I am new to Vegas, should I consider getting this guide? I am trying out Movie Studio 9 PE now. Mostly record events for my church and family (sports, birthdays, etc.) using a XH-A1.

Should I consider getting Pro or is Movie Studio fine for my needs?

Jon

Honestly, I would be lost in the "Movie Studio" version being limited to 4 tracks, unable to run scripts, missing many other aspects (such as the velocity envelope, pan/crop masking, etc...) If you can afford it, I'd always recommend the pro version.

Having said that, the Movie Studio versions are very powerful. Can they allow you to edit everything you mentioned? Absolutely. Just be aware going in that the Movie Studio versions are more limited than the Pro versions.

I agree with Ed. Having used Vegas for so long, I would miss some of the features from Pro. But having also made numerous videos for friends and family, I found the that the simpler the better. What the audience really appreciates is tight editing and keeping the videos to a reasonable length.

With that said, Movie studio is more than capable of achieving that.

And you can always upgrade later....

But you can probably get an older version of Pro for more or less the price of Studio. For example, when Pro 7 came out, you could buy Pro 6 for $99.