I recently posted a question on the Vegas forums about what Adobe’s After Effects is and is there a real need to learn this very powerful application.

When all was said and done, the answer, at least for those working as a solo video journalist, is not really.

Here’s why:

As a Solo VJ, our primary concern is editing our content with as little glitz and glam as possible. 99% of my editing consists of straight cuts and simple dissolves along with color correction and audio sweetening.

Vegas Pro provides all of these features within the application - without needing to go outside of it.

All the marketing hype surrounding application suites being needed to accomplish the post production aspect of video has played upon the illusion that in order to be considered a TRUE professional, one has to utilize one of the AAA suites.

As Solo VJ’s, we typically don’t have a need for advanced compositing and 3D effects that is the specialty of After Effects. In addition, the learning curve is quite high in grasping the full capabilities of Adobe’s offerings, and the added expense only adds to the already tight budgetary constraints that this competitive profession has imposed on us.

SONY Vegas Pro 8 is a powerful video and audio editing application with very respectable compositing tools. The difference is significant. But of course the usefulness of the compositing power in After Effects (which is simply staggering once you’ve got your head around it) is only useful if you’re actually going to use that power. If your compositing needs are not overly complex then you may not need After Effects and Vegas will be more than sufficient - which is something I have just begun to tap into for my work.

With the release of Vegas Pro 8 in September of 2007, the new titler and 32bit float mode for editing has opened the door for maintaining a higher quality of capabilities for those looking to become lean and mean in this creative endeavor.  I have discovered through inquiry that the 32bit float mode is only necessary if you are going to get heavy handed in things like color correction.

I believe in keeping things simple - without limiting what I can do technologically.  I’m going to be expounding on this topic in upcoming posts so stay tuned.