Product Reviews

Sony Vegas Movie Studio has been our top choice of video-editing software for many years, thanks to an inspired interface that keeps things extremely simple without compromising editing power. Version 6 came in standard and Platinum versions, with the latter adding HDV camera support, superior colour correction and export to iPod and PSP devices. Customers outside the US missed out on version 7, but after a long wait, new versions of both the standard and Platinum editions are finally available.

Preview performance can make or break video-editing software, and Vegas is better than ever in this respect. It's quick and easy to adjust the quality of the preview window to ensure smooth previews regardless of the complexity of the project, and now the preview resolution can be adjusted with similar ease. You can view full-screen previews on a second monitor if you have one, which is particularly welcome when working in high definition (HD). Movie Studio Platinum 6 could edit HD footage from HDV cameras, but previews were far from smooth, so you had to convert footage into an intermediary format before it could be edited with any efficiency. Platinum 8 renders this unnecessary, with excellent preview smoothness of native HDV files on a fast PC.

New formats

AVCHD is a new high-definition camera format, and it's supported in Platinum 8. These cameras record high definition video to DVD, hard disk or memory cards in MPEG-4 format, which produces much smaller files than the MPEG-2 format used by HDV cameras. The downside is that AVCHD is harder work for the PC to edit, which - once again - means previews aren't as smooth. However, AVCHD editing performance is much better than in Pinnacle Studio Plus or Ulead VideoStudio Plus. We're disappointed that Sony's

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software only supports Sony and not Panasonic AVCHD cameras, though. A representative from Sony Creative Software was unable to tell us why, but it sets off alarm bells. Whether it's for technical or marketing reasons, we hope this is resolved as quickly as possible.

Movie Studio Platinum can now import and export 5.1 surround Dolby Digital soundtracks. Various AVCHD and standard definition cameras can record in this format using a surround sound microphone, so soundtracks from these will remain in surround right up to DVD export. It's not possible to make other sounds move around in 3D, but additional audio tracks used for music, sound effects or narration can be placed in static positions anywhere on the 3D sound stage.

DVD authoring is handled by a separate application, DVD Architect Studio 4.5. New features amount to some additional menu templates, but it's hard to be critical because it's already in a different league to the DVD authoring software included with other low-cost editors. There's enormous scope to customise almost every aspect of menu design and disc structure, yet it still manages to be straightforward enough for beginners.

Professional association

Sony hasn't had to work too hard in developing these latest releases, as all the new features come directly from Vegas +DVD 7, its £350 video editing package aimed at enthusiasts and professionals. Still, this takes nothing away from the Movie Studio editions, and the software is much more polished, slick and stable than programs designed purely for home users, such as Pinnacle Studio. The stiffest competition comes from Adobe Premiere Elements 3, another cut-down but still very powerful version of a high-end application. Premiere Elements isn't as quick to use and currently lacks AVCHD support, but its unlimited video and audio tracks and advanced object motion controls highlight Vegas Movie Studio's limitations in these areas. It's particularly disappointing that Movie Studio still only has four video tracks - less than pretty well all its competitors. However, for most home video projects this is more than enough.

If you want straightforward editing software that you won't grow out of, Vegas Movie Studio is an excellent choice. Even if you don't need high definition support, Platinum is well worth the additional £10 for its advanced colour correction.