Vegas has Mojo
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 1:18AM 
If you’re hanging out with a bunch of editors and you want to play a mean trick on a friend, just find the one guy in the room who uses Sony Vegas (there will be one guy, and only one) and tell that guy that your friend, yeah, the one over there at the bar, he’s super curious about Vegas and would love to hear all about it.
(ProLost, Inc. assumes no liability for what happens next.)
Vegas fans man. They love that Vegas. And they’ll get all up in your blog and be all like, “Dude, Vegas is so underapreciated, and you guys should make Mojo for it, because of all the ruling that Vegas does all the time.”
Well guys, now what happens in Vegas, has some Mojo.
Magic Bullet Mojo, now with support for Sony Vegas.
Now leave my friend alone, he’s not even an editor, he just came for the free drinks.
Reader Comments (46)
lol !! you are mean :) but yeah, I never understood what was so great about vegas though
Can you imagine how someone who uses Edius might feel?
When I needed to replace my ageing DPS/Leitch/Harris Velocity software I tried lots of software and Edius worked very well - I enjoy using it, but since it's so obscure there are hardly any plugins for it.
I even bought a Pinnacle Video Studio Ultimate package (don't laugh) because it comes bundled with MB Looks for less than the plugin itself. So now if I want to apply a cool look, I edit in Edius, export a nice high quality intermediate file and do the grading in there.
I know I should use Premiere and After Effects, but somehow Adobe Software and I never get along.
So bottom line: now you've answered the prayers of the Vegas users, how about some love for the Edius folks?
Yeah, I'm one those Vegas nuts always waiting for the "delayed" Vegas support. But as a happy Magic Bullet in Vegas user since V1, I'm glad Mojo is supported now. Great for quick turnaround jobs.
And what's great about Vegas? Well, if you've read the Rebel Guide (or paid attention to any good films) it's audio/sound where the real mojo is. And Vegas is a full powered DAW before it could edit video. It puts most NLEs, even the biggest boys to shame audio wise.
Add it's now a true 64-bit app, 4k, deep color, linear light floating point compositing, native R3D support.
It's not perfect - multiple sequence managing is better done in FCP or Avid and the DirectShow engine could use an overhaul.
But you'd have to pry it's audio engine from my cold, dead hands. I can't imagine have a separate app to do serious work with audio. The horror...
LOL, wow. I've moved on from Vegas, but still have it installed on my PC. You know, just for nostalgia.
Hilarious. I've never really gotten into Vegas, but it's cool you're supporting it along with the big boys.
"Big Boys?" "moved on? "
I think the term is "downgrade" :)
Yeah, there are reasons to run other NLE's but Vegas is an upgrade over all NLE's in some to many areas depending on the comparison app.
Let's see you open some R3D files at in a native 4K timeline and start cutting while mixing 5.1 surround 192Khz/32 bit audio in any other NLE. Oh wait, you can't. In fact, I'm not aware of any desktop computing NLE other than Vegas that supports that at 32-bit float in 64-bit app to boot.
PS. And yes, Stu nailed us Vegas fanboys perfectly
It's a sad, terrible addiction that is very difficult to break free of. I'm waiting for someone to do a spoof of Intervention with a Vegas editor.
My solution was to spend $3,500 on a Mac/FCP - that makes it impossible to justify continuing the Sony Vegas madness...
Fanboys is right. I learned Vegas in school because they were too cheap to use something else. I hated it. As soon as I moved onto FCP the world opened up. Funny how I never hear Vegas mentioned by the pro film editors.
Hmmm, well Paranormal Activities was edited in Vegas and that seemed to do o.k. :)
Thanks for supporting Vegas, I might have to check this Mojo thing out!
Gotta get my MOJO working.
ps VEGAS, baby, VEGAS!
I am using Vegas, and I really like it. I find its usability making more sense than other editing suites IMO.
LOL at Stu's original post. Actually, I am a pro film editor, and though I've only used it in spells I rate Vegas very highly indeed. Some of its features make FCP and Avid feel arcane in comparison. The thing I can't stand about it, and the reason I gave up on it, was the lack of support for so many important pro formats (OMF, for one).
Everything about Vegas is cool, until you need to collaborate....
Weeeeeeeee. Thanks Stu. I use Vegas for my cuts and do most everything else in After Effects...but I love me Vegas.
This is GREAT NEWS! All that's left is Colorista support in Vegas and I can die a happy man. Thanks for the update.
I do not get why anyone needs CC in the editing app? ... All your CC should be in Metadata encoded in the file... all you need is a fast, COLOR accurate editor to do cuts and crossfades.. that can write final deliverables... If not delivering final stuff.. then you have to leave the editing app anyway and get to a deep colorspace comp app to deliver a color accurate set of files.
Cineform seems to be leading the charge in non destructive, "change anywhere in the pipe" color correction with First Light... soon to be triple trackball enabled.. to make you feel like a colorist :)
Pro film editors shouldn't be doing major effects work on their NLE. Thats not the point of the offline. So, there is a reason why pro film editors don't use vegas, but Avid.
Prosumer editors aren't just editing, they aren't doing an offline, they are editing online and doing effects that will be the real thing, not rebuilt by VFX or DI editors.
Film cutting and Online Video tools are totally different concepts. Film editors shouldnt be making looks on offline material, it's an insult to the dailies colorist and the DI colorist.
Again, tools for editing story for feature film, and tools for onlining video/audio shouldn't even be in the same category.
Yeah, but there is this new category of digital filmmakers and videographers, that don't have the ability to do everything in different apps, or hire pros. They will have to do the whole job themselves (as I do when I shoot music videos for Bay Area artists). And for people like me, it makes sense to have an NLE that can do more than cutting, and it doesn't cost a lot (especially since I don't charge the artists but I do it just to help them out).
Great sense of humour, you going to get a real following if keep this up.
Still chuckling...
Doesn't Vegas come with a Dell or something?
I recently moved from FCP to Vegas thanks to the RED support and boy does it feel good! I am glad to see there is some real mojo going on in Vegas lately! It's the best editing software and deserves the best!
Well, the reason that Avid is used in the film industry is the same reason that Protools is in the recording industry. They were first to get a product out and it was adopted world wide. In my opinion, neither is a good value nor intiutive.
The early video edit software was created wtih the input of film editors. The problem with that is that film is a different medium digital video. Vegas on the other hand was created by lazy hippy musicians. That is why Vegas is so easy to use. I have been using Vegas for about 5yrs having deserted Adobe Premiere. I am very happy with my choice and challenged to learn and use this program. In the end it is the tool that is used that is best. Vegas does not require a video accl card or state of the art computer. I use Vegas for recording and editing audio, though I often tweak in Cakewalk Sonar. I think in the end result for me. That a $600 computer and $400 Sony Vegas does more than $3000 Mac and $1500 Final Cut Proi! Anyway, Jimi Hendrix played a strat and I play a tele. It is less about the tool than what you can do with the tool!
For value, for ease of use and for productivity Vegas has no equal, not even close. Choose the tool you like, I like Vegas
Let me clarify, I use vegas for video editing and also for audio editing.
I do think Vegas and After Effects need to learn to shake hands, but for most of the people that I know who have FCP, they do more talk and less work, where as I am taking a break from work to answer this
"I do think Vegas and After Effects need to learn to shake hands,"
I would go back to Vegas in a heartbeat if I had the seamless integration with AE that I have with Premiere.
But CS3 to CS4, I'm getting much more comfortable with Premiere, and almost not thinking about Vegas anymore.
I have tried everything out there, from Vegas to Premiere to Edius to Avid to FCP and even iMovie, and NOTHING is as intuitive as Vegas is.
@brian "Nothing is as intuitive as Vegas is" to you perhaps. When I installed Vegas, I imported a piece of footage into a bin and double-clicked it, a normal and intuitive way to have something happen in a windows environment. Nothing.
I expected a player or a trimmer to pop up, but nothing.
Intuitive is not the word I would choose. Maybe after a while, yes, but intuitive to me implies: being able to use something without having to use a manual.
DPS Velocity was very much that: drag drop and play. Need to adjust something, just drag again. Rearrange something, just drag it to where you want it to be.
Other software never came close to that, for ME.
Well, I fell in love with Vegas cause I didn't need to read any manual whatsoever to start editing. It's just so easy to use. In the other hand... when i tried Premiere, or After Effects, i just couldn't figure out where to start. I like my software simple, uncluttered and intuitive :P Vegas forever, man :P
Brian:
One of the problems that people have in migrating to Vegas is that the workflow is so simple. Vegas has a trimmer, but I don't know anyone who uses it, no one in the Seattle vegas users group does, because it is so simple to trim on the timeline.
So many of the old time video editors created a product to make it easy for film editors to learn. They were designed to mimic the workflow of film editing. As we know that video is different from film and there is no advantage and considerable disadvantage trying to mimic that work flow.
If you are expert in After effects which I am not, I would likely recommend a different program. In sept I recorded a rock fest and used vegas for audio editing, then I just delivered a video project, same thing. I get things done. There is considerable composting available within Vegas which I have yet to Master. So Brian your situation may be caused by thinking too much. Vegas is very simple to learn the basics and like any program can challenge you as you grow. What makes it shine is that it is not artificially more difficult to use or locked into old film like workflows.
I never use the Trimmer either. It's so easy to point the cursor somewhere, or even move frame by frame, and then press "S" to split a clip, that the special Trimmer window was a waste of engineering at Sony. IMHO.
These Vegas users act like Mac users. All I can say is that talent usually takes the path of least resistance.. or it is stifled. Is your app/tool letting you be creative as you can be.... or are you just a enthusiastic "user"? The best app is the one giving you the least resistance to be creative.
"just find the one guy in the room who uses Sony Vegas (there will be one guy, and only one)"
more NLE-snobbery that I would expect from one of my 19 year old film students, not from a seasoned veteran like Mr. Maschwitz. Use the tools that serve your needs best, and respect others who decide to use something different. Grow up Stu.
Stu nailed us Vegas users on the head, hehehe.
BTW, Vegas has deep color support built in, and can do secondary color correction if you know what your are doing. For those of use wanting to work better with AE, amen, but at least you can share DPX or OpenEXR files between them (RGBA only, no multlayer support yet). If Cineform ever releases a version with 10bit support in Vegas, then I will be a very happy camper.
Is MOJO 8bit or 32bit float in Vegas. Last time I checked, Magic Bullet was only 8bit in Vegas, but 32bit float in AE.
Sorry if I ruffled your feathers Ed. It was meant as a good-natured ribbing of my devoted Vegas friends, that's all. No disrespect intended.
I have vegas though don't use it exclusively - it's good. There's always the bullying temptation for those who use the "industry standard" software to look down on anything else, but there needs to be diversity (yes, even at the expense of collaboration convenience), thats how breakthroughs happen.
yea, well I've got even more to say.....
........thanks for releasing mojo for vegas :)
Nice post.
I'm a Vegas user. But I'm not going to defend it. I work cheap. I could afford it at the time. It does what I need it to do. End of story.
As I'm upgrading and learning After Effects, I am loving Final Cut more. Used to be a Premiere user, but it's become more and more complicated... though the integration with AE and the rest of the production suite is nice.
While I'm still likely to do most of my finishing in After Effects, and I already love Mojo - as a light version of Looks. It will be a nice addition to Vegas (as was Magic Bullet Looks Editors back in the day) just in case I need it... or for all those out there who are hardcore Vegas users.
This is good news because when they released Mojo I had the impression that Vegas was left aside, only it is released later... Thanks for your continuing efforts to educate us in the art of the modern film look..
VFX course
Yay!yyyyyyyyyyy!! Thanks for making this available for Vegas. If you ever come to Mauritius, you and your friends drink is on me :-)
I do love drinks, but the best thing you can do for both of us is to buy Mojo and convince other Vegas users to do the same. Future Red Giant development efforts for Vegas will, of course, depend on the success of the current Vegas offerings.
Victory! I was one of the beta testers of Magic Bullet Looks because I owned the Adobe suite although my main editing was on Vegas. I lobbied hard with Red Giant to get the Vegas version going. But the reason I'm happy about the new Mojo is that after reading the Rebel's Guide it dawned on me that there should be a program where skin tones could be frozen and the other colors moved around. After all, that's what the guide told us about colorization. I sent a long email to Red Giant Software suggesting such a program and got back a "thank you" saying that it sounded like a good idea. I hope Mojo was the result and it is only fitting that it run on Vegas.
Nice one. I just bought a copy for Vegas with the 40% discount code that I got in the email today.
I think one of the biggest reasons more people aren't using Vegas is the lack of plugins like this available for it. Personally I use it for pretty much everything. Recording music, video editing of course, compositing, and I have even used it to colour correct and make adjustments to photos on a few occasions.
Another quick post here..
I've been testing this plugin since buying it a few hours ago. I definitely like the colours and how simple it is to get the look you're after. So it's something that I can see I will be using a lot.
If anything, more tweaks for the skin tones would be nice. I'm used to doing all this using the secondary colour corrector where I can tweak the gamma, gain, saturation etc. That said, both plugins seem to work really well together. Mojo for the overall look followed by the secondary corrector if the skin tones need to be brightened slightly.
I'm trying the demo - very cool. I think this can really nail a look I've been trying to get but this makes it so fast and easy. Preview seems real good on my old machine as well. I want to get it! soooooooo, any info about that 40% discount code Glenn talks about in the above post?
That was the one-day RGS "secret sale" that was not much of a secret!
Vegas is a little funky but delivers in edit performance.
AVCHD is slowing it down a bit , but i''ll go to Cineform and a faster computer.
Vegas is a bit like Lightwave 3d always shunned by the "Pros" but occasionally an artist produces something great from it.because it was a contender anyway.
Name dropping and gear fetishism seems to be "Standard Operationa"l here in hollywood.
I've got no money,but I do have an HF100 ,Lw3d and Vegas and my imagination., feeling a little cinematically dangerous...
BTW My FCP setup is collecting dust-its just such a pain in the ass -the rendering..the rendering.
When it comes to " Sony Vegas " its like --- I am Legend --- Where I live.
I thought I was the only person left in the world that uses it. My heart filled with
joy to know that there are others out there as loyal as me. I live in Washington D.C. and the things I have to deal with from other editors is just crazy. I find it challenging and fun to use ---- I have done work just as good as some of the guys the call PRO's with my Vegas and I don't even have the latest one. I always hear that FCP is so much better and it's easier to use plus the things you can do creatively are just on a different scope of anything possible with Vegas. I think one way of thinking kills creativity and one standard of what everybody says is the best can kill it to.
I prefer Vegas but that's only because I am self taught and it was so easy to learn how to use. I have learned FCP and other formats of software with some type of basic proficiency. I think it's safe to say you should learn as much as you can with whats available to you.
I honestly get a kick out of telling people I use " Sony Vegas " in a city like mine. I would not consider myself a pro because I am not as technically savvy as others but its nice to know that I can BOX with the best of them sometimes metaphorically.