MAGIX VEGAS PRO 14: REVIEW
By Jim Bask
By Chris Monlux from Videomaker
In May of 2016, MAGIX Software, the German developer of Fastcut, Music Maker, Xara Photo and Graphic Designer acquired the majority of the Sony Creative Software portfolio, including Vegas Pro, Movie Studio, Sound Forge Pro and ACID Pro.
After months of speculation of what Sony was going to do with Vegas Pro, this announcement began the new life of Vegas Pro, and just three months after, we have the software’s newest iteration: MAGIX Vegas Pro 14.
First Impressions
We were curious what new things MAGIX would bring to the table so quickly after its acquisition from Sony. That would be a huge concern if Sony had just released a new version in the last year or so, but Vegas Pro 13 hit the market in April of 2014, so it’s likely version 14 was in development even prior to the sale to MAGIX, but that’s just speculation.
Vegas Pro 14 introduces a long line of new features with its new hover scrub technology, smart upscaling technology, smart zooms, RED camera support and 40X video velocity. There are three versions of Vegas Pro 14 available; Vegas Pro 14 Edit, Pro 14 and Pro 14 Suite with costs of $400, $600 and $800 respectively. Vegas Pro 14 and higher introduce NEWBLUEFX looks and proDAD Mercalli V4 image stabilization. Vegas Pro 14 Suite also includes Boris FX BCC Match Move Unit, 3D Objects Unit, Titler Pro 3 and Key and Blend Unit.
What’s with this new stuff?
There are a few observations we have made regarding the long list of new features. The first is if you take out the word technology from the new features, you get options that are and have been included in many other video editors. Things like hover scrub technology is really just a new hover scrub feature — hardly noteworthy. Next is smart zooms and smart upscaling. This is not really cutting edge stuff here, but it’s very usable nonetheless. We should note though, although the outcome isn’t anything revolutionary, the usability of the features and how well they work is at least noteworthy.
The overall theme in all of the marketed new features are that they are third party add-ons included to improve the overall competitiveness in the marketplace and keep Vegas Pro 14 relevant. We would hope that the next version will have these more deeply integrated as part of Vegas Pro.
NEWBLUEFX seem to be everywhere right now and included in many other editors, but let’s not discount it just because they are more available now. The NEWBLUEFX Looks is a strong tool and very usable.
If Vegas Pro 14 did not come with some type of image stabilizer, it would be behind the times. Good thing proDAD Mercalli V4 is included because it does a great job and offers some really usable features, including helping correct the distortion created by using CMOS sensors. With the inundation of drone footage out there, image stabilization is a must to make that great shot perfect. [Continue Reading…]