I was hoping to pick up some good advice here

It seems you already have a good grasp of the extra cost and the extra features of Vegas Pro. And I'm sure you've looked at this chart Compare Vegas Software. It doesn't sound like you have a critical need for anything Vegas Pro can offer. If that's correct, stick with Platinum until you find enough of a need to spend the dollars necessary to move up.

Just curious. Can Platinum use "nested" veg files? If so, I wonder what Sony means by saying "project nesting" is exclusive to Vegas Pro.

Two things off the bat is Pro has more than 4 tracks and the Studio version cannot use nested projects. Also with Pro you get DVD Architect the Pro version it can do encryption when you have a disc replicated, if you need that sort of thing. For me one big thing is the ability to make different window layouts and save them depending on what kind of project I am doing for me it can save lots of time.

Platinum has no scripting. I don't think it has velocity curves. No protype titler, no Elastique, and other effects are missing (but you do get some that aren't included with VP pro). Compositing is very limited - only two modes.

I bought Platinum for my father in law, and it meets his simple editing needs. Although i rarely go beyond four video tracks, I would find the lack of scripting and compositing modes difficult to work without.

"PPP is limited to 4 video tracks, but since I prerender and use the nested veggies approach, I've never been hindered by that."

Since none of the Studio versions handle nested veggies i'm guessing what you mean is that you render out separate parts of your project into new media files and then combine those resulting media files into a new project. Technically speaking this is neither prerendering nor nested veggies in Vegas' parlance. It is however a sort of nesting since it ultimately involves putting several subprojects inside an overall project. Real nested veggies don't require rendering. You simply drag the .veg file onto a track.

"In fact, i can't possibly imagine juggling so many tracks, or getting consistent renders with all that hoopla going on at once."

This is much more of a conceptual issue than a technical one. Vegas handles dozens of tracks with aplomb. The much larger issue is having the user come up with a project that requires large numbers of tracks and understanding why. The only real technical issue involved is the increased amount of vertical scrolling and keeping track of what's on all the tracks you can't see while you are scrolled elsewhere.

Of course, this is where the nested veggies of the Pro version really shine. The parent project can show a usefully small number of sub tracks. A quick click on any of the sub tracks opens them up into their own timeline with all their individual tracks now exposed for editing. Save that edit and return to the main project and the change is now in place in the parent project. No "pre"rendering required. I imagine if you tried the Pro way of doing these many-track projects you'd wonder how you ever put up with the lack of tracks and nesting in the Studio version.

Right, what I do is make separate project files for each scene, not just the pre-renders, and that way I never get painted into a corner.

I understand that Pro automates and manages this more easily, that's one of my reasons for considering upgrading.

Yeah, I saw that multiple "saved layout" setup, and that IS TOO GOOD.

Yeah, I saw the many compositing modes, and that looks engaging. Another plus.

Chienworks,

Stop teasing me. I almost registered it right now, hahaha.

I'm not a pro, just an advanced hobbyist, but I feel so alive and creative with Vegas, and this makes me happy, even if it doesn't make money, although I'm financially secure anyway.

I want to make a documentary one day.