You may want to point your browser at
http://www.creativecow.net/rebirth/index.php?forumid=24 and post your question there. I know Douglas Spotted Eagle and several others that are using Vegas Video in a "Professional" setting , often visit that forum. They maybe able to help answer your questions.

Cheers!!

Joe

I am not sure that anyone is using it as an edit suite for hire. I use VV professionally but I am a producer. VV is one of the tools in my arsenel for a total production. For large productions I use it for rushes and to prepare documentation for my clients. I do small productions < $200,000 using VV but it is part of delivering a total package price productions.

K

Joe Tuesday & kkolbo,

Thanks for the info. The creative cow forum is very nice. With a bit of luck and a lot of prayer, I hope to evolve my studio into a real business.

Thanks again,
JAB

I have a lot of tools, so I couldn't say I'm making a living using VV. I'm making a living using my brain cells for the most part, and I use all these tools to help. (that's the way I like to think of it anyway :D )
Vegas, EditPad, Fireworks/Dreamweaver, Paint Shop, 3ds max, Photoshop, Cakewalk, and probably a bunch more I can't think of.

VV3 is becoming more and more central to my $$ making business though. I make my living at home in my own studio and do everything pretty much over the Internet. my primary clients are 800 miles away :) maybe you could make a living editing at home with Vegas, but I have a feeling you better be able to do a lot more than edit.

good luck!

Interesting question! No, I am not now but would like too in the future.

My initial venture with VV2 (now VV3) was to create some videos for our work group. Later, I have made some for my church, cub scouts, karate, local school and YMCA. I get many requests from people to "create" videos, but do not have any spare time. I think the demand is there if someone is willing to take the plunge.

For me, I was looking to start-up something part time in the next 1-2 years and then do as a retirement job later on. Prospects look good from my viewpoint.

All,

I do very well with VV in a professional context. My company provides broadcast voiceover and digital media services for a wide variety of clients. I use VV exclusively in the audio realm (in conjunction with Forge and Acid) for voiceover, spots, promos...original beds...narration...radio imaging - all kinds of stuff and the SF tools have been rock solid.

As of this writing - I still have a day job but there is a day coming soon when I will be ready to quit working for the "man" and fly solo with my company.

Cheers,

Cuzin B

I make a living at a job that entails working with lots of video, though not necessarily editing. I use VV for specific projects. But as time goes by I find that I'm using it more and more as requests for these types of projects come in.

Cheesehole:
Your business sounds very successful. Are you doing predominantly web work? I have done a couple commercial web sites from scratch but do not necessarily want to build web sites for a living. Editing video for the web however is very appealing. I realize that a diverse skill set is needed in this business and feel that mine is quite diverse. I prefer producing/editing over web design however and was trying to get a feel for what others are doing. The replies in this thread have been very enlightening so far and I hope that others will join in with their expertise.

Thanks,
JAB

I have not done any "For hire" work yet, but I plan to soon. So far I am doing personal projects to gain an expertise before soliciting customers. I plan to make use of my newly aquired Canopus ADVC-100 analog to digital converter in order to convert old VHS and 8mm tapes to digital for $$$. Editing with VV3 would be part of this, as well as placing the final on SVCD or DVD with menus.

I was also thinking of shooting weddings, anniversaries, and other sentimental occassions myself and doing the whole production. I did this for my Brother-in-law's wedding a couple weeks ago and will be editing shortly. This however, is a gift to the bride and groom which I will not get paid for.

I used to work at home for a living but found it kind of lonely after a while. It was just me and my computer communicating with a virtual world I rarely saw.

But I give credit to anyone who can do this for a long time.

I have had a one man business producing video for nine years.
This involves planning, scripting, shooting, editing, designing packaging and labels - in short everything that is necessary ...

My projects have included documentary, promotional, training, educational and awareness raising videos. In nine years I have done three weddings and that's plenty!

Until six months ago I used Premiere exclusively for editing, but now Vegas is my choice for 95% of projects.

Nowadays jobs can finish up in various forms - videotape, DVD, CDRom or webstreaming. Vegas is excellent for outputting to any of these.

Like others, there are many other software programs that I use, including Paint Shop Pro for Graphics manipulation, 3DImpact for 3D titles etc, Logic Audio or occasionally Acid Music for music composition, Cool Edit for Audio editing (I know about Sound Forge but I have been familiar with Cool Edit for many years) Mediator6 Pro for CD Rom authoring, SpruceUp for DVD authoring (I'm currently shopping for a replacement now that Apple have bought and "white anted" SpruceUp).

So, yes, it's very possible to make a living around Vegas, but it depends more on what YOU are able to offer than the software, although having a silky smooth well designed tool like Vegas certainly makes it more enjoyable!

Good luck.

Well, I've had VV3 for about 5 months now and have gotten pretty dang good at it. I started off by capturing DVDs and making new trailers for them. After a while, I decided to start making my own movie (shooting, acting, editing, etc.). But recently I've been getting a lot of offers for my editing skills. So far I've made about $300, charging roughly $30 an hour. I do see this as a possible business, esp. for private contracts; although most of my jobs have been for the city. If you really want to get some work, I do suggest doing a low-fee job for the city, because you can get some good exposure through their functions, and those volunteer-types are always into having promotional films and the such.

NhikRath

I know that asking this question in a Vegas Forum would not be scientific....but since I will making using my video editing software to make a living....I'd like some truthful opinions. I have been a wedding/event videographer for close to 15 years. I mostly used industrial grade linear tape to tape editing. Now after not doing any editing for close to 3 years....I want to get back into the business.

I know that Premiere is the software that others are compared to...but I also know that there is love/hate relationship with Premiere. Some love it...some hate it...and others use it because they have to.

Since I am basically starting from the beginning....I would like to know which software to choose. To get my feet wet, I am currently using Pinnacles StudioDV 7. I do want to get a more professional video editing solution...and I'm not sure which way to go. I know the learning curve on Premiere is high....but many people are making a good living using it. I also know that AVID is the program most high end professionals use in broadcasting....and now they have Avid DVexpress3 out...with near real time rendering. (Rendering increases with processor speed). I'm also having to contend with deciding to go with maybe a Matrox RT-2500/LE max digisuite, or Canopus Storm/Rex system.

Now I hear wonderful things about Vegas Video....and my decision keeps getting harder. I know that Premiere has tons of plug-ins....and everytime I see a teach seminar....it's for Premiere. Does Vegas Video 3 match premiere in features, and available plug-ins? How does the interface differ....someone said that the interface in VV3 is more angled towards audio and can be confusing?

I know that this is a long post....but since I don't want to spend a long learning curve learning something that won't keep up with my business....I'm taking to get as many opinions as I can.

One last question, I got on eBay Sonic Foundry's Videofactory 1.0 for only $15....I understand that there is an upgrade path from this to VV3? What would be the main upgrade features from VF to VV3?

Whew! Thanks for all your help!

Sincerely,

Pete

Pete, here is a comparison chart for Vegas vs a few other packages:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/products/NewShowProduct.asp?PID=612&FeatureID=5496

There's also a link there to show you the difference between Video Factory and Vegas. Not very specific answers for you i suppose, but it might answer some of your questions.

>>>>>Not very specific answers for you i suppose, but it might answer some of your questions.

Hey, I appreciate any and all help! :>)

Pete

If you read DV magazine this month, they rated VV3 above Priemre. So did Digit last month.
K

<If you read DV magazine this month, they rated VV3 above Priemre. So did Digit last month.>

Wow. I bet Adobe is sweating bullets over VV. From my own experience VV blows Premiere away simply because it is so EASY TO USE while doing just about everything Premiere can do -- if not more. You can get up and running in just a few hours. It tooks me months to feel comfortable with Premiere and I'm still not all that comfortable with it. Then I bumped into VV.

What good are fancy features if you have to slog through hours of training and pore over manuals, and buy all kinds of "Classroom in a Book" tutorials, and go through a zillion steps to accomplish some basic things?

If you are in the PC world, there are really 3 programs to choose from: VV3, Premiere (with an RT card), and Avid Express DV.

If you want a finishing program, Avid Express DV quickly falls off the chart because it is really a training/exporting tool for larger Avid systems. As a finishing tool, Avid Express DV would cost a fortune - Pro is about $3,000, then there are numerous plugins ($$$) that you would need to make it do what Premiere/VV3 can do. A big thumper is no RT external preview. Avid Express DV is good for training if you want to be an Avid editor, but gets an F if you want it as a complete editing package.

Premiere VS. VV3 - There are two noticable things that Premiere does better than VV3 A: Real Time Output (with the Storm Card) and B: 3D transitions. If either of these items are a show stopper for you, get the Premiere/Storm Combo. Otherwise, in almost every way VV3 is a far superior product.

It is difficult to list why VV3 is so superior to Premiere. Mostly because the list is so long. You can keyframe just about everything, superior titles, software only and works on laptops & desktops, compositing, audio, PAL/NTSC conversions, faster interface, the list goes on. It is hard to explain because there is so much.

We are in the process of building a PEG TV access station. When it came to editing, members were asking how to do this or that with a dual mobo Storm/Premire solution (board of directors choice, not mine) - I kept saying in VV3 you can do it far easier this way or that way... They may want to change, or at least offer VV3 as well.

All I can say is take a look at the VV3 demo. It does take some time to figure out, any of them do. I will tell you that I have both Storm/Premiere and VV3 - all I use is VV3, unless I need 3D.

<We are in the process of building a PEG TV access station.>

I've had some past experience with PEG TV access stations. Some words of advice:

1) Try to be as strict and straight as possible re training, use of equipment, etc. in order to maintain standards, but generous at the same time. I've seen turf wars and cliques at stations where the staff ends up withholding technical/production information or not adequating training producers so that they could play the big cheese. This comes at the expense of the larger goal of having a good TV station that serves the community.

2) Do community outreach to try to get good people with something to say to do TV shows and then help them create those shows. Of course that's a very subjective thing. But you've probably seen kooks and fame freaks on cable access who just want to be on TV, guzzle beer with their friends on camera, rant and rave in their living room with their camera rolling, etc. The danger of PEG access is that while it give people a voice it also attracts noise that drowns out those voices.

I think running a good PEG access station is an art form.

Yes. Vegas can do almost anything our Pinnacle DC1000DV/Premiere combo does. Still use Premiere to produce Boris Graffiti animated titles. We shoot with a DSR 500ws. My wife makes more as a freelancer than she did as a senior producer for national TV.

However, it is the editor who determines whether or not the product is good. A good shooter armed with a Canon XL1 will come back with better stuff than a rookie using our DSR 500.

I had fallen asleep reading a Premiere "Classroom in a Book," and did not want to learn Premiere. So I chose VV3 for my first digital video editing program, and completed a 3-minute home video (with a music bed, lots of fades, and a title) a few hours after installing it.

I've now read the excellent VV3 manual, and a VV tutorial book that comes with a $50 Sonic Foundry accessory package that includes Sound Forge XP and some other stuff; I learned a lot from both of these documents. But you can just plunge in and start using VV3 -- relying on its intuitive GUI, its excellent help-text and tool-tip features, and a quick-start section of the VV3 manual. As an amateur I really like VV3, and believe that it would suit many commercial and professional purposes just as well. Its output certainly is of pro quality!

(I did have to study the video capture help text, perhaps because I'd never before used a digital editing program. Also, my first video had some areas where I'd copied video clips over other clips, instead of just moving them. But I've had no "pilot error" problems since reading the manual and the posts in this and other forums.)