vegas movie studio platinum 9 or vegas pro 9

[William Boehm]

newby at editing with over 90 hours of hdv tape shot on canon xha1. will be getting a new computer with windows 7 in a month. i will transfer all hdv to cineform and store..waiting for the new computer purchase.

want to do family editing, with some pazaz..color, stabilizing some footage shot in a kayak of marine mammals, reformatting? sd to look like hd which i guess is called uprezzing, sound that would not exceed stereo..fade and out, very very little graphics if any. i am looking at ease of use, and eventually transfering to a future canon dslr for recording, captureing and editing. just sold that canon xha1. thanks. bill

[Chris Jeremy]

I can only suggest to do as I did - download the trial software from the Sony Creative site and check it out for yourself. I found that Platinum had everything I need at present and can always easily upgrade to Pro at some later stage if I feel the need.

[Don Bloom]

I agree with Chris. DL the trial version of Platinum, try it and I think you'll be very happy with it.

The MAJOR differences between the lite and PRO versions are that the lite can't use scripting, can do a limited number of tracks (the pro version is unlimited) and I don't think you can get the lite version with DVD Arch for authoring and burning DVDs.

Read the differences before yo DL but I'd bet the Platinum version will do what you need.

[Ian Stark]

Here's a link to a comparison table: Sony Creative Software - Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Edition - Vegas Family Comparison

It doesn't say whether Platinum offers 3d positioning of tracks as Pro does. Anyone know?

Cheers.

[Perrone Ford]

Originally Posted by William Boehm

newby at editing with over 90 hours of hdv tape shot on canon xha1. will be getting a new computer with windows 7 in a month. i will transfer all hdv to cineform and store..waiting for the new computer purchase.

want to do family editing, with some pazaz..color, stabilizing some footage shot in a kayak of marine mammals, reformatting? sd to look like hd which i guess is called uprezzing, sound that would not exceed stereo..fade and out, very very little graphics if any. i am looking at ease of use, and eventually transfering to a future canon dslr for recording, captureing and editing. just sold that canon xha1. thanks. bill

Well, since no one else mentioned it, I'll offer a few things:

1. Before you transfer everything to Cineform, be aware that the new versions of Vegas no longer include it. So you'll be spending a minimum of $100 to read those archived files.

2. No version of Sony Vegas includes a stabilizer so you'll need to find a different solution for that.

3. No version of Sony Vegas includes uprezzing, so you'll be paying extra if you want that.

So weigh your options carefully before buying.

[Chris Barcellos]

First, responding to Perrone's comments:

"1. Before you transfer everything to Cineform, be aware that the new versions of Vegas no longer include it. So you'll be spending a minimum of $100 to read those archived files."

This is correct, but Neoscene can be purchased for $100.00 to 130.00 on line from DVInfo sponser. This should be used as your intermediate edit codec.

"2. No version of Sony Vegas includes a stabilizer so you'll need to find a different solution for that."

However, a version of DeShaker (open source and free) using virtual dub is available, and works well, after a little trial and error.

"3. No version of Sony Vegas includes uprezzing, so you'll be paying extra if you want that."

I have uprezzed SD on the timeline, and depending on your needs, it may be sufficient for your purposes.

Vegas has many commercial 3rd party plug-ins and script programs available to meet varied needs that may be required. I would go to Vegas 9 Pro, just to be able to take advantage of those if you see that as a need.

As far as storage of Cineform files, I don't understand the need. Assuming a well catalogued listing of your tape contents, why would you want to convert and capture 90 hours of tape and store on a hard drive. In my mind, tape is still the most stable storage format, and you will lose a hard drive before you lose tape.

For every hour of tape, you will eat up around 35 gig of storage. So 100 hours would mean 3.5 terrabytes (???) if my math hasn't failed me. I am wrestling with the storage issue on with my 5D files, and believe me, I am wishing for a more dependable storage capability than hard drives or optical disk. I have gone to a standalone Sata drive set up that allows hot swapping of 1 terrabyte drive, but crash of individual drives is always a risk.

[Perrone Ford]

Chris hits the highlights here well. I did say that Cineform would be about $100...

I was VERY underwhelmed by the upres with Vegas so I don't consider it viable. Others may disagree I guess.

And Chris, why aren't you going to LTO? BluRay storage meets my HD needs, but if I was worried about it, and I liked tape (which I don't), LTO would be my first option. Heck I have about 100 LTOs in boxes here at the office gathering dust..

[Chris Barcellos]

For the hobbiest shooter, these seem a bit high, but I haven't explored recently, so I will give it a look for my needs.

[William Boehm]

thankyou for your replies and excellent information.
1. i desire to transfer tapes to begin with because i sold my canon xha1. my hv 30 was stolen. so i must rent a camcorder to transfer files. i will probalby only archive or use about 50% at most of the 90 hours of tape.
2. my thoughts of going sony vegas..most likely lite...was it seems to be well received in ease of use, as i almost went speededit...which has little support
3. i plan on going dslr next year for video, even tho i have nikon lenses, i may go canon bodies..or to a newer canon format using H.264 format. the latter will probably see more editing solutions next year as it become more popular, but then sony doenst own this format so i am not sure if i am making a wise choice to edit on a pc with sony vegas..

so many questions and an honestly complex decision..trying to see a morphing target in video industry. thanks again ahead for your comments. bill

[Perrone Ford]

Sony Vegas does fine in editing video from the Canon 5D/7D. And since they were one of the originators of the AVCHD format, I think they'll be supporting it for quite some time.

I don't really think the landscape is all that complex.

Choose camera to best suit your needs
Choose NLE that works well with the camera
Choose backup solution appropriate to price and need.

It is only when one begins to have somewhat unrealistic expectations that these fall out of line. Asking for a consumer based camera to have professional features. Asking a consumer based NLE to edit professional formats, asking for consumer based archive formats to deal with professional level projects.

This is really an "in for a penny, in for a pound" scenario. And you must consider the ENTIRE workflow from camera to archive before jumping in.

[William Boehm]

according to perrone..then it appears sony vegas will process h.264 format well for either canon 7d or the canon vixia s11? does that then hold true for both platinum and pro? thanks again for every ones input. bill

[Perrone Ford]

Originally Posted by William Boehm

according to perrone..then it appears sony vegas will process h.264 format well for either canon 7d or the canon vixia s11? does that then hold true for both platinum and pro? thanks again for every ones input. bill

I have edited video from the HF-S10 and the 5D in Vegas 9 Pro 32 and 64 bit. I do NOT get real time playback of the 5D footage, but it's not really too bad to cut with a transcode or proxy. The lower bitrate stuff like the HMC150 and the HF-S10 play back in real time, and are a breeze to edit on a strong machine.

[Ozzy Alvarez]

Originally Posted by Ian Stark

Here's a link to a comparison table: Sony Creative Software - Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Edition - Vegas Family Comparison

It doesn't say whether Platinum offers 3d positioning of tracks as Pro does. Anyone know?

Cheers.

I was at the site and read the comparison between the different Vegas softwares. While Vegas Pro 9 is the top of the line, the Platinum edition seems adequate for prosumers or hobbyists. What I'm confused about is the difference between the Platinum edition and the Platinum Pro pack. It seems its the same with the Pro pack having Soundforge which the regular Platinum edition doesn't have. Is that the only difference between them??

[Mike Kujbida]

Originally Posted by Ozzy Alvarez

It seems its the same with the Pro pack having Soundforge which the regular Platinum edition doesn't have. Is that the only difference between them??

It's Sound Forge Audio Studio 9, not Sound Forge and there are differences between the two as well.
Sound Forge Family Compare

I'm doing some training with a student who just bought Platinum with the Pro Pack so I'm becoming aware of all the differences between the two.
For me, the lack of scripting in VMS is a major deal breaker as I use it a LOT.

[Edward Troxel]

Given the choice between Movie Studio Platinum or the full Pro version, I would pick the Pro version any day of the week - as long as you can afford it.

There are times when you will want more than four track. There are times when you will want to customize the MPEG2 render settings. There are times when you will want to use Pan/Crop masking. There are times you will want to use a velocity envelope. Just the ability to run scripts is enough for me - I'd be lost without my scripts to help simplify, speed up, and automate the editing process.