VEGAS Movie Studio (previously Sony Vegas Movie Studio) was a consumer-based

nonlinear In mathematics and science, a nonlinear system (or a non-linear system) is a system in which the change of the output is not proportional to the change of the input. Nonlinear problems are of interest to engineers, biologists, physicists, mathe ...

video editor Video editing is the post-production and arrangement of video shots. To showcase excellent video editing to the public, video editors must be reasonable and ensure they have a thorough understanding of film, television, and other sorts of videog ...

designed for the PC. It was a scaled-down version of

Vegas Pro Vegas Pro (stylized as VEGAS Pro, formerly known as Sony Vegas) is a professional video editing software package for non-linear editing (NLE), designed to run on the Microsoft Windows operating system. The first release of Vegas Beta was on ...

. It was developed by

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

for its first 13 versions. It was sold in Sony's larger 2016 sale of much of its creative software suite to

Magix Magix (or MAGIX Software) is a German software company specializing in video editing, audio editing, DAW and photo slideshow software. The company is based in Berlin, with locations in Madison, Wisconsin, Dresden and Lübbecke, as well as Hui ...

, who developed Versions 14 to 17. Magix would later discontinue VEGAS Movie Studio in 2021, in favor of the unrelated Magix Movie Studio. VEGAS Movie Studio was formerly known as "Sonic Foundry VideoFactory" and "Sony Screenblast Movie Studio".

Features

Video features

Unlike its professional counterpart, Movie Studio can only edit with ten video tracks and ten audio tracksComparison of Vegas products at SonyCreative's Official Site
/ref> (originally it was set with two video tracks, a title overlay track and three audio tracks). The Platinum Edition of Sony Movie Studio, furthermore, can edit with 20 video and 20 audio tracks. It can edit in multiple as well as standard 4:3 and 16:9

aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...

s, and it's one of the very few consumer editors that can also edit

24p In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second (typically, 23.976 frame/s when using equipment based on NTSC frame rates, but now 24.000 in many cases) frame rate with progressive scanning (not interlaced) ...

video (after a manual frame rate setup). It also does not have the same advanced

compositing Compositing is the process or technique of combining visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live action, Live-action shooting for compositing ...

tools as Vegas does, and does not have project nesting or masking. The Platinum Edition of Movie Studio has powerful

color correction Color correction is a process used in stage lighting, photography, television, cinematography, and other disciplines, which uses color gels, or filters, to alter the overall color of the light. Typically the light color is measured on a scale k ...

tools similar to the version on Vegas Pro, including a three-wheel color corrector. It also adds

HDV HDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV (video format), DV videocassette Videotape, tape. Conceived as an affordable high definition format for digital camcorders, HDV quickly caught on with many amateur and professional vi ...

and

AVCHD AVCHD (Advanced Video Coding High Definition) is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video. It is H.264 and Dolby AC-3 packaged into the MPEG transport stream, with a set of constraints designed around cam ...

-editing capabilities, but does not support SD or

HD-SDI SMPTE 292 is a digital video transmission line standard published by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). This technical standard is usually referred to as HD-SDI; it is part of a family of standards that define a serial ...

formats. Like Vegas Pro, the Movie Studio versions can also perform DV batch capture, a feature usually found only in high-end video editors. Version 6 also added the ability to capture from

Sony Handycam Handycam is a line of camcorders made by Sony and introduced in 1985. Handycam was first used as the name of the first Video8 camcorder in 1985, replacing Sony's previous line of Betamax-based models of camcorders. The name was intended to emph ...

DVD

camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-sw ...

s. However, it cannot capture analog video without the use of a

FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony a ...

video converter. Movie Studio features significantly more effects and transitions than the full version of Vegas does. However, if the user upgrades to the full version of Vegas, then the user still gets to keep those same effects. Movie Studio supports a wide variety of file formats and

codec A codec is a computer hardware or software component that encodes or decodes a data stream or signal. ''Codec'' is a portmanteau of coder/decoder. In electronic communications, an endec is a device that acts as both an encoder and a decoder o ...

s and can use "Video for Windows" codecs to support even more.

Audio features

Movie Studio has 13 different audio effects, and the Platinum version adds more, in addition to

5.1 surround sound 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full-bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dolb ...

mixing and editing. The software is also compatible with Sony's ACID Music Studio software, and an even more cut-down version called ACID Xpress ships with the 1001 Sound Effects CD included.

Other features

With version 7, Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition added the ability to export to

iPod The iPod is a series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices that were designed and marketed by Apple Inc. from 2001 to 2022. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on November 10, 2001, about mon ...

and

Sony PSP The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

, a feature that was originally only available in the full version of Vegas and is becoming increasingly common in consumer-level video editors. Both versions also ship with a cut-down version of Sony's DVD Architect software, called DVD Architect Studio, replacing the Sonic MyDVD program bundled with the software when it was titled as Screenblast Movie Studio. Sony added "Show Me How" tutorials for users new to the software or

digital video editing Non-linear editing (NLE) is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by specialize ...

. Both versions also ship with Sony's 1001 Sound Effects CD (in contrast to Vegas's Limited Edition Sony Pictures Sound Effects CD), which also includes ACID XPress, an even more scaled-down version of their ACID music creation software. Similarly, the product also ships with sample video clips and music loops to enhance the users' home video projects. Version 9 also added direct upload to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

, an increasingly common feature in many consumer-oriented editing programs. Version 10 added

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed for digital image processing and to accelerate computer graphics, being present either as a discrete video card or embedded on motherboards, mobile phones, personal ...

rendering, and allowed movie studio users to benefit from Sony Vegas Pro 9's improved audio stretching and

pitch shifting Pitch shifting is a sound recording technique in which the original pitch of a sound is raised or lowered. Effects units that raise or lower pitch by a pre-designated musical interval ( transposition) are known as pitch shifters. Pitch and t ...

capabilities. It also allowed for a maximum of 20 Tracks (10 video, 10 audio). In Version 12 and 13, the track limit was doubled to 20 video and 20 audio tracks. Version 13 also allows for editing and rendering projects in 4K video. Version 13 dropped "Vegas" from the name of the program, reserving it exclusively for the professional edition. Version 14 was the first version after the acquisition. It dramatically increased the maximum track limit to 200 video and 200 audio tracks. Each version since has had this limit. Also in this version,

restored "VEGAS" in the name.

References

External links

Official Site
{{Video editors

Vegas Movie Studio VEGAS Movie Studio (previously Sony Vegas Movie Studio) was a consumer-based nonlinear video editor designed for the PC. It was a scaled-down version of Vegas Pro. It was developed by Sony for its first 13 versions. It was sold in Sony's larger ...

2002 software