Sony Vegas Pro

Sony Vegas Pro is a video editing software package for non-linear editing (NLE) originally published by Sonic Foundry, now owned and run by Sony Creative Software.

Originally developed as an audio editor, it eventually developed into an NLE for video and audio from version 2.0. Vegas features real-time multitrack video and audio editing on unlimited tracks, resolution-independent video sequencing, complex effects and compositing tools, 24-bit/192 kHz audio support, VST and DirectX plug-in effect support, and Dolby Digital surround sound mixing. Up to version 10, Vegas Pro runs on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. Version 11 dropped support for Windows XP, and version 12 is 64-bit only. Version 13 dropped Windows Vista support.

Features

Vegas does not require any specialized hardware to run properly, allowing it to operate on almost any standard Windows computer across a broad range of hardware.

In areas of compositing and motion graphics Vegas provides a broad tool set including 3D track motion compositing with control over z-depth, and spatial arrangement of visual planes including plane intersection.

Much of the visual effects processing in Vegas follows an audio-like paradigm. Effects can be applied at any stage of the visual signal flow — event level, track level and output level effects, much like reverb, delay and flange audio effects are applied in a digital audio system, like Pro Tools, Cubase or Sonar. Master output effects can also be controlled and manipulated over time by the use of Master Bus track automation envelopes.

As of version 8.0, Vegas reads MJPEG AVIs (usually from "video" setting on digital still cameras). (With prior versions of the software, installing an MJPEG codec sometimes fixed the problem.) Third-party codecs are supported but it can be difficult to see which codec is being used to play back an AVI. Some of Vegas's codecs are "native" or built-in.

One major omission of Vegas is that, although it started life as an Audio Multitrack NLE, it has no MIDI capability at all. (Apart from control-desk and synchronisation.) This restricts its use for Audio production, focusing the product on the post-production, Video NLE market only.

Vegas features integration with 24p DV. It is also one of the few NLEs which can convert other formats to 24p (or any format to any other format) without any kind of a plugin or third-party application support and is the only proprietary NLE that allows for multiple instances of the application to be opened simultaneously. Clips and sequences can be copied and pasted between instances of Vegas. One instance can be rendering a sequence in the background while the user continues to edit in a different instance of Vegas in the foreground. Vegas provides sophisticated compositing including green screen, masking, and keyframe animation. Nesting allows a prior project to be included in another project modularizing the editing process so that an array of tracks and edits become one track for further editing. Any changes to the previous project become reflected in the later project. Nesting is especially helpful in large or complex or special effects projects as the final rendering suffers no generation loss.

Unlike other editors, Sony Vegas Pro supports scripting technology which provides task automation, simplified workflow, and greater efficiency and productivity. Free and paid pre-written scripts are available from the Vegas community on the web.

Version history

Vegas Pro 8.0

Released on September 10, 2007, the Vegas Pro collection combines Vegas Pro 8.0, DVD Architect Pro 4.5, and Dolby Digital AC-3 encoding software to offer an integrated environment for all phases of professional video, audio, DVD, and broadcast production. These tools let the user edit and process DV, AVCHD, HDV, SD/HD-SDI, and all XDCAM formats in real time, fine-tune audio with precision, and author surround sound, dual-layer DVDs.

• Vegas was the second NLE that allowed users to put a variety of formats on the timeline and just edit them. Other NLEs would require the user to render or "conform" these down to a single format. Vegas Video 1.0 had this in 2000. Final Cut Pro got this feature in 2007 with FCP 6.
• In 2003 when the 4.0b update was released, Vegas users got HD editing support and 24p support for free.
• Vegas was the first NLE with "serious" audio tools, such as integrated 5.1 surround mixing, 24-bit/192 kHz audio support, and ASIO driver support.

Vegas started life as an audio-only tool with particular focus on rescaling and resampling audio, making it arguably a leader in its category with substantially more sophisticated audio tools than any other NLE.

Vegas was among the first NLEs to embrace HDV support both as native TS files and through lossless transcoding tools such as Cineform Connect HD.

Vegas Pro 9.0

On May 11, 2009, Sony Creative Software released Sony Vegas Pro 9.0 with greater support for digital cinema including:

• support for 4K resolution
• native support for pro camcorder formats like Red and XDCAM EX

The latest release of Sony Vegas Pro 9.0 is Vegas Pro 9.0e (Released on 13 May 2010), which includes features such as a new white balance video FX.

In 2009, Sony Creative Software purchased the Velvetmatter Radiance suite of video FX plug-ins and these are included in Vegas 9. As a result, they are no longer available as a separate product from Velvetmatter.^[3]

Vegas Pro 10

Sony Vegas Pro v10.0 interface

Sony Vegas 10, released October 11, 2010, introduces many new features such as:

• Stereoscopic 3D Editing
• Comprehensive Closed Captioning
• GPU-Accelerated AVC Encoding for limited formats (Using NVIDIA CUDA). With the release of Vegas 10d, support was extended to some AMD GPUs (via the OpenCL GPGPU API).
• Image Stabilization
• Audio Event FX
• Track Management
• OpenFX plugins support

and a few more updates and UI changes.

Vegas Pro 11

Sony announced Vegas Pro 11 on September 9, 2011, and it was released on October 17, 2011. Updated features include GPGPU acceleration of video decoding, effects, playback, compositing, pan/crop, transitions, and motion. Other improvements are to include enhanced text tools, enhanced stereoscopic/3D features, RAW photo support, and new event synchronization mechanisms.^[4] In addition,Vegas Pro 11 comes pre-loaded with "NewBlue" Titler Pro, a 2D and 3D titling plug-in.

Unlike previous versions of Vegas Pro, version 11 does not support Windows XP (with x64 Version - For switch compatible setup).

Vegas Pro 12

Sony released Vegas Pro 12 on November 9, 2012. Updated features include enhanced 4K support, more visual effects, and faster encoding performance. Vegas Pro 12 is dedicated to 64-bit versions of Windows.

Vegas Pro 13

Sony Vegas Pro v13.0 interface

Sony released Vegas Pro 13 on April 7, 2014. It brings new collaboration tools and streamlined workflows to professional content producers faced with a wide variety of multimedia production tasks.

Available in three new configurations:

• Vegas Pro 13 Edit:        Video and Audio Production
• Vegas Pro 13:                Video, Audio, and Blu-ray Disc Creation
• Vegas Pro 13 Suite:       Editing, Disc Authoring, and Visual Effects

Reception

Major broadcasters have utilized the software, including Nightline with Ted Koppel.^[5][6] Several film festival winners have used Vegas to cut their features.^[7]

Related products

The consumer level Sony Vegas Movie Studio version (formerly titled VideoFactory and Screenblast) shares the same interface and underlying code base as the professional Vegas version, but does not include professional features such as advanced compositing tools, or advanced DVD/Blu-ray Disc authoring. In previous releases, the video editing portion of the professional suite could be purchased separately from Sony's DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring software, DVD Architect Pro (previously called DVD Architect; DVD Architect Studio is the consumer version), then a package called 'Vegas + DVD' became available while Vegas 7 was out. Since the release of Vegas Pro 8.0, both DVD Architect Studio Pro 4.5, Vegas Pro 8.0, as well as Boris FX LTD and Magic Bullet Movie Looks HD are all bundled together and may not be purchased individually.

References

Further reading

External links

• Official website