Australian company Blackmagic Design offers their video editing application DaVinci Resolve for a wide range of high quality ultra HD effects, render queue, and video uploading options among other features.
$0
Free
VEGAS Pro
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
MAGIX Software headquartered in Berlin offers the VEGAS Pro line of video editing applications which combines the company's Sound Forge audio editing suite and a wide range of movie production features and effects.
When we used Adobe Premiere Pro, we found that it was much more limited in terms of the types of source formats it would accept. It also had more trouble mixing and matching different formats on the same timeline. It also crashed more frequently that we liked. Other products …
I learned so much from this instructional exercise, and I appreciated how the educator is an expert all-day colorist. The section on sound reduction was particularly instructive. I noticed a few inconsistencies between certain methodologies in this instructional exercise and approaches suggested in the Advanced Color Grading in Resolve 15 instructional exercise (e.g., where to place sound reduction in the hub tree), but this is to be expected given that there is no one right way to do any of this. I also learned a lot about Resolve's "Restoration" modules for working with authentic film. This instructional exercise will come up again and again in my work.
VEGAS Pro [in my opinion] has so much potential to be great. So many powerful features for audio and video editing. Unfortunately, after the sale from Sony to MAGIX [I believe] the software has become less stable even on CAD-certified workstations. [From what I've experienced] there is no customer service telephone number or support email address. All support requests must go through their website and my last requests have gone unanswered after a month. When Sony owned the software I [was] able to get on a live chat with a tech who would solve issues in minutes, not days. Not true today [per my experience]. With the decline in reliability and lack of customer support, I can no longer recommend a MAGIX product.
Comprehensive - It has video editing, motion graphics, audio, and export tools in one package. It's probably more than most people need, but you don't have to use all of the tools.
Platform and format agnostic - I like that I can work on projects on Mac or PC, and there are regular updates for new codecs and cameras. You can edit pretty much any format with no compatibility worries.
Price - They offer a free version which has most of the functionality. It's a great way to try before you buy and learn the tools. The final price is only $300 per license for the full product. It's a bargain for everything you get, and you don't feel like you're not getting your money's worth, even if you don't use all of the tools.
One of the things that I love about VEGAS Pro is that I can do automatic tracking control to an object or image, this is a very remarkable function in VEGAS Pro, because this way you can add better mobility to the video in general, in addition , you can focus the video view to a specific object.
The image edits with the VEGAS Pro filters are really fantastic. For us, having a good visualization and definition of our images is very important, which is why this function has provided really remarkable results. We have been able to modify the tonality of the images that we add to the video and we have also managed to change the colors thanks to the filters available for video in general. These filters are very varied, I can add a filter to give my image a warm touch, a touch of cold or sunset.
At the bottom of the platform, the audio barrier is shown, where you can add several audio tracks and thus be able to modify the audio of the entire video for every second that passes, however, this function is much more impressive as it also allows you to add another audio barrier to play two audio tracks at the same time.
The autosave is fantastic, VEGAS Pro has an excellent autosave system capable of saving all the progress that has been made in the video that is being edited, the autosave does not consume additional capacity to the computer, so it is very easy to have it activated and not worry about computer performance.
Some areas of Resolve can leave inexperienced users feeling a bit handicapped. Multiple user sign-ins can be confusing, and determining where to place the database of users might need troubleshooting. The exporting workflow is a bit finicky and will need to be learned to use for even simple capabilities.
Resolve is not friendly on a single screen editing workflow, and even worse on a laptop. Ideally, an editor has multiple screens in the first place, but because a colorist needs to see scopes and monitor, handling both on the same screen, along with all tools is a challenge. This software is best with more screens.
While the NLE capability of Resolve makes for a quick editing workspace, my little experience with it leads me to the conclusion that unless someone desires a completely free alternative to other NLE software, Resolve is not your best friend. Other programs are better.
While Vegas Pro does handle 4k video, I find that it still struggles a bit to keep up when playing back or processing 4k. I suspect this is at least partially due to the fact that the computer I am using for Vegas is not quite powerful enough to really handle 4k efficiently.
The best and easiest editor I have ever used. I have used everything as an Emmy-Award-winning news journalist, and this program has always done what I needed it to do. Nothing less than the best out there and can get the job done.
Da Vinci Resolve is up there amongst the big, professional video editing packages like Apple's FinalCutPro and Adobe Premier Pro. To just be included in this league, the package needs to have a plethora of features that the common man does not need. In essence, this overwhelming amount of features makes the product tricky to learn, but once you have the hang of it, it is a dream.
Not only do they have classes available in Los Angeles, but they'll also allow you to work from home with the manual and demo materials, and then let you test out to get a certification. They get back to you quickly when you email, and they've got a "family" approach to customer service, they make you feel like you're important to them.
Because Vegas Pro is widely used software, the user interface is similar to smartphone editing tools. That is why learning time is very short in Vegas Pro. Whenever you have a question YouTube is your best support assistant. You don't need to contact anyone.
It has a free version that is very complete. It lets everyone on the team use a lot of very good tools for video editing that would be very expensive while using other solutions that are equally excellent but not as generous. The cost is a very good reason but not the only one, the software is actually really good.
I had Adobe Premiere but I don't like having to subscribe. VEGAS Pro is a one-time purchase which was a better economical and financial decision for me. My friends that are editors didn't like when Apple changed Final Cut so I did not elect to use it when I had the chance to. I believe it is just as good as other platforms just not as high profile.
Bringing all our video development inhouse has helped us save over $9,000 annually. And a huge part of doing it successfully has been because of DaVinci Resolve.
In our first year, we pivoted between DaVinci and Adobe for which would be our primary video production software. The results of both test runs showed that DaVinci needed half the total time investment needed to take a novice through training to completing their first major project when compared to Premiere.
DaVinci's hardware requirements were higher than what we mostly had, so we have had to invest more in better equipment to be able to execute. But overall, it's still a significant positive net return when we consider how much we have saved and earned directly as a result.
