Customer Reviews

Instant Vegas Movie Studio

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a novice I found this book lacked clarity and focus. There is too much Video Editors jargon thrown in at times,some of the diagrams just do not get across the point trying to be made, and often the point is not clearly described in plain language. The simple method of doing something is sometimes overlooked in favour of a more complex selection.

This book may be ok if you have quite a lot of previous experience of professional video editing on a PC, but I found the Sony "Show me how Tutorials" that come with the software to be far more concise, to the point and enable the work to be done. As a beginner this book has been of little use.

I purchased Movie Studio + DVD 6.0 and needed help so I turned to this book which I purchased from Amazon.com. Well, I wish they would have indicated which version of Movie Studio this book was compiled on because 6.0 has many changes compared to 4.0. I did get some knowledge from the book, but not enough to justify the cost. I also think that if one did have 4.0, this book would be confusing to the novice.

There is a problem in getting an easy tutorial for Vegas Movie Studio but this is not it. The book is full of jargon and not too helpful in learning. The examples are woven into the text making it difficult to follow explanations.

I would not recommend as a source of learning Movie Studio

I am stepping through Vegas movie studio 6 and into full 7.

I'm right at the stage where I need someone to lay it all out for me.

And since I'm on a small island on Alaska I thought a book would do.

One of the first screen images in this book had "Vegas 4" on the title bar. The procedures and references are not up to date.

I'm a bit of a writer and I was actually afraid to read the book so as not to be brainwashed of what I've got already.

So I didn't read it. I sent it back. I need clarity. I think I'm going to buy

Sony's "The Digital Video and Audio Production Book from Sony Media Software updated for Vegas® 7."

It's on their site, couldn't find at Amazon.

Amazon is great they even paid postage back.

so the two stars are for amazon and for those who have just found a copy of V4 under that pile in the corner.

I have Vegas Studio 9. Nothing applies. This book should not even offered any longer as most will find it of no use.

Rarely are software manuals written well or really address our questions, this book answers our questions. This book assumes you have some knowedge of editing, if you intend to buy this book and don't know basic editing there are many books on the subject. The software demands you have some basic editing skills, it has on-line tutorials that are good, but you have to know why your doing what your doing. It's an easy read, well worth you time and money.

I found two main problems with this book. The main disadvantage is that the program has now been upgraded from version 5, as described in the book, to the new version 6. As a result there are major differences in the operations being described which would not be acceptable to a purchaser of the latest version. Secondly there is no index at the back of the book, making it very difficult to quickly find any particular item.

I much preferred Vegas 6 Revealed by Doug Sahin which gives an excellent step by step approach. However, this latter book relates to the main Vegas program and therefore includes features which are not in the Vegas Movie Studio program. Furthermore it does not include the DVD Architect program which is covered in the Instant book, albeit an earlier version than the current one. To summarise, if you have the earlier version of Vegas Movie studio there is plenty in the Instant book for you to get started, even without an index.

At least for my simple mind. I don't take enough time to keep the knowledge fresh on my mind. If I spent a lot of time I'm sure that I could do well with the software. I need to find a book on Sony Vegas like "Vegas for Dummies" that starts at the absolute basics, then graduate to this book. This book would be fantastic for an experienced user that wants to take his skills to the next level.

This book is relatively useless. Relatively, because it's main flaw is that it fails to define its audience, just as Douglas Spotted Eagle's training DVDs on Vegas 9.0 fail to address the true basics of using the software, prefering instead to focus on what he thinks is important or what he really knows about. A good editor could have done wonders with this tome, or at least someone experienced in audience analysis and user protocol--someone who knows the value of an index, which this book lacks. The basics are predominantly overlooked, thereby making it confusing for the novice user, and yet the advanced user is patronized with really dumbed-down explanations. It assumes previous knowledge without justification, and the graphic examples are unenlightening. The book suffers from the same problem as Sony tutorials: it assumes you know what questions to ask in order to seek help. The reader is left with the feeling that there is so much that could be done with the software, yet it is difficult to surmise exactly what. The publisher could take a hint from books by Peachpit Press, such as Jan Ozer's "Microsoft Windoes Movie Maker," which actually guides the user through the software's features in a step-by-step manner, with great examples and useful tips. Who needs to know how to do chroma key composites when the user is never told exactly how to cut a clip out of a larger unit?

I love the book, it covers much more than the sony manual. There are plenty of illastrations and step by step instructions. This book is geared to the novice user (Like me!) and it makes using such a powerful program less stressful.