Video/Sound Software: Adobe Pr/Sb CS4 vs Sony Vegas/Acid

[KooKyz]

Hey guys, I visited the 'software reviews' page, unfortunately there weren't any reviews on the softwares I'm contemplating.

I am familiar with Vegas Pro 8.0 and Acid Pro 7.0 as I've used them on occasion. Long story short, I am faced with the dilema of where or not to install Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Adobe Soundbooth Pro, since both applications are included in the CS4 collection.

I was wondering if anybody whore familiar with these soft ware could layout the pros and cons and compare and contrast these softwares to give me an idea which softwares to keep. Are there any particular upside to having Premiere? Soundbooth any good?

Thank you.

[Scintilla]

Well, I can tell you that the new version of the Premiere AVISynth import plugin ( http://videoeditorskit.sourceforge.net/ ) supports Premiere Pro CS4, while I don't believe anything like that exists for Sony Vegas (if you want to use scripts directly in Vegas, you have to run them through makeAVIs or VFAPI).

Other than that, no idea. Does Vegas have the capability to change clip speed within the same clip (rather than one constant speed for the whole clip)? Because I know APP CS4 has this and I think earlier versions didn't.

[LivingFlame]

Does Vegas have the capability to change clip speed within the same clip (rather than one constant speed for the whole clip)?

Vegas Pro 8 does indeed have that feature.

[KooKyz]

I don't know what AviSynth scripts are...

Yes, you can change the velocity of each clip in Vegas 8.

[mirkosp]

If you are going to use after effects cs4 too, then use premiere. Otherwise, feel free to choose whichever. I personally prefer premiere because of the nesting and the track matte, two things that aren't available in vegas. About the mask, in premiere it's not as easy as in vegas to do, but you can still do it internally if you wish. However, if you are going to use after effects too, you will be able to use dynamic links between the two programs, which make editing a lot faster if you would have to often switch between premiere and after effects. In vegas you would have to always export and import with a lossless codec if you wanted to interact with ae, which makes it harder and also more space consuming. Another thing is that the amount of effects and plug-ins available for premiere (and after effects too) overcome those available for vegas.
Another thing to keep in mind is price though: you can find vegas pro for about 100 dollars, whereas premiere is about 1000 dollars, I think.
As for soundbooth vs acid, I don't really know. I own soundbooth, but for what I need to do with the audio (read: cut down the songs), I find myself doing it directly with premiere. I must say that when it came to having to use an actual audio software, I liked audacity a lot: it's open source and easy to use. If the audio editing you need to do isn't anything too complex, it might be a good alternative.

[KooKyz]

If you are going to use after effects cs4 too, then use premiere. Otherwise, feel free to choose whichever. I personally prefer premiere because of the nesting and the track matte, two things that aren't available in vegas. About the mask, in premiere it's not as easy as in vegas to do, but you can still do it internally if you wish. However, if you are going to use after effects too, you will be able to use dynamic links between the two programs, which make editing a lot faster if you would have to often switch between premiere and after effects. In vegas you would have to always export and import with a lossless codec if you wanted to interact with ae, which makes it harder and also more space consuming. Another thing is that the amount of effects and plug-ins available for premiere (and after effects too) overcome those available for vegas.
Another thing to keep in mind is price though: you can find vegas pro for about 100 dollars, whereas premiere is about 1000 dollars, I think.
As for soundbooth vs acid, I don't really know. I own soundbooth, but for what I need to do with the audio (read: cut down the songs), I find myself doing it directly with premiere. I must say that when it came to having to use an actual audio software, I liked audacity a lot: it's open source and easy to use. If the audio editing you need to do isn't anything too complex, it might be a good alternative.

Ah thank you. This was very informative.