Highlights

As noted in the Introduction, one of the best new features of Windows Media 9 (not available in prior versions) is that you can edit and transcode WM9 video files specifically with non-Microsoft programs. Anyone who's used Adobe Premiere or Ulead's MediaStudio (among others) in the last few years knows this issue all too well. Sure, you can save into Windows Media format from most major NLEs but just try importing a WM7 file into your Premiere project. No way, San Jos .

As it turns out, this was due to licensing issues (as opposed to technical difficulties), and the dilemma was not limited just to NLEs. Media wranglers trying to convert WMV to Real, WMV to QuickTime, or even Real to WMV using dedicated transcoder programs had the same problem. Yes, Real played the game too: one story I heard claimed that Real required a fee in the low eight figures from anyone whose application needed to decode .rm files. Now, finally, the wall is coming down, at least on the Windows Media side.

As of this writing, Adobe and its competitors are still working with Microsoft to finalize the technology that will allow their products to import and re-encode Windows Media 9 files. This process is taking a bit longer than expected, but it is happening. One company, however, Sonic Foundry (http://www.sonicfoundry.com) has released an NLE that imports WM9 files: Vegas 4. You might already know this company if you use Sound Forge, Sonic's de facto standard...