Magix Upgrade Policies : MEP 2015 Plus to Video Pro X6

Recycler wrote on 1/20/2015, 2:19 PM

I (probably like many others) have received an upgrade offer for Video Pro X6. If I were to take it up, I would want to install it on my fastest machine, which currently has the MEP 2015 Plus on it.

Will I be able to move my copy of MEP 2015 to another PC? To put it another way, are Magix's "Upgrades" simply reduced price additional purchases, or do they nullify the qualifying product (MEP in this case) making it impossible to register on another PC?

I only ask because Magix seems to have a fairly paranoid attitude to such things compared to some of its competition.

Thanks - Mike -

Comments

browj2 wrote on 1/20/2015, 4:55 PM

Hi Mike,

Here is my take on the issue. There may be other opinions.

Both are separate programs and I have not noticed anywhere that you could not have them on separate computers. So, I don't see any problem there.

Magix has a new system that allows you to move a program from one computer to another, once per month. The new machine/device is activated and the old one deactivated. This prevents you being able to run the same program on 2 different devices at the same time. Your license is for one device at a time, and this new method ensures that this is the case. I like this method, except for the once per month. I, and probably many others, would prefer once per week, since some of us go away on trips for one or two weeks, and it would be nice to have the program operating on the laptop for the trip and then back on the desktop after the trip.

Thus you can feel comfortable owning the two programs and having them on separate machines.

However, I am wondering why you would want to move to VPX6. Is there something that you need to do that you can't do in MEP2015 Plus/Premium?

Both programs share the same 64bit engine.

MEP2015Plus/Premium allows 4 cameras in multi-cam mode, VPX6 allows 9.

VPX6 has some monitoring instruments that are interesting.

VPX6 is supposed to allow you to create multi-language videos and burn them to DVD with a language selection button. Everything works except the burning part. It can't be done as the proper parameters are not available. Magix is aware of this.

VPX6 allows flexible movement of an audio track, whereas MEP2015 only allows movements of 1 frame.

There are probably a few more things.

If you're thinking of moving permanently to the Pro and keeping in mind the next version and the discount that you would have if you are already a Pro user, then that may be a reason.

Otherwise, I can't see the point. I had VPX6 well before MEP2015 came out. I only got MEP2015 Premium for the add-ons and because I got a good deal.

So, what are you looking for in VPX6 that you can't do in MEP2015?

Recycler wrote on 1/20/2015, 5:47 PM

Thanks for that summary John. The only real reason is that on my present PC, MEP 2015 Plus is only just powerful enough to allow 4 camera multi-cam at 1920x1080, and I was specifically hoping for a bit more ooomf from a better 64 bit engine - to quote the blurb in the offer e-mail "Video Pro X 6 offers 64-bit support for the first time – experience a noticeable improvement in performance compared to Movie Edit Pro. Thanks to the optimized video engine you now use more than 4 GB of RAM when video editing." Are you implying that MEP 2015 has the same engine as VPX6? Might VPX6 possibly be a different, better, engine (that is also 64bit...).?

I only raise that as a possibility because I've never seen my RAM usage for the machine as a whole go much above 4.6 GB when MEP 2015 is crunching away at full throttle. I'd love to be able to use more of the other 12 GB that's sitting there unused.

So really my only dissatisfaction with MEP 2015 is this feeling that it's only just usably fast for what I need to do. If you are less than convinced there's much practical difference in multi-cam capability (for 4 HD cameras) between the two products, then maybe I should keep my wallet in my pocket. Or perhaps consider getting a better graphics card than the very basic nVidia GT730 that's in there at present...

Again many thanks for your comments. - Mike -

browj2 wrote on 1/20/2015, 11:10 PM

Hi Mike,

The blurb for VPX6 was written well before MEP2015 came out, and they were talking about the previous versions of MEP. MEP2015 is 64bit, although I hear that it is possible to get a 32bit version. Since you are seeing use of more than 4GB, I presume that you have the 64bit version installed.

Yes, both products use the same engine. I got that from Magix tech support.

John EB can expound on this, but I noticed that the real crunching comes during export or DVD encoding. I have 16GB and memory usage oscillated between 70% and 92% during an export to wmv using MEP2015 Premium. This was with a short clip to which I had added a NeatVideo effect and set preferences to use 6 cores CPU plus GPU.

Take a look at my tutorial about multi-cam with VPX6 under the Tutorials tab. I only used 2 cameras. As far as I know, there is a difference in the method between the 2 programs. I haven't tried it with MEP2015; I only reviewed the Magix tutorial on the subject. I'll give it try on the weekend and let you know.

When does the VPX6 deal expire?

Recycler wrote on 1/21/2015, 2:02 AM

John:

The cynic in me suspected that the blurb might not be referring to the current MEP, either intentionally or accidentally! Thank you for an explicit clarification.

The offer (which for me is GBP 149) runs "until Jan 27".

I will study your tutorial on multi-cam in X6; I must say I like the way the process is implemented in MEP 2015. Once I got my head round a few unexpected little snaggettes, it is very nice to use. I just need a little more effective processing speed to feel comfortable when using it that it's not going to freeze or stutter. Hence my interest in getting the best 64 bit engine, the best multi-threading capability, and the best use of RAM.

Cheers - Mike -

Recycler wrote on 1/21/2015, 3:03 AM

John:

I have now watched your (very clear) X6 multi-cam tutorial and can confirm that the processes seem identical apart from the difference that MEP only has the one monitor window whereas X6 has the two.

- Mike -