Vegas Movie Studio 8 + AVCHD support

[rc444]

Ok, there seems to be two version of Vegas (at least in NZ anyway): Vegas8 and Vegas8 Platinum.

http://www.sony.co.nz/products/product/computer/sony-software.jsp

I'm thinking of probably Platinum because it offers more HD format options. However, I'm interested in what the standard Vegas8 offers. I know it's geared more for SD, but does it feature multiple timelines and can it do razor blade cutting on the timeline like FCP? If you do one cut on the timeline, will all the other footage move like how it does in Moviemaker?

Second question - AVCHD support. I'm thinking of getting an AVCHD camera. I think AVCHD is going to take over HDV, which I'm not interested in because it uses a dying format - tape. Anyway, I hear Vegas supports AVCHD. I'm thinking of getting a Panasonic AVCHD camera because Sony's AVCHD models only seem to have 1CCD, which is dumb.

Anyway, my question is... can Vegas support AVCHD from other cameras besides Sony???

[David Jimerson]

Those are the two consumer versions of Vegas -- if more options is what you're after, Vegas 7.0 is the current full version, with Vegas Pro 8.0 to be released shortly.

Speaking for Vegas 7 (full version), it may support AVCHD other than Sony, but it's not a sure thing.

[Barry_Green]

Anyway, my question is... can Vegas support AVCHD from other cameras besides Sony???

Vegas only supports Sony AVC-HD. They may some day in the future add support for other manufacturers, but if I were you I wouldn't go making a business decision based on something that may or may not happen. Vegas is great software for people who use Sony gear, but for those who use other-than-Sony gear the support is decidedly less sound.