I agree with TorS...Vegas is a great program.

Vegas has a little brother, Video Factory (also great) that may be more affordable for you (about $70 usd). I'm not sure what the difference is between Vegas LE and Video Factory, but it may be worth looking into.

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/PRODUCTS/showproduct.asp?PID=416&FeatureID=5997

This is the link for the VV3.0 and VV3.0 LE comparison chart. See if the LE version suits your needs.
If you want to see the "what you can do with" listing of 3.0 LE, go to the products page. Select Sound Forge 6.0. At the bottom of the description page of SF 6.0 you'll see Vegas Video 3.0 LE underlined (VV3.0 LE comes with SF 6.0). Clic on that link and it will take you to the VV 3.0 LE product page.
I would recommend the DV production manual also. I have it.

M

I know this might be naughty but if you had a friend in the USA to purchase
VV-3 and send it to you by mail?

James J. Kizak

I have tried both Vegas and VideoFactory and yes, I love Vegas. I have considered settling for VideoFactory, but one thing I would really miss is the ability to "Expand Track Layers". Another thing would be the trimmer.

Since the upgrade cost from VideoFactory is the same as from Vegas LE, I thought I might check out LE and upgrade if I'm not satisfied. But that would be $30 more, so therefore I wondered if LE had any limitations that might make VideoFactory a more interesting choice.

By the way: does anyone know of a store where I can order the "Digital Video and Audio Production" book with lower shipping fees (than $52) to Sweden?

If the Studentlitteratur link proved a non-starter my next suggestion would be to search for a solution in the UK. You'd have low shipping costs from there (being a EU member) and you'd only pay UK VAT instead of the ridiculous 25% in Sweden.

Tor

I think your best bet is to download VideoFactory and see if that fits your needs. As far as I can see, Vegas Video LE is very, very, close to just being VideoFactory. From what I can tell (having never seen it and just reading the web site comparisons) VV LE is VideoFactory with the addition of key framing, track motion, and an extra audio track. As a home video enthusiast, VideoFactory should keep you happy for a while. It still gives you two key frames (start and end) so you can do motion, just not very elaborate. Then if you need more tracks for compositing, or chroma key, etc. you can upgrade to Vegas later.

BTW, I found the book "Digital Video and Audio Production" at SafeHarbor http://www.sharbor.com/products/SFON4000002.html for $42.99 USD. They charge a minimum of $20 to ship international so that’s only $62.99. (still better than $100)

~jr

I bought the Digital Video and Audio Production book which includes a copy of VV 3.0 LE. This is a a great way to determine if you want to use VV. However, LE will not satisfy your long-term needs for a NLE. First, the version that ships with the book is 3.0a (build 107) LE. It's out of date.

LE does not include mpeg support. You cannot import or export in mpeg format. LE provides for very limited compositing. It allows only two video tracks and many functions are disabled. One major problem with LE is that the disabled functions are not well documented. So, from time-to-time, you don't know whether a problem is due to operator error or a partially disabled function. This has the unintended consequnce of actually steepening the learning curve.

Even so, VV LE is a very powerful tool. It's the knowing that all the features are just beyond your reach that will drive you nuts.

As I understand Sonic Foundry's ugrade methodology, the 29 meg LE program file actually contains the full version of VV. Once you have LE installed, you "upgrade" to the full product simply by downloading a "key" from SoFo. I think your best bet would be to buy the book - it is very good - but ask that they package the latest version 3.0c rather than 3.0a. Then, when you are ready, you can purchase the upgrade "key" and have the fully functional version.

As far as cost goes, this is about the best you're going to do. VV is a premium product and is priced to be competitive with other premium NLE's.

I hope this helps.

JackHughs

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/download/step1.asp?CatID=2

Jack, this is the link for the update page. Select Vegas Video LE 3.0c. Download that, and you're up to date.
All programs ship with the first version. You simply download the latest build when you have your serial number, and you're off.
Example: I recently purchased Sound Forge 6.0 in the boxed version. I didn't even bother installing the version shipped in the box. Instead, I downloaded the latest update and punched in my serial number that was in my manual.

MyST,

Thanks. Being of a curious nature, I already downloaded LE 3.0c. But, being of a cautious nature as well, I have not attempted to install it. Since I do want to upgrade to VV 3.0c, I sent an e-mail to customer service asking how best to proceed. Well, as Leonard Cohen might have said - on a very bad day - "Customer Service hasn't answered yet".

So, here's what has gone on so far and what I think I have to do move forward. (Yes.I do know that I could just call customer service and have this all done in a few minutes of telephone time. But that would only help me. Working this out in this Forum might help others as well.)

The version of LE that ships with the book does not have a serial number. It won't start until its registered and a serial number is assigned upon registration. I have done this.

I think that LE version 3.0a must first be uninstalled prior to intalling LE version 3.0c. Oh yes, write down the serial number prior to the uninstall.

Install LE version 3.0c and plug-in the serial number from the prior version.

Contact SoFo, purchase and download the "key" and, presto, I should have the fully functioning version of VV.

Does this sound about right?

JackHughs

"I think that LE version 3.0a must first be uninstalled prior to intalling LE version 3.0c."

No it doesn't. I've installed numerous updates from SoFo, and I never uninstalled first.

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/shopping/category.asp?id=10

The above link takes you to the UPGRADE purchase page on the SoFo site. Select which upgrade applies to you, and buy it.
I would strongly suggest that you burn the downloaded autoextract file to CD along with your serial number. Keep that in a safe location for future reinstalls.

M

"You cannot import or export in mpeg format."

You can not import MPEG??? Not that I planned to, but I want to be able to.

Maybe I should have a closer look at VideoFactory first. At least it seems to support MPEG import. Though I will miss the layer expansion...

(I'll probably stick with TMPGEnc for MPEG encoding. Frame serving from VideoFactory/Vegas would be nice..)