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Are Sony Vegas skills marketable?
Is there a market for Sony Vegas Pro editing skills? By this I mean is there are there full-time job opportunities for someone who can expertly edit with Sony Vegas at a professional production house. I’ve seen job listings for After Effects, Premiere, Avid and even Final Cut but never Vegas.
I’ve taken some online courses and was able to get up to speed with Premiere and Final Cut but I’ve got about 10 years invested with Vegas and know it’s ins and outs far better that those other NLEs.
I’d love to hear the groups thoughts on this. Thanks.
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29 Replies
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Yes its marketable, but the sad truth of the matter is that the whole
industry is caught up in this utter nonsense that it has to be Final Cut
or Premiere as those are the real Pro and industry standards….
Many, and i mean many are so blinded and misguided in this industry
i dont even know where to start Rob.
You just stick to what you are good at, and don’t let others dictates
your profession and the tools you use to get the job done, cause in the
end that’s all that really matters!Steve Rhoden (Cow Leader)
Film Maker & VFX Artist.
Owner of Filmex Creative Media.
Samples of my Work and Company can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/FilmexCreativeMedia -
Well if the intent is to procure employment as a freelance editor, then one needs to be proficient in all NLE editors. That is if the intent if to go to existing production houses. This would include Vegas, Grass Valley Edius, Open Shot, Lightwave and even Resolve. But knowing how to use the tool at hand does not replace the feeling of timing and pacing. The act of cutting is easy, pick a tool, any tool will do. Know when to cut what to cut when to place in or take out. When to withhold or show information to the viewer, that is the art of editing. If you have the sense of timing then you can dictate the tools you use. What those who follow you feel is the correct tool is entirely up to them.
Russ Froze -
“then one needs to be proficient in all NLE editors”
That right there Russ, reminds me of an old saying:
“Jack of all trades – Master of none”
Trust me on that one!Steve Rhoden (Cow Leader)
Film Maker & VFX Artist.
Owner of Filmex Creative Media.
Samples of my Work and Company can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/FilmexCreativeMedia -
Having worked in the feature film biz as an asst editor, let me say that, while Vegas Pro can give you tech/editing skills from practice, the program itself isn’t durable enough to withstand the daily stresses of a professional workflow. Only Avid, Premiere, and an older version of FCP proved their merits on that account.
Vegas is good for short programs, but I would never bet a clients’ deadline on it, for it is WAY too unstable.
Indie Filmmaker
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“Vegas is to unstable” I don’t find this to be true.
I think:
people will by FCP hardware specified by apple.
people will buy AVID hardware with strict requirements by AVID.
people buy Vegas, then build a DIY PC or attempt to run some deal of the week system/laptop they found because they liked the price. People also buy NV cards so they can run games better, or because that’s what Premier recommends. Then people complain when Vegas crashes or does not perform optimally.
Error free hardware, proper CPU/GPU selection, and optimized data paths are just as critical for Vegas, as AVID and Apple spend on their specs.
My experience with AVID and FCP has been just as filled with crashes and beach balls.
Most the producers already has a workflow in mind which specifies NLE and formats. Vegas generally does not make the list, but that does not mean its not a fully qualified product able to do the job.
There are so many reason why one NLE is used and others are not. Most of the time its due to ignorance. I can remember someone telling me Vegas is 8bit only. All I could do is laugh at them, and then asked how ACES could be supported if it was 8-bit only. NLEs are chosen for legacy corporate/union reasons(AVID), religious and marketing gloss reasons (Apple).
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Sony Vegas is durable enough to withstand the daily stresses of a
professional workflow Glenn. You working in feature film biz as an
asst editor means nothing!..because you have no true knowledge of what you speak!And individuals such as you, is whom i spoke about earlier in my post,
whom are misguided and think FCP and Avid is the only NLE that can get
things done in a true Professional environment.Steve Rhoden (Cow Leader)
Film Maker & VFX Artist.
Owner of Filmex Creative Media.
Samples of my Work and Company can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/FilmexCreativeMedia -
Are there any majors (feature film or TV shows) using Sony Vegas in their workflow?
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Ok Rob, here is the thing. All skills are marketable. All that is needed it to find the market and the individual customer base in that market.
Go and read this post by Douglas Spotted Eagle on Mar 15, 2009 at 7:11:22 am
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/24/890973
The post will explain the situation
The question should be what is your plan for your future. Keep in mind that TV is declining in popularity and newsrooms are disappearing. For film, Studio or independent, the decision is made long before you get hired as the chief cutter. Chances are great that at best an assistant editor position will be offered long before you get to sit in the big chair.
Your NLE training will come from where ever you can find a position. It is doubtful that a multi million Dollar production will be placed in the hands of an unknow.
First and foremost, LEARN YOUR CRAFT.
This whole argument is akin to the camera dialogs on which is better has greater pixel count, dynamic range and so forth. It’s all hype and tripe.
The best camera to use it the one you can get or already have. Make your film and edit it with whatever you can afford. Run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes.
I assure you, as a producer, I will not engage in a discussion at to what was used to film or edit your demo reel.IF I like your work you will be hired as a assistant who will catalogue, archive and prepare the files for use by the editor. If you fit into the team, I may decide to use your services and assign smaller projects to you. But the main point is that I have to like you more than your work. That is the secret.As to vegas stability, it works fine and I find Vegas to be less rigid in file handling. In fact in my facility it is the preferred choice. I do 15 second commercial and independent feature length productions. No hiccups since 2003.
WHen a client walks in I make certain all the usual name brands are are open and visible on the desktop. With the project procured things go back to running mode with Vegas as a cutter and Fusion as a compositor. My projects get out the door and monies come in the door without the use of ransomware.
But that is another argument.
Final statement. LEARN YOUR CHOPS.
Russ Froze -
[Rob Cioffi] “Are there any majors (feature film or TV shows) using Sony Vegas in their workflow?”
Nope. And the reason for this is quite simple: There is no real-time tech support, no house calls should something fail, or go down — which is ESSENTIAL to feature post-production, because an hour or more down means thousands of dollars down the drain (salaries, deadlines with other expensive depts like sound/vfx/DI etc). On features, your machines are covered by a tech support house, like insurance, something Vegas will never have, especially now that Sony won’t be updating the software any further.
People here can debate Vegas’ robustness all they want, but the above is the sad truth. As for marketable skills, you can improve your editing on anything. Editing is editing. Like anything, do more of it and get better.
And look — I’ve used Vegas since 2003! Personally, I love it…for personal projects, because I have time to endure its instability (even on a powerful home system I had built with Vegas’ specs carefully in hand). When confronted with an hour long project, I found it necessary to restrict my usage of Vegas to audio only, and use Avid Xpress Pro because of its rock-solid architecture (and this on a system NOT built to Avid’s specs!).
Will I continue using Vegas on short, simple projects? Absolutely. It’s fun. But feature films are a business that require 24/7 attention, and that’s not possible with Vegas Pro. I’ve actually used Vegas Pro in a professional cutting room, to help out an editor with some audio issues. But that’s as far as that prospect ventured.
Btw, while we’re all proud thumping our chests here, about how others blindly follow “the market sheep” on which software to buy, let’s not forget that many of our best film artists cut their films with Premiere and FCP — Fincher, Coen Bros — and have no problem changing hands when one proves unreliable. At the end of the day, ‘creating’ something in a multi-million dollar environment requires software that performs, and is — while not perfect, not bulletproof — DEPENDABLE, backed by professional engineers who are ready to attack bugs and hardware upon a phone call from the cutting room.
Indie Filmmaker
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Hi Rob. Do you have any of your work online and would you be interested in having occasional editing gigs thrown your way? I am a busy vegas editor in Los Angeles and I’m looking for a good editor (preferably who works with Vegas) to help me out with excess work.
send me a message at tim@neighborsvideo.com if interested.
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