How is Vegas 7.0e working for you?
 

A quick question to the masses. If you have recently upgraded from 7.0d to 7.0e (or other incremental updates for that matter) what are your thoughts on the upgrade?

Is it more/less buggy?
Has it fixed some of the issues it mentions in it's release notes?
How is it working with AVCHD?
Is it faster/slower?

Etc....

Hi James,
It's working fine for me, no bugs. Don't know if 7e did it but my render times are shorter now, especially for .avi and .mpeg files formats (always less than real time). The .wmv renders are still taking about 2-3 times real time for the show. I haven't used the AVCHD function yet.
Randy

Vegas 7.0e
 

So far...so good.

I have to say I'm suprised that there have been few responses to this post. I say that because I am seeing a fair number of issues being discussed in other threads in regards to 7.0e causing problems for people.

So I want to ask the question again....what's going on with people and their experiences with 7.0e?

I have had the update saved to my computer for some time but have been waiting to see what sort of feedback people have in their experiences with it before I update.

Maybe you're seeing few responses because people are generally happy with the update? I personally have no complaints.

And as far as problems go, I guess you answered your own question - they're to be found in the other threads.

I'm now having consistant hangs at 85% of building levels when I open a file. I don't understand -- the system has plenty of resources.

I too have hesitated to update to e due to rumored problems. And I am having no problems with d for what I use it for.

I've been using it without any problems. I have a client that is going to provide me with some AVCHD clips he shot himself. I'll see how it works with that this week.

The only issue I had was that some clips would cause Vegas to hang when building the peaks for the audio. I had one clip (only about a minute and a half long) that would consistantly hang).

I rolled back to 7.0d and it came it without a hitch.

--Steve

That is exactly what I did/happened to me.

SB

Found a better thread for my question

I am getting excellent results with 7e. Faster renders and even faster than real time with wmv.

E6420 Processor and 2 gig of ram.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

Well, after all is said and done I think I will go ahead with the update from d to e. Seems most people are suggesting good things and I would certainly love to speed up renders if possible. I'm very suspicious of the posts I have seen where 7.0e is the suggested culprit for problems. I often consider that human error is often the biggest issue. I am going to finish my current project before doing the update but should have it going sometime next week. So I'll be able to better answer my own question.

Thanks to everyone who posted here, I very much appreciate it.

Do yourself a favor, do a complete backup of your current system before you install 7E. If for whatever reason there is a problem you can easily go back to what you now have as if nothing ever happened.

I use "Casper" to make a clone of my boot drive before I install and/or upgrade anything. So if things do go wrong for whatever reason I can go back to what I had as if nothing was ever done with my system.

You are correct in finishing your current project first. Still, the clone of the boot drive is highly recommended!

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

I wish there was an easy way to go back. I have a lightning fast machine that is now hanging or crashing every single day, and only in Vegas.

I have a suggestion that may or may not help.

Try deleting all the files in the Vegas Temp folder. I don't remember where the default location is because I use a different drive for it. It should be somewhere on the C: drive under the documents mess. ;)

Anyway, if you can't find it and if you have more than one drive then create a new folder for Vegas, I call it "Vegas 7 Temp" on a different drive and then when in Vegas options tell it to use the new folder on the new drive.

There may be some garbaged files in the temp folder causing problems to reoccur.

It's worth a try.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

Good forward looking advice....gotta love forums.

This a bit off topic but I noticed that your website asks me something like if I want to install a Windows Media Player extension.

What does this consist of?

Without the extension your site does not look very good because there are red X's on your page including an area where it looks like a large picture should be. Also none of your demos will play.

I hate to say it but it kind of makes your site look bad.

I am very cautious and will not allow anything from any site to be installed on my computer. Even though your site most likely does not have a problem, I absolutely will not allow a site to install anything on my computer. I could say that a dozen times but I won't.

I looked on Microsofts page and found nothing to be of any help. I have noticed that a number of sites are asking me if I want to install Windows Media Player extensions and I can do so if I trust the site. Well, sorry, I don't trust any site.

I sincerely hope you don't take this in a negative way. Makes me wonder what happens if possible clients come to your site and see what I saw and then move-on.

Something to think about.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

Is anyone else seeing this? (www.legacyhdv.com) It's a typical wma file, so I would think if you couldn't play my site, you couldn't play any online wma. HELP PLEASE! I'm about to launch an ad campaign!

Let me segway back to topic. 7.0e was supposed to solve the issues we've been talking about, but it appears to make them worse. I have an important clip that causes a hang every time at 85%. Is that a bad capture somehow? I've got another clip that will not play sound after rendering though it plays sound just fine in Vegas. I am SO close to selling it for a Mac and FCP.

I am trying to understand and figure out the problem you are having.

Are you trying to load AVCHD files? Are other files loading properly or is it just AVCHD files? This is important as it will help determine if the problem is just one type of file or all types.

I have sort of tried an AVCHD file but it was converted to m2t in some way that may not let me see the problem.

Do you have a short AVCHD that others and I can download and test to see if we have the same problem?

If you do, please use one that you are having problems with.

It gets very difficult when some are having problems and others are not. It may be that I am not having any problems because I am not using the type of file(s) that you are. I may actually have the problem and not know it.

As for your site, I can play wmv files with no problems. When I go to your site I get a red x where something should be and the question on top in yellow asking me,

"This website wants to run the following add-on: "Windows Media Player Extension' from 'Microsoft Corporation'. If you trust the website and the add-on and want to allow it to run, click here..."

Maybe is in the way your html is presenting it that causes the protection stuff in Internet Explorer to do this?

Another thing to note, I have to use a scroll bar at the bottom of the page to scroll horizontally to see all that is on the page. The dimensions you setup are not quite enough for the width.

I am using a res of 1680 by 1050 so that should be plenty for your page. Looks like a good page otherwise.

Anyway I hope you can provide a link to an AVCHD file so others and I can see what happens on our systems.

How arer you rendering the file that does not have sound? Are you using the DVD Architect template? If so, that would explain it because it is supposed to not include the audio and the audio portion is supposed to be rendered separately.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

Thanks for the reply Danny,

Try this: http://www.legacyhdv.com/webdemomaster.wmv
That's the short trailer that I use for the intro. I added the thing about adjusting sound because I don't like going to websites and hearing music. I'd rather have a second to turn down my volume. It's no secret coding -- just something I put in the clip.

The whole goal of the site is simplicity, so I may lose the volume thing.

I just fixed the scrolling thing. Let me know if it still adds a scroll bar.

The new Windows Media Player update is full of bugs, which makes me nervous about relying solely on wmv for playing vids. I like how it works on my comps, but if folks get a red x, I've got problems.

I'm looking into software to convert my wmv files to swf. Then I'll add a button for those who cannot see video. I'll just redirect them to the swf version of the same video. I hate to add it, as it adds confusion, but it looks like I have to -- unless I can code it to automatically redirect to swf if the wmv fails.

Getting back to the Temp directory/folder location..

In Windows Explorer (or in Start > Run (or Windows Logo Key + R)), type %temp% and hit enter.. Then you'll be in the temp directory/folder, wherever it's located, even if it's been changed. ;)

Now back to your problems..

Eric

The scrolling thing is fixed. I can play the video that you provided the link to just fine and it looks great! Most wedding sites are now using flash because of the quality and all. I don't because I want people to be able to download the video files to play them off line as well as online. I don't see a way that can be done with flash. May be there but I don't see it. I also haven't found a good way to create a flash video from Vegas.

I still need a link to an AVCHD file so I can test it with my system and see if I have a problem or not.

A good forum for Weddings is www.videouniversity.com/

Click on community forums.

Cost is $25.00 for one year and $40.00 for two years to post and see the private forums. Well worth it for those who do weddings!

I do mostly Church and theater videos so I don't benefit much from the forums. I use two Sony HC1 HDV cameras. I did have a very strange black frame problem with HDV and Vegas that seems to be at least partially cleared up with my new system. I still see the strange black frames but they no longer show up in the rendered files. I capture direct to hard drives using my two FS-4 HD's so the problem is not because of tape drop-outs.

HD and its growing pains, I need to take a long nap...

Hope this helps,
Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

I am referring to the Vegas temp folder not the system folder.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

Oh okay, sorry. :)

I usually set temp dirs for my apps to system temp dir. makes it easier to purge stuff and free up 10 gigs of drive space every so often.. ;)

Eric

Hi Danny,

I'm going to start a new thread on 'DVD and Web Video Delivery'. I'll meet you over there...

Back to this thread...I cleared the temp files and made sure the HD was totally cool, and BANG to the desktop. I've got five jobs waiting, but I'm looking at Macs tonight.

Dana, switching platforms is gonna be harder and more expensive.

Can you just try doing a clean Windows install and a clean 7.0d install and get your work done that way? (assuming uninstalling isn't working, etc)..

Your system worked at one point, so getting it back to that state with a clean Windows install should be quicker than buying a new Mac, setting it up, copying all the footage over, customizing settings, (learning software?), etc..

Just a thought..

One more chance for Vegas.

Are you using 7e? Do you need to go back to 7b or 7d?

I have both 7b and 7d on my hard drive that I can send you. All you need to do is uninstall 7e and reinstall 7a from the Vegas CD and then use the 7b or 7d files from me to upgrade to either and that should solve your problems for now.

If you need either of these files, let me know and I can upload them to my page and give you a link to them.

I hope this is an ok thing to do. Please let me know ASAP if you need one of these files.

The 7b version is 134 MB and the 7d version also is 134 MB.

Even though I backup the boot drive and all I never know when I might find something not so good later on. So I keep the previous update files just in case.

It's too bad Sony doesn't keep previous update files online just in case as well. At least I have them.

Hope this helps.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

Update to my last post.

I just checked and I have all of the Vegas 7 updates. I have 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D and 7E all in one folder.

It sure does pay to keep those previous updates at times.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

That's kind of you Danny. I have the install disk, and can always do a system restore. I just cannot tell you how many problems I've had with this. I just quit my job to do videography full time and I want pro gear, but I think you're right that it would cost too much in time and money right now.

They do. I mentioned it in a previous thread but I'll do it again.
Here's the main Sony download site and here's the link to the older versions of Vegas (5 through to 7d).

You guys are seriously cool. I'll try the download to save time.

BTW Danny, I never answered you about the AVCHD. I actually rendered it as wmv. I think by AVCHD you are talking about MPEG-4, right?

Thanks Mike.

I guess the link(s) is/are either hidden in plain site somwhere or I simply did not see it.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

I am not sure if it is MPEG-4 or not because I am not familiar with AVCHD anyway.

I was needing an original AVCHD file so I could do a test on my system and see if I get a crash or not. This will help determine if the problem is due to Vegas or one's system and/or a combination of both.

Troubleshooting by way of elimination helps zero in on the cause of the problem and thus the solution.

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

No problem Danny.
It was the Vegas 7.0e locking up computer- how to go back to 7.0d thread where I originally mentioned it.

Try this link from the Doom9 forum for some AVCHD files.
It's the 2nd thread from the bottom of the page and max-pain is the poster's handle.
At least that's what they claim to be.
I grabbed the first one and it has an m2ts extension.
It's 10 sec. long and played back fine on my quad core.
A render to MPG (HDV 1080-60i template) took 16 sec. while a render to WMV (6 Mbps HD 720-30p Video, 5.1 Surround template) took 63 sec.

I found the files on here.

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=73357

They all load and play on my system with Vegas 7e.

I recently re-install Windows XP on my system because I recently built a new system.

I wonder what might be on Dana's system that is not on mine that might be causing the problem(s) other than Vegas 7e of course. Maybe an incompatible codec or something from another software?

I think the problem is not Vegas 7e but what either Vegas 7e is having problems with or something that is having problems with Vegas 7e.

Another thought is how the files I downloaded were captured vs what those who are having problems used to capture. Also what cam models, etc.

I wonder if the files I downloaded will work or not on Dana's system. It would be helpful to find out as part of the process of elimination.

Such is troubleshooting...

Danny Fye
www.dannyfye.com
www.vidmus.com/scolvs

I have a clean install of XP Pro on my comp. I don't have any antivirus software, Windows update is off, I only use IE when I absolutely need it. Other than that I have Hdvsplit, Audacity, Lightscribe and VLC Media player (because Windows Media Player 9 won't play [Blockbuster] DVDs). I capture from either one of my FX1s.

Every now and then I have problems playing a wmv on my web site where it plays the first frame of the clip and that's all you get. It makes me wonder if the clip is corrupt or something else is going on.

Once I get back to 7.0d I'm going to finish these projects and then convert my WMVs to FLVs through RITA (http://www.rivavx.com/index.php?encoder&L=3). That way users can choose.

I don't know why it is, but it appears there are at least a few of us who have trouble building audio peaks when upgrading to 7.0e. My computer locked up at anywhere from 62% to 95% when building peaks using 7.0e. I started another thread here and was able to go back to 7.0d with Mike's help, and the problem went away. Maybe it is something about how our machines are configured, or that we all have the same conflicting software or hardware. But it is a problem, and I hope Sony figures it out before the next update, since I would like to continue to install and use their updates. In looking at their notes on the Sony website, the update was supposed to fix this problem, and instead for me it introduced this exact problem where I'd had no trouble up until then. I let them know about the problem, but their workaround wouldn't work for me. They suggested I change the imported files from .m2t to .avi, but since I use elecard to view the files, I really don't want to start changing file extensions. I hope someone beyond tech support reads our emails, so they know they have created a problem. It is definitely easy enough to go back to the previous version, though, and everything works just fine again, luckily. Thanks again, Mike!

Ruth