I have a couple questions before buying Vegas Pro today. As a Newbie here I just want to make sure of a few things before I get it based on your input Folk's.

I have some AVCHD footage from my Sony HDR SR1 on my hardrive now. I am getting a Canon A1 HD Cam this week. My sytem specs are below in case that is needed.

Q-Are both formats able to coexist and be edited together with Vegas Pro?

Q-Is there any other helpful hints I should know before getting and installing Vegas Pro?

My System: Dell XPS420
Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6700 at 2.66 GHz
4 GB Ram
Vista Home Premium

Thanks Everyone,

Tim

I have just bought Vegas Pro and it runs well on a similar spec computer to yours. Its a pity it doesnt come with a full printed manual though.

Tim, you can definitely mix multiple formats on the same timeline.

Thank You Very Much!
Another thing I wanted to ask is which method is better to bring the footage onto my PC? Going straight from the Camera to Vegas or from the Camera onto the hard drive via the Canon supplied software that comes with the A1 and then grab it using Vegas when ready to edit?
Thanks again everyone,
Tim

Hi Tim,

I've been using Vegas Pro for about 6 months now, before that I was using Vegas 7. I just got done building a new NLE machine off of the Intel Q9450 running under Vista Ultimate. I've got an A1 and an HV20.

Vegas works out great and yes you can mix formats without any problems. I've even done HD and SD mixes. I usually keep them on separate timelines mostly for ease of organization when editing.

I also use Cineform NEO HDV so I usually capture using that program as I can capture and convert to avi in one step. My usual workflow is to capture all footage, convert to avi's, edit avi's, render to final format, burn DVD's. I've never used the Canon Supplied software, as a matter of fact I never even loaded it on my machine. I don't think there is any difference between capturing with Vegas or another software quality wise. The only advantage to capturing using Vegas is that it can automatically be added to the project.

If you capture SD footage the advantage for using Vegas is that you can actually log your footage which is a big help in keeping track of your takes. It also has the advantage of timecoding so if you need to recapture you can get the exact clip back. I don't think logging works with HD footage.