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| From: Sony Creative Software
List Price: $89.95
Buy New: $22.35
You Save: $67.60 (75%)
New (13) Used (3) from $22.35
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 572
Format: Dvd-rom
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows Xp
Media: DVD-ROM
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Operating System: Windows Vista
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 1.3
nv:Software Type: Audio/Video Authoring
OS Compatibility: PC
MPN: SVMS8000
Model: MSVMS8000
UPC: 855309686789
EAN: 0855309867386
ASIN: B000RLQNQ2
Release Date: June 19, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 14
 Movie Studio Great:: DVD Architect Bad March 25, 2008
Webster (Colo.)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I had worked with Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD before on Windows XP platform and loved the program. I moved up to Windows Visa on a new computer and have Vegas Movie Studio 8+DVD that claims to work on Windows Visa. The Vegas Movie Studio works perfectly and I continue to love the program but DVD Architect doesn't work on Windows Vista, so I contacted Sony Software and they say I need a new DVD Architect (not what was printed on the combined box.) To purchase an updated DVD Architect program cost almost as much as the combined Vegas Movie Studio+DVD. At present, I'm making the movies in Sony Vegas & burning the DVDs in Roxio and will probably convert to a different in the future.
 Perfect for the Amateur who wants to look Pro August 1, 2008
Wayne Beckham (Fontana, CA USA)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you're an amateur (or wanna-be) home movie maker who's tired of the extremely limited Windows Movie Maker, but not yet ready for Final Cut Pro, then Sony's Vegas Movie Studio may be exactly what you're looking for.
Vegas is obviously aimed at the hobbyist videographer but still manages pack a boat-load of effects, fine controls and enough power to allow you to create professional looking videos.
However, Sony doesn't make it easy. The user's manual is so poor that any time you would've spent reading it would better used browsing the internet searching for 'Sony Vegas Tutorial.'
(Hint - YouTube and Expert Village have a ton of great on-line videos that'll walk you through just about anything you want to do with Vegas.)
Don't let that discourage you. Once you've figured out where all the various do-dads and settings are at, you can get really creative. In fact, the software is so good that the crappiness of the manual is a little hard to understand. There are pages describing common Windows functions, such as cut and paste, and exactly zero text describing desirable features, like, how to do a credit roll.
Aside from the useless manual (have I mentioned I really don't like the manual?) the other major limitation to your getting the most out of this software is completely out of Sony's control. To really get the full benefit of this software, you have to have two cameras.
Why two cameras? What separates the amateurs from the pros is editing. Editing is the process of splicing together a whole bunch of different pieces of film (or video) into a more interesting and visually engaging story.
For example, let's say you're sitting in a high school auditorium watching a play. On stage a man walks up to a woman they exchange a few words and she slaps his face. Pretty dramatic, right? Now let's take the same scene and edit it. We start with the same long shot of a man walking up to a woman. Then, the point of view (POV) changes. We see a close up of the man's leering face as he suggests a number of creative, but unlikely, ways to spend the evening. While this jerk is still talking, the POV changes again, this time to the woman who visibly becomes upset and then angry. Now the POV changes again - this time to a medium shot over the shoulder of the man, where you can see the back of his head and her angry face. Having had enough, she hauls off and gives this lecher a well deserved round-house punch knocking him completely out of the scene. See how much more impact is gained by focusing the viewer's attention exactly where you wanted it? And it was all done through editing a whole series of separate shots into a single flowing narrative.
If you get a chance to watch any of the first movies of the last century, especially the silents, you'll recognize that most of them shot without editing. A camera was planted square in the middle of the stage and never moved. The action moved into and out of view entirely out of the control of the viewer - in a theater at least you can focus your attention where you want it.
Eventually, someone realized that you could shoot a scene of someone walking up the steps to the US Capital, cut to a shot of him opening the door at the Supreme Court, then move the camera inside, where you saw the same dude walking into an office. Edited together, the audience just accepted that it was one running narrative and never knew that he was actually in three different places at three different times.
"So what?" you say. "I could do the same thing with one camera and the (aforementioned) Windows Movie Maker." And you could, if you had all day and was willing to invest a lot of time getting the same guy to wander around Washington while you took pictures of him. In fact, obviously stripping the facts down to the bare bones, Hollywood does exactly that. But you're not Spielberg and don't have his money or time. So that's where two cameras come in.
Let's say that you're going to video your daughter's dance recital or a friend's wedding (I do both on a regular basis.) You could plant your camera smack in the middle of the action and tape the whole thing.
Boring.
Now, let's suppose that you had two cameras: your personal Sony DCR-TRV530 and a friend's equivalent home camcorder. If you set up one camcorder on a tripod taking a wide shot looking over the minister's shoulder at the bride and groom then you have pretty much what everyone gets in a wedding home video. Knowing that, you craftily take the other camcorder and use it to get another POV, say a close-up of the groom's nervous, sweating face. Or, of the bride as she looks enraptured at the manly countenance of her betrothed. Or of the weeping mother of the bride. Or the scowling father who's mentally counting up the cost of this shindig. These are moments in time that you can never recreate and will never have another chance to shoot.
When you use Vegas to put all this together you've got more than your average home movie. Having the advantage of multiple points of view, you can now edit together a more visually engaging narrative than just having a stationary camera that never moves. And Vegas makes this easy.
Well, easy once you toss out the horrible manual and spend some time watching a bunch of YouTube-style videos.
Now that I've talked you into investing in a second camera (or finding a tolerant friend) let me take all this a step further and suggest that you may want to arm yourself with more information in the form of equipment and books.
I have nothing against the average 1 CCD home camcorder - I recorded a lot of my daughter's dance recitals on them. But, if you're really interested in quality, invest in a 3 CCD "prosumer" camera, like the Canon GL2 MiniDV Digital Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom, or (if you've got the money) the Canon XL1 Digital Camcorder Kit.
For really getting a feel for what you can do to increase the "professional" look of your home movies (on a shoe-string budget), I recommend the The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide: A Down & Dirty DV Production. It's an easy read that will surprise you with the many simple things you can do to make your home movies more professional. Other books I recommend are the The Documentary Film Makers Handbook: A Guerilla Guide and the The Power Filmmaking Kit: Make Your Professional Movie on a Next-to-Nothing Budget.
However you go - the era of digital film-making is here. Since you're reading this review, you're a part of it.
 So Far So Good February 9, 2008
J. Carling
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I haven't used it extensively yet, but what I have done has been without problems. Still learning how to use what seems to be a very capable program.
 It doesn't install on my Windows Vista computer May 20, 2008
Fitz (New England)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It requires Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable 2005 that will not load on my computer.
Sony says it's not their fault, contact Microsoft Help and Support. They neither help nor support.
Sony says they would refund my money if I bought directly from them, but because I bought from Amazon, I'm on my own.
Keep-Up the Good Work June 11, 2008
Mr. Laurent A. Trahan (FLORIDA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a good dealer , Great product at a great price and good service , on time delivery , keep-up the good Job !!!!!!!!!!
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