Has anyone switched from Avid to Vegas? at DVinfo.net

Bill Mecca · October 23rd, 2008, 10:33 AM

I've edited on Avid since 1994. I started playing with Vegas 6 at home about 18 months ago, and while I have Avid there as well, I find myself defaulting to Vegas. I just downloaded the trial of Vegas 8 at home, and see myself purchasing that upgrade.

My issue is at work where it has been two Avid systems in 14 years (MSP and XDV3.5) It's time to upgrade. I fall into the mindspace where I try to save $$, which I guess is a good thing for a state worker, but not necessarily the best thing for the video editor. ;-)

My oldest daughter is now a HS Freshman and got into the TV production class. I mentioned my possible switch to Vegas to her teacher, and he gave me one of those looks, you know the look. He is a FCP guy (certified etc) and they have an Avid there that no one uses??

Just wondering if anyone has switched to Vegas from Avid and could share their story, what roadblocks did you find, workarounds, ways of changing thinking etc.

I have been thinking of switching to a laptop to give me some flexibility in location, but not sure how good a move that would be, since all the Digital Juice, Sonicfire etc stuff is here in the office.

Thanks for your indulgence.

Seth Bloombaum · October 23rd, 2008, 10:52 AM

Well, you'll find many posts on the pros & cons of Vegas, Premiere, FCP & AVID. They all work, I think Vegas is the easiest and quickest for me, but power-users of those other platforms do fine.

I use Vegas, but I could not do so if I needed to be trading files & etc. with other people on a regular basis. As it is, I'm an island of Vegas in a sea of FCP here in the Portland area. That's OK for my working style. It wouldn't be OK for someone more tied-in with other facilities & production companies.

In this market, AVID is the standard for Broadcast, FCP for Corp/industrial/indie.

I'd look at who your clients are, and who you collaborate with on projects. If nobody cares what you edit on, and you like the workflow best, it's Vegas, baby!

I also teach in a college program, we are FCP all the way, and that's the right thing for us to do.

Bill Mecca · October 24th, 2008, 02:10 PM

Thanks Seth,

what I am really looking for is feedback from editors who have actually switched from Avid to Vegas and can gie first hand experience about the shift, workflow etc.

Michael Tobias · October 24th, 2008, 03:01 PM

When I first started editing about 6 years ago my company had Avid and FCP. Since I was thrown into the editing world with ZERO experience I was busting my head in trying to figure out Avid. After about 6 months I started beginning to get the gist of how the thing worked. Right around that time NAB was here in Vegas and there was a Vegas conference that I attended.

Watching the guy show what he did in Vegas just suddenly clicked in my head. Everything he did just "made sense". So I talked the boss into buying Vegas and literally 2 weeks later I had some really good size projects getting done in the shortest amount of time. The learning curve on Vegas is just more intuitive in interface and functionality than in any of the other NLE's I've seen.

Actually once I tried to test myself on Vegas versus FCP doing the exact same project and the 10 minute project on Vegas took about 3 hours to do; on FCP...well damn I was on that thing for 18 hours trying to figure out how to do the exact same thing.

I'm not sure if it helps your decision but just from an anecdotal point of view I can say that if you get out of the mindset of how they say how NLE's SHOULD work and concentrate more on how it DOES work, Vegas is by far much more friendly.

Allan Black · October 24th, 2008, 04:35 PM

There are a some pro production shops in Sydney now using Vegas. It looks to me that Vegas has a more definite upward path with addons like Cinescore being listed with it.

I get new Sony announcements and upgrades just about every week. Even Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 now has 5:1 surround.

Cheers.

Fred Helm · October 28th, 2008, 05:46 PM

Our shop has the same findings. We have four editors all supplying content to major networks in US from our production house. We have two Vegas 8 editors, one AVID MC3.0 and 1 FCP cutter. Every editor knows Vegas is quickest and makes the most sense. We are an "Island" though, I agree. One thing we always say to ourselves is, there is no such viewer of a show or purchaser of a DVD who returns their purchase or stops watching a show based on what it is cut on...good camera work, good stories and good cues can be cut on the worst NLE ever made and still entertain. All other arguments are between producers...and FCP snobs

Keep Cutting! Go Vegas!

October 23rd, 2008, 10:33 AM	#1
Bill Mecca Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 475	Has anyone switched from Avid to Vegas? I've edited on Avid since 1994. I started playing with Vegas 6 at home about 18 months ago, and while I have Avid there as well, I find myself defaulting to Vegas. I just downloaded the trial of Vegas 8 at home, and see myself purchasing that upgrade. My issue is at work where it has been two Avid systems in 14 years (MSP and XDV3.5) It's time to upgrade. I fall into the mindspace where I try to save $$, which I guess is a good thing for a state worker, but not necessarily the best thing for the video editor. ;-) My oldest daughter is now a HS Freshman and got into the TV production class. I mentioned my possible switch to Vegas to her teacher, and he gave me one of those looks, you know the look. He is a FCP guy (certified etc) and they have an Avid there that no one uses?? Just wondering if anyone has switched to Vegas from Avid and could share their story, what roadblocks did you find, workarounds, ways of changing thinking etc. I have been thinking of switching to a laptop to give me some flexibility in location, but not sure how good a move that would be, since all the Digital Juice, Sonicfire etc stuff is here in the office. Thanks for your indulgence. __________________ Award-winning Pine Barrens Documentary! Video, Audio, Music & More

October 24th, 2008, 02:10 PM	#3
Bill Mecca Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: New Jersey Posts: 475	Thanks Seth, what I am really looking for is feedback from editors who have actually switched from Avid to Vegas and can gie first hand experience about the shift, workflow etc. __________________ Award-winning Pine Barrens Documentary! Video, Audio, Music & More

October 28th, 2008, 05:46 PM	#6
Fred Helm Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: san diego, ca Posts: 150	Our shop has the same findings. We have four editors all supplying content to major networks in US from our production house. We have two Vegas 8 editors, one AVID MC3.0 and 1 FCP cutter. Every editor knows Vegas is quickest and makes the most sense. We are an "Island" though, I agree. One thing we always say to ourselves is, there is no such viewer of a show or purchaser of a DVD who returns their purchase or stops watching a show based on what it is cut on...good camera work, good stories and good cues can be cut on the worst NLE ever made and still entertain. All other arguments are between producers...and FCP snobs Keep Cutting! Go Vegas! __________________ Fred Helm pinnedtv.com

October 23rd, 2008, 10:52 AM	#2
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Well, you'll find many posts on the pros & cons of Vegas, Premiere, FCP & AVID. They all work, I think Vegas is the easiest and quickest for me, but power-users of those other platforms do fine. I use Vegas, but I could not do so if I needed to be trading files & etc. with other people on a regular basis. As it is, I'm an island of Vegas in a sea of FCP here in the Portland area. That's OK for my working style. It wouldn't be OK for someone more tied-in with other facilities & production companies. In this market, AVID is the standard for Broadcast, FCP for Corp/industrial/indie. I'd look at who your clients are, and who you collaborate with on projects. If nobody cares what you edit on, and you like the workflow best, it's Vegas, baby! I also teach in a college program, we are FCP all the way, and that's the right thing for us to do.

October 24th, 2008, 03:01 PM	#4
Michael Tobias Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 45	When I first started editing about 6 years ago my company had Avid and FCP. Since I was thrown into the editing world with ZERO experience I was busting my head in trying to figure out Avid. After about 6 months I started beginning to get the gist of how the thing worked. Right around that time NAB was here in Vegas and there was a Vegas conference that I attended. Watching the guy show what he did in Vegas just suddenly clicked in my head. Everything he did just "made sense". So I talked the boss into buying Vegas and literally 2 weeks later I had some really good size projects getting done in the shortest amount of time. The learning curve on Vegas is just more intuitive in interface and functionality than in any of the other NLE's I've seen. Actually once I tried to test myself on Vegas versus FCP doing the exact same project and the 10 minute project on Vegas took about 3 hours to do; on FCP...well damn I was on that thing for 18 hours trying to figure out how to do the exact same thing. I'm not sure if it helps your decision but just from an anecdotal point of view I can say that if you get out of the mindset of how they say how NLE's SHOULD work and concentrate more on how it DOES work, Vegas is by far much more friendly.

October 24th, 2008, 04:35 PM	#5
Allan Black Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Sydney. Posts: 2,930	There are a some pro production shops in Sydney now using Vegas. It looks to me that Vegas has a more definite upward path with addons like Cinescore being listed with it. I get new Sony announcements and upgrades just about every week. Even Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 now has 5:1 surround. Cheers.