If you download Vegas from the SF website it is $420. But if you first purchase Video Factory for $60, it is only $199 to upgrade to Vegas Video. ($260 for both).

Video Factory is a 'Light' version of Vegas, and can burn VCD's.

Does anyone know if SF is still offering a 2 for 1 deal on entry level products?

You might want to start with Video Factory just to see what the Sonic Foundry line can do for you.

Neither Video Factory nor Vegas can burn DVDs. They will produce MPEG-2 files that can be used in other DVD authoring software.

Stiffer

I purchased VF 2.0 three weeks ago, there was a 2 or 1 offer card in it.

I sent it in so I guess I'll see ....

My first venture into video editing was with VideoWave. Although I guess I learned a few techniques, I quickly became very frustrated with the very limited audio processing. It was also very buggy, at least on my system.

I started doing some research and was going to go the Premiere route, but the more I read about it, the more particular it seemed to very careful hardware setups. I got a little spooked about the prospect of spending all day and night on the tech phone lines instead of doing video.

I then heard about Vegas Video on the net and read nothing but good stuff about it's ability to run on about any hardware platform, could do virtual real time preview of all effects, and it sounded like the ticket. I found it for about $260 on the internet (somewhere) without having to buy VF and then upgrading as some suggest. Anyway, it's been the best investment in fun I've made in some time. The program is amazingly flexible and powerful while also being pretty easy to learn. If you've got a few extra bucks for this program versus an entry level one, and if you have any creative instincts/urges at all, I'd definitely go for it. You won't be disappointed!

If all you want to want to do is burn DVDs and VCDs then truthfully VV3 is not for you. It's overkill. Any old utility will do.

But if you want to edit your video & sound and maybe incorporate stills before you go to DVD ... and do it quickly and intuitively... then VV3 is perfect. It's the most user friendly video editing package I've ever used. Blows Premiere away in that respect. HOWEVER, Premiere is superior and more stable in its capture and output capabilities than VV3. If Sonic Foundry developers concentrate on this aspect they will have a killer product that will make the Adobe Premiere team sweat bullets (if they're not doing so already).

Tanjy:
I have never used Premiere (and I am not in the least challenging your comparison of the two aps), but, I'd be curious to know more specifically how Premiere bests VV in the capture/print to tape area.

Prior to version 3, I was among the most vocal in voicing my opinion that VV2x was weak in its print to tape function, and even more so in its capture ability. I never really figured out whether that was due to some incompatibility with my system, my OS, or just bugs in the ap itself. All I knew is that I didn't have time to spend capturing a couple hours of video only to find that there was no audio, or there were artifacts, dropped frames, etc (ok, dropped frames you could catch from the indicator during the capture process).

With versions 2x, I always did my capturing and printing using one of the Pinnacle products, and, that, apparently, caused additional woes on my system, as VV didn't care for the Pinnacle codecs. So, I ended up dual booting to keep the two aps and their respective codecs separated.

VV30 and Capture30 (why they don't call it Capture/Print30 is beyond me) changed all that (oh, I also moved to WinXP pro at the same time).

Now, VV30 is now the only video editing ap on my system. Capture is extremely reliable as is print to tape. It's hard for me to imagine any ap offering more stability.

So, my question for you is whether or not you still notice a big difference between VV/Premiere, and, if so, can you elaborate.

To the original poster, if you can afford it, I'd go with VV30 over VF if you are into video/computers/audio-video in general. I know whenever I buy light anything, I develop buyer's remorse as I explore the limits of the light version and start reading about all the neat things I might be trying with the 'heavy' version.

Additionally, if you're into music/sound, you'll find that VV has a very full-featured audio capability. What first attracted me to Vegas was reading about its unlimited tracks (both video and sound), as I struggled with limitations of another ap that allowed only one audio track beyond the one that was coupled to the video. That earlier ap also would not allow you to separate the native audio track from the video track, something that is automatic in Vegas.

I love to shoot, for instance, a session (music production, play, what-have-you) using multiple cameras, designating one cam as the 'audio master', then, using VV, lay all tracks in sync with that master. Then, you can pull cuts from the various video tracks as you please and wow all your non-VV literate friends who will watch your "productions" in amazement as your camera angles change over an uninterupted sound track. Establishing/maintaining sync in VV is really simple.

I hate to drone on so, but, I am truly pleased at having stumbled onto Vegas, a package that does so much for such a reasonable price. It has proven to be the most important piece of a whole collection of computers, still cameras, video cameras, tape recorders, phonographs, etc that finally allows me to truly integrate all my audio-visual interests (toys) - and, boy, what fun it has been (and I actually make a little do-re-mi along the way).

Good luck to you. In the final analysis, you'll make the best of whatever choice you make, and, if you still aren't happy, well, then, just choose again.

Caruso

I have exactly the same expereince as Bonefish except I came from Studio 7. Unfortunately, I am finding the learning curve rather steep at the moment as many of the concepts such as keyframes, rae new to me. I have used the tutorial with all the relevant files but am still struggling a little. Perhaps I am expecting things to be more comlicated than they are!

Stick with it, Tarzan. The VV interface is quite different than S7, and, owing to its flexibility can seem quite foreign if you're coming from S7. Once you get the hang of it, though, you'll love being able to split clips in a single keystroke. I love being free from S7's pop-ups. I couldn't fine-tune anything without first clicking on that little icon and waiting for yet another screen to pop-up.

I'm not saying that S7 isn't a capable program, but, once you get the hang of it, I bet you'll prefer editing in VV to S7.

Good luck.

Caruso