Vegas 4 upgrade dilemma - any advice?

dmakogon wrote on 8/27/2005, 5:32 PM
Hi all,

I'm a video hobbiest and Vegas 4 user. My primary focus is home movies, but I have a videophile buried within me - I'm always focused on the quality aspects of things, such as existence of MPEG-2 artifcacts, pan smoothness, etc. I don't do anything professional, but I do stick with decent (albeit consumer-level) video equipment (current cam: Panasonic PV-GS400 3-CCD w/optical stabilization).

I'm about to upgrade. Tomorrow, probably. I WAS going to jump to Vegas 6+DVD. Now, however, I've become aware of the latest Movie Studio 6+DVD Platinum. I know, I know... this is a much more limited software package. But... if it has all the features I need, I may be able to save a bit. To figure this out, I just need a few questions answered, and I figured someone here may be able to help me out:

1. Is the MPEG-2 encoder the same as the one in Vegas 6 (and the same version)?
2. Are the pan/crop options similar?
3. What about the video effects and transitions? According to the comparison chart, MS Platinum as the Pixelan library (>650 video effects, >550 transitions)

My two main drivers are ease of use and $$$ (since this is a hobby, it's yet another expense on the books...).

So... any advice y'all may have would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
David

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 8/28/2005, 8:48 AM
David,

I’ve looked at the trial of Vegas Movie Studio 6+DVD Platinum Edition and I am very impressed with what it does. I don’t think there is anything in that price range that comes close to its features, functions, and stability. Here is my best effort at answering your questions:

> Is the MPEG-2 encoder the same as the one in Vegas 6 (and the same version)?

Yes, I believe it’s the same version. Since I have Vegas 6, it is hard to say of the custom options are available but the MPEG-2 encoder is a shared component so the quality should be the same.

> Are the pan/crop options similar?

Identical! This is what’s so awesome about Vegas Movie Studio 6+DVD Platinum Edition. It’s a mini-Vegas in that regard. You have the same Pan/Crop interface with all the keyframing any everything.

> What about the video effects and transitions? According to the comparison chart, MS Platinum as the Pixelan library (>650 video effects, >550 transitions)

Vegas doesn’t even come with Pixelan. This is a great deal. I would contact Sony and see if you can get the Upgrade price. That will make it an even sweeter deal because the upgrade comes with Pixelan SpiceMASTER TFX which costs $59. The Upgrade price is $59. How can you NOT upgrade? You are basically getting Vegas Movie Studio 6 for FREE! This is a no-brainer upgrade and since you are a Vegas 4 customer they shouldn’t have a problem offering it to you (call Sony sales on the phone).

> So... any advice y'all may have would be greatly appreciated!

Try and upgrade to Vegas Movie Studio 6 Platinum for $59. Even if you later decide to upgrade to the full Vegas 6, you still have Pixelan SpiceMASTER TFX which would have costs you $59 anyway. IMHO, it’s a win-win scenario.

~jr
dmakogon wrote on 8/28/2005, 2:43 PM
Thanks for the reply. I'm pretty much in agreement with you that it's a great deal, especially for my non-professional use. I used the original VideoFactory, then upgraded to Vegas 3 and 4, but never really took advantage of scripting or add-ons. My main concern was withy output quality, and I felt Vegas was worth the upgrade since the original VideoFactory did not have the same encoder. My other reason for upgrading to Vegas was the ability to have more than 2 video tracks. Now that MS supports 4 video tracks, that should be plenty for me (that's about the most I've ever used).

I just checked my account and, since I've owned both VideoFactory 2 and 3, and never upgraded VF2, I qualify for the $59 upgrade to MS+DVD Platinum. $59? Awesome price for me, and leaves money over for another hard drive (newegg has a 400GB SATA for about $235 delivered.)

Regards,
David
Jøran Toresen wrote on 8/28/2005, 4:42 PM
Hello

Does anybody (JonnyRoy or others) know if I can use the Pixelan SpiceMASTER TFX in Vegas 6, if I purchase Vegas Movie Studio 6+DVD Platinum Edition?

Joran
JohnnyRoy wrote on 8/28/2005, 5:45 PM
I only used the trial of VMS6 which doesn’t contain the Pixelan plug-in. Since VMS6 now supports DirectX and VST plug-ins, it would make sense that the Pixelan plug is the unmodified DirectX version and therefore would show up in Vegas too. BUT now that you mention it, I have seen lots of software vendors write plug-ins that check the host program name and not work unless they are being called by the original licensed host so there is a chance it might not work. I would email Sony to be sure unless anyone else here has the full version and knows for sure.

~jr
Jøran Toresen wrote on 8/28/2005, 6:49 PM
Thanks
I’m relatively new to Vegas, so my question is: Who in Sony could answer this question? Is it a support question, or…? Any suggestions for the email address?
Joran
JohnnyRoy wrote on 8/28/2005, 6:58 PM
I would start with the Customer Service Page which has an email contact point for product information. That page also has toll free numbers to call with pre-sales questions.

~jr
dmakogon wrote on 8/28/2005, 10:10 PM
I just finished downloading and installing the demo version of VMS+DVD Platinum. Amaziningly similar interface to Vegas!

First thing I see missing that I've used on occasion is velocity envolopes (I'm assuming I can still stretch / compress a clip to a particular time). Is there an alternative way for controlling clip slowdown / speedup?

I did go through all the rendering options, and most output formats allow custom tweaks (except MPEG-2, but maybe that's because I'm running a demo version?)

David

FixitMad0 wrote on 9/7/2005, 8:07 AM
Joran,

According to Pixelan's website (http://www.pixelan.com/sm25/intro.htm) the software works for Vegas and Vegas Movie Studio 6. I've been using SpiceMaster 2.0 & SpiceMaster 2.5 Pro since Vegas 3, and Vegas 4 and Love IT!. I get great support and friendly and fast emails anytime I have a question or issue. To verify this information, you can email them at: info2@pixelan.com

-Francois
Jøran Toresen wrote on 9/7/2005, 11:06 AM
Hello

I have just purchased Vegas Movie Studio 6+DVD Platinum Edition. (Actually I’ve upgraded for the cost of $59). And I can use the Pixelan SpiceMASTER TFX 2.5 both in Movie Studio and Vegas 6. Great!

Joran