What Does Vegas Media Manager Do?
 

Besides make Vegas take a long time to boot up, constantly crash, and cause conflicts? I searched and found some threads that mention it, but no threads dedicated to the Media Manager.

VASST has an entire DVD on the Media Manager. For reference, they have an entire DVD on Color Correction. If the MM gets an entire DVD, what does it do that is so complicated, useful?

I have never found a use for it, and always turn it off or close the MM window. What does it do that I can't do by just browsing with Explorer?

I suspect that there is some meta-data it stores like clip subject, location or something along those lines, but having edited with Vegas for 2 years now I never have used it, and when I did try, it just didn't make sense, where as almost everything else about Vegas is easier to just pick up and play with.

Thanks for the info.

Jason

On another related note, how do you even tell if Media Manager is running concurrently with Vegas 7.0e?

Media Manager can be very useful for long form projects.

If you tell it, or let it create a catalog of your audio/video files, then you can have a very useful database of all of your clips.

Then, if you enhance the keywords for your clips, it becomes even more useful.

One great use is to keep track of the clips which are located in disk drives which are currently off-line.

I consider it a great tool for seaching for a specific clip, audio or video.

Media Manager
 

Can the Media Manager be opened up and run as a stand alone program?

If it can, I can find many uses for it. If not, I would just as soon shut it off.

Dear David,

Sorry, I have never tried to open up Media Manager by itself. I think that it may be possible.

I found Media Manger very useful when I was editing a movie. We had over 60 hours of footage and it worked well by helping me quickly find the clips that I needed.

Also, do not underestimate its value for audio work. I have the Sony Sound Effects series and I use Media Manager to find the sounds that I need. The Sony Sound Effects series is fully integrated into the Media Manager, you do not have to "tag" anything.

So, again...how do I tell if Media Manager is running when Vegas 7.0e is on?

Dear Alex,

With Vegas running, go to View|Media Manager. If it is not checked, check it.

Then go to the "Media Manage" tab at the bottom.

I like to extend the Media Manager Window to a separate monitor.

If anyone knows how to open up Media Manager by itself. Please let me know.

David,

I have searched for a way to open up Media Manager by itself, but so far have not found a way.

However, if you start Vegas 6 or 7, then undock the Media Manager window, then minimize the other Vegas windows, it will appear that just Media Manager is running.

Last night I was working on this, but was interrupted to make homemade peach ice cream (I live in the heart of peach country!).

This is a very intersting topic to me because, like Jason, I asked the very same questions. If a whole DVD training disk is dedicated to MM than I thought it must be a very inefficient tool. I have been happy with just being very dedicated to creating a good file directly structure on my hard drive and manually keeping all my "media" straight.

Frankly, I've found the more computer software tries to "do it for me" the less connected I am and when things go bad (hard drive crash, disk errors or whatever) the less I know what to do. My fear is that I'd get involved with media manager and then Vegas would somehow crash, I'd have to reinstall, everything would be lost, and then I wouldn't know where the heck all my stuff is because media manager was "doing it's thing..."

From the very begginning that MM has scared me to death... :)

Jon

Yes, Vegas Media Manager is confusing.

I have over 3,000 video clips, and another 2,200 jpegs. I need a Media Manager. However, I too am afraid to use the Vegas Media Manager within the Vegas 7e Program.

Any Suggestions for a stand alone program?

If someone could show me how to run Media Manager outside of Vegas 7e,
I'll try it.

I can't afford to use a confusing program, waste time, or lose my files.

Dear David,

The Media Manager is just an index to your files.

If the Media Manager crashes, you do not lose any of your video or audio files. Also, it is easy to tell the media manager to re-index your files.

Consider it an easy way to "tag" you files with notes that are important to you and a way to quickly find clips to put on your timeline.

In 2005, I was editing a movie. The Media Manager was very useful.

Consider this, the Media Manager will remember your clips and their "tags", even if the hard drive is off-line.

The Media Manager is a very nice index, it allows you to search and preview your clips instantly.

I recommend that you give Media Manager a try. If you have Vegas 6.0 or 7.0, you already have it. To get the most out of it, I recommend reading the manual.

Fair enough, I'll give it a whirl.