I got my Sound Forge full program by getting a Sound Forge Studio promotion and then upgrading almost immediately. This was several years ago and I believe I saved a bit of money by doing it that way. Sound Forge is the best audio mastering program I have used.

This time I opted for the Sony SFX Vol 6-10. I already own Particle Illusion. From what I understand the PI thing is a 6month period at the end of which you can buy the program for under $200. If that's correct then it's a great deal. PI is very cool and I can play with it for hours.

Good luck.

I have Particle Ilusion already--it is very good and has been very helpful.

I also have the 1001 sound effects which is a sampling of the 10 volumes. I have used it for years and it is great, but I also have over 20,000 other sound effects from Digital Juice, etc.

Sound forge is a stable, but I have 9.0 and the 10 version that you can get is the consumer version. Many times the 10 consumer is the prior years 9.0 feature set--with some usability enhancements--so I figured I already had this. If not, I would get it--very good.

So, I picked the Vegas miniseries. It is actually the cheapest option of all the freebies. However, I am just watching the videos and I am VERY disappointed. It is a lot of talking, with very little showing. For example, the Stereoscopic 3D section was rattling on for about 4-5 minutes about stuff, but the screen never changed and it sounded abstract--since it never even started with an example of how it should be.

This really makes me appreciate the video tutorials at Digital Juice (the prior FREE videos that came out each week). I also appreciate the video tutorial I purchased from the guy that makes Excaliber (I can't find the video (too many on the shelf). Both of these are incredible. They show the equipment, a person and the screens. They all show examples of why the technique is useful.

In contrast, the Sony tutorials are all screencam, no examples of footage used to show the other pieces. It is like they were all done in Camtasia Studio, not edited. I am very disappointed. They are boring and not very comprehensive, nor do they show cool tips and tricks along the way. And the voice starts to drone on since he keeps talking and the mouse is doing litte. This is a demo approach I do NOT like whenever I help companies create their software demos (show and tell, don't show and tell, tell, tell - like the Sony video).

Too bad, but the non-Sony ones I've seen are MUCH, MUCH better.

I hope that helps to decide.

Thanks for the rplies.

I kind of figured that the seminar series was not really worth it after the one offerd with VP9. "Particle" sounds nice and looks really cool but I don't know how much I would really use it and then It's only good for six months and another $200US to continue is a little to much for me to handle right now ( and in six months). Looks like a choice between SF studio 10 and the sound effects. The sound effects 1-5 or 6-10 cost 265.95 each. Sound forge studio 10 costs 69.95. My thinking is that anytime I needed a sound effect I could find a Wav file online for free. Is it really worth 265.95 for sound effects and which one should I get? 1-5 or 6-10? If I get one and I decide I want the other one it would cost me another 265.95. Looks like Sound Forge is the way I'll go. My question now is, Vegas was originally a sound editing program what does Sound Forge Studio 10 offer over Vegas.

Thanks John

Thanks for your comment on the seminar series - one choice less!

The sound effects offer seems my favourite at this point although not that much into explosions etc Would have loved some Sony Acid loops instead!

Rudi

I think you're right. It has ongoing value. You can never have too many SFXs and they don't become dated.

Bob.

I already have the first volumes of the sound effects. They're good, I use them quite a bit and don't regret the purchase, but there are loads of really useless sounds in there - hundreds of very poor quality cartoon mallet hits and such. I hope the second series is better . . . .