Vegas Pro

Popular programs in Video software

What is Vegas Pro

Vegas Pro is a professional video editor meant for movies, shows and similar productions. This video editor has serious power along with a massive number of tools for all your needs. You can easily export videos to your hard drive or burn them onto DVDs and Blu-rays. This program is flexible for experienced users, but it will take newcomers a long time to master.

Intuitive and Powerful

Vegas Pro is a video editor made for professional productions like movies and music videos. As such, it has a tremendous amount of power and tools that can nearly anything you can think of. If you are an experienced user, then you will see Vegas Pro as an intuitive program. It has a flexible interface that you can customize to your needs. This means you can easily move windows and tools to match what you're used to. You can also create new windows as needed to help with the workflow.

This program isn't meant for people who are new to video editing. It's not because it's tedious or difficult, but because it has tools that require finesse and experience to use properly. Unlike previous versions of Vegas Pro that were difficult to learn, the newest version keeps newcomers in mind. There are many tutorials available to help you learn how the program works. This is ideal for those who have done video editing before, but haven't used Vegas Pro until now.

Large Variety of Tools

Vegas Pro comes with a variety of tools for a variety of needs. Some video editors only have tools for visual effects while others might have for enhancing resolution. Vegas Pro gives you all the tools you could dream of. Not only that, but it makes it easier and faster than ever to do video editing.

For example, many video editors require you to open a specific editing window to add visual effects. That doesn't take much time for one or two clips, but it can exponentially increase your time when you're working on a feature-length film. Vegas Pro allows you to edit the clips directly on the timeline. This makes your job easier and faster.

Vegas Pro can easily add subtitles to the video, and there are a variety of filters and effects that you can apply with ease. If the chroma key or white balance needs to change, then you can do so with precision. You're also able to apply masks, stabilize images and perform multicam editing.

Resolution is constantly improving and you need a video editor that can keep up. This version of Vegas Pro is capable of working with footage shot in HD, 4K and 8K resolutions. Not only that, but you can enhance any footage that was shot at lower resolutions. This takes time and significant processing power of course, but the final product will look fantastic.

If you want a video editor program that is packed to the brim with tools, then Vegas Pro might be right for you.

Standalone or Subscription

There are different philosophies on which pricing structure is best. Some people prefer to buy standalone programs because you'll end up paying less in the end, but you're stuck with that program until you're able to upgrade. The subscription model forces you to pay every month, but you can always halt your subscription once you're done with the program, and it's often easier to switch to a newer version of the program.

Many top-tier video editors only offer one pricing structure or the other. Vegas Pro gives you options by allowing you to choose whether you want to pay one flat fee or a monthly subscription. It's always good to have options, especially if you want to keep the production costs as low as possible for your movie.

Plugins and Formatting

As stated above, Vegas Pro has a tremendous number of tools. That being said, the ability to use plugins is always appreciated as this allows you to add new third-party tools and features not included in the default program. Vegas Pro is exceptionally user-centric and makes it easy to integrate plugins. Not only can you install plugins within seconds, but you can also create a custom chain of plugins, effects and tools.

This feature allows you to use up to 32 tools with one mouse click. This is ideal for processes where you're just clicking tools and making simple inputs. You'll find this cuts down your time and effort significantly when making routine edits. You can make multiple chains, and the 32 tool limit should be fine for most processes.

Vegas Pro also delivers when it comes to formatting. Anyone in the movie and video business knows that formatting is essential. This includes the file format, the aspect ratio and other types of formatting. Vegas Pro includes many standard formats that you can easily select, or you can input a custom format as needed.

Not only is this simple, but Vegas Pro goes a step further. It works with your hardware to enhance rendering speeds. Everyone who has done this before knows that rendering a whole movie takes forever. Speeding up the process makes it faster to finish your current project so that you can start the next one. You'll notice a tremendous reduction in rendering time when using Vegas Pro.

Learning Curve

If there's one problem with Vegas Pro, then it's that the program has a steep learning curve. It's hard to be too harsh on Vegas Pro for this because it is marketed towards professionals who should know already know how to use the more complex tools and filters, but it's still worth noting.

Those who have never tried video editing before will need a lot of time before they understand how Vegas Pro works. There are tutorials, but these won't be enough for users with little experience. It's flexible by professional standards, but inaccessible to newcomers.

Pros

• Has a massive variety of tools, masks, filters and formatting options.
• User-centric design allows you to edit the workflow, apply effects in the timeline and make plugin chains.
• Works with your hardware to speed up movie rendering.

Cons

• Steep learning curve that makes it inaccessible to newcomers.
• Has a high price tag even when compared to other professional video editors.