Hi there,

After (almost) a week-end into the wonderful world of NLEs (using Ulead Video Studio 5 and Media Pro 6.5) I'm already feeling like a pro and getting ready for what's next....

Leaving the joke aside: After playing w/ the above two I'm looking for advice on an NLE giving the best compromise between learning curve and capabilities, with a bias towards capabilities. The intended use is for home videos but I am particulary picky about details. Based on my (short) experience all too)often I will need to: replace/modify/edit the audio, introduce intermediate title frames in the footage, alter the speed of some scenes, etc.

Also, since I'm a total newbie, the existance of knowledgeable forums to answer various questions about the software is a must.
Additionally, seamless export of the footage back to the DV camcorder (Panasonic MX300) is strongly desired since the final result will be kept on DV tapes. CD/DVD authoring is a plus but not a "sine qua non".

The platform system is quite powerful and stable: Win2k Professional, P4 2 Ghz, 512 RAM, UATA 100 7200 rpm Seagate disk (although no RAID), OHCI compatible IEEE 1394 card w/ Lucent chipset (Soho OEM card).

After a (short) shopping session I got my mind set on Vegas Studio 3.0. Any other suggestions ? Pointers to _good_ NLE shopping guides ? The one at SYPHAonline.com is basically worthless. The best I found so far is at

http://production.digitalmedianet.com/2002/03_mar/features/cw_nle_buyers.htm

Thanks in advance,

Florian

I'm using VV3 and can't say enuff about it. This is one terrific application!

Tutorials are available from several sources. I began with the tutorial packaged with VV3....a fairly simply tutorial but it gives you a taste of what you can do. Next, you can also click on Doug Spotted Eagle's picture at the top of the webpage and get all of his tutorials for VV3.

If you purchsase VV3, be sure to buy the large manual. I don't know if this now comes with the product. The manual I got was quite skimpy and had to get the larger manual as an add on.

It's really quite an intuitive program to use....unlike SOME NLE's, who's name I won't mention.
One more suggestion: take a look at the Contour ShuttlePro. With this USB device, you can manipulate VV3 just like an old SVHS NLE. It's a terrific add on.