Vegas 9 - Beware prior to upgrading
 

I just purchased a Panasonic HMC150, and spent the entire day trying to figure out why my wedding video was distorted in various ways throughout the timeline.

As a last ditch effort, I installed Vegas 8, and miracle of miracles, the problem vanished.

Now maybe others do not have this problem. I haven't seen it posted before. But coupled with poor performance on the timeline with all other footage, I am abandoning Vegas 9 altogether.

Playback of AVCHD on Vegas 9 was absolutely terrible at any setting, but with Vegas 8 it is perfectly fine.

This is only the first release of version 9 and as such, typically has some issues. The version "a" usually comes pretty fast which clears up the larger problems.

Maybe the .a release will clear things up. I hope so.

But in my case I bought this upgrade assuming that it would clear up the issues with 8.1, only to find the performance of Version 9 64 bit was unacceptably poorer than 8.0c.

Now I find that 8.0c performs better across the board than all versions of 9.

Some have reported v9 64 bit works fine. I'm not one of them, unfortunately.

Yes, Sony cannot test every configuration, I understand and truly sympathize with that.

On the other hand my configuration is not particularly exotic. i7 processor, a very mainstream Mobo, plenty of ram, and a common EVGA video card.

As others like Bill Ravens have pointed out, we are left in a constant state of waiting for the next release.

BTW, FWIW, when I state that I am abandoning this release, it is not with the attitude that I'm going to "show them", etc. My quitting doesn't hurt Sony or anyone else. I would much prefer that the software work than to complain about it. I would like to see this upgrade to work as well or better than the previous version, and I don't think that is unreasonable, especially with my unremarkable PC configuration.

I have a new video I just completed the draft of in Pro 9. Just delivered it today. This version has more bugs than 8 did at release but I still have version 8 running that I use so when 9a is available we will see what happens. It is way too early to proclaim it's death. It is in everybody's interest to run some test to see if everything is working and report the problems. I typically keep two versions of Vegas running just in case. On tight deadline projects I would stick with Pro 8.

I have to say, this version is a little buggy as well. I never went from 7e to 8, since I heard so many issues with 8, but I did take the plunge on 9. I'm using cineform to convert my HDV files to cineform codec (NeoScene) and sometimes the preview and trimmer windows just lose the video. I have to save, exit out of Vegas, and come back in for it to come back. Slightly weird. I purchased a serial for Magic Bullet Looks 1.2 and tried to install the cert for it. Kept locking up Vegas. I had to uninstall MBL and reinstall and kick the cert in during installation. Odd stuff.

Issues to date with 9.0 are as follows

1. Capture HDV tape and drag footage from project media window to timeline. There are the usual problems with scenes having a small a glitch at the end which must be trimmed away, but in this version there are periodic black areas, which result from the clips not being completely together on the timeline. I started using Vegas with 6.0 and have upgraded each time since, but never saw this problem. It is an issue with how 9.0 loads the clips, because if one puts the same clips which were captured in 9.0, on an 8.0c timeline there are no black spaces.

2. Rendering to new track will cause problems with viewing on secondary display. There may be no image, a corrupted image, or a black and white image, all of which are sized improperly. Vegas must usually be shut down and restarted to correct this.

This is after two days of serious work with it and I am sure I will discover more problems as time passes. 8.0c is rock solid for editing HDV and burning to Blu-Ray on my configuration. I do love the look of the new interface.

I'm also working with an HMC-150 and the AVCHD codec...

After struggling through a simple UWOL video all weekend, I'm going to go back to 8.0c until 9.0a comes out.

I am particularly unhappy I cannot render with MainConcept.

- Starting to feel somewhat lucky -
 

Aside from the following issues:

1. Still unable to get a video preview while capturing HDV footage in either of the 64bit versions of Vegas Pro

2. Audio issues/bug while capturing LIVE HDV footage via Firewire [Canon XH A1] but I had this issue with 8.0c and 8.1

I haven't come across a lot of the bugs some of you are encountering but I will admit after the initial install of Pro 9 I was having some problems with some stuttering when previewing clips prior to them being put on the timeline. However, for some strange reason that stutter has seemingly disappeared [not sure if it had anything to do with the microsoft updates installed afterwards].
I was able to install MB Quick Looks 1.2 [the not so tweakable version MB Looks 1.2] and experiment with it for about 30 minutes without any issues to report so far.

Gigabyte GA-X84-DQ6 / Intel Q9550 @ 2.83GHz / G.Skill DDR2 800-8GB / Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64bit / HIS Radeon HD 4670 1GB DDR3 128bit / HP 1070i SATA Multiformat 20X Writer / LG Super Multi Blue BH08LS20 Blu-ray writer / BFG Tech 650W P/S

Heath,

Are you using 32 bit or 64 bit??


I'D bet it is the 32.

Yes I'm using the 32bit version. No way I'm going to vista and unstable software on an unstable OS. :)

First versions are always like this.... and not just with Vegas. Adobe CS3 was a disaster area upon first release, Avid liquid 7 was barely usable, Vista wasn't the greatest.... etc. The situation is even slightly worse because of the rather rocky economy.

I think they did pretty good for a first release.

I am a software professional. I have written thousands and thousands of lines of code, debugged, tested and installed my own code as well as code written by peers and various vendors. Been dealing with hundreds of systems over the years. Very few people here can match my background in this area. Coder, support, designer and architect. I have been on special assignment 2 man teams and other teams with 200 members converting major portions of business onto new platforms. I have traveled the world doing it.

So, when I see statements about bugs (new or old) or wish lists that never get fulfilled I just have to laugh because those statements come with a naivety. There are software companies that make millions of dollars that are centered around one thing. Track and resolving problems, enhancements, new development and placing priority and process around them. I don't know of any software that I have ever worked with that didn't have bugs. I have worked with software that the purchase price was in excess of 10 million dollars. Some of these systems have more bugs than Vegas has lines of code. That's a fact.

Every company handles bugs the exact same way. Prioritization. What is critical is what gets fixed first and so on. Some bugs never get fixed...ever. Every company has a release path that they follow that drives many decisions. That is the way it works.

For you or anyone to think that the critical problems won't get resolved in Pro 9 is laughable. For anyone to think Sony or any company will fix all the bugs in their software is laughable as well.

In an ideal world everything works perfect and everyone is happy (of course for everyone to be happy there would have to be hundreds of parallel worlds).

So statements like Sony won't address bugs until sales are affected is assuming that the coders right now are all just hanging out at the local pool hall kick'n back with a drink and some peanuts.

You guys are speculating and pontificating about subjects to which you have no background in nor any idea of how things work. As if everything you touch is perfect and without flaws.

I have zero problems with people who express frustration with bugs and are disappointed with not being able to start using Pro 9 for everything they want to do with it. Create lists, contact Sony support and provide wish lists, etc. But for some people that isn't enough. They have to take it the the next level and start talking about emperors and belief systems and common sense or being ripped off, etc.

I have no answer for anything about Pro 9 and its current state. That would require speculation and that would be a pointless to debate. However, I do know software and I know the business and I know the process. I trust that knowledge as it has brought me to where I am at today.

Where you chose to see doom and gloom I see the promise of good improvements once the bugs are worked out (in order of importance and what the time allows).

So are others here.
No one's laughing. Some bugs are merely irritants, Others are showstoppers - and there seems to be a philosophical difference here on just what is/isn't acceptable. IF enough Vegas users jumped ship - it's entirely conceivable that SCS might just decide to invest more in pre-release testing.

That's a rhetorical answer - what is important is just what SCS's development priorities are.

How software development teams work is no mystery - and internal company politics does affect the end product. Again - it's not that bugs exist - it's how many and how bad. Some would argue the trend is getting worse.


Personally - I'm seeing way more lock-ups.

And I really don't care for the odd-ball dialogs of some of the new video effects. It looks to be the same Windows Presentation Foundation crud that processes mouse clicks three weeks after you click them as in the ProType titler. Leave alone the fact that all the original and the majority of effects use a different (and quick acting) style.

WPF is an developmental decision we could do without. A snappy useful interface is what Vegas is all about - screw that - and your raison d'etre goes poof.

This thread has become ugly and personal.

This had been a civil thread airing out complaints on the upgrade; then it seemed to turn into a pissing contest of some sort.

This is a classic example of how unlovely things can get when one feels he has to prove a point at all costs or have the last word.

Yuck.

And for that reason, Chris will probably delete it very soon - and I for one won't be disappointed when that happens.
This is a Vegas forum that I truly enjoy coming to as users (usually) do their best to follow the golden rule that goes "If you can't say anything nice, don't say it".