Comments on: Crash course on Sony Vegas

By: Eugenia

Eugenia — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:49:32 +0000

1. No, you just click in the clip, and then you move the vertical hairline closer to the split point, then you use the arrow keys to move to the exact frame you want, and then you split.

2. I would download the JetDV tutorials, and the full manual for Sony Vegas Pro 8 (that version of Vegas has a full manual, not just a quick start guide). Most of the Vegas Pro PDF is good for Movie Studio too.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:34:48 +0000

I am as new a ‘newbie’ can be and was grateful to come across your information. I use Movie Studio Platinum and have two questions please:-
1. To split a clip you said ’select it by clicking once with the mouse….’. Do I do this when the clip is playing and if so, how do I slow it right down so I can ‘click’ it exactly where I want to split it?
2. Apart from the forum on the Sony website and the tutorials in the software would you suggest any other source of information for ‘newbies’ like myself?
My appreciation in advance Eugenia.

By: Eugenia

Eugenia — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 05:21:40 +0000

Anonomouse, your comment angers me. I am not stupid. I know the differences of all the versions of Vegas (and I own all). But I am trying to make it clear for newbies — which this tutorial is for. If I say that “vegas pro has unlimited video tracks and 32bit floating point editing”, it doesn’t mean anything to a newbie who wants to have a video done quickly. However, it can be much more important to mention that Movie studio can’t deal with HD or HDV or that it can’t export to h.264 HD.

So, don’t *assume* what I know and what I don’t. I would suggest you read more of my blog to understand me better.

By: anonomouse

anonomouse — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:04:26 +0000

“So, install the version of Sony Vegas you need. Movie Studio will deal with DV content, Movie Studio Platinum with HDV/AVCHD content, and Vegas Pro is the professional HD version.”

I don’t think you understand the distinctions between the consumer and the professional verisons of Vegas.

Vegas Pro is also the professional DV version. In fact, the main difference between the programs is not what video format you are using but what you intend to do with your video. Yes, there are limitations on formats, however, I would say the most important difference is the number of tracks allowed. A pro editor can turn out great stuff with DV, however being limited to four tracks video and four tracks audio would quickly become limiting. The next biggest difference is the Vegas Pro has many more tools for color correction/image manipulation than the Studio versions. Plus it has video scopes to help use these tools.

In short, it’s what format your camera is is the small decision, it’s what you plan to do with your video that really informs your choice.

By: Eugenia

Eugenia — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 19:37:33 +0000

Renan, these integrated cards will work with Vegas. However, you will get worse preview playback speed than with full graphics cards, because the integrated ones usually have less bandwidth. When I moved from my Ati to Geforce (both full, PCI-e cards), the GeForce one had 3x the bandwidth and I saw a big difference in playback speed (on all media player apps realy, not just Vegas). So, while Vegas works with all DirectX 9.x cards and does not support OpenGL or only some GPUs in particular, it will benefit from the fastest cards in the market on its preview window. So, it’s your choice. Here’s Vegas’ minimum requirements, at least as I suggest them.

By: Renan

Renan — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:57:27 +0000

Thanks for posting this quick tutorial. I wanted to ask you about hardware, I’m thinking of upgrading my hardware and my question was about motherboards with integrated video. In the past I would’ve said no way but they’ve come a long way. My question is, is a dedicated video card a requirement for video editing and rendering (especially HDV)? I’m curious if a motherboard using Nvidias 7050 PV/nforce 630a integrated GPU and chipset good enough for editing HDV video. Never mind gaming since I’m no longer into that. Any thoughts?