Your input please: MSP to VideoStudio "PRO"?

[MrA]

Ahh what the hell.. This is my main competitor in my business.. Wedding videos. These were shot in high def, using a MAC and Final Cut Pro 6. I give up on this one. This is shot in the New Oreans area. Meaning, thanks Ulead, hope ya recover. http://www.stacymarks.com/ (goto video)

[Amalthia]

I second the person that asked for Linux compatablity. I'm a user that is NEVER going to install Vista on my computer and it looks like Linux is the direction I'm going to be heading in the future and yet none of the major video editing companies have created any products for that operating system and I do believe there is a market.

[Andy E]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before but one feature I believe is essential if a new incarnation of MediaStudio is take prosumer users from other NLEs is Keyboard Customisation.

Vegas has it (and brother does it need it), Premiere has it and I presume others have it as well.

Somewhere I remember reading a pre v8 interview with Tobie Openshaw (I think) where the Smart Compositor was being touted to pros who may well be using other NLEs but might want MSP8 to knock up quick segments as part of their workflow.

Thing is, pros dislike learning new things. You can show them a NLE UI and much is immediately familiar - a preview window generally looks like a preview window, a timeline like a timeline and so on. However, they will have invested a lot of time and energy in learning the keyboard shortcuts to speed up productivity.

Give them a set of presets that match Premiere or Vegas (or something else) and they can jump right in. As it is, they have to learn new toolbar icons and context menus all over again as well as the one thing that really speeds up their work - the keyboard.

Personally speaking I like I / O for Mark In / Mark Out rather than F3 / F4 - those are the shortcuts on Vegas and Premiere and I use those keys *a lot*. Left and Right arrows move one frame in MSP and Premiere but do some weird jump based on your timeline scale in Vegas (you need Alt+Left and Alt+Right ) - complete pain in the posterior. Same thing with Pg Up / Pg Dn. However, no problem in Vegas I can simply change it - no more pain in the posterior. In MSP8 I'm stuck with it.

This is almost certainly a non-issue for a lot of people buying the product but if the company wants to get the lower-end pro market to jump ship, it should be considered.

[Devil]

You can, of course, use a programmable keyboard.

[Andy E]

You can, of course, use a programmable keyboard.

Well, I'm a laptop user so I would find that cumbersome. However, I've used SharpKeys to remap a couple of Media keys, for example, to something my keyboard does possess.

Unfortunately, that's a global change. Every application gets my new keyboard mapping whether it's suitable or not. Is it possible to make application-specific layouts with a programmable keyboard?

[Devil]

Yes and no! Depends on the keyboard. Some operate globally (but you can switch off the special programming), others have a file/per application which you can download.

The one I use is a global type, but that doesn't worry me because my video computer is dedicated to the one job!

[skyml]

Well, tried to edit with VS11.5+ WHAT A PEICE OF JUNK! Of course my point of comparison is MSP. Played with the VS11 sample project which looked cool but what a pain the a-- to work with. The only option when I "right clicked" on a clip was to adjust it's speed. No atributes, no replace with, no reverse, no moving path or overlay options. No filter or split options. The lack of tools and lake of customization within the VS interface is so frustrating! Such a limited and restrictive layout - why would any serious or semi-serious editor want to work with this?! And for the beginner - a program like this would never encourage me to grow or progress. And since MSP is apparently on the way out there is no where within Corel to go - that's like giving money away to the competitors. MSP is such an awesome program with so much present and future potential, what a loss if it's abandoned! (what a loss for letting it lay so long) That's nice that VS11 try's to pretend it can edit complex projects but with the tools and restrictions within the program how could anyone feel the creative freedom to focus on their work? Asking MSP users to help make VS better is just a waste of time - get back on the MSP bandwagon and make some money helping us make magic!

Mike

[rwernyei]

Mike,

I'll second that.

Once you go MSP, you'll never go back!

[asande]

Mike,

I'll second that.

Once you go MSP, you'll never go back!

Hear, hear!

I just looked back into my records and figured it out, and my move from VideoStudio to MSP has cost almost $800 Canadian over the past four or five years - just under $460 for MSP7 in December 2003, and just under $340 in September 2005 for the MSP8 upgrade (including the VideoGraphics add-on)... Oh, and I forgot about last year's MPEG4 add-on and the investment into the "Getting Results" book - but those were cheap enough...

Although my investment into MSP is a "sunk cost" and not really relevant to this discussion, I can't really see going back to any kind of a consumer-oriented product - so if there is no MSP9, I'll eventually move my $$$ to something else. I've tried several over the past couple of years and none of them are really up to the task for what I'm trying to do. Because time spent on learning an interface is essentially money, I can't even see using an upgraded VideoStudio even if it was free to us... I'm very comfortable with the workflow and functionality in MSP (I've been playing a lot with multiple-layered compositing and moving paths in my videos lately), I don't imagine it would take more than a project or two to get up to speed with Vegas or one of its competitors.

All I'd really like to see in an MSP upgrade is bezier curves on moving paths (this is a big one for me) and a bit more stability. As I have no intention of ever moving to Vista, that compatibility isn't really important to me - my primary computing environment is Linux, not Windows, these days anyway. I just fire up XP Pro on a dual boot computer for video editing and one or two other tasks that I can't really run in a Virtual Machine under Linux. But, those stuck with Vista will need some better compatibility with their environment...

While I appreciate the fact that Toby's asking for our input, perhaps rather than ask MSP users to help determine the colour of their coffins (by asking what should be added into VideoStudio), they'd be better off asking VideoStudio users what they'd like to have that we have (and have paid for) now. Although Corel likely doesn't see it this way, I've found this whole process a bit of a slap in the face to a loyal customer, so have stayed away from commenting until now.

However, even with the uncertainty brought by Vista and the non-upgrades to MSP since then, I really do like MSP and the way it works, and having already spent the better part of a thousand bucks on it, wouldn't have any qualms about paying more $$$ to stay current with it in the future. But, unfortunately my money will probably end up going elsewhere in the long run... I suppose the big question is - are there enough people like me that would stay with or upgrade to MSP to make it worthwhile for Corel to spend just a bit more $$$ on the half-dozen or so "essential" features to keep MSP relevant to us.

What started as a hobby with a $79 piece of software (VideoStudio 7) and a $300 video camera has resulted in many thousands of dollars spent on dedicated computer hardware, software and storage, and many more thousands in multiple cameras, audio, and other production equipment, but it's still primarily just a sideline activity for me... Most of my passion for the editing process been driven by what I can do in MSP - and I thank Ulead for having the vision to bring it to us in the first place. I'm willing to take Corel along with me as well on my future journeys into video editing (realistically, I've probably only begun to spend $$$), but I won't take a step backwards unless by some fluke, the next incarnation of VideoStudio really was MSP9 with a new name (complete with all of the present workflow and functionality)...

Just my two cents worth.

Regards, Al

[Arnie]

We want MSP9, not VS Pro
see this topic:
http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=27987
Cheers,
Arnie.

[andymchere]

COREL..... HERE ARE TWO SIMPLE ANSWERS TO ALL YOUR MSP8 PROBLEMS

DOES NOT TAKE A GENIUS TO COME UP WITH THESE !!!

1. Just release a new service pack to get rid of all the current bugs.

2. Then release bug free updates for any special add ons we ask for in the forums (which we pay for) instead of adding them to the inferior consumer Video studio.

THERE YOU GO... NO MORE BANGING HEADS... NO MORE WAITING FOR MSP USER FEEDBACK....AND YOU WILL ALSO KEEP YOUR EXHISTING CUSTOMERS...

You know its cheaper to keep the customers you have than trying to find new ones.

[sjj1805]

andymchere
No why didn't Corel think of that? I would check your email on a daily basis from now on in case they offer you a job.

[PJH]

COREL..... HERE ARE TWO SIMPLE ANSWERS TO ALL YOUR MSP8 PROBLEMS

DOES NOT TAKE A GENIUS TO COME UP WITH THESE !!!

1. Just release a new service pack to get rid of all the current bugs.

2. Then release bug free updates for any special add ons we ask for in the forums (which we pay for) instead of adding them to the inferior consumer Video studio.

THERE YOU GO... NO MORE BANGING HEADS... NO MORE WAITING FOR MSP USER FEEDBACK....AND YOU WILL ALSO KEEP YOUR EXHISTING CUSTOMERS...

You know its cheaper to keep the customers you have than trying to find new ones.

I couldn't agree more. Call me a snob or whatever but VideoStudio or whatever Corel is gonna call it is a toy and adding a few "extras" is just not gonna cut it.

Upgrade MSP8 to MSP9 or don't bother.

[rwernyei]

I think its safe to say that most members favor a new service pack for MSP8 or an entirely new MSP9 and not the "entry-intermediate level" VideoStudio Pro.

AND...

Notice how we have not heard anything from Corel(Tobie), since his last reply November 21st.

That's par for the course.

[troppo]

COREL..... HERE ARE TWO SIMPLE ANSWERS TO ALL YOUR MSP8 PROBLEMS

DOES NOT TAKE A GENIUS TO COME UP WITH THESE !!!

1. Just release a new service pack to get rid of all the current bugs.

2. Then release bug free updates for any special add ons we ask for in the forums (which we pay for) instead of adding them to the inferior consumer Video studio.

THERE YOU GO... NO MORE BANGING HEADS... NO MORE WAITING FOR MSP USER FEEDBACK....AND YOU WILL ALSO KEEP YOUR EXHISTING CUSTOMERS...

Don't mean to be contrary, but I would have thought Corel's problems with MSP8 relate to market share and development cost. And as such, I don't think your 'solutions' will fix the underlying problem. Corel needs to find a way to make MSP9 AND a large profit simultaneously. Profits result from large market share, and large market share is a result of expensive advertising campaigns, competing against much more well known brand names.
I don't want to be negative, but if I were the MD of Corel, I would probably scrap it as well, after all, a business exists to make money. However, I also believe there is always some way to make something profitable, but the question remains, would this 'profitable product' actually be something WE would want to buy?