Anybody dabble in Sony Vegas?

[TriLink]

For the last several months I've been into video editing with Windows Movie Maker. My Youtube page is up to over 100 videos now, but they're all fairly dull, as the WMM software is extremely limited. So I was thinking that I'd upgrade to something that packs a little more punch.

Sony Vegas comes up a lot as being highly recommended product, but it's an expensive mother trucker; the cheapest version being had for $60 last time I checked. The reviews all speak favorably of it, but then again, a lot of people swear that Internet Explorer is better than Firefox too. So before I shell out some moolah, I was wondering if any of the friendly techo-geeks here had some experience on the matter.

[Joseph the PRPD]

I use Sony Vegas Video 8 for all my video projects. It's great and is definitely worth using. It has so much freedom and is without a doubt so much better than the extremely limited Windows Movie Maker.

Easily one of the best things about SV is that you can have an infinite amount of video and audio tracks which can be incredibly convenient depending on what you're doing and what you may want to do. In addition to that you can also render your videos in a wide variety of formats with specific settings. Sony Vegas provides a lot of video effects. It is also capable of editing audio although I would still recommend audacity for most audio editing. SV rarely crashes but it autosaves frequently so more often than not all or a majority of your progress is usually saved if a crash were to occur. The way files are imported into SV is also much better than WMM. You simply drag and drop what you want into an audio and video track.

It's a really good video and is worth using.

Sony does offer a free trial version so try it out before you buy it if you'd like. The linked trial is for Sony Vegas 10 and based on the overview I should probably check out the trial as well. 3D video editing? That's a pleasant surprise.

The only thing I tend to really hate about Sony Vegas is that the frame rate when previewing can be aggravatingly slow at times.

[ran1]

Oh gosh brah NO NO NO.

Vegas is weaksauce. It parades around as a decent NLE, and costs as much as some other editors, but really -- it's not all it's cracked up to be. You'll be better off with a trial version of adobe premiere over vegas. If you can -- get Premiere. Vegas has a bad interface, bad workflow, bad everything. Oh, and four metric tons of bullshit.

Out of all the editing software I've used, Vegas is the only where one where I've been utterly disastified with the experience.

[scarmullet]

So is Adobe Premier better than Vegas? I use Vegas all the time and I have no problem with it. It must be ok, because I am a regular in the AMV Minis series.

I've made these in Sony Vegas

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0YmoA2qqas[/url]

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0Ab0ixO_Mc[/url]

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oiga5GWVD5M[/url]

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSoSkDyV_WM[/url]

and a lot more

[soul.assassin]

I also use Vegas; it was my first nonlinear video editor, and as it was really intuitive I loved having control over the editing process.

But ran1 may have a point there; judging from the screenshots the Premiere Pro CS5 interface is as decent as Vegas, packs a punch, and is well-supported with a smattering of third-party software and cameras. However, as it's intended for professionals, Premiere is now packaged as part of ACS5 Production Premium, which would cost you about $1,699... but you could get Premiere only for $799.

(If you're a student, you could get a hefty discount)

[GasmaskAvenger]

I tried using one of the Adobe video editors, but I ended up running back to Vegas shortly afterwards

[planet news]

I like it a lot. Not that I've tried anything else.

[THE Hal E. Burton 9000]

I prefer Dirty Vegas or Fallout: New Vegas

sorry for wading into dad joke territory, but srsly, whatever you are looking for in terms of getting software for a fraction of full MSRP, check JourneyEd, and even if you're not a student, find someone who is because IMO you cannot get a better deal unless you buy the software used or hit up the torrent sites

and might I deviantly suggest Final Cut Pro as an alternative?

[planet news]

Clearly Final Cut is the way to go.

In a perfect world without obstacles. Vegas is very easy to "acquire", while Final Cut... not so much.

[Bomby von Bombsville]

I personally believe that Vegas is the best video editing program you can get for Windows, but I must say that I have a bit of bias in saying so. First of all, it was developed in my hometown. Second of all, I recorded music with Acid Pro for at least 6 years before I get into video editing, and Vegas is pretty much Acid with video, so it didn't take very long for me to figure out. Needless to say, I like Vegas quite a bit.

Adobe Premier is okay, but I haven't spent much time with it.

Still, I have to admit, Final Cut is simply the best if you ever get a Mac. I realized myself that I'm going to need a Mac and Final Cut to advance in my field. Coincidentally, my current laptop is well over 4 years old now and it definitely on its way out, so as soon as I have a job it should be pretty obvious what I'm going to be saving up for.

[ran1]

Well, professionally speaking -- Final Cut and/or Avid Pro is the best editing software to use.

But then again, with the price tag...

For those of you guys in college: Your school, if it has a film department, may or may not have volume liscenses of Final Cut Pro in which you can pay a significantly smaller price for all the goodies that come in the Academic/Pro version.

The learning curve on Avid is a bit too steep for me to recommend it to anyone who doesn't want to spend lol1000hours attempting to learn all the neat stuff that Final Cut can do with a click of a mouse and a tap of a hotkey.

So yeah, tl;dr get your hands on Premiere.

[Xard]

I actually have The Final Cut Pro but fuck this shit I have no idea how to use it.

[ran1]

What specifically are you having issues with?

I know my way around the software enough to get paid for editing work.

[The Eva Monkey]

I would recommend Final Cut instead, but Apple is an evil corporation these days.

Steal and/or buy Adobe Premiere.

[Rafael]

My best bro has a major hard on for Vegas. I think he would marry it if he could. He used it for audio editing when he work for a company that did on-hold messages. I think the only reason he loves it is because its all he's ever used. I always thought it seemed excessively complicated, then again I don't do that kind of stuff. I'm a scientist.

[Bomby von Bombsville]

For those of you guys in college: Your school, if it has a film department, may or may not have volume liscenses of Final Cut Pro in which you can pay a significantly smaller price for all the goodies that come in the Academic/Pro version.

$300 is a damn good price. Since my next computer will probably be a Mac (not because I want a Mac but because I need to use Final Cut Pro) I'm probably going to leech the student price off one of my roommates, since I'm no longer a student.

[TriLink]

Thanks for the input guys. Initially, I was going to go with Premiere, but a lot of people seem to really love Vegas. One thread I read on another forum had a guy stating that "Vegas is the wet dream of video editors".

And I do enjoy me some sleeping wetness.

Also, I've heard that Premiere has some stability issues. Apparently it's known for crashing mid project quite frequently?

[MugwumpHasNoLiver]

I have premiere and I threw something together with it. It was just a few clips of me reading this story out-loud. I needed to edit it. I could not read through a twenty page story with no mistakes in one take. Although I can't for the life of me remember how that turned out. I never finished it, I remember that, I just don't know why.