reelthing03
13th March 2003, 05:19
I said I would give a comparison of Avid Xpress DV (XDV from now on) and Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video so here it is. I usually work in XDV. The Sonic review is based off the demo.
Interface--
In this respect, XDV and Vegas are very different. There is a learning curb to both programs, but probably more so to XDV. XDV uses a primarly "nesting" interface, which means that video effects (often) are applied whithin a single track. This track expands to allow unlimited video inputs, into the effects. There is no A-B track interface. Simple fading transitions are applied within a single track as well, a sharp contrast with the A-B interface where the fade is applied between two tracks. Basically the work flow is that you pick the in and out points for a clip, insert it into the the timeline and then use the video trimmer to pick you exact in and out points. The trimmer is nice becasue it is a dual display, showing the last from of the previous clip and the first frame of the next clip, and you can either trim by moving your entire clip on the timelime, moving the source footage whithin the clip, or just by moving the trim point and leaving the source footage alone. This is useful when you have to keep audio sync or are working with multiple camera angles. Then, you add transitions within the single track with precise control over the frames of the edit.
Avid is limited to 8 video tracks which some people might find wierd, but as I have explained, you can create an entire move in two to three tracks worth of effects... I only use the others to organize my footage.
Compositing can become slightly tedious with XDV becasue of the nesting interface, but in the end, to me it gives you more control (at least it lets you see as little or as much as you want of your footage).
XDV uses a windowed interface, but it does a good job of it. It has pallets that are selectable with just a keystroke (for basic, effects, audio editing, etc.) This makes sense to me because normally the workflow you go through dictates that you only work on one aspect of your project at a time, the rest you can hide away until you are ready to work on that part.
Now a bit for Vegas.
The learning curve for Vegas is probably much eaiser. Vegas of course uses the A-B interface with unlimited tracks. Each track can have both an A&B subtrack which is a major improvement over Premier. I do have a few gripes though with the interface. Unlike XDV, there are not different toolpalets to pick, and some may like this, but personaly, when i am doing initial cutting, I dont care about the audio master. Also, i would like to be able to change the size of the preview window more eaisly to suit my needs.
In Vegas I also miss the "trim" interface that I have talked about with XDV. I believe that this gives more control over the placement of edits.
One thing i find quite intriguing in the Vegas interface is the ability to assign video tracks to a video bus and then apply effects to the bus for all the tracks. I don't entirely know when exactly I would use this, but I am sure it is useful.
---Overall on interface, both programs have their ups and downs. Avid is the industry standard, but one must wonder if Avid is just riding on it's early dominace or actually still has the best product. One advantage with Avid is that if you use it you could go into any professional studio and use their equip. just fine. Vegas is a new interface with an entirely different approach. The interface that works the best for the specific person will depend on the perticular person.
Filetypes--
XDV is very perticular on filetypes. It uses its Avid's propritary OMF file type. Any file that you want to import must be imported to this format with at DV resolution. This can take a little time, and be somewhat of a pain. The upside to this is that once you footage is imported, you do not have to worry about filetypes anymore, which ensures project continuity, as all files are kept as OMFs. This is not a factor for DV captures as the footage in imported directly to OMF. When you export the footage, there are a variety of filetype options and resolutions, but all footage must be imported at DV resolution even if it is not.
Vegas on the other hand works directly from just about any type of vid file. This makes importing a snap, but i wonder slightly about project continuity. For instance--If you go to render an effect, you have to specify a format to render it to. Will this file have the same look as the original footage? Avid, like I said, keeps everything in its format, so i never have to worry about it with this...
RealTime Effects
Both XDV and Vegas render effects in real time. This is a huge advantage to me over Premier, and it is why I upgraded to XDV. I can't really tell that much of a difference between the real time rendering of the two programs.
Effects--
The effects that are included with XDV and Vegas are about the same. I don't really see anything that you could do with one that you couldn't do with the other, though the means of attaining your result would of course be different. Some effects are easier in XDV, while others, such as pans, crops, and zooms are much eaiser in Vegas.
Orginization--
To me the Avid interface, using bins, is more condusive to having a well organized project. The Vegas interface, which uses more like a "windows explorer" seems to me that it would be hard to keep large projects organized without going crazy. I suppose you can use folders just like bins, but I don't have a whole lot of experience with Vegas so i really cannot say if this is a problem or not.
Plugins--
Being that Vegas is a fairly new program, it does not seem that there are many plugins available for it, so you are somewhat limited to what the manufacture puts out for now... Hopefully that will change. Avid has a whole donkey load of plugins avaiable, including Boris products for excelent effects and title generation. (Both XDV and Vegas can do titleing but, at least in XDV, it is not very satisfying)
Im tired so i think i will stop. Im sure there is more room for comparison, but that's all i can think of right now.
Overall, for the money, I would definetly go with Vegas, which is a sure step above Permiere, at least in my book.
Since i work with DV captures mostly, the previously mentioned issue with having to import files into XDV's format is not really an issue for me. For this reason, I find XDV do be an excelent program if you have the bucks. If you deal with a lot of non-dv footage though Avid will probably be just a real pain in the arse.
The biggest factor, of course, for most will be the money as Vegas is around 500$ while Xpress Dv is in and around 1700. I believe XDV is an excelent program, but it may be hard for anyone to believe that XDV is 1200$ better than vegas, so i really can't recomend one or another for that very reason.
I'd be interested to hear what everyone thinks about the aspects of the programs that i have presented, and also what I have left out. Ie, what do you find important in your NLE?
You made it this far... Good
B
Interface--
In this respect, XDV and Vegas are very different. There is a learning curb to both programs, but probably more so to XDV. XDV uses a primarly "nesting" interface, which means that video effects (often) are applied whithin a single track. This track expands to allow unlimited video inputs, into the effects. There is no A-B track interface. Simple fading transitions are applied within a single track as well, a sharp contrast with the A-B interface where the fade is applied between two tracks. Basically the work flow is that you pick the in and out points for a clip, insert it into the the timeline and then use the video trimmer to pick you exact in and out points. The trimmer is nice becasue it is a dual display, showing the last from of the previous clip and the first frame of the next clip, and you can either trim by moving your entire clip on the timelime, moving the source footage whithin the clip, or just by moving the trim point and leaving the source footage alone. This is useful when you have to keep audio sync or are working with multiple camera angles. Then, you add transitions within the single track with precise control over the frames of the edit.
Avid is limited to 8 video tracks which some people might find wierd, but as I have explained, you can create an entire move in two to three tracks worth of effects... I only use the others to organize my footage.
Compositing can become slightly tedious with XDV becasue of the nesting interface, but in the end, to me it gives you more control (at least it lets you see as little or as much as you want of your footage).
XDV uses a windowed interface, but it does a good job of it. It has pallets that are selectable with just a keystroke (for basic, effects, audio editing, etc.) This makes sense to me because normally the workflow you go through dictates that you only work on one aspect of your project at a time, the rest you can hide away until you are ready to work on that part.
Now a bit for Vegas.
The learning curve for Vegas is probably much eaiser. Vegas of course uses the A-B interface with unlimited tracks. Each track can have both an A&B subtrack which is a major improvement over Premier. I do have a few gripes though with the interface. Unlike XDV, there are not different toolpalets to pick, and some may like this, but personaly, when i am doing initial cutting, I dont care about the audio master. Also, i would like to be able to change the size of the preview window more eaisly to suit my needs.
In Vegas I also miss the "trim" interface that I have talked about with XDV. I believe that this gives more control over the placement of edits.
One thing i find quite intriguing in the Vegas interface is the ability to assign video tracks to a video bus and then apply effects to the bus for all the tracks. I don't entirely know when exactly I would use this, but I am sure it is useful.
---Overall on interface, both programs have their ups and downs. Avid is the industry standard, but one must wonder if Avid is just riding on it's early dominace or actually still has the best product. One advantage with Avid is that if you use it you could go into any professional studio and use their equip. just fine. Vegas is a new interface with an entirely different approach. The interface that works the best for the specific person will depend on the perticular person.
Filetypes--
XDV is very perticular on filetypes. It uses its Avid's propritary OMF file type. Any file that you want to import must be imported to this format with at DV resolution. This can take a little time, and be somewhat of a pain. The upside to this is that once you footage is imported, you do not have to worry about filetypes anymore, which ensures project continuity, as all files are kept as OMFs. This is not a factor for DV captures as the footage in imported directly to OMF. When you export the footage, there are a variety of filetype options and resolutions, but all footage must be imported at DV resolution even if it is not.
Vegas on the other hand works directly from just about any type of vid file. This makes importing a snap, but i wonder slightly about project continuity. For instance--If you go to render an effect, you have to specify a format to render it to. Will this file have the same look as the original footage? Avid, like I said, keeps everything in its format, so i never have to worry about it with this...
RealTime Effects
Both XDV and Vegas render effects in real time. This is a huge advantage to me over Premier, and it is why I upgraded to XDV. I can't really tell that much of a difference between the real time rendering of the two programs.
Effects--
The effects that are included with XDV and Vegas are about the same. I don't really see anything that you could do with one that you couldn't do with the other, though the means of attaining your result would of course be different. Some effects are easier in XDV, while others, such as pans, crops, and zooms are much eaiser in Vegas.
Orginization--
To me the Avid interface, using bins, is more condusive to having a well organized project. The Vegas interface, which uses more like a "windows explorer" seems to me that it would be hard to keep large projects organized without going crazy. I suppose you can use folders just like bins, but I don't have a whole lot of experience with Vegas so i really cannot say if this is a problem or not.
Plugins--
Being that Vegas is a fairly new program, it does not seem that there are many plugins available for it, so you are somewhat limited to what the manufacture puts out for now... Hopefully that will change. Avid has a whole donkey load of plugins avaiable, including Boris products for excelent effects and title generation. (Both XDV and Vegas can do titleing but, at least in XDV, it is not very satisfying)
Im tired so i think i will stop. Im sure there is more room for comparison, but that's all i can think of right now.
Overall, for the money, I would definetly go with Vegas, which is a sure step above Permiere, at least in my book.
Since i work with DV captures mostly, the previously mentioned issue with having to import files into XDV's format is not really an issue for me. For this reason, I find XDV do be an excelent program if you have the bucks. If you deal with a lot of non-dv footage though Avid will probably be just a real pain in the arse.
The biggest factor, of course, for most will be the money as Vegas is around 500$ while Xpress Dv is in and around 1700. I believe XDV is an excelent program, but it may be hard for anyone to believe that XDV is 1200$ better than vegas, so i really can't recomend one or another for that very reason.
I'd be interested to hear what everyone thinks about the aspects of the programs that i have presented, and also what I have left out. Ie, what do you find important in your NLE?
You made it this far... Good
B