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Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Pro Pack takes HD video and audio production even further with tools for professional-level sound design and more video effects and transitions. Use the included Sound Forge Audio Studio software for precise audio editing and CinescoreStudio software for soundtrack creation. Upload movies to YouTube, burn to Blu-ray Disc, or author DVDs.

User Reviews about Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack

After doing some research on NLEs (Non-linear Editors) for AVCHD media I decided on Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Pro Pack as a starting point to move to the Pro version later. The editing techniques possible in this version are the same as in the Pro version. It's been a great learning experience and the results are phenominal.

I do recommend that you prepare your hardware to use this software w/ AVCHD files without problems. So, get the fastest CPU, most memory, and largest/fastest hard drive you can afford. Once installed, follow the recommendations from the Sony forum regarding the rendering issue: [...]

I've had no problems so far working with my AVCHD files. No conversions, just using them in the native format once I've pull the files off the camera. (In my case I'm using a Canon HF-S100. I use the Canon provided software to off load the video from the camera and onto my PC - i do this just because I like how the software organizes and labels the files.)

Don't be afraid of the hype surrounding AVCHD files. Just make sure you have the right equipment and your good to go.

I highly recommend this package for motivated users looking for more than the average video editor - something that will grow with you as you learn more about editing. It's a great value for that purpose! -- Once you learn it, it is a great AVCHD NLE for consumers...

Sorry about the formatting, Amazon is removing all my spaces when I publish even though it looks fine in the editor.

Computer Specs:
Intel Core2 Duo @ 1.86 GHz
2 GB RAM
256 MB Video
32 bit
Windows Vista

My test:
Added 2 videos.
Added image stabilization to one
3D transition between them.
Rendered the project.
AVCHD in and MPG2 out (both in full HD, 1920*1440, Dolby 5.1 if available)
Video length 4 minutes and 20 seconds.


Overall Review:
***** Corel Video Studio Pro X3
***** Cyberlink PowerDirector 8
*** Sony Vegas Movie Studio Pro Plus 9
**1/2 Adobe Premiere Elements 8
** Magix Edit Pro 15
* Roxio Creator 2010
* Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 14

Package Options:
My reviews are against the top versions of each product line. You will find that most of the differences between the top versions and the base are Blu-ray export options, and some add some extra sound options. See for yourself the option that suits you at the manufacturer's website in their respective product comparison guides.

Windows 7:
All seemed to work for me in windows 7, 64 bit with 4 GB RAM. I didn't do any tests with it b/c I wanted to use an older machine that would come closer to representing the average computer. This includes Roxio 2009, but not 2010 for reasons stated below.

Final Opinion:
If you want something super easy to use, then I would go with Cyberlink PowerDirector 8. If you want something with a bit more power that you can grow into, I would go with Corel Video Studio Pro X3. Sony Vegas Movie Studio Pro plus 9 may very well be good, but I see no reason to purchase it with the power of the Corel package.
If you are a masochist, go with Adobe, Magix, Roxio, or Pinnacle.


DETAILS:
Adobe Premiere Elements 8
65 min render time
Pros:
You can search effects
Layout was good but not great
Interface was pretty straightforward
Cons:
Virtually locked my system
Slow and temporarily froze frequently
Output menu was cumbersome


Corel Video Studio Pro X3
19 min render time
Pros:
Great Output menu
Very fast
Easy to use user interface
Proxy editing*
Autofit for timeline
Cons:
No search function for effects

Cyberlink PowerDirector 8
30 min render time
Pros:
Output menu was nice
Very nice and easy to use layout
Cons:
No Blu-ray output


Magix Edit Pro 15
41 min Render time
Pros:
Simple
Cons:
Poor user interface
Oversimplified (Too simple I think for most people)
Very Cumbersome to use and add effects
Output options were confusing and cumbersome
Extremely limited options for PC output (which is what many will be doing)
A couple of lock ups


Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 14
Pros:
Nice little finished project to see what can be done
Nice interface for editing
Cons:
ONLY SOFTWARE that I was not able to import a video
Locked up my system many times and left errant process running at 80% CPU
Took 50 seconds just to load the import video TAB
When I selected videos to import and hit start import, absolutely nothing happened
Tried one of their movies and went to help to find stabilization and it crashed on me b/c I didn't have enough memory
No Blu-ray output
Cons on install on windows 7 computer:
Failure on export of file on all formats
I actually tried Pinnacle about 10 years ago and had absolutely nothing but problems. Spent many days downloading patches just to get it to work. Then, like a moron, I did an entire project and when I went to burn it, the burn failed every time. I see a decade later, I still can't export a file.


Roxio Creator 2010
Pros:
-----
Cons:
They don't allow a trial download. I contacted them asking them if I could download a trial and even noted that I was a current customer. I personally like the 2009 Roxio. It was a nice "all-purpose" program. They told me that I had to buy it. I was offered a money back guarantee, but to do so, I had to send in a letter of destruction. This is way too much effort on my end to see if your software works for me.
I find it ridiculous in this day and age that you can't have a trial version of something, especially when EVERY ONE of your competitors does. In addition, this is how they were treating an existing customer!
You throw in all the compatibility issues that can occur in software in general and video software in particular, and that leaves me to think they have nothing to hide.
As icing on the cake, the following sentence was in their reply.
"Creator 2010 does support AVCHD software and hasn't been know to have any issues thus far!"
I replied to them about this OUTRIGHT LIE! First, you can read the compatibility issues on Amazon. Second, as a person that writes programs, there is no such thing as bug free software, especially video editing software.


Sony Vegas Movie Studio Pro Plus 9
14 minute render time (NO ANTI-SHAKE IN RENDER, see below)
Pros:
Computer stayed pretty responsive during render
Savable packages of effects
How to guide is nice
Cons:
Couldn't search effects
Very, very cumbersome to use
Couldn't find stabilization
The render time approximation stayed at around 1 minute or 2 left the entire time
Here is my issue with Sony Vegas. I have compared its features with many of the other programs and they are all very similar. Now, when compared with Corel Video Studio Pro X3 and Cyberlink PowerDirector, they are virtually identical. I personally think Sony leaves their software cumbersome so that it "looks/seems" more powerful.
I was definitely most disappointed in this product because it was the one that I was looking the most forward to using. When I say that it is cumbersome to use, it doesn't mean that it can't be used. Let me give an example. I am a programmer, and in something like excel, I like the ability to write my own code to create functions and tools that it doesn't offer or to tweak ones that it does. HOWEVER, when I want to enter numbers in boxes, I just want to enter numbers in boxes. I don't want to click in a box, go to a menu or right click, select some gadget and then enter a number. It is ok for complicated things to be complicated, but simple things should not only be simple, but also INTUITIVE.
The main thing that I saw that you could do in Sony Vegas that you couldn't do in the others is change your transitions (both audio and video) ramp as far as how quickly they come in and go out. I am not talking about changing the time, but how your out video accelerates out and how you in video accelerates in during that time. It is a cool feature, but something that 99% of people will only not use, but won't care about either.
Another thing, the image stabilizer should be easy to do, and it may be. However, I did a search in help for stabilize, stabilizer, sta, shake, anti, etc. and could not find out how to do this very simple thing. This worries me greatly that if this isn't readily available in the help docs, then much of the other stuff probably isn't either.


*A note on proxy editing.
Proxy editing is basically you working on a very low def version of your file, but when it comes time to actually render your output, the original file is used. Some view this as a crutch because they say you should be able to optimize the software to work with the high def video. My opinion is that if I can work faster, then I will work faster. Who cares what my resolution is while I am editing. If you have the fastest software out there for HD, and you can do your edits in very low def and it is even faster still, then why would you not want that? -- Comprehensive Review of the top 7 video editing software titles

Loaded well. Learned the basics in a couple of hours. Built hi def, regular def, and internet productions easly. The program did not break. I believe having a decent computer is the key. Get lots of RAM (over 4GB), disk space (over 500GB), processing power (dual quad core) and Windows 7. I have been using a hi def camera with flash memory, Canon Vixia HF 200. The camera to computer transfer is easy and fast and the rendering of productions has been fast as well. Get current on the rest of your set up and Sony Vegas will perform well.

I'm looking forward to getting advanced with some special effects soon. -- It Works!

My wife wanted me to cut up our 2 hour wedding video so she could post pieces on facebook for our 11th anniversary. All she wanted me to do is chop it up and put it into the right format to download. I downloaded the free trial version and was amazed how much I could do with this software. The transitions alone are worth the money so I purchased it the next day from Amazon. The software is rock solid and very intuitive. Since then, I chopped up the original 11 year old video into an amazing 4 1/2 minute clip to the song "From This Moment". My wife could not believe how professional it looked and my kids were amazed. There is a bit of a learning curve and youtube videos are a big help in learning the basics. Though it is intuitive, you still have to spend a few hours learning the basics and playing with the different settings. If you are good with photoshop, this will seem pretty easy. Before you know it, you will be cutting, fading, transitioning and making truly amazing memories. One of the coolest things was splicing pictures from the wedding into the wedding video with a quick "hard flash" transition. It gave the appearance of a flash bulb going off before the picture pops up. The panning tool gives life to still pictures on the video as well by zooming in and out of the shot and keeping a boring still image interesting. I have never written a review before so trust me when I say, you can not go wrong with this software. -- The best $65 I have ever spent on software of any kind!!