Multimedia editing utilities come in a lot of flavors. Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum represents the higher class ones, with a complete package that offers a ton of tools.
Installation & Requirements
Although the file size of the application is quite large, the installation itself is very simple and completes decently fast. When you first start the application you will also be asked to register it by providing some information and an e-mail address so you will need an active internet connection. The supported operating systems are Windows Vista SP2, 7 and 8 in both. The program is offered in both 32 and 64 bit versions. Regarding the system requirements, intense video editing requires better systems with a CPU of 2GHz and a GPU of 512MB minimum.
Interface
The welcome window is the first thing you will notice about the application. You have three options here. Start a new project using presets and a setup wizard, use the interactive tutorials to learn everything about the application or simply close the window go on to the main one.
The Movie Studio’s interface is stunning. The sleek design gives off a very pleasant vibe that is easy on the eye and inviting to the user. Although icons and toolbars are aplenty they never seem too clutter the interface as everything has been perfectly placed and sized. By going into the View menu you can nitpick every single component of the interface so if you like yours to have less things toolbars or icons on it, you can easily disable them this way.
Once you become familiar with the application you will be able to easily use all of the scattered icons and hotkeys with ease but at the beginning you might find yourself going over to the top menus and picking the options from there. Everything is really quite easy and familiarizing yourself with the application takes little time. Detailed information about the video or audio you are currently editing can be found both in the bottom of the screen and on the preview screen on the right.
When you have inserted your media files into the application, you can freely edit them in any way you want. You can add effects, text, decide their output quality depending on your needs, you can merge them together to make movies and more. Once you are done with your project you can save it on your computer or automatically share it in a number of social media and video sharing sites like Facebook and YouTube.
A lot of the options are located in the various tabs like the Transitions and the Video FX. Rolling your mouse over the various options will give you a preview which is extremely useful when you do not know the exact effects of an option. Once you have found something you want to use you can simply drag and drop it into the creation timeline in the point of the video you want and it will automatically be added in real time so that you can preview it right on the spot.
Pros
-Pleasant visuals
-Very user friendly interface
-A ton of multimedia editing options
-Detailed interactive tutorials help to ease new users into the application
-Social media integration
Cons
-None worth mentioning
Conclusion
Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum is one of the best multimedia editing platforms that money can buy. The trial version will give you a very good idea off what the application is like and you should definitely try it if you are serious about your projects.
