Customer Reviews
The definitive review 
2008-03-23
Having read the other reviews let me just say that I think this is the best version of Sony Vegas, I have been using it since V1, but it wasn't until V4
when Sony bought it that I got excited about it. It started as an audio editor and I know many professionals, including demonstrators for competing products that do much of the audio editing in Vegas because it is so intuitive. It is great for anyone wanting to learn because there is much training materials available from people like Douglas Spotted Eagle and Gary Kleiner. This is a very deep program and so you can be a beginner and be productive, but as you advance you can learn the advance functions. Many forgo buying a compositor such as Boris or Adobe After Effects because much of the ability is contained within Vegas.
Much of the criticism on the reviews here of the program is due to their buggy computers not the program. I use Vegas currently with Vista 64bit and all though it was not made for Vista, it run flawlessly, they will have a Vista 64bit version by Sept 08. Just being able to do 30 bit color render puts them ahead of the pack. There are so many things that distinguish its superiority over programs like Apple Final Cut Pro (audio tools, Acid support etc) and Adobe Premiere (needs $1000 card for effective efx preview)the couple of reviewers that have compatibility problems should download the trial version and I have had excellent knowledgeable support from Sony support with native english speakers.
There are two junior versions of this program, one in particular the platinum version of Sony Movie Studio is an incredible bang for the buck.
When you consider that this program also includes Dvd Architect is an amazing value. The fact is I have used the competitors software, Vegas is the software of choice for independent filmakers and many use it for its audio tools alone or for making slide shows. It has won awards this last year for excellence and has forced the competition namely Apple and Adobe to change their interface (elim A/B timeline, to a single time line)
and so copying is the highest form of flattery.
One of the reasons Vegas is the most intuitive program for video editing is that originally it was designed by musicians, not film editors. Other programs mimic the way film editors had been editing for nearly 100yrs.
It started as an audio program that added video edit capability and being lazy musicians, they made it very easy to use. The fact is that it is also a deep program and when you consider it all the bit color, compositing, the audio editing it provides all the tools you need and if you master them, you will be a great editor
Download Demo 2007-12-25
After various trials with other software i'm going to buy this after using the demo for 5 days.
Have tried various consumer products, the worst of which was definitely Pinnacles rubbish but this has offered me as much as I can ask. The principle thing it does is work. I know this sounds odd but every other piece of consumer video editing software i have tried is buggy and crashes frequently, or wont read a format. This didn't crash once in 5 days and created a 2 hour multi source format dvd (including H.264 from a panasonic Hd SD1) with no crashes no fuss, just worked.
For me $500 is alot to pay for software (as a consumer doing this for friends and family) but after the hours tearing my hair out with substandard software im buying this.
I don't know what I am doing... BUT.. 2007-12-23
I am using Vegas Pro 8 with Vista 64 and the Sony HDR-SR8 camcorder. I am JUST starting to use it and am writing my early experiences on the SDR-HR8 page... I don't know what I am doing so don't laugh if you read it.. but any helpful suggestions are welcomed.
Pro Video editing at an amazing price point 
2007-12-19
Vegas Pro 8 is aimed at the professional, prosumer and broadcast market. its able to handle multi camera inputs and contains sophisticated color correction tools, a DVD production platform, surround sound capabilities and will work with a wide variety of formats including HD - not the kind of stuff most folks will dig into who just want to cut video together and put simple titles on. I think that if you want to wow your friends even with your family video work, it is worth learning how to work on a pro platform at this price, especially since it contains some Cinescore basics (canned music) and the best audio editing capabilities on a video app I have experienced. Great audio is the difference between a great video and a mediocre one. I have worked on Adobe Premiere and Ulead MediaStudio, and basic editing is pretty much the same with all of these apps. However, the value is in the details. Most of what makes Vegas Pro 8 such a good value requires sitting down and learning the workflow and capabilities. There is a great user base to get a lot of free information and good training materials available. The 30 day free trial is a great way to put it though its paces. You can still as of this writing purchase Vegas 6 at B&H Photo for 79.00 and learn much of it on that platform, or spend the additional 99.00 at Tiger Direct for the Pro 8 upgrade and have a top of the line state of the art editing platform for less than $200. If you are composing video for the Web, Adobe Production Suite has many more capabilities, but if you are doing straight independent film/video production to DVD or for broadcast, this pretty much has everything you need except talent!
Buggier than V7 2007-12-05
Vegas 8 in my experience is buggier than v7 or even v6. That said, it is reassuring to know that Sony coders are very good about getting user feedback and fixing issues. For now, I am opening my VEG files and saving them in the new version while retaining the original v7 counterpart as a precaution since you cannot go back. Saying that, I find Vegas 8 to be a worthwhile improvement overall and very intuitive.
As far as the app goes, I edit HDV video and keep it in native .m2t stream the entire process until final output to DVD. I recently bought one of those fancy hdtv's and have had the joy of seeing the file rendered back to the HDV camcorder; We were stunned by the incredible quality. Sony Vegas lets you "print" to your camcorder so you can use the camcorder as an HD source. Quality is comparable to blue-ray dvd.
Final comment, IMO this app is probably far more than a casual user will want; this app is more for the serious hobbiest or pro. With ALL these apps there is a learning curve, and Adobe's premiere ELEMENTS and Sony Vegas MOVIE STUDIO are probably more appropriate for someone who will only use it to edit baby's first steps, birthday parties, etc. The reason I say this is "lightweight" apps tend to have more built in templates than the Pro apps. Lightweight apps will have pre-built birthday and Christmas graphics for titles and backgrounds, for example. Be aware, lightweight apps sacrifice flexibility for simplicity.
I recommend you read the reviews, then download the free trials of apps you think may be useful before buying. Some people just don't "get" the interface of one app, while finding another app quite intuitive.
See you in Hollywood!
Excelleny Nonlinear Editor 2008-07-03
I've used a lot of NLEs and this Sony Vegas Pro 8.0 is by far the best. It will do projects Adobe balks at. Excellent features though there are a few things I think Sony could improve, like their titling section. WYSIWYG -- it's been here a long time -- your titler yearns for it.
Very frustrating 2008-06-04
I enjoyed the idea of making a video but its very complicated to use for myself, i consider myself very computer savvy and I still can't understand how to publish or show off my videos... Very expensive program and if it was simpler to use it would be much better i'm gonna say 4/5 because its just horribley laid out
Stable, Powerful, good value for money 2008-05-28
Coming from the Pinnacle products, I was very pleasantly surprised by the stability of the system: so far no bug, no crash, no re-install. Also, the software seems to be relatively light since it runs without any problems on my old machine: P4 3Ghz, 1 Gb of RAM, XP SP3. In addition, it is a very powerful editing tool that comes with DVD architect, very powerful as well: more famous competing products like FCP or Avid Xpress are at least twice as expensive. What is also very nice is that you can download for 30 days a trial version from the Sony website that is almost not limited (except for color correction): you can make sure that Vegas will run smoothly on your machine and that you get used to the interface. I highly recommend this product.
Awesome, and easy to learn! 2008-05-24
I bought this to do a video production and had to do it in less than 2 weeks working only at night after my "day job." It only took me 1 evening of "playing" and a little reading of the manuals to figure out all I needed to get started. It is ABSOLUTELY worth the money. I have not used the fancy Adobe products that cost almost twice as much, but I can tell you that THIS product can do just about anything you want at a professional level.
NOTE: You DON'T need a high end video card, but I DO recommend a dual core processor. I rendered a 15 minute video on a Pentium 4 2.66 GHz with 1.5 MB of RAM, and it took over 1 hour to do it. Vegas DOES support dual core processors, and even video processing over a network, which I assume means you can "borrow" CPU power from other computers on your network. Didn't try it, but it sounded intriguing.
If you need some high end NLE software, but don't want the higher end price, THIS IS IT!
Excellent 2008-04-09
I demo'd both Sony Movie Studio Platinum and Vegas Pro 8. MSP was priced right for it's features, but VP8 hands down outweighed MSP. For home movies/videos/occasional user, go with the MSP. For the serious hobbyist and professional, go with the VP8. MSP limits the number of tracks you can have per project, VP8 is unlimited, which gives you better control of overlays and takes. I added Cinescore after using VP8, and it integrated seamlessly. No Regrets! Using Vista on a 3 Gig Pentium D with 1 Gig RAM -- No hangups!
