Before I start learning Vegas

[Tom899]

Hi Steve and community,
I just ordered two of your books(VMS 11 and Architect), I should have them tomorrow and looking forward to reading them to help me along. I have a Panasonic TM700 1080P 60fps camcorder, and my computer is an Intel i7 core processor with lots of ram, Windows 7 64bit and high end Nvidia GPU. About two years ago I bought both Vegas Pro 10 and VMS 10, but never really got the hang of it. I'm ready to give it another try. I have since upgraded to VMS 11. I'm thinking about upgrading Pro to 11, I don't mind spending the upgrade if it's faster and will work with 1080P 60fps better. I'm wondering if your books I bought will work well if I just start out using Pro instead of VMS? Keep in mind I'm basically a beginner.
Thanks for any help with what I should do.
Tom

[Steve Grisetti]

Thanks for supporting the books, Tom! Meantime, be sure to check out our free 8 part Basic Training tutorials at http://Muvipix.com/vms11.php

The biggest challenge with the camcorder you've both is that it records in 1080 60p. Vegas Movie Studio will work with it -- but because it does not edit it natively, you'll find the performance very sluggish and/or you'll need to render your timeline often. (This is not so if you choose the 1080 60i recording option with the camcorder.) And your output will not maintain the 60p of the original footage.

So if you are committed to shooting in 1080 60p, it might well be worth upgrading to Vegas Pro, which I believe edits that format natively.

But both programs offer free trial downloads. It might well be worth downloading each and giving them each a good test drive before you fully commit to either.

[Tom899]

Thanks Steve, I'm not totally committed to 1080p 60fps so maybe I should forget about it and shoot 1080i. 1080i seems to be more friendly. So, I'm assuming there would be no advantage to shooting 1080p 60fps if in the end it's converted to 1080p 24/30fps? I have a BluRay burner so I want to stay with the standards for playback on most home players. In the past I have also made some AVCHD DVD's to save the cost of BluRay disc, but I see Architect no longer supports this from reading the Architect forum, which is a little disappointing. I have both 5.0 and Pro5.2
If you have used both Vegas Pro 11 and VMS 11, will your book pretty much work for both or should I stick with VMS 11? I guess I'm wondering if one is easier to learn or are they both the same for basic editing when following your book?
Thanks,
Tom

[Steve Grisetti]

Well, Vegas Pro and Vegas Movie Studio have very similar interfaces. But I can't promise my book on Vegas Movie Studio will give you more than a basic working knowledge of Pro. It's like the difference between driving a car and driving a Mack truck. They both have steering wheels and gas pedals, but...

Personally, I don't see the advantage in shooting in 60p -- at least if you ultimately plan to output your movie for viewing on a BluRay or DVD. But some people say they can see the difference.

If you've already got the camcorder, try shooting something in 60p and then again in 60i -- then play the finished product directly from the camcorder to your TV.

But please report back with your feelings! I'd like to know if 1080p is truly the next big thing for consumer products or if it's just another feature that camcorder manufacturers added despite its dubious value.

[Tom899]

Thanks Steve for the information. I think for now I will save the $189 Pro upgrade and try to learn and get along with VMS 11.

[Tom899]

Steve, I just watched your eight training videos, very good!
Thanks,
Tom

[Steve Grisetti]

Thanks, Tom! Glad we could help!

[TreeTopsRanch]

Yes, by all means shoot in 1080i. You can edit that in movie studio and you will be thrilled with the quality that will be produced. That is what I use and it displays on my pany TV just fine.

[TreeTopsRanch]

Since I wrote that last post I have been playing around with putting 1080i AVCHD on DVD's using the blu-ray file format. I have been very happy with the results. Some cravats however. Only short clips can fit on a DVD and some types of DVD's don't play in my BD player. DVD's created can only be played on a BD player. You can not play them on your ordinary DVD player. I have had good success with DVD-R and DVD-RW media. I have created a writeup on "How to make an AVCHD DVD disk that will play on a Blu-ray player". The result on my large screen Pany is absolutely stunning. If anyone is interested in the procedure I use, just PM me.

[Steve Grisetti]

Great points, TreeTops! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.