Instant Vegas Movie Studio

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review




Not as good as the Sony tutorials (also out of date), November 5, 2009
By Stavros Macrakis (Cambridge, MA, USA)
I bought this book knowing that it covered an out-of-date version of Sony Vegas Movie Studio. But that, I thought, was OK: I was looking for a book that would cover the important and unchanging principles of *using* the rich feature set of SVMS as part of a video editing workflow. But instead, I got a listing of the features (important and unimportant) of the program with too many pointless screenshots and little guidance on how to use the features effectively. From time to time, the authors' obvious experience shines through, as with the discussion of J and L edits or the remark that regions defined in the Trimmer persist in the project file. But these are few and far between; mostly it's "to do X, press the X button" with a screenshot of the X button with an arrow pointing to it. Then there are a few pages which do contain some substantive advice, but do we really need a screenshot of each of the six settings of the equalizer?

The book has been poorly edited. There are references to concepts that are never defined: envelope; velocity; DLS Soft Synth; Dutch Tilt; the "Ken Burns" effect. There is no glossary or index. The writing is often flabby or vague. There are no recommendations for further readings except advertising for other VASST publications. Unfortunately, I can't recommend anything better in book form, but the Sony documentation is a place to start; and then there are lots of instructional videos available free on YouTube.



For whom was this book meant?, May 19, 2009
By Nilsa
This book is relatively useless. Relatively, because it's main flaw is that it fails to define its audience, just as Douglas Spotted Eagle's training DVDs on Vegas 9.0 fail to address the true basics of using the software, prefering instead to focus on what he thinks is important or what he really knows about. A good editor could have done wonders with this tome, or at least someone experienced in audience analysis and user protocol--someone who knows the value of an index, which this book lacks. The basics are predominantly overlooked, thereby making it confusing for the novice user, and yet the advanced user is patronized with really dumbed-down explanations. It assumes previous knowledge without justification, and the graphic examples are unenlightening. The book suffers from the same problem as Sony tutorials: it assumes you know what questions to ask in order to seek help. The reader is left with the feeling that there is so much that could be done with the software, yet it is difficult to surmise exactly what. The publisher could take a hint from books by Peachpit Press, such as Jan Ozer's "Microsoft Windoes Movie Maker," which actually guides the user through the software's features in a step-by-step manner, with great examples and useful tips. Who needs to know how to do chroma key composites when the user is never told exactly how to cut a clip out of a larger unit?



Outdated Material, January 25, 2009
By Michael Simpson (Leesburg VA)
I have Vegas Studio 9. Nothing applies. This book should not even offered any longer as most will find it of no use.



Great Book for Beginners, May 28, 2008
By Chemmad (Florida)
I go this book when I first bought Vegas Movie Studio (ver. 5) a number of years ago and I found it extremely helpful in starting me off with video editing. I used the information I learned here to eventually graduate to Vegas Pro. I would recommend this to any Vegas Movie Studio beginner. It teaches the basics and gets you on the right path. BTW, the author is one of the premier instructors for Sony Vegas, so you know you are learning from the best.



Very helpful, but Vegas has a steep learning curve, April 8, 2008
By Hank Wegener (B'ham, AL)
At least for my simple mind. I don't take enough time to keep the knowledge fresh on my mind. If I spent a lot of time I'm sure that I could do well with the software. I need to find a book on Sony Vegas like "Vegas for Dummies" that starts at the absolute basics, then graduate to this book. This book would be fantastic for an experienced user that wants to take his skills to the next level.