Thinking of buying Vegas 4

KS wrote on 12/2/2003, 1:26 PM
I am thinking of buying Vegas Video 4. How would any of you rate this product against Premiere Pro or Pinnacle Systems - Edition 5, or other software under $1000.

I am looking for a PC based desktop video editing ( my company will provide me a Compaq d530 desktop computer), that I can easily capture video using a 1394 FIREWIRE PCI CARD from a small consumer camera, (like a Sony DCR-TRV19 MiniDV Handycam). The other big issue is how long will it take to compress a typical hour video into a Windows Media format for streaming.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

Jsnkc wrote on 12/2/2003, 1:37 PM
You will Love Vegas 4, the editing layout and style is diffrent than Premiere or Pinnacle, but once you get used to it you will see how silly those other programs are :)

As far as the windows media encoding, to be honest I wouldn't do it in Vegas. I always render out the project to a AVI-DV file then use the Windows Media Encoder (free from microsoft.com) to encode that file to a .wmv file. I just find it to be faster, and you get more options than Vegas gives you. The render speeds wil depend mainly on the processor speed you get. The faster the proccessor, the faster the rendering times will be.
KS wrote on 12/2/2003, 2:11 PM
Thanks Good information. Is the learning Curve on Vegas 4 hard?
je@on wrote on 12/2/2003, 2:11 PM
What, you thought you'd get objective feedback here at Sony's Vegas forum? If you're looking for diverse feedback I suggest the COW or DMN. Most everyone loves the software they've committed to for a variety of reasons and we Vegas users are no exception. Forget any other sub-$1K product, Viva Vegas!
KS wrote on 12/2/2003, 2:16 PM
Thank you jeaton. What is COW and DMN?
dholt wrote on 12/2/2003, 2:28 PM
Most people will tell you the editing program and software they use are the best. It's really a personal preference that you can only really decide by testing out these programs, that why they all have demo's. Download demo's from Sony, Adobe and Pinnacle then compare their features and layouts.
You will find one thing for sure. No other NLE comes close to Vegas in the audio dept.
Drive the car and kick the tires before you buy it.
busterkeaton wrote on 12/2/2003, 2:48 PM
Download the Vegas Demo. It works great on all types of machines, even old Pentium III's. Then do a google search for "sonic foundry vegas tutorials" and "Vegas Tips and Tricks Newsletter." You will soon see how easy and powerful Vegas is. Also this forum, the creativecow forum and the digital media news forum are all very active and very useful.
Jsnkc wrote on 12/2/2003, 2:49 PM
COW and DMN Are other usergroups like this one:

COW: www.creativecow.net
DMN: www.dmnforums.com

The learning curve isn't that bad, definately easier than Premiere! If you do go with Vegas I would highly reccomend getting the Class On Demand Training DVD's by Spot, they are great for new Vegas users (and old ones like me). I think the URL for that is www.classondemand.net
KS wrote on 12/2/2003, 3:05 PM
Thank you for the advice!
johnmeyer wrote on 12/2/2003, 3:38 PM
I've tried 'em all. Nothing is close to Vegas. Get it. You'll love it.

Do NOT get the DVD Architect program. It is not ready for prime time, and definitely not in the same league with Acid, Sound Forge, and Vegas.
jmeredith wrote on 12/2/2003, 4:34 PM
IMHO, the Vegas workflow and layout seem far more intuitive to me than Premiere/Premiere Pro - maybe having used Acid prior to Vegas helped but even my boss (who can barely use PowerPoint) was able to pick up the basics of Vegas on his own.

Best thing to do though would be to download demo's of each and see what works best for you...
JonnyMac wrote on 12/2/2003, 4:38 PM
No, the learning curve of Vegas is not hard (steep) at all. Once you get used to it's layout (takes all of five minutes) you'll find it a breeze to use.
PeterWright wrote on 12/2/2003, 5:06 PM
You'll find many many many ex Premiere users now using Vegas.

I've never (yet) found an ex Vegas user using Premiere.

SonyEPM wrote on 12/2/2003, 5:31 PM
KS- go for it. I bet you'll be really happy joinging the Vegas family. As you've seen, these forums are very active and they are an excellent resource for learning and troubleshooting.

Others are welcome to their opinions but I do encourage you to a least look at Vegas + DVD- it isn't super sophisticated but you can create some really great looking/sounding DVD's with it. You'll have zero worries about silly things like image quality, sound quality, lipsync, re-encoding headaches, sharp looking text...NOT TRUE with some of the competition (an un-named version of which I tried today, it sucked). Note: I'm biased.

jcg wrote on 12/2/2003, 6:19 PM
I have burned 4 projects now with DVD Architect and have had very good experiences. Three were menu-based (one with submenus) and one was a "single movie". I used introductory (first play) media on two of them with no problems. Also, the main menu media on the three menu-based projects went off without a hitch. No problems playing on any DVD player so far.

Perhaps my use has been somewhat simplistic compared to what other, more sophisticated users need to do. If I could name one frustration I've had, it's with the limitation in artistic freedom with the menu pages. This has improved somewhat for me as I learn more ways of making the program work.

You will not be sorry if you go with Vegas, and if your DVD authoring needs are not too complicated, you may also find DVD Architect to be a good friend. Good luck to you.

JCG
kentwolf wrote on 12/2/2003, 11:09 PM
In my opinion, Vegas is so good, they could offer a Money Back Guarantee...but they, Sony, would get ripped off by cheap people.

I have used other Pinnacle products and they don't hold a candle to Vegas.

It's really nice to be able to concentrate on actually editing video...not preventing crashes and lockups.
Grazie wrote on 12/2/2003, 11:45 PM
Get Vegas -
holo wrote on 12/3/2003, 3:36 AM
whaddya trying to say Grazie :)
KS wrote on 12/3/2003, 1:24 PM
Thanks to all...great advice
MyST wrote on 12/3/2003, 1:31 PM
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=875&SPID=253

You said a package for under $1000?
Check this one out!

M

UPDATE: I received an e-mail with a promotion offer. Although it doesn't show up in the link mentioned, the offer is for Vegas+DVD and Spot's Vegas Workshop book, and the burner, and two Vision Series libraries.

Maybe you can contact Sony for some more info.
Grazie wrote on 12/3/2003, 1:58 PM
WOW!
Jsnkc wrote on 12/3/2003, 2:29 PM
If they throw in a kitchen sink also i'd buy it! :)
Grazie wrote on 12/3/2003, 2:36 PM
"Kitchen Sink"? - Er... is that an After Effects Plugin? Or is this the new V5? - Yer don't wanna see my sink! - Perhaps it's a method of "washing" all clips so that Colour Correction brings all my clips appear sparkling fresh?
Frenchy wrote on 12/3/2003, 2:52 PM
You crack me up Grazie. try this:

The answer to all your questions is a resounding: YES!

http://www.goenglish.com/EverythingButTheKitchenSink.asp


Frenchy
Erk wrote on 12/4/2003, 9:47 AM
>In my opinion, Vegas is so good, they could offer a Money Back Guarantee<

Seriously, I would agree with this statement. I don't know the software biz, and the numbers might not add up (plus pirates etc.). But the product itself is good enough to make this claim.

Like many in this forum, I've used lots of software (audio, video, 3D, web, MS Office, etc.), including Premiere 5.2 and Ulead Mediastudio 5.1. To me, Vegas is easily the best-designed piece of major software I've ever used (ie, interface plus features). Nothing else really comes close, except for other Sony/SoFo stuff which share the same commitment to ease of use and powerful features.

This might sound goofy, but here's what clinches it for me: when I sit down to edit, the moment I click the Vegas icon to launch a session, I get a little rush (like an 8-year old boy with his favorite GI Joe or something), because I know I'm going to have FUN.

No other program icon does that for me.... (I told you it was goofy).

Greg

PS:.... And the 8-year old boy says "What's GI Joe?" : )