Vegas 4 has got to be one of the best kept
secrets in the industry. I've been a big fan of Vegas since
version 2.0. With 3.0 they added some cool real-time
performance. With 4.0 they got it right. How right you ask? Good
enough to get Sony's attention and have it be the cornerstone of
a technology purchase from Sonic Foundry. At the time this
article is being written, Sony has not yet unleashed the full
power of its marketing muscle and brand name. By the time you
read this it should be starting. The future for Vegas looks very
bright indeed.Real-Time performance
Vegas was the first application to give you real-time previews
via FireWire output. The video is not full resolution, but let
me tell you – it looks great. On a fast computer you'll have a
hard time even noticing it, but you will have to render for
final output. With a breakout box like the Canopus ADVC100 or
new ACEDVIO hardware you'll be able to attach a TV monitor to
preview while you edit.
New features I love about Vegas4+DVD
- Velocity Envelopes. Vegas does such a great job
with this. Not only can you apply variable speed changes to
a single clip and keyframe them, but it is incredibly easy
to do. The best way to explain this is to think of a
commercial for an SUV. The truck rides across the TV screen
through a puddle. As it hits the puddle it slows down to
super slow motion – you can see the individual drops of
water hanging in air from the splash. Then, the video speeds
up to full speed and then races out of the frame at double
speed. Looks killer – and now you can do it too!
- Vegas+DVD with AC3 encoding and 5.1 surround sound.
You just can't come close to the value here. While DVD
Architect isn't the best authoring application around, it's
quite solid and delivers the features you want most. You can
set your chapter points and create your 5.1 surround sound
track within the Vegas timeline.
- Photo Montages. Vegas is spectacular for this.
You can create the “Ken Burns” effect of panning and zooming
over a still photo with ease. Then, you can easily add
transitions between photos or have them fly on and off the
screen. Finally you can layer multiple images together. Put
all these tools together and you'll be making photo montages
that will blow your viewers away! Ideal for wedding videos
and documentaries.
- Audio tools. Many folks don't know it, but Vegas
started out as a high-end audio application. It evolved over
time to be one heck of an NLE. But the core audio tools and
audio style of editing remain. As a result editors with any
kind of an audio background will quickly fall in love with
Vegas.
- Web Video. Sure web video streaming isn't the
red-hot technology of the future. That all ended when the
Internet bubble burst. That said, we still end up putting a
ton of video out on the web. Vegas is a great compression
tool. It can export your video into any of the latest and
greatest web streaming formats. Most importantly these
compressed videos look great.
Vegas 4+DVD Wishlist
- While Vegas has some very nice 2D and compositing
capabilities I do find the 3D filters and effects limited.
Boris FX is now shipping Boris RED 3GL as a 3D plug-in for
Vegas, but it's pretty expensive. Unfortunately the list of
plug-ins for Vegas is still quite limited. Here's hoping
that either Vegas gains some additional cool 3D capabilities
or more plug-in vendors jump in with them.
- Sure the AC3 and 5.1 surround capabilities are nice, but
it's just the beginning. I want fully integrated DVD
authoring with Vegas. This one is a no-brainer and I fully
expect to see it in future versions. Until then, Vegas+DVD
still has the best AC3 encoding and 5.1 support in the
industry.
|
