Vegas Pro 15: Must-Have Video Editing Software
....I have been using VEGAS 15 Suite now for several weeks and having spent the last few years using various iterations of VEGAS software I am very familiar with it so felt comfortable jumping straight in but I was also very keen to find out if the numerous requests on the forum had been addressed or if any suggestions made there had transitioned to the product.
When I first opened the software, I was presented with a new, yet familiar interface, MAGIX had to make this product their own and the interface was an obvious place to start but I was very pleased that they didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. The colour scheme is generally darker by default, something I prefer as it’s easier on the eyes and each of the colourful icons is exactly where it should be. I will come on to customisation later but you really can make VEGAS 15 YOUR editor.
For example, the trimmer is available on a tab next to the preview but it’s not a feature I use, I prefer to edit directly in the timeline, so I have my workspace set up so that my preview is displayed on a separate monitor to my right, my media and FX are on a third screen on my left which gives me a huge workspace for the timeline and this way I have a sense of the video as a whole. If this doesn’t suit you, customise your own workspace. Another example of customisation is on the video track header. It’s now much cleaner by default however, there is a drop-down that will allow you to edit the visible buttons, even the scribble strip is hidden until you click on it. This is done on a track by track basis too which means that the entire header section looks clean with only what you need visible until you decide otherwise. I really like this change.
Basic functions like importing media are identical, however, when you put a clip on the timeline you now get a heading over each one. It might not seem like an impactful difference but this one little change has made it so much easier to work with multiple files and cuts that I suspect over time, I will save hours of searching. The familiar Pan and Crop and FX icons appear as default but here too there is also and a little drop-down menu that contains access to and options to display Generated media, Active take information, Playback Rate, Freeze Frame at Cursor and Selectively Paste event attributes. If you use these functions regularly, having the ability to edit the visible button set so they are visible at the top of a clip is a clever idea and will be a great time saver.
Overall, I really like the new default darker interface...[continue reading]
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