Vegas Movie Studio vs Magix Movie Edit Pro 12?

dkellis · Post by **dkellis** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:48 am

I'm sick of the inability of Magix Movie Edit Pro 2004 to handle total filesize of over 4GB per project, so I figured I should upgrade. I narrowed it down to the two programs mentioned: Magix MEP 12 and Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition (can't seem to find definitive proof of which version this is, but I think it's 8.0).

On first glance, it looks like both are good enough for my purposes. I probably won't ever need to use the more fancy features, but I may yet regret that statement in the future. Going by that, Magix MEP 12 is cheaper and thus more attractive, but I wonder if I'm missing something in Vegas.

I also haven't tried actually testing out that 4GB limit. I'm a bit too used to using HuffYUV or Lagarith clips, so I don't think direct AviSynth support is really that important, but I could, again, be missing something. (I'm a very unimaginative fellow.)

I'm running Windows XP SP2, if it matters. Also, being that I live in Singapore, I'd rather not have to jump through hoops to get the program in question (software export laws being what they are). I'm also trying to stay under budget: $200 absolute maximum is what I can spend.

Advice and comparisons? Thanks in advance.

post-it · Post by **post-it** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 12:34 pm

.. number one; Pro 12 is not an MEP.

.. Magix Movie Edit Pro 2004 and its E-version can do many things Pro 12 won't do!

I have every piece of Software I've ever listed, when it comes to Video Editing,
and Magix is a fine editor "If You Are Short On Resources!! ( i.e. Memory, Hard Drive Space ... )

.. Vegas 6 thru 8 are fine editors and can now do things that Magix has limitation on!!!
(( if you have read the boards with AiST, Asymetrix, Avid, Magix and Ulead/Coral -- you will see a pattern of options that simply are too well hidden to be used by the beginner [ yeah they're in those packages but, do you know what are Hidden Options and which are Object Controllers? Vegas does not play that game: everything it has is very well Spelled-Out for you. Nothing is hidden. ))

.. ? what can you do in Vegas that you can't do in Magix ? .. Cookie Cutter, Pan & Fade .. Holding Video Transparencies while changing clips .. T_T need I go on ??

.. here's the deal --
1) Ulead had the Market cornered with its own MPEG-1 & 2 Encoders and the Editing was fairly straight forward with Video and AC_5 Audio Encoders. Ulead has a weakness; it understands Blue Transparencies.
2) Magix was known for its use of Audio Editing and MP3 Encoders. Its Looping capabilities were very well know in the Music Industry and making your own Hip-Hop sound track made it the Ideal tool for Video and Audio in low-power computing. Unfortunately, Magix has not taken Video too seriously; they are an Audio Company -- why should they be worried about Video Production ??
3) Asymetrix and Avid have sold their cheaper Video Editing Processes to other Companies and now only retain their AuthorWare DVD Finishers for Editing.
( extreamely high-end software - to say the least!!! )
4) Pinnacle has bought-up most of the Avid cheap Software Line and is trying to keep Video as its main function. Pinnacle has a weakness, Green Transparencies.
.. Primere and Vegas are the Only Two Real Players in Video Editing today and Primere is loosing ground to Vegas -- more and more each day ^_^

.. I have my software and know how to use it. Vegas promised to have a working Vista 64 bit Editor that they were going to release this year .. I'm still waiting on that release!

.. If I were just starting-out today with doing Video Editing, for the price, I'd go with Vegas

dkellis · Post by **dkellis** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:35 pm

I must be confused on the terminology. The page says "Magix Movie Edit Pro 12", which to me would abbreviate to "Magix MEP 12". Is this incorrect?

Also, I've been asking about the 4GB filesize limitation in Magix Movie Edit Pro 2004 since I started editing in 2005, and have yet to receive an answer that does not sound like speaking in tongues. Now, does Magix Movie Edit Pro 12 have that limitation? I'm getting the feeling that I'm the sole unfortunate with such a problem out of every consumer of that software. The Magix forums are locked to those without a user account, apparently, and I've long since misplaced the password and/or email address for that.

dkellis · Post by **dkellis** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 2:44 pm

I'm sorry if I seem a little irritated, but I've had a trying time asking this question in the #AMV channel and getting "sucks to be you" replies and jeers for not wanting to pirate Premiere.

This is not helpful.

JaddziaDax · Post by **JaddziaDax** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 3:30 pm

I kinda like my Vegas 6.0 but thats a personal preference...

I cannot tell you if the Magix program has a file size limit or not (I don't use it so I don't know...) I DO know that Vegas doesn't have that file size limit problem...

but it really depends on what you want to do...

I suppose you could always sit and wait to see if any one can/will answer your question... O.o cause if you're used to Magix I'd probably also suggest you stick with it..

good luck

post-it · Post by **post-it** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 3:53 pm

dkellis wrote:.. the 4GB filesize limitation ... does Magix Movie Edit Pro 12 have that limitation?

.. the Multi Editors Package DOES have a 3 gig limitation per editor -yes
.. when comparing Magix 10, 11, 12 & Vegas 6, 7, 8 I have to judge things on different scales -- they don't look the same, they don't act the same!

.. if you wish to do a comparison between Magix Movie Edit Pro 2004 and Vegas 8.0, Now you've got a fight on your hands ^__^ because these two are mirror images of each other!

.. Hey; I'm not making this up! Download Pro 12 and see for yourself. Also, do yourself a favor; download Vegas and see the differences "for yourself!"

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:02 am

Disclaimer: I'm currently using Magix MEP11 and Sony Vegas MSP6.0

As far as I can tell Magix MEP12 still has a file size limit with certain types of formats/containers. Even uncompressed AVI is still limited to 4GB max, if I'm not mistaken. This is one of the biggest gripes about Magix, but not a huge deal for AMV making since videos rarely get that big. If they changed this aspect of Magix MEP, you'd definitely hear about it.

Vegas generally has no limit as long as you are using NTFS as your file system (there are a few exceptions). Since I've been primarily using Magix due to the larger amount of available video/audio tracks, my experience is much more limited with Vegas. Even then, I haven't rendered any really large files out of Vegas to personally test its file producing limits.

dkellis · Post by **dkellis** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 5:37 am

What I usually do when editing is to get the DVD VOBs into a catchall AviSynth script, plug that script into VDubMod, and then use VDubMod to clip out the scenes I want using HuffYUV or Lagarith. Then I use these clips directly in the NLE program.

The downside, of course, is that each minute of song takes up, quite neatly, 4GB of video clips. So I have to divide the song into minute-long chunks, and it's this process which I want to skip.

I generally use two or three tracks at most anyway when editing, since I think in an unfortunately linear fashion: one for audio, and one for video. I don't think I'll ever need more than that, so the "unlimited tracks in Magix" thing doesn't really seem to apply. Unless there's another method of editing where it would.

ffxdean · Post by **ffxdean** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 5:26 pm

What I usually do when editing is to get the DVD VOBs into a catchall AviSynth script, plug that script into VDubMod, and then use VDubMod to clip out the scenes I want using HuffYUV or Lagarith. Then I use these clips directly in the NLE program.

thats the thing i did when i first started editing. What a waste of time that was in my experience

. Now I just load the MPEG-2 in an avisynth script then feed it out using the vfapiconv, which produces an avi (of about 13MB of a 4GB movie) which you can edit (even if the original file is over the 7GB).

I believe this method is the best method ive come across and therefore highly recommend it for you.

dkellis · Post by **dkellis** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:17 am

ffxdean wrote:thats the thing i did when i first started editing. What a waste of time that was in my experience . Now I just load the MPEG-2 in an avisynth script then feed it out using the vfapiconv, which produces an avi (of about 13MB of a 4GB movie) which you can edit (even if the original file is over the 7GB).

I believe this method is the best method ive come across and therefore highly recommend it for you.

I'm not entirely sure how this is done, to be honest. I may be thinking about it in the wrong way, but this seems to mean that I take the VOB file from the DVD (say, half an episode), index it with DGIndex, make an avs of that full half episode, create an avi wrapper for that avs (of the full half episode), and then use that avi for one particular 2-second scene.

Then I repeat it for every other scene I want for the four minutes of music.

Or maybe I create avs scripts (and corresponding avi wrappers) for every single little clip I create, which sounds a great deal more tedious, although perhaps not as tedious as my current search for that mythical "more than 4GB limit" NLE.

Am I missing something somewhere?