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Sonic Foundry Vegas Pro Update
by Carl Lindemann
Since its release last year Sonic Foundry's Vegas Pro (PAR, 3/00, p. 22) has evolved and split into two different multitrack audio/video editing packages. Although Vegas Audio and Vegas Video are identical in terms of audio production, Vegas Video adds a full slate of DV editing tools.
For audio-only producers, the biggest change here is the addition of the entire XFX 1, 2 and 3 DirectX plug-in bundles. This gives Vegas a wide range of audio processing/mastering tools, including noise gate, EQ, reverb and compression, each with real-time previewing capabilities.
A built-in metronome plus Rubber Audio - a time stretch/pitch correction process - are new in this update. Additional support for online audio/video codecs include RealAudio G2, RealVideo8, Windows Media 7, and Quicktime 4.0.
Although Vegas Video is intended for users who need multitrack video editing, the video support in Vegas Audio has also been enhanced. Full frame-level video editing, panning and cropping are included. Old hands at Sonic Foundry products should think of this as the DV equivalent of Sound Forge - lots of tools but only one track at a time.
This is plenty for basic tasks, such as adding or fixing an audio track on a (nearly) finished video project. The $200 premium for Vegas Video is key for such advanced features as titling, compositing and more advanced transition effects.
The only other difference between the Video and Audio versions is an additional
multitrack view for video projects. Sonic Foundry products are software only - completely relying on CPU power to drive their features. Tests on a PII 450 with 128 MB of RAM and a Seagate Ultra2 SCSI hard drive ran a 12-track audio project fine.
Adding in full-motion video playback with effects was a strain, however. Even on a dual PIII 800 with 512 MB of RAM and Seagate's latest X15 Ultra160 SCSI, doing full-blown DV editing with a multitrack soundtrack pushes the envelope of current PC power.
Sonic Foundry's Vegas products have evolved into a solid suite of tools for the A, V and A/V producer.
Vegas Audio costs $499, and Vegas Video costs $699. There is a $50 discount for either if purchased by Internet download. (A downloadable demo is available to preview either.)
Contact: Sonic Foundry at 800-577-6642; www.sonicfoundry.com.
Carl Lindemann discovered digital audio as a radio station production director. He is an independent public radio producer and consults on new media issues.
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