Some kind soul on another forum in a galaxy a long way away posted that I needed to look at Sonic Foundry VideoFactory 2.0 to solve the headaches I was having. Gave it a look and have faithfully followed each and every upgrade since then via Sonic Foundry/Vegas. Never looked back. Darryl

Installed Vegas 1 demo. Locked up my machine. Uninstalled. Very slow machine, so I didn't blame the product.

Couple of years later bought Acid Pro 3 at Best Buy, they mismarked the price. Got the full version for an upgrade price. The manager was not happy.

Vegas 4/DVDA, don't remember where, possibly from Sony directly...I don't remember why. Good chunck of change for me at that time though. I think they were running a good upgrade special. I was doing video editing since I got my ATI All In Wonder V1. Didn't like Ulead, Pinnacle, others. Very pleased with my purchase.

Upgraded since directly from Sony for v5 and v6

> Some kind soul on another forum in a galaxy a long way away...

Hmmm... that wouldn’t happen to have been the Pinnacle Studio forum would it? ;-)

> Where did *YOU* buy Vegas???

I bought Video Factory 2.0 direct from Sonic Foundry after ditching Pinnacle Studio 7. I upgraded to Vegas 3 from the SoFo site. It was the boxed version that didn’t come in a box! (remember those posts???) Once I realized I wasn’t ever getting a pretty box because upgrades come in a plastic bag, I just opted to download and kept upgrading from SoFo/Sony web site.

The only bad part about downloading the upgrade is if you descide to sell the software, no one is going to believe it’s not pirated if you don’t have original discs to show for it.

(a box, a box, my kingdom for a box) :-D

~jr

a grillion years ago, I actually saw Spot and Mannie demoing Video Factory at a trade show in NY. Of course, I had no idea at the time that I would come to know and respect these guys so much... but they gave a hell of a demo for a $99 edit software. I sneered at the thought that a "cheapo" software solution could even come close to my AVID's... but it sure looked pretty good.

At the time I was using a Media Composer 4000 (AVID) and even had a second AVID MC200 for off-line work. Total investment about $150,000.

When I was asked to lecture at a PC/Photography conference at the Javits Center on "Video editing for Still Photographers", I remembered the Video Factory and was won over by it's simplicity, even as I was teaching how to use it. It was the perfect solution for new still guys, combining practicality with budget.

When I shifted the focus of my production from BetaSP to DV I knew I needed a straight digital path. So I went back to the Sonic Foundry site to see what they had - it was either Vegas 2 or 3. I could run it on a desktop AND on my laptop, and only cost $500 bucks or so. I was sold.

Within two months of purchasing Vegas, I put my old AVIDs on a shelf in the garage. They are there to this day.

From there to today, I've always upgraded via SoFo and now Sony.

a grillion years ago, I actually saw Spot and Mannie demoing Video Factory at a trade show in NY.
I resent that. I feel old, and now you go telling folks I'm a "grillion" plus years. :-)

I bought Vegas Pro Audio, and never looked back.

Additionally, before Vegas, I started NLE editing with Pinnacle Studio 7 in 2002 (it came with my HP). Then switched to Premiere, which I never really liked. I believe I first heard about Vegas in various video forums.

Spot -

to me you are ageless...

but I'm still older.

v

I started - if that's the word "started" with VideoWave - YUCK! - this s/w nearly made me give up editing and video work, completely - PERIOD!

I then tried Studio. Fluctuated between that and VideoSlave; was told by a chap "VinceG" on the VV Forum to try this VideoFactory s/w thing; bought it, discs and all, from a supplier here in the UK; SUDDENLY got completely hooked on just what you COULD do when your video and audio stayed in synch - yep, that was a ANOTHER terrific feature of the VideoThing; got completely obsessed by VF; wanted more tracks and more POWER bought into Vegas3 and as they say, I haven't looked back!

Along with this Forum and the other Forums worldwide and the backup of Sonic > Sony, has kept me going.

Met some great people hereabouts AND in the real 3-D world too through Vegas software - done demoing at trade shows, where I eulogize & evangelize on this product; Love it when Premmies see me realtime "loop" edit Colour Correction and using Scripts!

Grazie

1. Bought Vegas4+DVDA from an authorized reseller on the web.
2. Upgraded through Sony, but wish I would have went through Tigerdirect as they had a sweeter bundle!

j razz

VV3 at best buy. 159.00, What a great buy. upgrade from Sony. JM

Grazie wrote:
"I then tried Studio. Fluctuated between that and VideoSlave..."

Pinnacle Studio certainly had a nice, simple interface. But man oh man was that thing unstable. I was literally saving the project after every single edit for fear it would crash, which it did often. What a joke.

IMHO, the stability of Vegas has always been it's biggest assest among many.

DGates - there's lots of folks on this forum with the same story. I went from Studio 1.X (because it was recommended by PC Magazine - the authority on all things Video!). One by one I upgraded the parts of my PC as directed by their tech support because the thing just wouldn't work.
Next version was Studio 7 - not much better. Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I upgraded to Studio 8 - still not much better but I thought this must be how all NLE's are. I bought VideoFactory solely because I could pan across a photo. Worked very well, of course. Tried a demo of Premiere and it's stability reminded me of Studio. Downloaded Vegas 4 and haven't looked back.

I got Movie Studio because it was downloadable with trial. Trials and downloadable software is the only way to go. Then I upgraded to Vegas after two months with a Movie Studio discount that was cheaper than buying Vegas outright.

I really appreciate companies that have trials and download purchase options. Instant online purchasing is the only way to fly. CD's and DVD's are so 90's... :-)

. .and what I find truly naive is that Pinnacle is STILL trying to flog me an NLE for the same price as the WHOLE Vegas Media Studio suite! ! ! Are they barmy or what? Haven't they heard?

Grazie

barmy: Adj. Mad, crazy, insane. Cf. 'balmy'. [1600s]

I got a copy of Sound Forge 4.5 bundled with a sound card. I liked it and upgraded to V.5.0 (via the Sonic Foundry website) when it became available for a speccial price ($100). When SF6 came along they bundled it with Noise Reduction 2 (for $200) which was to good a deal to refuse so I upgraded. Upgrades to SF7 ($100) and SF8 ($100) followed, and while they weren't such good deals as the SF6+NR2 bundle I went for them both.

Somewhere along the way I had seen the first version of Vegas (Vegas Pro, as it was then called, when it was just a multi-track audio program, no video in those days) and would probably have purchased it if they hadn't beaten me to it and released V.2.0 before I got round to it. I downloaded the free (I thnk it was free, or maybe just very cheap) Vegas 2.0 LE version, liked it and upgraded (via the SF website) to the full version of Vegas 2.0 Audio for $100. After a while I was beginning to want to investigate video rather than the sound-for-video work I had been doing previously so when Vegas 3 came out I upgraded to Vegas Video 3 (for $180). Then, a bit later when I wanted to look at producing video on DVDs, V4 of Vegas plus DVD Architect came along so I upgraded again ($300 a bit steep I thought, but the prospect of mixing 5.1 audio tipped the balance for me). Subsequent upgrades to V5+DVD2 and V6+DVD3 at $200 seemed OK deals so I went for both of those too, as always vis the SF/Sony website.

In between SF5 and SF6 (I think) there was a special introductory price for Acid 3.0 ($100) and though I didn't think I'd use it much I decided to go for it. The upgrade to Acid 4.0 at $100 seemed cheap enough so I went for that too since I was interestyed in what they were going to do with the new MIDI features (but they proved to be a disappointment - I still needed to use Sonar for any project that needed a serious MIDI component). The upgrade to Acid 5 at $150 would have been too expensive for me except for the bundled Xpress Keyboards soft synths and the free loop CD so I upgraded again, but I almost didn't that time. If the pre-publicity about the redesigned MIDI facilities in Acid 6 turns out to be true I will certainly uprade again, unless the cost is ridiculous.

Mark

I went to seminars on Avid and Premiere, liked Avid editing (perhaps because I was used to film editing), but the software was just crashing too much. Premiere with RTX100, if anything even worse. Unusable I thought.

Then I saw Spot demo Vegas, at a COW meet near LAX I think (I think it was only a bazillion years ago :O), liked the way it worked, and how everyone said it was very stable. Bought Vegas 3, and thought it was a bit feature thin but indeed stable, upgraded to 4 and 5, now waiting to see if 7 will support high-bit video.

I got mine from the Video guys from memory, just before version 5 was released, to take advantage of the free upgrade to 5 when it was released.

Then, after Vers, 5 came out I read the fine p[rint - Available to US residents only'. Not a happy Aussie here!

After I explained to customer service that I was happy with the download, and didn't need the boxes, they indeed let me upgrade.

I then got version 6 from Sony itself.

Andy

Saw an add for a "$250 NLE" in ComputerVideomaker (IIRC). Anyway, I thought, "That can't be worth bothering with." I think right about this time I bought a STACK of Premiere 6.1 books and figured that Premiere would be my next purchase.

Kept seeing "V3" "VV3" posts on dv.com and finally opened one up out of curiosity. Then the Charlie White review came and I thought "WTH, let's download it and try it out."

Anyway, to make a long story longer, I bought mine that same day from SoFo.

- jim

1. Bought it from the website (at the time, Sonic Foundry)
2. When committed to a piece of software I always stay on the upgrade path. When I APPLY the upgrade is a matter of testing and stability. In the case of Vegas 6, only after the 6.0b patch.

Academic Superstore...
It is nice to be a student in my old age ;o)

I bought my copy directly from Sony website.

I had tried to make a dvd of my latest holiday pictures and found that the programs I already had did not meet my expectations/demands.

Realizing that I needed something that cost money I scoured the internet and came up with two possibilities - a freeware program called Jahshaka and Vegas 6.

I ended up with Vegas. Go figure.

Not that I am unhappy with my choice.

Ayath

edit: I'm now beyond merely holiday pictures and video.
I've just finished (and presented) a 17 minutes project that described the various virtual services that public libraries can offer.
It was shown to the staff and management at two libraries that is to merge by the end of the year.
They laughed, whistled and clapped. Some even stood up and clapped.
WOW. What a rush. And I've only had Vegas since January 6th.