Avid vs Vegas video editor opinions

[wadebbie]

I checked the ratings on these two but nobody has posted. I am considering upgrading (tired of Premiere crashing & complexity). My questions are:

Which is most intuitive? (don't wanna spend a lot of time learning new software)

Encoders included or at least is frameserving supported?

How easy are the effects to use.

With Avid lowering the price to $695 it is becoming a little more attractive. But I learned in school that Avid was pretty much the top. What I do is make about 6 DVD's a year for customers. (Plus a lot of mpeg1 for Powerpoint). Since I use .ppt for biz I am a little reluctant to try Vegas due to the potential problems with Mainconcept.

Whadaya think?

[housepig]

my take on it - get a copy of the Avid free edition download, or a trial of the full edition if available, and a trial of Vegas and test them out.

I found Avid to make no sense, and was difficult to work with, and I found Vegas very easy and intuitive for me, so I've stuck with Vegas.

but as with all things that offer you a choice of working methods, your mileage may vary...

in vegas, at least, the effects are very easy to use, it includes the Mainconcept encoder, and allows frameserving.

[DivXExpert]

I hate Vegas. I don't know why. But it is anything but intuitive for me. I guess I am really set into Premiere.

[wadebbie]

I know what you mean. I took a semester of Premiere a year ago and I spent a bunch of money to buy it. However, software progresses and I think I may be missing the boat. I am not loyal to any software. I just want what works best now.

housepig, I hear from others that Vegas is just that easy. Do you use video in Powerpoint and has it messed that up for you? I can't afford for that to happen.

[housepig]

I don't use PowerPoint often, although I have a client who's interested in having me embed some video into some PP presentations, so I'll let you know how it goes.

[GreyDeath]

Vegas all the way!!

Very Easy drag and drop clips from the media file onto the timeline, Easy preview and scrubbing. Unlimited Video and Audio tracks. AC3 encoding with Dolby Digital. I started with Video Factory when it used to be under Sonic Foundry's control and moved up to Vegas after a disappointing experience with Premiere. It is by far a great mesh of versatility and ease of use. Rarely, rarely crashes on my system (I think I'm using Vegas 4c, haven't upgraded, why if it works fine).

The only thing is I don't think there's really that many frameserving programs for it. There is a frameserver from that to say, TMPGEnc, but not TO it. Virtual Dub's frameserver is not recognized by Vegas. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. The other thing is that Vegas has no Noise Reduction control. Other than those little pet peeves, it's Awesome!

Of course, I've never used Avid, so I'm kinda biased... :P

[hexxisoft]

yeah man...waht the guy above me said. vegas.

vegas is possibly the most user friendly nle ever. i use it all of the time. you can do just about anything with it. it can handle almost any type of file ever.

i recommend it to everyone.

sadly in college next year, i'm forced to use AVID.

[wadebbie]

We ll thanks guys. Looks like I will try out the Vegas Demo and if I like it, I'll order the full version. Honestly, I just want to make my art, not work on the paintbrush :P

I had a copy of Avid a long time ago when I first got into video - I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Sounds like it is still engineered for those with a bachelors degree. I am more of a pro-sumer so I think I will avoid it altogether.

[Josef K]

For those having trouble understanding Avid, you can always have a look at these tutorials for Avid Free. They have gone a long way to give me a quick kick start in using it.

Also, some may experience an almighty Windows update bug (screen flickers) that might put them off. That can be solved easily by reading here

[BJ_M]

avid express not very good at all if you work with audio (of more than basic) , mpeg or want to frame serve or do HD or progressive projects or view in real time your effects and such without hardware .. avid is very good in that from the low end to the top they share somewhat similar GUI and method ... so its a good learning thing .

[DivXExpert]

You want the best? Final Cut Pro. The only reason to get a mac. That and maybe Photoshop.

[disturbed1]

Avid is a DV editor, that's all. DV in DV out. Though it's easiest to make a quick time reference file, then encode with an encoder of your choice. Depending on the Avid package you get, it does have DVD output from the time line with mpeg encoding. Not the option for best results though. In order to use any cool effects, you'll have to add expensive 3rd party plugins.

Vegas is a far better video editor. For a new user, it should take minutes to create anything. Very easy to pick up, and easy to learn. Plus it has the Mainconcept mpeg encoder. Vegas started as an audio app, and still retains many of the powerfull audio editing features. The overlay features, text/titling, and motion envelopes are so easy to do in Vegas, there isn't any other app that come close in this aspect.

For price, ease of use, and just over all appeal, Vegas is a better buy IMO.

Unless your working in a situation where AVID is needed, or used across many platforms and machines, it really isn't needed for the consumer-prosumer market.

[wadebbie]

My computers are all IBM platform - Dell's but I have been working for the last two years on Mac's in school. They are very good for video and very good for 3D rendering. We have done a lot of things in Macromedia Director 8.5 and flash, and the Mac's (@ about 850 mhz) beat my 2Ghz Dell when rendering by a long shot.

disturbed1, Things like Expensive 3rd party plugins is what I was fishing for. Those are the little things that add up when you start trying to change software. In my opinion, thats what makes this forum so valuable.

I downloaded the Vegas5 demo last night but didn't get to try it out yet. I knew that someone was eventually gonna make something more user friendly than Premier, yet have comparable capabilities.

[BodaZoffa]

I've used Avid in the past, & I hated it. The program is finicky as hell, & the system compatability is terrible. You also have to invest about what you paid for the program in training books, DVD's, classes, etc. And in the end what do you get....? A editing program that has a lot of transitions & effects that you probably will never use.

Vegas is an incredibly easy, powerful, & extrememly stable editing program. The first thing you have to realize with Vegas, is that most of your editing tools are right there in the time line of the video clip. Vegas' one weakness, though, is it's titling. They tried to make up for this by including Boris, but Boris is a little program heavy.

I did'nt like Premiere until the latest Pro version came out. It is a lot more stable than it used to be. I'd say that Premeire & Vegas will be racing to stay ahead of eachother for the next few years. Hopefully Sony will keep spending $$$ on their software development.

As far as the best.... I heard it is Final Cut Pro. This program & DVD Studio Pro are the only two reasons that would make me buy a Mac. I have never heard anything bad about these programs & they only keep getting better (Final Cut Pro HD).

Anyways, it sounds like Vegas is the way to go for you.


Boda

[DaveS]

...The only thing is I don't think there's really that many frameserving programs for it. There is a frameserver from that to say, TMPGEnc, but not TO it. Virtual Dub's frameserver is not recognized by Vegas. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. The other thing is that Vegas has no Noise Reduction control. Other than those little pet peeves, it's Awesome!

Of course, I've never used Avid, so I'm kinda biased... :P

don't forget you can frameserve from vegas using pluginpac here: http://www.debugmode.com/pluginpac/frameserver.php

I've had very good luck frameserving to procoder on xp sp1..I would think that the frameserve would work w/ the vegas demo so you could check it out...the only weird thing I've had w/ the frameserver is some difficulty deleting the signpost file..windows wants to keep finding the app for it and can make it hard but not impossible to delete

[GreyDeath]

the only weird thing I've had w/ the frameserver is some difficulty deleting the signpost file..windows wants to keep finding the app for it and can make it hard but not impossible to delete

Heh, yah. I have the same problem with the full version too. You have to click "No" or "Cancel" Like a million times before it goes away.

[DaveS]

just fyi there's a vegas 5 pluginpac patch on the debugmode site

[SoundFX]

Vegas has no Noise Reduction control. Other than those little pet peeves, it's Awesome!

Not included, but the Sonic Foundry (sony now?) Noise Reduction plugin for Sound Forge works. It's easy to bring an audio clip from Vegas to Sound Forge, tweak, NR, etc and slide it right back into the Vegas timeline. VERY easy in my book.

I've been using Vegas since Ver. 3. The timeline interface hasn't changed a whole lot since then, and doesn't need to IMO. If you can forget old habits about phyical video editing (things like tape, timecode and EDL's) it's a GREAT way to edit. Want something longer, drag the end out. want to move it, drag it over. Pretty easy I think. I love being able to layer and layer and layer both picture and sound to create some very professional looking pieces. Rendering gets longer with every layer added of course, and that would be my only gripe at all. Just got Ver. 5 today, can't wait to try out the new keyframe bezier cutouts...

[wadebbie]

Old habits! I started with NLE - LOL. Never had the pleasure of working with tape. The only old habits I may have is from Premiere. You guys are all making me curious about Vegas though. It sounds really good.

I don't use Premiere but about 6 times a year to make some 30-60 minute project and it seems every time I do it takes awhile for me to remember all the ways to use the effects. I bought After Effects when I got Premiere, but never have used it - haven't had the time to invest in learning it. It sounds like Vegas has better ease of use & more effects and as busy as I am I have to really account for my time. This includes rendering time. I have even been looking at a dual processor Dell desktop to solve that problem - but I will probably go with another (faster) Laptop instead. (gotta make those credit $'s stretch).

[BodaZoffa]

Got my version of Vegas 5 today, & I love it! DVD Architect 2.0 had a major overhaul done to it. I wish they would have thrown in more pre-made templates & buttons, though.

Overall.... very nice!


Boda

[BJ_M]

Vegas has no Noise Reduction control. Other than those little pet peeves, it's Awesome!

Not included, but the Sonic Foundry (sony now?) Noise Reduction plugin for Sound Forge works. It's easy to bring an audio clip from Vegas to Sound Forge, tweak, NR, etc and slide it right back into the Vegas timeline. VERY easy in my book.

I've been using Vegas since Ver. 3. The timeline interface hasn't changed a whole lot since then, and doesn't need to IMO. If you can forget old habits about phyical video editing (things like tape, timecode and EDL's) it's a GREAT way to edit. Want something longer, drag the end out. want to move it, drag it over. Pretty easy I think. I love being able to layer and layer and layer both picture and sound to create some very professional looking pieces. Rendering gets longer with every layer added of course, and that would be my only gripe at all. Just got Ver. 5 today, can't wait to try out the new keyframe bezier cutouts...

the noise reduction plug in works in vegas directly - as all DX plug-ins do ..

[LSchafroth]

I have Vegas 4c or somethign like that. I've tried to use it but nothing in it makes sence. I have no idea how to use it.

Anyone know of any really good free online tutorials to teach me the basics up to the advanced? I want to keep using it, but need to learn how to do even the basic things first.

Never used a NLE before, so maybe I just need to learn the terms of NLE and the layout of all the buttons and can figure it out from there. Need to get the manual and go through it again. Seems like I read it, but by the time i get in front of the computer to try any of it, it;s been too long to rmember what I read. hehe

LS

[BJ_M]

START HERE http://www.wideopenwest.com/%7Ewvg/tutorial-menu.htm

[DivXExpert]

i feel that premiere has more of a film editing method, whereas vegas is more of a type of thing you would see in video and broadcasting.

[GreyDeath]

Not included, but the Sonic Foundry (sony now?) Noise Reduction plugin for Sound Forge works. It's easy to bring an audio clip from Vegas to Sound Forge, tweak, NR, etc and slide it right back into the Vegas timeline. VERY easy in my book.

Um, I was talking about Video Noise Reduction. Sorry about the confusion.

[BJ_M]

you can use most virtualdub filters in vegas for additional noise reduction --

though its just as easy to do this first really and frame serve in