Upgrade unused VMS 8 PE to v9? Wait for v10?

cwaters wrote on 7/10/2009, 12:09 PM
About 18 months ago, I contemplated purchasing a digital camera and a camcorder. While shopping at a warehouse store, I came across a Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8.0 Platinum Edition / Photo Go bundle at an attractive price--so I bought it.

I purchased a digital camera but have yet to buy a camcorder. I had neither the time nor the reason to install VMS so it ended up sitting on a shelf, unopened. I considered returning the product, but figured I would use it eventually.

Now I'm contemplating purchasing a camcorder again. I'm looking seriously at the Canon HF200. This model writes to AVCHD format.

I'm running the Windows 7 64-bit beta on a 64-bit PC. It's working great. (I know. I know. Sony doesn't support their product on a pre-released OS. And from what I've read on the threads here, Sony doesn't support VMS on 64-bit PCs, either.)

Since I never installed the VMS 8 PE that I purchased, I'm wondering whether I should install it or simply use the serial number to purchase an upgrade to v9.0. For that matter, would it be better for me to wait for v10.0? (which could be nearing release and might offer native support for 64-bit PCs)

Since I haven't purchased the camcorder yet, I'm in no rush. For all I know, Windows Live Movie Maker might even meet my basic needs! (however, I don't believe MM supports AVCHD)

I appreciate any suggestions.

Comments

Ivan Lietaert wrote on 7/10/2009, 2:57 PM
My advice: install what you have, learn to work with it, wait until vs10 is out, then upgrade at an interesting rate to vs10.
Though Vegas is the natural next step after Movie Maker, Vegas goes ways further in 1) color manipulation and effects and 2) export formats (Movie Maker only allows wmv).
If you're just a bit serious about movie making, even at the level of home movies, Vegas will offer you so much more.
Chienworks wrote on 7/10/2009, 2:59 PM
If you're intending to use the serial number one way or another then there's no penalty for installing it. You can still use it for upgrading to any future version whether you've installed it or not.

You've paid for it, you might as well use it.

There's usually an extra incentive discount on upgrades for the first two months of their release. If you want to wait until version 10 you can get it a little cheaper than you can get version 9 for right now, but the difference will only be a few dollars. On the other hand, if you wait for version 10 then you won't have ever paid for version 9, and that's cheaper yet. Thing is, you won't know when version 10 is coming and it might be quite a wait.

So, with all that said, go ahead and install version 8 and try it. It might just cover your needs for now.
cwaters wrote on 7/10/2009, 3:19 PM
Thanks, Ivan123. Good advice.

Reviewing threads on various MM forums, it's not clear that it even supports AVCHD. I figured VMS (or another advanced product) might be required.
cwaters wrote on 7/10/2009, 3:21 PM
Thanks for the reply, Chienworks.

I saw a thread here that indicated that v10 might be out as early as within the next few months.

From reviewing other threads it seems that some people have experienced problems using VMS *9* on 64-bit hardware. I figured the problem (if there is one) would be worse with VMS *8* and that this might provide an additional incentive (or necessity) to skip v8 and upgrade to v9 (or to wait until v10 is released).
cwaters wrote on 7/10/2009, 3:25 PM
Any long-time users here recall what the major differences are between v8 and v9?

Didn't an even older version of VMS install MSDE for data storage? Is that still the case?
Ivan Lietaert wrote on 7/10/2009, 10:48 PM
VMS8 has some nice NewBlue FXs that vs9 doesn't have. On the other hand, VMS9 comes with a cinescore plug-in, and slightly better avchd support.
I personally have always felt that vs 9 was a rip-off because it was very buggy (initially), and doesn't allow blu-ray authoring, and still is way too slow for avchd editing, as it doesn't automate proxy-file editing.
Of course, VMS9 is still a great program, but if you have VMS8, there is very little to justify upgrading to vs9.

Many users like to skip one upgrade, so they go form vs7 to vs9 or from vs8 to vs10.

In any case, I would advise to upgrade to Platinum (or Platinum pro or whatever they will call it when vs10 comes out): you get lots of value for money there.
Chienworks wrote on 7/11/2009, 3:41 AM
MSDE is part of Media Manager, which is available only in the full versions of the software suite. No "studio" version has ever included it.

Here's what's new in version 9 as compared to versions before it:
http://sony-950.vo.llnwd.net/dspcdn/releasenotes/moviestudio90b_readme.htm
cwaters wrote on 7/11/2009, 10:35 AM
Thanks for the replies, everyone. If it wasn't clear, I have v8 Platinum Edition.

So v9 doesn't necessarily run any better/worse on a 64-bit OS than v8 does? If that's the case, then, with everything else said, I'll stick with v8 for now. UPDATE: I installed v8.0d on my 64-bit Windows 7 PC; it's working fine so far! I've also had success opening and editing AVCHD files in the latest version of WLMM.

Perhaps v10 will have native support for 64-bit hardware?