Sony Vegas Movie Studio +DVD 6 review

Like Premiere Elements, Vegas Movie Studio +DVD is a cut down version of a professional editing package - in this case Sony Vegas +DVD.

The result is a program that's far more powerful and polished than most affordable video-editing software. Movie Studio 6 is developed directly from Vegas 6 rather than the previous version of Movie Studio, bringing with it a rash of superb new features.

The highlight is full keyframe automation for creating evolving effects, which is far more versatile than the previous version's Start and End settings. It's now possible to reverse clips, and to preview video on a TV screen via a DV camera that supports DV in. Alternatively, if you have two monitors, you can drag the preview window to its own screen and enlarge it for full-size previews. There's an extra video and audio track, bringing the total of each to four.

Movie Studio's excellent audio capabilities are augmented by support for VST plug-in effects, which can be applied to individual clips as well as to audio tracks. It's often useful to break a video from its soundtrack during editing, but now it's easy to spot when the video and audio has lost sync, as well as being easy to fix.

DVD authoring comes from a bundled program called DVD Architect and it too has a raft of improvements. It now offers huge scope to customise not only the look of DVD menus, but also how they link together what happens at the end of video titles and even which DVD remote control buttons do what.

Spending an extra £24 on Vegas Movie Studio +DVD Platinum Edition adds support for HDV. Previews of the native HDV footage are jerky, but the video can be converted to an intermediate HD format for easier editing, with no discernable loss of quality. The Platinum Edition also includes an advanced colour correction effect, a copy of Sony's entry-level music maker, Acid XMC, and a book about HD video.

BUYING DECISIONS

Pinnacle Studio would be good for less technical users if it weren't for its stability problems. However, this issue aside, Sony Vegas Movie Studio is still the most welcoming video-editing software for new users to learn and more experienced users will find it extremely quick to use too.

Premiere Elements 2 is the most versatile and precise of the three, so if you want to create complex video montages it's the obvious choice. However, its interface is clumsy in certain areas. Movie Studio 6 is more powerful than its predecessor, and although it hasn't caught up with Premiere Elements, the gap is pretty small. With its superior DVD authoring and the added benefits of the Platinum Edition, Vegas Movie Studio is perfect for budding editors of all abilities.