Couldn't find it in a hurry but there's a video of Sony trainer Gary Rebholz introducing anf explaining the Catalyst set of products.

This IS the reason why I do not bother with the trial version. Before I "try" any software, I always look at the tutorials to learn and understand as much as possible about it before I start the trial version. I also look at forums on the product as well.

I want to know as much as possible about the software BEFORE I start the trial so I can get an idea if it will meet my needs or not.

Without a really good manual and/or tutorial available, I will not even bother to try the software and thus I will not buy it.

SCS is hurting itself and sales by not having a good manual and/or tutorial available. Especially a really good 'getting started' tutorial with reasonable information on more advance use of the software.

If it were not for VASST and others, I would not be a Sony Vegas Pro user!

I have a learning disability where I can be from slow to extremely slow at learning new things. I need as much advance learning as possible before I can even consider a trial version of any software!

Even those who do not have a learning disability like me, the extremely limited trial time does not allow one to truly determine if they will benefit by buying it. SCS is probably losing a lot of sales for this reason!

It is bad enough that they are so incredibly poor at marketing Sony Vegas Pro. I can tell people I use Sony Vegas Pro and they ask me, 'what is that?’ They never heard of it. It is no wonder that Sony Vegas Pro is usually not included in any list of NLE's.

SCS's marketing of Sony Vegas Pro and now the 'cat' is a dismal failure at best! They desperately need some good classes in marketing!!!!!

Sorry about the rant, but if you keep something great hidden well enough; people will not find it and buy it.

And that is what I have to say about this...

www.dannyfye.com

They should be in the official youtube channel from SCS:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Sonysoftwareofficial/search?query=Catalyst+


VMP

Thanks VMP there are lots of tutorials there.

Thank you very much VMP. That's a great resource.

G

There should be a permanent link to that Channel at the head of this Forum.

"There should be a permanent link to that Channel at the head of this Forum."

A 'sticky' of this link probably would have eliminated a tremendous amount of confusion.

This proves my point that SCS does a very poor job of getting the word out. They do a very poor job of marketing. All this time, other users and I did not know about these videos. :(

I watched the first video and got a ton of information I did not know. I finally understand what the 'Cat' is actually for. I am not sure if it meets my particular needs or not yet but it gave me some workflow ideas that might be helpful. I will need to watch more videos to determine that.

The 'Cat' is more of a super organizational/preparation tool than a replacement for Vegas Pro. I think I finally got it. I might have gotten it earlier if there was a 'sticky' to these videos.

SCS, you need to find much better ways to get the word out. Not only here but to the rest of the world! Adobe reached the top by doing so. This is something to seriously think about.

Thanks people for the feedback .. That is why I posted a Catalyst Edit thread here because you get FAR more useful responses and feedback than in the official Catalyst forum! Another BIG mistake by SCS to move Catalyst forum from this forum!!

VidMus .. totally agree with every word you said .. SCS just SUCKS BIG time when it comes to marketing! Can you even believe how dump their marketing when Sony used to bundle "Adobe Premiere Elements" with every Sony camera? Unbelievable!!! And they kept doing that for many years even though the light version of Vegas Pro, Vegas Movie Studio, was there and still available! How idiotic can this be? I remember sending SCS many emails about this illogical approach, and they never even bothered to reply to me, not even once, like if they don't care!!!

I really love Sony's products, and software, but I just can not stand SCS's idiotic strategies and policies, especially lately!

VMP .. many thanks for the link .. that should help me :)

I just can not understand the non-sense SCS is doing lately!

I mean SCS officially created many comprehensive DVD video tutorials for different versions of Vegas Pro (The Seminar Series) from basics and getting started to advanced ..and that was in the time when it was not necessary because YouTube was already full of free Vegas Pro tutorials!

But with a totally new NLE, Catalyst Edit, they did not do the same, and on top of that, did not offer comprehensive user manual, and that is when YouTube lacks tutorials, except for the few videos provided in this thread, which are not comprehensive at all, by the way. Those videos are mostly considered as introduction to Catalyst Suit focusing mostly on Catalyst Prepare, not Catalyst Edit!

Its a very different world from say twenty years ago when help manuals and DVD issues were the norm. And Utube was not even on the horizon.

The cost of doing business with software issued for example is driven up considerably by creating the extras. Hence the core business model of today is to produce as I said before with programming initiative "no manuals please!! "

Have you recently bought a lawnmower from China recently ( yeah, I know it said Toro on the top of the machine logo area?) - they no longer come with manuals either. Same business principle applies.

videoITguy .. what you said dose not apply here my friend! I mean "lawnmower"! Come on man.. that machine only have On/Off button which any child can understand and operate!

We are talking here about NLE software, and not all NLE software are made equal ... OK maybe few self-explanatory functions from here and there which are standard to most NLE..

Let me give a great example .Look at DaVinci Resolve .. a fully functional, and externally powerful editor, and grading application which worth at least $1,000 in MHO yet it cost you nothing to own .. Its 100% free. Yet, BM gives you everything you need to learn and master it, including an incredibly comprehensive 1,100 pages user manual .. all this considering that you can find hundreds of free online tutorials, and many paid training programs which are very extensive as well... Notice that we are not here talking about new application like Catalyst Edit .. we are talking about a "proven" system that has been in the market for decades, though under different name and price range.

Now where is SCS from that?

aboammar,

The problem is SCS is one of a number of companies under Sony's umbrella. Company 'A' does not support company 'B' and company 'B' does not support company 'A'. They are not able to even if they want to. Sony's rules...

It is like a bunch of deaf and blind companies wandering aimlessly around under Sony's umbrella with no central marketing goal. The real culprit is Sony Corporation which has no idea who is under their umbrella and they have no central marketing goal in place for all of the companies under that umbrella.

Adobe, on the other hand bought out a number of companies with the central marketing goal of covering everything needed for both photography and video. Both photography and video individually as well as together. This is part of what made them successful.

We can pound this point to death but the blind and deaf people at Sony Corporation cannot see and hear us. So they continue to let their umbrella companies wander aimlessly in meaningless directions.

And yes, it was so incredibly S-T-U-P-I-D that they included the Adobe product with Sony cameras!!!!!

If Sony's umbrella companies were their foundation, they would soon fail because their foundation companies do not support each other with a common goal.

If I were an investor, I would be afraid to invest in that shaky building! I do know that they have gone downhill a lot lately. I do not have to wonder why.

The umbrella companies along with the investors are best served by telling the umbrella corporation to get its act together already!

Centralization and autocratic controls by a parent company of subordinate holdings does NOT necessarily spell overall success!

In the business world, you can follow two major strategies, centralized control, or decentralized control of the organization. Sony does take the more liberal free-form tact because it is deemed good for business - i.e., the diversification and broadening of market penetration into sub markets.

While it may appear at first glance to be somewhat foolish - there is a lot of meat in this kind of strategy. This has been going on forever in the Japanese holding companies as Sony. Don't expect it to change.

VidMus .. I truly feel so sad and so sorry for Sony! :(

I do care and love this brand a lot, but, trust me Sony will go out of business if they don't start to listen seriously and carefully to their loyal customers

videoITguy .. you have got some valid points, but where is wisdom in bundling your competitor's NLE software with a SONY camera when you already own a better choice created by SCS? Isn't that totally foolish?

@ videoITguy,

I am not talking about "Control" I am talking about goals. Individually the companies can pretty much do as they want but with at least some kind of common (mutual) goal they can support each other in a way that is profitable for all of them.

Having the Sony camera company support SCS and SCS supporting the Sony camera company along with the company that sells televisions. They would have their individual goals as well as a mutual goal.

So,

(1) 4k televisions.

(2) 4k cameras, both consumer and professional.

(3) 4k NLE software suite.

(4) All three supporting each other with a common goal as well as their individual goals.

As it is now, they are 100% independent of each other (at least they seem to be) and do not support each other in any way shape or form. Well, maybe more now than in the past but still no where near as much as they should. They are still wandering around aimlessly with no common marketing strategy or goal to work with for maximum profitability. Currently it is maximum profit for the umbrella, minimum profit for the umbrella companies!

Bottom line is, if the multiple companies under Sony's umbrella do not support each other in any way, then they all suffer.

There must be a balance between working with individual goals as well as mutual goals in order to have maximum profits.

It is about a mutual goal not control. It is about mutual marketing not control.

Maybe SCS should get away from Sony? Maybe they would be much better off? I am not sure just how much SCS benefits being under Sony's umbrella but from what I have seen over the years it does not seem like much!

Edit:

Here is more.

http://time.com/3892591/sony-turnaround/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sony-corporation-is-profitable-again_us_56321e33e4b00aa54a4cdcb9

There are probably more but one thing for sure, what was in the past obviously did not work!

I am not an expert on marketing but I do know what was done in the past did not work for both Sony and SCS.

Had Vegas been included with those cameras, how many more people there could have been using Vegas instead of Premiere?

How many more that could have been here in this forum instead of somewhere else?

How much more money and profits SCS could have made that would have benefited all of us? Maybe more bug fixes and who knows, maybe a re-write with no more VFW?

We all lost because of the foolishness!

You are all welcome.

And that is a good idea about that channel being a sticky on this forum.

Dear Peter PCH / SCS admin, we hope you guys can place the link(s) below as a sticky:

Official SCS video tutorials:

Main channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sonysoftwareofficial/videos

Search query:

Catalyst:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sonysoftwareofficial/search?query=Catalyst

Vegas:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sonysoftwareofficial/search?query=vegas

Acid Pro
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sonysoftwareofficial/search?query=acid+pro

Sound Forge:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sonysoftwareofficial/search?query=sound+forge

SpectraLayers:
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sonysoftwareofficial/search?query=spectral

etc.

I have also send a notification to the SCS social media marketing team, it should work.

VMP

VidMus .. I couldn’t agree more :(

Sony did a HUGE favor to Adobe when Premiere was so buggy and not doing so good.. it's the same time when Vegas Pro was a solid NLE and doing well :(

No wonder most people never heard about Vegas, but do know about Premiere :(

And indeed, we all lost because of the foolishness :(

A Central system or a setup for decentralized organization is about control - yes, you might call it marketing - but that is the point, your company diversifies to have conrol of marketing in sub-markets.

Premiere has had a priority long-favored in the pro NLE marketplace. Sony units responsible for that hook-up know exactly what they are doing - not reinventing the NLE over again but taking a bandwagon approach to keep up. That is why Catalyst was developed - a very specific market - for which most VegasPro users, it does not apply.

VegasPro is a very capable NLE but it has not competed in the Pro Market category and never will. SCS which bought the property years ago is responsible and defers the VegasPro market to where it has been for its remaining years of life.

A Central system or a setup for decentralized organization is about control - yes, you might call it marketing - but that is the point, your company diversifies to have conrol of marketing in sub-markets.

While that is correct, such companies usually keep the original brand name of acquired businesses. Once you change the brand name and put it under the central corporate logo, you have to have a common marketing strategy; not because you like but that is what the market and end-user expects from a company with complementing products. Sony has failed in that respect especially with SCS.

videoITguy said, "VegasPro is a very capable NLE but it has not competed in the Pro Market category and never will."

Then why call it VegasPro?

Sony Vegas Pro should have previously competed greatly in the Pro Market. And now it should. I am not a Pro as in making money with it but there are many Pro's who do.

"A Central system or a setup for decentralized organization is about control - yes, you might call it marketing..."

Call it whatever you want, but it failed! I am talking about Sony Corporation. It almost went all the way down to 'junk'! It MUST be changed if it is to have a future!