New Vegas users, How did you hear ???

johnmeyer wrote on 9/6/2005, 12:10 PM

I was using Pinnacle's products and was looking for something with a faster response, more stability, and that had an interface that made editing fast. I downloaded trials of all the low-end versions of major products and fell in love with VideoFactory. Various features in Vegas eventually seduced me to upgrade.

What is unfortunate is that, even with Sony's marketing budgets, the Vegas marketing team, in my opinion, has done a poor job getting the Vegas name recognized. Too often I see overview articles of video editing that mention Pinnacle and Ulead and Adobe and Avid and Sonic, but not Sony Vegas. Also, I still have not seen any attempt by Sony to actively woo third-party developers. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, third-party development is not something that simply follows success; instead it leads success.

Sony has obviously spent some money at a few trade shows, and they certainly spend a lot of money sending out useless flyers to the faithful (how many have you gotten in just the past six months?), but their PR on this product has been extremely poor.

Anyway, I got into Vegas on my own, with no input from any articles, web sites, or reviews, because back then it was an almost invisible product and, unfortunately -- as you have pointed out -- it still is.

Grazie wrote on 9/6/2005, 1:00 PM

Stoney? I bet Sony/Vegas marketeers would DEARLY love this info too!

Perhaps they should be monitoring the answers? Then maybe they could target the "audience" more. Excellent question Stoney!

Grazie

birdcat wrote on 9/6/2005, 2:09 PM

OK - I knew about Acid for many years (before it was Sony's). It didn't pique my interest as I have been doing MIDI with synths since the mid 80's using a Voyetra sequencer package. My cousin bought Acid Pro 4.0 and was calling to ask questions about it and got me hooked (I bought the Screenblast version however, due to limited funds). You can hear some of my Acid stuff on the Acid Planet website (same name - Birdcat).

Anyway, I was using Roxio to make video slide shows on DVD (personal stuff and for friends) and found that very limiting, so I tried the Screenblast Movie Studio package (since I loved the Acid package so much) and found that I was able to do soooo much more and so very quickly. Well, one thing led to another and I decided to move up to the full blown Vegas+DVD product after spending some time with a Sony guy at a trade show here in NY (I live here so I try to get all the free exhibit floor passes I can for the shows in NY).

I've only been using the full Vegas product for a few weeks and already I have done some pretty amazing things (at least for me).

Talk about a roundabout, convoluted journey!

Bruce

backlit wrote on 9/6/2005, 3:02 PM

My introduction to Vegas was pretty random. It began when I bought a DVD writer for my Wifes computer. It came bundled with Ulead software which I used to create simple slide shows. I soon outgrew the slide show and moved on to NLE for their flexibility. It was now time to choose one...

I had read some good things about Vegas on the internet so it led the short list consisting of Premiere Elements, Vegas, or Pinnicle. After an hour in the Best Buy Software section I chose Vegas. It was lucky but I've always been lucky like that... hmmm thats a quote from some movie I've seen...

6 months later, I became tired of just my wifes stills so I bought a digital video camera and shortly after realized that I needed more than Vegas Movie Studio so I sprung for Vegas 6 + DVD. I have no regrets either. I find Vegas very intuitive and easy to use. DVDA is good as well.

In summary, I guess I bought Vegas because I got tired of standing in the isle of Best Buy... go figure.

Cheers,
David

RickD wrote on 9/6/2005, 3:04 PM

I've been using Vegas for about two years now but I never did any video editing before that. It was only after I bought a video camera that I decided to purchase editing software.

I found out about Vegas by Googling something like, what else?, "video editing software." After examining the results and reading reviews I made the decision to purchase to Vegas.

However, I want to say something here that I would normally not say on this forum because it sounds too much like complaining, but I feel that this is the proper time and place since it concerns my reaction to the product as a new user.

I am totally disappointed with Vegas. While I readily admit that I am a complete amateur and hobbyist when it comes to digital video editing, I did expect a professional software package to handle my simple tasks - and it doesn't. Did you ever hear the conventional wisdom that advises not buying a Maserati if all you are going to do is make trips to the grocery store? Well, I'm not sure I would argue with that wisdom - however - if I did go ahead and buy a Maserati, I would expect it to do the job of getting me to the grocery store and not break down and complain about how it's beneath a car of this pedigree. Yet, that's exactly what I feel Vegas is doing to me.

First of all, I work mainly with small, compressed video files. I would like Vegas to be able to edit these files but it doesn't. And according to Vegas technical support, I shouldn't expect it too, despite the fact that it is advertised as being capable of oing what I want it to do.

Also, one of my main desires is to make QuickTime movies for MACS and cell phones and Vegas can't do that. Oh, its says it can, all you need to do is render your project to a QuickTime or any other format necessary. Once again though, it doesn't work. No matter what I try (even with advice from forum members) it doesn't work. And - Vegas technical support reminds me that it is digital video (as in "DV") editing software - not a simple amateur/hobbyist program.

OK - that's it - my two cents.

Stonefield wrote on 9/6/2005, 3:20 PM

RickD, sounds like you have a couple of tasks there you have yet to figure out how to do. Notice how I said "yet." For example I've made several quicktime videos from Vegas and had no trouble playing them on Macs.

Feel free to ask some specific questions in a new forum topic and I'm sure there will be lot's of helpful advice. That's what we're here for buddy.

Stan

RickD wrote on 9/6/2005, 3:47 PM

Thanks for your offer of help. I've already asked the MAC question twice on this forum and the problem was not resolved. After that I called technical support and was told in no uncertain terms: "VEGAS IS A DV EDITOR AND DOES NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORT QUICK TIME FOR MACS."

If, by chance, you can resolve this problem for me, I will thank you profusely and move on to the next question.

Here are my two previous posts on the question:

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=406212

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?Forum=4&MessageID=384746

Chienworks wrote on 9/6/2005, 4:05 PM

Lessee here ....

Many moons ago (probaby at least 100) my brother gave me a package of Sound Forge XP 4.5 for Christmas. It was a nice thought, but it didn't do me much good at the time as i didn't have a sound card in my computer. That was hardly his fault though. That was rectified a few months later when i got a new computer at work that included a sound card and off i was playing.

... ages pass ...

The internet finally caught us at work and we went online. One of the first sites i visited, just for the heck of it, was www.sonicfoundry.com, just to see what might be there. What i found was updates! So i updated to 4.5 f, then later g and h. Later on when we decided to record our church services directly to hard drive and then to CDs we picked up version 5.

Around that same time i started working with a few small video projects at work and wanted something less clumsy than VCR -> VCR editing. I got a Hauppauge WinTV Go card and some Ulead software. It got the job done, but i really felt it was lacking. I didn't have a clue where to go from there though. I tried doing a few things in Sound Forge, but it really couldn't edit video. The next issue of SonicFoundry's catalog boasted Vegas Video 2.0 so i went to the website to read up about it. Sadly it was way beyond our budget.

... more ages pass ...

While bouncing around the website some more to show a co-worker the Vegas product, i happened to notice a new item named Video Factory 1.0. I downloaded the demo and analyzed it very very thoroughly for an entire, oh, say 35 seconds, before getting out the credit card and uninstalling the Ulead stuff. It was a revolution. Shortly afterwards i upgraded to VF 2 and got an A/V-DV converter and went from making little thumbnail clips to full TV quality videos.

About a year later i treated myself to Vegas 3 for a Christmas present. Since then i've been following the upgrade path and enjoying every minute of it.

edit ...
Oh, and over that time period, i went from a 20MB hard drive shared across the entire factory to having 440,000MB in my own desktop at home. I think i have less free space now than i did back then. Oh my!

busterkeaton wrote on 9/6/2005, 4:58 PM

What is unfortunate is that, even with Sony's marketing budgets, the Vegas marketing team, in my opinion, has done a poor job getting the Vegas name recognized.

I suspect marketing budgets have not been upgraded that tremedously. Even still B&H Photo Video in NYC is THE place for video cameras and lots of other gear. They even host the Vegas users group for NYC.

Get this, B&H has OLD versions of Vegas on Display. I believe they have Vegas 5, Acid 4 and Sound Forge 8 on display.

Serena wrote on 9/6/2005, 6:05 PM

My adoption of Vegas ocurred as part of my transition from 16mm film (flatbed editing) to video. I started talking to local dealers about video camera capabilities and one guy had just attended one of Spot's Vegas shows and reckoned that Vegas looked like being a better NLE than various others he was experienced with. Considering my "wants" he advised me to wait a while to see what capabilities were in the next generation of prosumer video cameras, which impressed me with his honesty in addition to his obvious technical knowledge. In the meantime I'd gained a wedding video to edit, so I got Vegas 5 and hopped onto a very steep learning curve, for the video needed quite a lot of the sophisticated Vegas tools (I'm pretty dedicated to getting professional results -- if not always successful!). Subsequently I bought an HDV camera and have upgraded to Vegas 6 etc (but prefer Cineform for capture).

So I chose Vegas by recommendation and found that it did the things I wanted of an NLE.

Asking around had pointed me at Final Cut Pro, but I didn't want to go the Mac route. I'm aware that various video courses employ Premier or Final Cut, which obviously biases students in favour of those NLEs. Perhaps Sony needs to work on getting Vegas embedded in those film courses. Once people learn an NLE they're reluctant to learn another because dealines always herd them back to what they know.

rs170a wrote on 9/6/2005, 7:50 PM

I started off with Vegas Audio 1.0 (mid 90's?).
I was still a videotape guy at the time (3/4" SP) and needed some kind of multi-track app for audio sweetening. At the time, Vegas appeared to be the only thing I could afford and I didn't regret it one bit. Upgraded to version 2.0 a year or so later. Then ended up buying a dpsVelocity because I needed an NLE that could handle composite, S-video & component (and Convergent Design wasn't around then). Skip ahead a few years to the job I have now at a local community college where we were looking for something easy for non-broadcast students to use. Vegas Audio 2.0 got upgraded to Vegas Video 4.0 - and then 5.0 and now 6.0. The dpsVelocity now sits unused most of the time, Vegas is that good :-)

Mike

FrigidNDEditing wrote on 9/6/2005, 7:57 PM

WAREZ!!!! - my cuz was using a cracked version, but that's how I first saw it.

I was introduced to it by a friend of mine who works for Fox Sports, and a slew of other national broadcast stations as a contractor.

He used it and suggested it for me as I was doing more and more work for my church - and they had a VT2 - UUGGGHHHHH!!!!!! - not the way to edit :-(

Dave

boomhower wrote on 9/6/2005, 8:37 PM

Final Cut Pro brought me to Vegas. (sort of)

A friend who uses FCP in his shop told me about Vegas after I told him I didn't want to buy new computers just so I could get FCP. Once I wouldn't drink the Kool Aid he gave up the goods on Vegas.

Thanks Apple.

Stonefield wrote on 9/6/2005, 9:38 PM

Very very interesting stories...keep em coming guys. I love this stuff.

Wes C. Attle wrote on 9/7/2005, 7:16 AM

I had just got my first DV camera and needed a cheap NLE and found Movie Studio cheap and DOWNLOADABLE. Movie Studio was so good, that I just had to upgrade to Vegas for all extras. With other activities I ended up buying SoundForge, Noise Reduction, and Acid Studio because I could download them as soon as I wanted them, try them for a bit, and purchase instantly online.

I value the Studio versions and downloadable options from Sony. I also really like the My Account - My Software features which I can use to track the latest upgrades and quickly re-download all my software whenever I need to reinstall, rebuild my PC, or buy a new hard disk etc.

Instant download and purchase can be highly profitable with compulsive shoppers like me floating around the net. :-)

cbrillow wrote on 9/7/2005, 9:21 AM

A trial version of Pinnacle Studio 8 came with my first DVD burner. I loaded it, and spent the $ for the full version after one quick test. Then the nightmares began -- crashes, hangs, error messages, etc. Before it ended, I'd spent many hundreds of dollars on a new operating system, hardware and software upgrades, eventually going so far as building a new system specifically for video editing.

I did manage to tame Studio after throwing a lot of money at it, losing a handfuls of hair and cultivating a new vocabulary consisting entirely of 4-letter words.Then I bought Screenblast and upgraded to Studio 9 at about the same time. Studio 9 worked ok for me and I liked it, but was reluctant to load their frequent updates, because Pinnacle updates often don't fix what they purport to, and also often break things that previously worked. In the meantime, I learned to work with Screenblast's timeline, weaning myself from the Studio storyboard. I liked the extra functionality in Screenblast, some of which wasn't to come along in Studio until they released Studio 9 Plus. By that time, I'd purchased Vegas 5, and the rest is, as they say, history.

I now use Vegas 6/DVDA-3 almost exclusively. But I still do the occasional odd-job in Studio 9 -- like creating Smart Sound audio clips. Or capturing a TV program to directly to MPEG. These are things that Vegas can't do, so I use one another tool in the old toolbox...

briggs wrote on 9/7/2005, 11:05 AM

Several years ago my wife, her two sisters, and I recorded an album (CD). We tracked it at someone's home studio onto DATs. Afterwards we thought "wouldn't it be neat to have our own home studio." I went out and bought a Delta 1010 which happened to include a copy of Sonic Foundry's Vegas. Of course it was audio only at that point.

Some time later when they added video to it they gave us a choice to upgrade to either the Vegas Pro Audio (I think it was) or Vegas Video. I made the choice to get the video option since I was also starting to dabble with video a little.

One thing led to another and now I have V6 installed and, though still primarily a hobbyist, I have a substantial number of video projects, but still no second CD -- yet!

-Les

mark-woollard wrote on 9/7/2005, 3:13 PM

I've been doing professional video work part-time for about 20 years and bought NewTek's first Video Toaster. I've stayed with NewTek's evolving product and was quite satisfied with VT[4]. Several of the VT mailing list folk were also using Vegas. That's where I first heard about it.

Then I got a Z1 for a major HDV production and needed an HDV editor. I researched Pinnacle (tried the demo), Canopus (read their website) and Vegas. I went with Vegas for a number of reasons:
comfortable interface, Sony was behind it and therefore likely to continue to develop it for HDV purposes, good price and a fellow VT[4] user recommended it for HDV. He also recommended Canopus including the hardware. But I don't want to jump hardware ships right now, hoping NewTek will eventually catch up. I still capture analogue audio and video through the VT card.

gogiants wrote on 9/7/2005, 5:59 PM

I got some cheesy video software with my video camera, but it was fun enough that it got me looking for something better. It was also an excuse to go out and buy hardware to do the captures, etc. After a bunch of web searching I came across a review of Video Factory; one of the few reviews that mentioned it! I wound up buying it because I really liked the level of control I had (fade in/outs, etc.) versus other packages. Recently, after a few years of using Video Factory and the various upgrades, I decided I'd up the ante and get Vegas.

I'm just a semi-avid home movie guy, but there have been a few times where I wanted more tracks and more flexibility, and thus the upgrade to Vegas.

Chienworks wrote on 9/7/2005, 7:02 PM

While we're talking to new users, let's point them to the VegasUsers World Wide Map at http://www.vegasusers.com/whereareyou/ ... stick your pin in the map and show everyone where you are.