MAGIX Vegas is still the best secret in NLE
A bit of history
Sony originally owned the NLE Vegas starting in 2003. This NLE has a bit of a cult following - including me - where reviews from users were extremely positive. But it seemed to be swept away by Avid Media Composer, Premiere Pro, and even Final Cut.
Sony let go of Vegas and Magix stepped in to save the day. They created Vegas Post, Vegas Pro, Vegas Movie Studio, and Vegas Stream. All of these cater to different needs of different users. Personally, I'm fond of Vegas Pro.
Vegas Stream
With the Pandemic still in full swing, Vegas has recently released a BETA for their Vegas Stream. This software can work with Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube. Currently it can support 4 video sources letting you stream to different platforms and mix the show. You can also add titles, use a preview / program out window, and all the basics needed to give your live streams that extra bit of engagement to properly tell our story.
Vegas Movie Studio
This is a simplified version of Vegas Pro. I'd recommend this mainly to those just getting into NLE's in general. It's certainly better than Adobe Rush and similar to iMovie.
Available in 3 versions:
- Movie Studio
- Movie Studio Platinum
- Movie Studio Suite
"Depending on the version, it can support up to 200 video tracks, 16-bit 48 KHz audio, chroma key, plug-ins, and dozens of other features. There's also native support for HEVC, H.264, 4K XAVC S, and XDCAM EX," wrote No Film School.
Vegas Pro
This is my personal choice for using Vegas. It has color grading, HDR support, compositing modes, nestles timelines, 5.1 ACES support, and tons more.
Available in 4 versions:
- VEGAS Pro
- VEGAS Pro Edit
- VEGAS Pro Suite
- VEGAS Pro 365
Vegas Post Suite
If you are REALLY into the post production world, then this is the bundle for you. This combines Pro with Vegas Effects and Vegas Image. This handles complex green screen effects, 3D modeling, video scopes, and lots of other stuff. Vegas Image is a great compositing, color control, chroma key, LUT support, and more.
The closest thing I can compare this to is Davinci Resolve.
In the End
This is my personal favorite NLE. Mainly because Vegas has such a great workflow especially with audio mixing. Premiere drives me nuts with how little tools I have readily available to make an audio mix. Vegas fixes that problem, and often I'm mixing in 5.1.
While Avid is certainly now the industry standard, one cannot ignore the ever growing presence of Vegas as more and more people switch over to it. I expect more great things from Magix in the future!
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