Wish there was some really good documentation

MarvD wrote on 9/26/2013, 4:01 PM
I wish I could find some really good documentation for Movie Studio Platinum 12, like a good user guide or reference manual. I know there is a lot of information out there, several different tutorials and such. But those all still only hit the highlights. I printed out the Getting Started Manual from the web site. It has even less to say than the tutorials.
Back in 2004, I bought a video cam and then bought Vegas Movie Studio 6. I was able to go on line and print out a truly wonderful Technical Manual in PDF format. Being a retired technical writer, editor, and tech pubs manager, I would have to give that book a straight A. I sure wish I could find a book with similar content for MS12.
This is really a sign of the times. I've found that most programs and products today do not bother with in-depth documentation. I've resorted to finding books written by 3rd-party authors for many of my products: my Nikon camera, Cakewalk Sonar, and others. I've searched my local Barnes&Noble (as well as on line) for such a work for MS12. I found two books for Movie Studio, but they are dated and I'm sure aren't up to date to cover version 12 - or even the platinum version.
If anyone knows of any better documentation, I'd sure like to know about it.

Comments

vkmast wrote on 9/26/2013, 4:13 PM
Marv,
check "The Muvipix.com Guide to Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12" by Steve Grisetti.
Steve's regularly on this forum as well.
Steve Grisetti wrote on 9/26/2013, 4:20 PM
Thanks for the plug, vk! ;)
MarvD wrote on 9/26/2013, 4:23 PM
Yes, I just now saw it for sale on Amazon.com and I'm ordering a copy. It's not available at B&N.
I recognize the name "Steve Grisetti" from an earlier posting. He's the character from that Italian Movie, right? <grin>
Steve Grisetti wrote on 9/26/2013, 4:37 PM
I really HAVE to see this movie again...
Markk655 wrote on 9/27/2013, 1:02 PM
Marv,

There is a manual for Vegas Pro. While it has some extra features relative to Movie Studio, it is definitely a good read. I would also suggest the Vegas tutorials on muvipix.com or on Creativecow.net.

Find the manuals here



MSmart wrote on 9/27/2013, 1:52 PM
While not a book, the Help > Show me how... tutorials are quite good at showing the basics.
Ulodesk wrote on 9/27/2013, 8:32 PM
(Ahem, technical writer -- "Wish there were...".)

I would like to echo the observations about, and request for, fuller documentation for Studio, something which I noted in a recent post. While I am taking the excellent suggestion to download the Pro manual, it is just as easy to turn the table, as it were, and suggest to our friends at Sony that, since, indeed, Studio is a remarkably complete younger sibling of Pro, the Pro manual could, probably, be relatively simply edited to serve the Studio users, leaving out what is not available in the junior version. Yes, I recognize that it is not quite that simple, but experience tells me that it is not such an overwhelming task, either.

gpsmikey wrote on 9/28/2013, 11:04 AM
Another vote for "The Muvipix.com Guide to Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12" by Steve Grisetti. (I have several past editions).

mikey
MarvD wrote on 9/28/2013, 4:06 PM
Good heavens! Did I really say "wish there was?" Yep, I guess I did. Well, I've been retired for seven years now, so you'll just have to excuse it as a senior moment.
Newuser2 wrote on 9/28/2013, 4:24 PM
After spending several hours editing, adding transitions, fades, etc to a recent holiday video (AVCHD) I was disappointed to see several instances of segments of video being repeated in the Bluray compilation.
Sure enough, I found a few places in the video track where looping had been enabled (by error). The online documentation does have a small section on this (P 32).

Newuser2 wrote on 9/30/2013, 5:34 AM
Unfortunately the keyboard shortcuts (particularly 'Q') do not work on my Vista 64bit installation!

The segments of the video where looping occurs are not identified by being coloured blue (as the manual says), and the video track has no periodical markers along its length, as it would have if it had been extended. So how the looping occurs is a mystery.
Chienworks wrote on 9/30/2013, 7:17 AM
"leaving out what is not available in the junior version"

In some of my darker moments i imagine that this has deliberately not been done. I can imagine the marketing folks deciding that they should tempt Studio version users with wonderful features enumerated in the manual to the point where more and more users start wishing they had the (much more expensive) Pro version instead.

Just a theory, but it does seem to fit and explain the facts.
Chienworks wrote on 9/30/2013, 7:21 AM
"Wish there were..."

Tthat would depend on whether "some really good documentation" is singular or plural. Out of context it's uncertain, and even in context it's unspecified.
Ulodesk wrote on 9/30/2013, 11:08 AM
Sorry to take issue again, Chienworks, but the use of "were" in this case has no relation to singular or plural, since it is not a matter of the tense; the past tense is not being used. The writer intended the subjunctive mood, which calls for were, not was, as he, himself, recognizes. The subjunctive in this case draws us into a condition or circumstance that he wishes existed but does not.
The subjunctive is much ignored today but no less important. Communication in written and spoken language has many parallels to the richness and refinement of our communication in he language of cinematography.
Larry Clifford wrote on 10/1/2013, 12:32 PM
Lulu printed a manual for Vegas Pro 12. A post in that forum warned not to buy it because it is in black and white. A black and white manual for a program that displays in color is not very good. I mention it here in case some day they create one for Vegas Movie Studio.

I have Steve's manual for VMS 11. That appears to be the best way to learn the program.