Sony Vegas is a professional
video editing software package for
non-linear editing systems (NLE) originally published by
Sonic Foundry, now owned and run by
Sony Creative Software. Originally developed as an
audio editor, 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. It runs on
Microsoft Windows XP (XP x64 not supported) ,
Vista and
7. In April 2007, Sony along with AMD jointly demonstrated a 64-bit version of Vegas running on 64-bit Vista.
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. Unfortunately keyframing of simple 2D motion lacks bezier adjustments and multiple keyframed smooth motion is marred by slowdowns or hesitations at each keyframe.
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.
With version 8.0, Vegas now reads
MJPEG AVIs (usually from "video" setting on digital still cameras). (With prior versions of the software, installing an MJPEG codec sometimes fixed the problem.) Third-party
codecs are supported but it can be difficult to see which codec is being used to play back an AVI. Some of Vegas's codecs are 'native' or built-in.
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 pro NLE that allows for multiple instances of the application to be opened simultaneously. Clips and sequences can be copied and pasted between instances of Vegas with ease. Moreover, 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. It also comes with a green screen feature where you can merge pictures into each other.
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 like 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 a new white balance video FX.
Also Sony Creative Software recently
[when?] purchased the Velvetmatter Radiance suite of video FX and these are included in Vegas 9.