Vegas Pro 12 Suite? Worth the price?

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Joe Mizera

...I do dread facing re-installation to a 64 bit version of Windows. I'm currently on a 32 bit install, and I fear what might break. I get the impression that 64 bit is the way things are going either way though.

So, is Adobe now king of the PC editors? No need to look at Avid, or the other players in this range?

If you're back on a 32-bit OS, it might also be that your PC hardware is ready for a major upgrade, no matter the editor you choose. A minimum of an i7 processor and 12GB of RAM on Win7-64 is really needed for any of the modern HD camera codecs.

I'm not sure I understand your question about PC editors. There is no one best choice, period. It depends on where you live, what markets you're working in, whether you have to collaborate with others, and your personal preferences in an NLE.

AVID is used extensively in broadcast and film, and is most interoperable with other products commonly used in those markets.

Premiere is probably the most widely accepted choice outside of those markets.

Vegas is very viable; granted there are some who've departed Vegas, but also many who are making money with it. For me, it is the fastest in every way, and time is money, not to mention the outstanding audio capabilities.

Amazing to me, there are many pros who have found that FCP-X is working well for them, not to mention the die-hards who are still transcoding for FCP-7.

They're all good NLEs, that have different appeals to different editors. There's no "king" of editors. But Premiere is a good choice for those working corporate, events/wedding and indie, especially if you have to collaborate with other editors and producers.

Not sure why you're here in the Vegas forum expecting those of us who work with Vegas to kowtow to a new king ;-) If Premiere is working best for you, by all means use it!

[Leslie Wand]

@ joe.

32bit IS getting to be history as far as nle work goes, and as seth points out, for modern codecs you really do need a modern computer.

if you're not finding vegas to your taste simply download trials of what you think will do what you need....

NO ONE can tell you what's the best nle for YOU; it's not only the type of work you do, nor your workflow, but your aptitude for using one gui over another*

at the end of the day ALL nle's do the same thing, some more reliably than others (unfortunately there's actually NO bulletproof nle), and some with more 'convoluted' logic than another.

[Joe Mizera]

@leslie @seth

When I ask which editor is the best, I should have known it's a loaded question. Sure, all things being equal, I think Vegas has one of the best workflow designs by far. And if 12 truly had the long awaited speed and stability improvements, it would definitely be worth it. And yes, I understand the 64bit platform allows for a larger memory map, and more stable processes. I have however seen complaints from users about 12, and quite a few from those running 64bit OS installs.

I currently run a Quad core 9500 2.83 ghz platform custom built machine. Not the latest but not a slouch. I have a fairly low end Nvidia card, and I was prepared to throw a few hundred this way. If I could cut mp4 renders down timewise, it would be worth it. Looking over forum postings here and there didn't really sell me on this. Allowing the use of GPU in rendering just causes a failure for me.

I decided to try Edius 6.5 on a whim, and holy crap is it fast. Full frame rate and resolution previews without a hiccup. Render tests were just short of 2X time for the exact same source and destination mp4 that Vegas is taking 10X or more. It uses the somewhat dated and non intuitive (imho) Avid style interface. It would be a whole new learning curve. Somthing I'd rather avoid. It does however prove that my hardware is sufficient, and albeit with limited time testing, no crash far.

I should have been more clear I suppose. I fully expect to eventually go to a 64 bit OS install. I would have before now if MS had not made it such a pain. I'd also be thrilled to stay with Vegas, and have been with it since 4.0. But if I shell out the money, and do the OS upgrade, and still see 10X render times, and the same number of crashes, I would be less than happy.

I'd be curious to see what sort of render times you guys are getting. Or at least that you see near zero crashes. BTW, my source footage was from a Canon T3i, and the target was 720P 10mpbs. mp4. No effects or other processing.

[Al Bergstein]

I own 10, 11 and adobe cs 6.0. I only keep vegas around to reedit old projects. My experiences are identical to nicholas'. I occassionally check threads here to see if Vegas has gotten serious about their regression testing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_testing for non developers out there. I assume Sony spends zero on this.it would do more for their sales than all the lame add ons they throw in.as a paying customer i can say that. Friends should tell you things like that.

12 would not even open on my system without crashing. I trashed it. Stability problems make it a joke. My system is running rock solid, side by side using Adobe. Does Adobe crash? once in a blue moon. but it's so infrequent, And i never lose work. Nuff said on that.

If it were stable I would never have left. Very simple and fast workflow. A pity really. If you never use sophisticated titling, just edit a single timeline, then yes, vegas might be a good choice. Soundforge is good but is not Audition. Sony encoders are very problematic.Adobe's seem rock solid.

Joe, go to win 64, regardless, for many good reasons. You can search old threads to find out why.

Second cuppa joe time.

Originally Posted by Nicholas de Kock

I upgraded to Vegas Pro 12 when it was released but I still use 11 as 12 keeps crashing on my PC. I'm also a subscriber to Adobe Cloud & that subscriptions is the best thing I've ever done. I believe if you are an editor getting paid for your work there is just no way that the Adobe Suite can be ignored. I still edit in Vegas because of the available scripting tools at my disposal but I do everything else in Adobe. Save your money & steer clear of the Vegas Pro 12 Suite. Vegas Pro is about the only good thing from Sony & even then it's not stable.