Pro or not ?

[Gilles Pialat]

In France, Vegas is not considered as a professional NLE.
That afflicts me, but I think Sony do not promote Vegas enough.
In addition, when I spoke with professional editors who know Vegas, they often said Vegas have some basic lacks (no overwrite mode, no conventional cursor management, poor trimming feature

[Mike Kujbida]

“Professional” is a state of mind.

Since we don’t have accurate sales numbers, we have no way of knowing who has sold the most editing software.
Note that I didn’t mention actual users but rather total sales as the two can be misleading.

Since you use it and you’re happy with it (and, I assume, making some money with it) that should be enough.

[Peter Wright]

Vegas in the right hands is completely professional, and there are a great many professional editors using it, all over the world.

Non-Linear Editing is a notoriously “parochial” profession where everyone has their favourites, and tends to defend their own choice.

I’ve been using Vegas exclusively to produce video programs and make a good living for five or six years, and my clients don’t know or care what program I use to edit on – they judge me by what I produce.

Peter Wright
Perth, Western Oz
http://www.allroundvision.com.au

[Gary Kleiner]

I don’t think that there’s any question that there are more Final Cut users than Vegas users.

Does that mean I should be using Final Cut? Been there, done that.
Vegas runs circles around Final Cut.

If all NLEs had the same features and did everything the same way, what’s the point?

I think that Vegas is by far the NLE software available.

Gary Kleiner

Learn Vegas and DVD Architect

http://www.VegasTrainingAndTools.com

[Adam Rose esq.]

yep, how would you define professional?

in terms of what Vegas can do, other than when intending to convert to film, vegas’s abilities FAR exceed FCP. Vegas has had the tools to perform tasks for multiple generations that FCP is only starting to use now (eg multicam) and even then, FCP is far less accommodating.

anyone who says otherwise is either stuck in an old paradigm or simply being obstinate. absolutely.

is encouraging to see here in the UK how knowledge of vegas has spread in the last year or 2. Is now very common for me to come across editors who either use it or know editors who do. A few years ago, all I got was a blank stare. Even seeing it mentioned as the PC NLE of choice in notoriously mac-biased magazines, which I never expected. Used to always be PPro, Avid or Matrox products. At the recent video forum expo in London, Sony had a LARGE stand, front and centre, with Vegas getting a lot of promotion. Past years was stuck right at the back of the hall. No money in the marketing, no-one giving it a glance. Also, now that XDCAM HD is getting so popular, more users are being attracted by the excellent workflow Vegas offers in that format. Excellent!

🙂

[Leslie Wand]

as both peter and mike point out – are YOU a professional?

if a clients asks me what i edit with i ask which he’d prefer? some actually know the buzz words (avid, fcp, discreet, etc.,) and mention a particular brand. i ask why they say…. of course they never have an answer other than, isn’t that what the professions use?

i have versions of every nle – mostly trial ones, and never loaded, so i can honestly reply i’ve got them all, but prefer vegas. vegas? what, you haven’t heard of sony’s SPECIALISED nle?

in fact i have, and occassional still do edit on other systems, but i only have vegas on my own work computer.

do you ask your surgeon whether he’s going to cut you open with sheffield steel or chinese made blades? as long as the end result works, what the hell.

however, in this business everyone roots for their own system, after all, they’ve invested a lot in it.

leslie

[Gilles Pialat]

Peter,
I can

[Charles Avanti]

I’m an “avid” user of “Vegas”. Like it was said before, If I’m delivering a final product to the client, what difference does it make? and is it any of their business?

What car did you use to get here?

Charlie

[Doug Graham]

Vegas IS used widely; it’s one of the best-selling NLEs on the market.

However, there are a lot of editors who are used to what they know…FCP or Avid, mostly…and they will run down Vegas as “unprofessional”.

What they really mean is, “I personally don’t like or understand how it works”.

For example, Avid and FCP and Liquid and Premiere all have a Source/Record video window for trimming clips. Vegas (and NewTek SpeedEdit) don’t have this. But the two-window paradigm is a holdover from the days of linear editing, when you had video tape decks as an integral part of your editing system. It made sense then, but it doesn’t, now that we have nonlinear editing. A storyboard or a timeline paradigm is much faster than a source/record trim window…IF you are used to working with them. If not, you will have some “un-learning” to do before you’ll feel comfortable.

Vegas began life as an audio editing program, so it doesn’t have the “baggage” from the linear editing days. On the other hand, because of its audio heritage, Vegas has some of the best audio editing tools of any NLE, and it integrates tightly with leading audio applications like Sound Forge and Acid. It also has some great integrated compositing tools…where other editors have to jump out to After Effects, Vegas editors can continue (in many cases) to work within the editing program.

The important thing about choosing *ANY* NLE software is that YOU are comfortable with the way it works. Don’t listen to the guy over at the local post production house or TV station; don’t listen to the product hype or the magazine reviews; don’t listen to the guys like me on the user forums. Instead, go get a hands-on demo of the software on your “short list” and make your own decision, based on your own likes and dislikes.

Regards,
Doug Graham

[Goodnightfilm]

Later this summer, I’ll be editing a narrative feature film using Vegas — my favorite NLE. See here: http://www.TheOtherSideoftheTracksMovie.com

I was just at the Miami International Film Festival (screening a short film, which I also edited in Vegas) and there was a filmmaker panel on editing, hosted by Nick Moore (see here: https://imdb.com/name/nm0601680/). Nick’s favorite NLE? It just doesn’t matter; whatever you’re comfortable with. If you’re hung up on this question, chances are you’re missing the boat.

That being said, here’s the real thing that hurts Vegas when it comes to being considered a “Pro” NLE: lack of a 10-bit color space — which every other NLE supports. But here’s the crux, just about every high-end HD cinematography camera (including the Varicam and Sony F900 CineAlta) records only in 8-bit color!!! So in away, even this argument is moot. 🙂 But to be technically correct, bluescreen work and certain transitions will work better under a 10-bit space. Lastly, the lack of certain native “Pro” codecs doesn’t help (e.g., DVCProHD).

Vegas rocks!!!