Sony Vegas Pro 11 Student Edition Question

[filmboss80]

I'm just a highschooler, with a strong desire to learn as much of this as I can and be as capable with these programs, but with a super low income, which makes obtaining the programs very difficult.

No excuse. There are plenty of editing packages at varying price levels. Put something on your birthday or Christmas wish list and let Mommy and Daddy pay for it.

I guess my only remaining question is, Is there anything included in Premiere that there isn't in Vegas that you would consider. very useful? Something that makes getting one or the other essential?

In short, the answer is no. But you are missing the greater point. There are many ways to achieve a certain result onscreen. What counts, ultimately, is talent and skill. In the Freddiew interview (at http://www.freddiew.com/faq/) they tell you all their effects were done with After Effects. They go on to say:

"You have to remember: when it comes to editing software, almost all software is essentially the same. They all will cut video just as well as the other. It comes down to personal preference – and at the YouTube/online video level, no single piece of software is objectively “better” than the other....Above all, never let the fact that you don’t have a certain program or a certain camera be an excuse that stops you from making movies – you don’t need any of those things. If you don’t have an HD camera, shoot SD. If you can’t cut, rehearse your shots and cut in camera. Having better software or better cameras don’t make you a better filmmaker – making loads of crappy movies does."

Long before CGI, filmmakers were doing effects with wire, rubber bands, mirrors, matte paintings, and miniatures. (Coppola did Bram Stoker's Dracula the old fashioned way, without using CGI, even though the technology was available to him.)

Like my grandma used to say, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

[edDV]

It will take you years and many projects to master AE or any of the edit packages. Pick one. Whatever you learn conceptually from one will apply to the others. Some editing software favors certain camcorder formats or codecs. Most will allow use of digital intermediates to reduce the CPU/GPU hardware needed. If your budget is limited, use DV format cameras. DV format will work on hardware back to the Pentium III.

Your listed "Windows 7, Core i7, 6GB RAM, 600GB HDD" computer is pretty good for a Po Boy. Better than any of mine.