MSP 8 Service pack

[Brian Ellis]

I've been authorised by Ulead to say that there is hope on the horizon.
Beta testing on SP1 will start this month. I'm informed that there will
be many features in this Service Pack, but cannot say what (because I
don't know, so please don't try to get me to give you any hints! :-) )

Because of the amplitude of the SP, I would guess that it may take quite
a lot of time to do the beta testing. Therefore, please be patient: IT
IS ON ITS WAY!!!!!

[schmosef]

The tone of your post seems to imply that the service pack is badly needed.

I didn't realise that MSP had a lot of problems. I was looking forward to playing with it next month for a video project.

Am I misunderstanding you or should I plan to use a different NLE tool for now?

[Brian Ellis]

Most users have had no or few problems. Some have had crashes. There are a few bugs, usually with workarounds. Possibly the biggest difficulty is for those who have co-habited it with an earlier version and then erased the latter: the audio filters disappeared, requiring a re-install. I've encountered only one problem. It installs QuickTime 6.0; if you have a later version of QT on your machine, some essential files may not be installed: remedy, uninstall QT systematically before installing MSP8, then, if you wish, re-install the later version of QT.

The SP will concentrate on curing reported problems, rather than new features. Some of these are operational because of new (since the software was written) HD cams with different quirks. Another consistent problem of this nature is with handling 5.1 audio, which is possible but clumsy. If you look through the MSP forums, you will get an idea of what users have complained about.

But I emphasise that most users are satisfied, with a few notable exceptions. I've done some sterling work on it and am happy. Perhaps your inference is because I think the SP should have been released a long time ago!