Fresh from of beta, Vegas 4 and Vegas+DVD are released and ready to conquer the software-based NLE world.

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/Products/showproduct.asp?PID=808

Very cool stuff. If you do your NLE work on a PC (and even if you don't) on any other package, you owe it to yourself to check out the demo and see what Vegas can do.

Definitely will get the the Vegas 4.0. I am also looking into getting a DVD burner (and software) soon. How does the vegas authoring software compare with other products like Sonic DVDit and ReelDVD?

Bought it today!

Amazing piece of software.

the DVD Architect is ok.... nothing too fancy, but gets the job done for me.

Are they keeping that $199 upgrade price indefinitely from Vegas 3 to 4? Will it go higher after a while?

Not sure, but if you're a registered user of VV3, you should have recieved an email with a better deal...

thats valid until March 15th

Really? The only thing I got from them is thing that says Vegas 4 is $299 and I can save$400 or something.

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/email/vegas4/vegasupgrade.htm

essentially what it is, is $149 for upgrade to V4, and $299 for upgrade to V4 + DVD Architect.

This is an *insane* deal if you think about it as Vegas4 can mix 5.1 Audio, and V4+DVD includes a 5.1 dolby digital encoder.

HTH

Okay, that sounds pretty damn good. Can you download it? Is it better to get it shipped to you? Do they say if they'll keep that price forever?

I ordered it last night :-D

You can pick either getting it shipped or get it as a download.

If you do a direct download, you dont' get the printed manual, shortcut keys doc, etc etc. Although those are all provided as .pdfs and can be printed out. The upside to the download is that you get it immediately. I was using the registered version of V4+DVD ~5 minutes after buying it. Also, you get a free cd of something shipped to you (not sure what it is, I didn't pay attention). But free == cool :-D

With getting it shipped you have to wait, but get the printed manual and probably the serial number printed in the book. which is nice.

I basically just downloaded it all, put in all the confirmation sales emails, and a txt file with my reg keys, and burned them onto a couple of cds for backup.

Once I get a printer, I will just print out the manual chapter by chapter as I need it.

edit: The $149 and $299 prices are only valid till March 15th. (From the email)

editedit: the actual price for the upgrades (after march 15th) will be $249 and $399 respectively.

HTH

Vegas 4 is a killer product. SoFo listened tot heir users and added the features they demanded. You can get the download now, or wait a couple of weeks for the boxed versions.

Videoguys Vegas 4 Launch Spectacular (exp 3/15/03)
Vegas 4 w/ Pyro card $299.95
Vegas 4 + DVD w/ Pyro card $499.95


GREAT SAVINGS!! Buy our Vegas Video 3 Production Studio today & Get a FREE Upgrade to Vegas 4!!!

Sonic Foundry Production Studio (SFFPS6000)
Over $1000 worth of software and $500 worth of Loops plus a complete easy to use training manual!!
- Vegas Video 3.0 video editing software
- Sound Forge 6.0, the award-winning digital audio editor
- Noise Reduction plug-in to analyze and reduce low-level background noise
- ACID Pro 4.0, the award-winning loop-based music creation tool
- Loop Library - 18 ACID loops - Over $500 Value!!
- Sonic Foundry's Digital Audio and Video Production tutorial book
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- FREE UPGRADE TO VEGAS 4

- SFFPS600 bundle $799.95 PLUS FREE VEGAS 4 UPGRADE

Gary
Videoguys.com

"If you do a direct download, you dont' get the printed manual, shortcut keys doc, etc etc. "

Actually, either way you don't get the printed manual. The manual included in the box is a "starting guide" and not the full manual. The full manual is available as follows:

As a PDF file on the CD included in the box.
As a PDF file downloadable from their website
As a bound book ordered from their website

I stand corrected :-D

And one more thing: I bought Vegas 3 not from SoFO directly but from an academic discount company. Am I still considered a registered user? Or does the registration have to do with whether you register the product after you get it. I think I did that. They send me emails about all this new crap. . .

Yesterday I purchased the upgrade to Vegas 4.0 + DVD Architect from Vegas Video 3. I also own Emagic's Logic 5.5 (Platinum version) which requires a dongle to run the program.

I am not able to open the Vegas 4.0 program with Emagic's Logic dongle still in the USB port. This may be old news for some of you, but it was real freaky for me! (I guess this is not necessarily a new problem. . . conflicts with dongles.) My heart was in my throat when I couldn't open the Vegas 4.0 program after just purchasing it.

Thankfully, the Sonic Foundry tech guys (his name also happens to be Ted) was very helpful in solving this problem.

I've read in Sonic' Foundry's Vegas forum that a few other people are experiencing the same problem.

Other than that short-lived inconvience, the Vegas 4.0 program seems to be very solid. Of course I'm still learning how to use the program. . . and still learning the in's and out's of video recording/editing as a whole.

And I'm enjoying every minute of it! :)

Regards,

Ted

Eric,
One little detail about saving the download file etc to a CD. If you do have to reinstall, your first registration code may be useless. You must then register again, which, however, is just as easy and quick as it was the first time.

Tor is correct--I understand fear of piracy but it would be nice if Sonic came up with a better registration scheme---Having said that, its a toll free call to Wisconsin and Sonic's service is excellent. As far as 4.0 goes, I think its terrific---

In answer to Dans question about ReelDVD. Based on manufacturers spec at Sonic.....
MY personal opinion is the interface to DVD Architect is superior. But that is not to say ReelDVD is bad. ReelDVD supports subtitles and additional audio tracks. DVD Architect ver 1 does not. DVD Architect supports 5.1 AC3 encoding. You have to move up to Sonics' Scenarist to get that, but Scenarist also supports DTS and other advanced audio formats. Scenarist is strictly for pros or rich kids with lots of money.

DVD Architect when bundled with Vegas is a great feature. At the moment I can live without subtitles, and I'm not pretentious enough to put a directors commentary on anything I do. hehehe. I don't know how the actual mpeg2 quality compares between ReelDVD and DVD Architect.

ReelDVD when not bundled with a capture card lists for 999.00 with net prices lower. That's more expensive than the full retail of the Vegas 4 + DVD Architec. So I would expect it to have more features the the initial version of DVDA.
On another thread, Videoguys posted a special with the RT.100 and ReelDVD that sounds pretty good.

The Vegas+DVDA bundle is the least expensive, quality, 5.1 surround option currently available. And after a film professor pointed out you missed at least a third of a movie, I'm not the sub-title snob I once was, though that is the one thing I wished SoFo had included. Just my opinion. Usually everyone elses disagrees.