VMS Production vs Visual Effects Suite

[Jon Shuler]

I received an email about VMS Visual Effect Suite. The big difference I see between the 2 suites is that Production comes with NewBlue FX and Visual Effects comes with HitFilm Standard. Does anyone know if one effects suite is better than the other?

[Leslie Wand]

actually knowing little about either (you're on the vegas pro forum after all), i would say it wasn't a case of which is better but rather which better suits YOUR needs.

there's an endless debate about 'which is better' when it comes to fx. be it new blue vs pixelan vs boris vs genarts vs prodad vs etc., etc., there is NO better, there's simply what's best for your project / work flow / style.

[Ian Stark]

In fact they are both Vegas products, variations on Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 (mouthful) so in fairness this is the right place to ask:

Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Visual Effects Suite Overview

Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Production Suite Overview

But Leslie is quite right - it depends on what you want to do. The newer Visual Effects version includes HitFilm Standard which appears to be a collection of special effects based on the FXHome product. Note: 'special' effects. These include things like particle generators (smoke,fire etc), light effects (I remember the old FXHome light sabre for example), gunfire and so on. The Production version includes a starter pack of NewBlue's effects (I'm not certain which ones - someone else will know) but these are more likely to be more everyday kind of effects as opposed to the more esoteric ones in HitFilm.

So, as Leslie says, it depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you want to make the next Star Wars then the Visual Effects version is probably more suited. If you want to make the next The King's Speech then go with the Production version. (And if you want to make either more efficiently, go with Vegas Pro).

Having said all that, I can't see anywhere that says the Visual Effects edition does NOT include the NewBlue effects, and given the higher price tag I suspect that it does.

There are demos for all of these products. Try them out and see which works best for you.

[Edward Troxel]

And this is a forum for ALL Vegas users - it just so happens that most of us are running Vegas Pro but Movie Studio questions are certainly welcome!

[David Johns]

Originally Posted by Ian Stark

I can't see anywhere that says the Visual Effects edition does NOT include the NewBlue effects, and given the higher price tag I suspect that it does.

According to this, the two editions ARE different in what's included:

Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Visual Effects Suite Product Comparisons

Regards
Dave

[Ian Stark]

Certainly looks like it. Still, the NewBlue plugins are very sensibly priced!

[Roy Alexander]

Leslie. I wasn't aware that this forum is for users of Vegas Pro, I thought it covered all Vegas editing programmes. I use VMS and have always had helpful answers regarding VMS. Should I in future ask my questions on another forum?

[Ian Stark]

Roy, see Edwards post above.