Product Reviews

Vegas Movie Studio was for many years the most powerful, stable and easy-to-use video-editing software aimed at home users. That changed with the arrival of Adobe Premiere Elements in late 2004. Movie Studio was the slicker of the two and its DVD authoring was far superior, but Premiere Elements had a clear lead in terms of editing power.

Sony's response is Movie Studio 6. Rather than being developed from the previous version, Sony has cut a few advanced features out of its flagship Vegas 6 editor. The result is a vast improvement over Movie Studio 4 (there was no version 5, presumably to synchronise version numbers with Vegas) with a mass of powerful new features.

Movie Studio 4 included Start and End settings for effects, which allowed settings to change over time. In version 6, this is replaced by key frame automation, so users can define settings at multiple points in a clip and morph between them with options such as Linear, Smooth and Hold. The video and audio track counts increase from three to four each, allowing for more complex montages. Four isn't as impressive as Premiere Elements' unlimited tracks, but it's plenty for most jobs.

It's now easy to spot when video and audio has lost sync - and easy to fix it. Video and audio can be reversed, and a new Noise Texture tool generates attractive, amorphous abstract patterns. There's support for ASIO sound cards, VST and DirectX audio plug-ins and multi-processor PCs. The interface can be rearranged to spread over two monitors, and the software can output previews as a Digital Video (DV) stream for monitoring on a TV via a DV camera. The only disappointment is that the button

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for quickly toggling full-resolution previews has disappeared; this was quite handy for most people with a single monitor.

LET'S BUILD

DVD Architect Studio, which comes bundled in the package, was already in a different league to the DVD authoring facilities included with other sub-£100 video-editing programs, but version 3 leaves the competition for dust. It supports playlists for creating alternative orders of videos on a disc, ideal for adding a Play All option. End actions tell DVD players what to do at the end of a video clip or menu. You can even prohibit specific remote control buttons in a menu or video. All that separates it from authoring software that costs hundreds of pounds is the lack of support for subtitles, surround sound or multiple audio and video streams for alternate languages and camera angles.

DVD Architect Studio's new features make the software a bit more intimidating for new users than before. Basic tasks are still easy to achieve, but some features that were well sign-posted before are a little harder to find. However, the new tutorials, which literally point out what needs clicking for various tasks, should keep beginners on track.

GOING PLATINUM

Platinum Edition is a new addition to the Vegas family. It is essentially Vegas Movie Studio with support for High Definition Video (HDV) cameras and footage. HDV offers a massive quality jump over MiniDV; within a couple of years, it'll probably be the standard domestic camcorder format. The only problem is that HDV significantly increases demands on the PC; previewing video with effects is jerky, even on a fast PC.

There are other benefits that make Platinum Edition a good choice. The best of these is the Colour Corrector effect, which is vastly more powerful than the standard version's various colour filters. Some extra transitions, sound effects and Acid XMC, Sony's entry-level music-making program, are also included.

The Vegas range has always been a delight to use, and with this update Movie Studio no longer feels underpowered compared to Premiere Elements. The standard version is a superb package, but the Platinum Edition's HDV support and advanced colour correction make it perfect for those with high aspirations.