Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum Edition [OLD VERSION]
by Sony Creative Software
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Software Reviews of Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum Edition [OLD VERSION]
Customer Review: Good product
Summary: 4 Stars
Movie Studio 8 does more than I know what to do with it. I previously used Pinnacle but it had many limitations. Some of the "fancier" things I wanted to do like reverse, I couldn't. Vegas does that and much more. I can't yet complain about the lack of AVCHD playout in HD. Hopefully Sony gets a clue and offers an update. It does take some time getting used to it but there are several tutorials that help. Customer Review: Limited File Support
Summary: 2 Stars
I tried the demo of this product and found it lacking. The knowledge base at Sony confirmed that it doesn't support DivX formats. For my application, it was worthless.Customer Review: Sony Vegas video editing software
Summary: 5 Stars
I've used several home video software products and have finally found the one that I like....it's easy to use, functions beautifully within Vista, handles my Sony video camera high definition files (AVCHD), and provides broad functionality to be very creative. I've now decided to upgrade to Sony's Pro version because I am so satisfied. Customer Review: Finally, something that works well with Vista and Hi Def Camcorders
Summary: 4 Stars
I will make this simple. Make sure there is video editing and movie making software that can work with your technology. Not everything works well with MS Vista and hi def video camcorders.
I had tried several products to make my son's football highlight film. My computer was running MS Vista with 2 gigs ram. Since I had never done this before I was looking for a product that was easy to use, could read all kinds of media (pictures, video provided by the high school via CD, and high def video from my Canon HG10). My goal was to create a video that was clean and simple with all forms of media mixed in. Plus, I wanted to add music if necessary and be able to create a video clip for a web site. This turned into a two month task with one software failure after another.
My first choice was the software that came with the Canon HG10 (made by Corel). This product was really made for generating a simple movie from the camera only. So I purchased Corel Ulead VideoStudio 11.5 Plus figuring that Corel would be clued into my Canon camcorder. Everything started alright, but video was pixelating all of the time and would hang up when trying to cut the DVD (after spending weeks creating the video). I called Corel (which is a very tough task) and they only allow one support call (unless you give them your credit card). Corel emailed me a bunch of things to do and none of them worked. Getting smarter I decided to first get a free download, try the software and then perhaps buy. My third choice was Adobe Premiere Elements. This product was not stable and would bomb on a regular basis.
At this point I am in survival mode. I've got to get this kid's video out within two weeks or it will hurt his college possibilities. I walked into a local chain electronics store thinking about changing some of my technology. When sharing my issues with an experienced sales rep (who makes movies) he mentioned Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum Edition. He said it was the best thing for MS based computers that he has used. I down loaded a copy and produced my film in 8 hours. I was so fantastic! I would plug in the hi def camera and it could actually read and import the video clips into the software. I would load a CD on to the computer and again the software would easily import the video. Pictures and music are no problem. I was in awe! Why couldn't the other products do this so easily? Not once did my computer hang up or need to be rebooted.
Now Vegas Movie Studio 8 is not the easiest product to learn, but it does the job, has way more functionality than I will ever need, and there are support people who will gladly help you when you get stuck. I learned a long time ago in the software business that service is 50% of your decision. This experience has reminded me how important it is.
Customer Review: Awesome editor with some inexplicable omissions
Summary: 4 Stars
After using Cyberlink (waste of money) and Ulead 11 (good), I was curious what to do when my son expressed a serious interest in learning serious film editing for a HS sports documentary he wants to make. Not wanting to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a professional package, I still needed something beyond the "kids and pets" home movie level. Sony Vegas Movie Studio was it, and Amazon had the best price I found. It is more at the Sony site.
While it has some inexplicably missing features (AVCHD output, no support for bluray on regular DVD), its workflow is awesome once you get used to it. I love the audio controls which clearly show Vegas' audio editor heritage.
Rendering speed seems to be slightly slower than Ulead on the SD samples I've tried so far, but to be fair, Ulead really shines when you make minimal edits with its MPEG optimizer.
Vegas only gives you 4 video tracks instead of Ulead's 7, but you have more control over clip manipulation and the UI is much less sluggish or prone to crash. It uses about 20% less memory than Ulead during the editing process; I have not observed how different it is when rendering.
The UI (toolbars, menus, dialogs, etc.) all look like the graphical designers were let go in the earlier parts of the decade (think Office 97), but that only bothered me for about five minutes. Once you get into the editing process and get used to the trimmer, audio envelopes, zooming with the scroll bar, etc., all that will seem superficial. I'd rather take a solid package that looks a bit dated but performs well than a snazzy modern-looking UI that crashes.
I thought I was going to miss Ulead's storyboard feature, which does not exist in Vegas (at least not as far as I can tell or the documentation will reveal), but I have not.
For viewing HD video on my **Sony** Playstation, I will have to continue to use non-Sony Ulead Video Studio to burn DVDs, and Ulead recognizes the pre-Vista video capture card that neither Vegas, Movie Maker, nor Cyberlink thinks is present. However, for editing, Vegas is the tool for me.
I loved that Sony had a full-featured trial version on their site. One reason I have never tried, or will try, Pinnacle is that I couldn't seem to find a trial to use. Sorry, but flash-based demos don't do it for me. I've gone on to buy ACID and Cinescore, too, based on the trials.