Vegas Pro

Vegas Pro (also stylized as VEGAS Pro) is a video editing software package for non-linear editing (NLE) originally published by Sonic Foundry, then by Sony Creative Software, and now by Magix.[4] The software runs on the Windows operating system.

Vegas Pro
Vegas Pro 13.0 running on Windows 10
Original author(s)
Developer(s)VEGAS Creative Software
Stable release
17.0 Build 421 / 21 February 2020 (2020-02-21)[1]
Written inC#, JScript[2]
Operating systemWindows 7 or later[3]
Platformx64;[3] .NET Framework 4.0 and QuickTime 7.1.6[3]
TypeVideo editing software
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.vegascreativesoftware.com/ 

Originally developed as audio editing software, it eventually developed into an NLE for video and audio from version 2.0. Vegas features real-time multitrack video and audio editing on unlimited tracks, resolution-independent video sequencing, complex effects and compositing tools, 24-bit/192 kHz audio support, VST and DirectX plug-in effect support, and Dolby Digital surround sound mixing. On 24 May 2016, Sony announced that it had sold Vegas (and most of its "Creative Software" line) to MAGIX, who would continue supporting and developing the software.[5]

Features

VEGAS does not require any specialized hardware to run properly, allowing it to operate on almost any standard Windows computer across a broad range of hardware.

In areas of compositing and motion graphics, Vegas provides a broad tool set including 3D track motion compositing with control over z-depth, and spatial arrangement of visual planes including plane intersection.

Much of the visual effects processing in Vegas follows an audio-like paradigm. Effects can be applied at any stage of the visual signal flow — event level, track level and output level effects, much like reverb, delay and flange audio effects are applied in a digital audio system, like Pro Tools, Cubase or Sonar. Master output effects can also be controlled and manipulated over time by the use of Master Bus track automation envelopes.

One major omission of Vegas is that, although it started life as an Audio Multitrack NLE, it has no MIDI capability at all (apart from control-desk and synchronisation). This restricts its use for Audio production, focusing the product on the post-production, Video NLE market only.

VEGAS features integration with 24p DV. It is also one of the few NLEs which can convert other formats to 24p (or any format to any other format) without any kind of a plugin or third-party application support and is the only proprietary NLE that allows multiple instances of the application to be opened simultaneously. Clips and sequences can be copied and pasted between instances of Vegas. One instance can be rendering a sequence in the background while the user continues to edit in a different instance of Vegas in the foreground. VEGAS provides sophisticated compositing including green screen, masking, and keyframe animation. Nesting allows a prior project to be included in another project modularizing the editing process so that an array of tracks and edits become one track for further editing. Any changes to the previous project become reflected in the later project. Nesting is especially helpful in large, complex or special effects projects as the final rendering suffers no generation loss.

Unlike other editors, MAGIX VEGAS Pro supports scripting technology which provides task automation, simplified workflow, and greater efficiency and productivity. Free and paid pre-written scripts are available from the VEGAS community on the web.

Version history

Vegas beta

Sonic Foundry introduced a sneak preview version of Vegas Pro on June 11, 1999. It is called a "Multitrack Media Editing System".[6]

Vegas 1.0

Released on July 23, 1999 at the NAMM Show in Nashville, Tennessee, Vegas was an audio-only tool with a particular focus on rescaling and resampling audio. It boasted support for popular formats like DivX and Real Networks RealSystem G2 file formats.[7]

Vegas Video beta (Vegas 2.0 beta)

Released on April 10, 2000.[8] Video capabilities were added.

Vegas Video (Vegas 2.0)

Released on June 12, 2000.[9]

Vegas Video LE 3.0

Vegas Video 3.0

Released on December 3, 2001.[10]

This release offered:

  • New Video Effects - Lens Flare, Light Rays, Film FX, Color Curves, Mirror, Remap, Deform, Convolution, Linear Blur, Black Restore, Levels, Unsharp Mask, Color Grad, and Timecode Burn filter.
  • Batch Capture with Automatic Scene Detection - Capture DV with automatic scene detection, batch capture, tape logging, still image capture and thumbnail previews.
  • Red Book Audio CD Mastering with CD Architect(TM) Technology - Burn professional-quality Red Book audio CD masters directly from the Vegas timeline, with ISRC, UPC, and PQ list support.
  • New Sonic Foundry DV Codec - This high-quality DV codec developed by Sonic Foundry offers pristine colors, sharp images, artifact-free compositing, and DV chromakeying.
  • DV Print-To-Tape From The Timeline - Print finished projects, with bars and tone, to DV cameras and decks from the Vegas timeline.
  • Windows Media(TM) File Editing - Create and edit Windows Media(TM) files in Vegas Video 3.0.
  • New MPEG Encoding Tools - The new MPEG plug-in in Vegas Video produces superior MPEG-2 files for DVD productions, with significantly faster render times.
  • Dynamic RAM Previewing - Temporary RAM/render-free previews allow quick analysis and tweaking of complex video FX without time consuming rendering.
  • VideoCD and Data CD Burning - Burn your project directly to VideoCD for playback on most DVD players, or data CD for playback on your computer's CD-ROM.

Vegas 4.0

Released on April 2003. Included a new "Scripting" option allowing external scripts to be written that can modify the timeline simplifying many editing tasks.

Vegas 4.0b

Released in 2003; added HD editing and 24p support.

Vegas 4.0e

First re-branded version after the acquisition by Sony.

Vegas 5.0

Released on April 2004.

Vegas 6.0

Released on April 2005.

Vegas 7.0

Vegas Pro 8.0

Released on January 15, 2008.

The first Sony Vegas version to go with the "Sony Vegas Pro" branding instead of the regular "Sony Vegas" branding. It also moved the timeline to the bottom by default, but the user can still move it back to the top.

Vegas Pro 8.1

Vegas Pro 8.1 is the first version of Vegas Pro to be ported to 64-bit systems.

Vegas Pro 9.0

On May 11, 2009, Sony Creative Software released Sony Vegas Pro 9.0 with greater support for digital cinema including:

  • Support for 4K resolution
  • Native support for pro camcorder formats such as Red and XDCAM EX

The latest release of Sony Vegas Pro 9.0 is Vegas Pro 9.0e (Released on 13 May 2010), which includes features such as new white balance video FX.

In 2009, Sony Creative Software purchased the Velvetmatter Radiance suite of video FX plug-ins and these are included in Vegas 9. As a result, they are no longer available as a separate product from Velvetmatter.[11]

Vegas Pro 10

Sony Vegas Pro 10, released on October 11, 2010, introduced many new features such as:

  • Stereoscopic 3D Editing
  • Comprehensive Closed Captioning
  • GPU-Accel
  • Elastique Pitch Method
  • Support for OpenFX plugins

Version 10 is the final Vegas Pro release to include Windows XP support.

Vegas Pro 11

Sony announced Vegas Pro 11 on September 9, 2011, and it was released on October 17, 2011. Updated features include GPGPU acceleration of video decoding, effects, playback, compositing, pan/crop, transitions, and motion. Other improvements were to include enhanced text tools, enhanced stereoscopic/3D features, RAW photo support, and new event synchronization mechanisms.[12] In addition, Vegas Pro 11 comes pre-loaded with "NewBlue" Titler Pro, a 2D and 3D titling plug-in.

Vegas Pro 12

Sony released Vegas Pro 12 on November 9, 2012. Updated features include enhanced 4K support, more visual effects, and faster encoding performance. Vegas Pro 12 is dedicated to 64-bit versions of Windows.

Vegas Pro 13

Sony released Vegas Pro 13 on April 11, 2014. It brings new collaboration tools and streamlined workflows to professional content producers faced with a wide variety of multimedia production tasks. This is the final Vegas Pro release under Sony's ownership.

Available in three new configurations:

  • Vegas Pro 13 Edit: Video and Audio Production
  • Vegas Pro 13: Video, Audio, and Blu-ray Disc Creation
  • Vegas Pro 13 Suite: Editing, Disc Authoring, and Visual Effects

Vegas Pro 14

MAGIX released Vegas Pro 14 on September 20, 2016. This is the first release of Vegas Pro under the ownership of MAGIX. It features advanced 4K upscaling as well as various bug fixes, a higher video velocity limit, RED camera support and various other features.

Vegas Pro 15

Released on August 28, 2017, Vegas Pro 15 features major UI changes which claimed to bring usability improvements and customization. It also allows more efficient editing speeds, including adding new shortcuts to speed up editing. Vegas Pro 15 includes support for Intel Quick Sync Video (QSV) and other technologies, as well as various other features.[13]

Vegas Pro 16

Released on August 27, 2018, Vegas Pro 16 has some new features including file backup, motion tracking, improved video stabilization, 360° editing and HDR support.[14]

Vegas Pro 17

Released on August 5, 2019. It contains these new features:[15]

  • Nested timelines
  • Improved video stabilization
  • Planar motion tracking / video tracking
  • Smart Split Edit
  • Dynamic storyboard and timeline interaction
  • Bézier masking OFX-Plugin
  • Lens correction plug
  • Improved Picture-In-Picture OFX plug-in
  • Automatic slideshow creator
  • Screen capture
  • Improved multicamera editing
  • Improved color grading

Reception

Major broadcasters have utilized the software, including Nightline with Ted Koppel.[16][17] Several film festival winners have used Vegas to cut their features.[18] It is also often used by many small to medium Internet content creators due to its ease of use, relatively low price, and professional-grade tools.

The consumer level Vegas Movie Studio version (formerly titled VideoFactory and Screenblast) shares the same interface and underlying code base as the professional Vegas version, but does not include professional features such as advanced compositing tools, or advanced DVD/Blu-ray Disc authoring. In previous releases, the video editing portion of the professional suite could be purchased separately from Sony's DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring software, DVD Architect Pro (previously called DVD Architect; DVD Architect Studio is the consumer version), then a package called 'Vegas + DVD' became available while Vegas 7 was out. Since the release of Vegas Pro 8.0, both DVD Architect Studio Pro 4.5, Vegas Pro 8.0, as well as Boris FX LTD and Magic Bullet Movie Looks HD are all bundled together and may not be purchased individually. Catalyst Production Suite is a new lineup of video preparation and editing software released by Sony Creative Software.

References
  1. "VEGAS Pro 17 Update 4 (Build 421)". VEGAS CREATIVE SOFTWARE.
  2. "www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/downloads". Listed in Script FAQ's.
  3. "Vegas Pro 15: Technical Specifications". vegascreativesoftware.com. Vegas Creative Software. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  4. Schmidt, Klaus (23 May 2016). "Magix acquires Sony's Video Editing and Music Software Portfolio today".
  5. "Sony sells most of its media editing tools". Engadget.
  6. "Sonic Foundry Announces Sneak-Preview Version of Vegas™ Pro". Archived from the original on 7 January 2000. Retrieved 15 September 20584. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  7. "Sonic Foundry Launches Vegas™ Pro". Archived from the original on 7 January 2000. Retrieved 7 January 2000. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  8. "Sonic Foundry Announces Launch of Vegas Video". Archived from the original on 19 June 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2000. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  9. "Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video Available for Sale at sonicfoundry.com". Archived from the original on 15 December 2000. Retrieved 15 December 2000. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  10. "Sonic Foundry Launches Vegas Video 3.0". Streaming Media Magazine. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  11. "Old Velvetmatter Radiance page". Velvetmatter, LLC. 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  12. "Vegas Pro 11 Coming Soon". Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  13. "Vegas Pro 15 Release Date" Archived 14/08/2017:  https://forums.creativecow.net/docs/forums/post.php?forumid=24&postid=1018479&univpostid=1018479&pview=t
  14. "New features & highlights – VEGAS Pro". www.vegascreativesoftware.com. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  16. Douglas Spotted Eagle (8 April 2005). "NIGHTLINE is the Right Line for Sony Vegas". VideoGuys Blog. VideoGuys.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  17. "Dag-NAB-it! ABC Cancels 'Nightline' Director's Sony Spiel". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media, LLC: 8. 18 April 2005. ISSN 1068-6827. Retrieved 11 May 2012. With industry veterans like George Murphy and his [Nightline] team using Sony Vegas 5 for international broadcasting, there is clearly a change in the winds of the editing world.
  18. First Place, First Time!, Digital Media Online.

Further reading
Book
  • Douglas Spotted Eagle (2008). Vegas Pro 8 Editing Workshop. Focal Press. ISBN 978-0-240-81046-1.
News release
Review
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