets the minimum system requirements as my impression is MEP/MMS22 is far more fussy than VMS on this.

@ericlnz

Hi Eric.

The computer specs for all of the DELL PC XPS 8930 are found here.

I think whatever program Phil chooses will run on any of those machines.

Ray.

WOW ... I am impressed with the excellent insights provided by CubeAce and AAProds! Having never been a part of a "software community forum" ... I see what I have perhaps missed! Thanks you both. I value both lines of thought you provided. BTW ... over my years of 50+ videos of trips and family events, I have recognized the absolute necessity of good music embedded! I have used Kevin Macleod -Incompetech's "free royality-free" music. It has been outstanding. Is this a common source for others?

Again, thanks for your thoughts and insights!

Phil

@Phil-Swisher

Hi

In addition to the @CubeAce and @AAProds comments, Movie Studio 2022 is worth learning - it has many features which the old Vegas Movie Studio never had eg:

• multiple timelines (movies) in the same project - very useful for creating multi movie DVD or Blu-Ray discs.
• Tracks are universal ie they can contain video, images, audio, titles etc
• The track structure does appear to be upside down, however this has advantages - track 1 is the background (base) for the movie, as you add items on higher track numbers, visually they appear on top of the lower track numbers.

There is a more complete list of the differences somewhere in the forum, however i cannot find it.

There is a list of tutorials which also apply to Magix movie Studio here. they are created with Movie Edit Pro and are applicable to Movie Studio with one exception - the Size & position and Rotation effects have been combined into one effect and the modus operandi of the rotation effect has been change to make it more versatile.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

@johnebaker Infusion Engine of Movie Studio has faster rendering speed and smoother playback than VEGAS Pro.

@Phil-Swisher

Hi Phil.

Thank you. As you can see we don't all have the same views, possibly down to very different personal experiences.

For me, changing work flows is never an ideal option although I'm still able at the tender age of 66 to learn, but not unless I need new abilities. I will only upgrade a product if there is either something different I want to try out in the form of a new processing plugin or the old software becomes deficient in some way or I need to upgrade so I can use the output of a new camera that the older software can't use.

Also my personal experience due to my machines' specs and the preferred video resolution I work at and the types of processing and amount of parallel tracks I use that the newer programs run less efficiently than the ones of only two generations ago did. I put up with that for the benefit of the new plugins I've accumulated with the upgrades. I may also gain back some functionality and speed when or if I decide to upgrade my graphics card.

Even the lowest graphics card on the list of machines I found for your computer beats my current nvidia card so you have no worries there.

I am using some software that still works for me that came out in 2006 and still works on Windows 10.

If it ain't broke and all that.

I have had some hassle trying to find a music track that I either like or fits in to my videos and I've taken to making my own tracks. They may not be as good as from anyone who is more talented but I never worry about copyright strikes and are purely mainly for my own amusement. I have also found it faster than looking through thousands of sound tracks. (most of the time).

Ray.