Is Sound Forge worth it?

[jgastelb]

I have been using vegas 6 and loving it. I keep hearing how wonderful sound forge is. I got the demo trial and I'm starting to play with it. But I'm seeing a lot of the same plug-ins that are already available in vegas.

Q. Is it really worth the extra money?

Q. What are some things that are esential to sound editing that sound forge offers that vegas on its own does not?

Thanks!
Jgastelb

[Drew Ott]

Wondering the same thing.

[jgastelb]

Maybe the fact that no one is replying says it all.

[Jason Ramsey]

I haven't done much with the sound in vegas, but that is because i already had sound forge before i got vegas. So i can open up my audio and screw with it there. it also shows the video when you open up an audio clip from vegas into s.forge. Personally, I think sound forge is an excellent program. I use it all the time for radio work. Vegas, as i understand though has great sound capabilities (like i said i never messed with sound too much in vegas). But it is already a cut above most anything else as far as working with sound is concerned. It's up to you. Sound forge is great. Whether you need it as a compliment to vegas i can't say. I found it easier to do what little sound i needed in my vids in sound forge
Jason

[donatello]

i use both SF & V ...
vegas applys the fx's to the whole track ..

SF just applys the FX to the clip you select in Vegas TL - note: any time you can go back to the original audio track ( right click on audio clip - TAKE - then choose the take ) i like to do 2-3 different degrees
of the FX ..so one light fx, medium and heavy FX - then i 'll use TAKE to HEAR which one sound best next to other audio in project ....
now you could have all the small audio clips on different tracks and apply FX's in Vegas but for last project i would of had maybe 60 audio track's - using SF i kept it down to 8

i don't use SF by itself ... always within Vegas ( right click on audio clip - "open copy in SF")

[donkathon]

SF=Magic. I use it all the time.

[SafetyO]

Sound Forge is to audio what Vegas is to video.

If I only want to work on the audio track, it is the way to go! Think of a building with 100 floors. Vegas can take you to the 69th floor and then you'd have to walk the rest of the way. Oh..you'll get there eventually. Meanwhile, Sound Forge is the elevator that you change to at the 69th to get to the 100th without having to walk. It is a great tool to have in your kit. jmho

[jgastelb]

Thanks for all of the replies. I think vegas just does an amazing job at editing audio all on its own. I'm curious about Forge and may get it eventually. I just wanted to know what I have been missing by not using it.
Jgastelb

[brent@deadworkers.com]

it's like doing things you can do in after effects, that you can do in vegas. Like green screen stuff.

Yes, you can do it in vegas. But if you really want the maximum amount of options, and to do it right, use an external editor. Whether it's effects or sound. You'll almost always get a better end product.

on the flip side. If you learn to do without, and make great movies without all the bells and whistles, when you do get a chance to use those bells and whistles, you'll know more what you are doing, have better control, and have an even better product.

[jgastelb]

it's like doing things you can do in after effects, that you can do in vegas. Like green screen stuff.

Yes, you can do it in vegas. But if you really want the maximum amount of options, and to do it right, use an external editor. Whether it's effects or sound. You'll almost always get a better end product.

on the flip side. If you learn to do without, and make great movies without all the bells and whistles, when you do get a chance to use those bells and whistles, you'll know more what you are doing, have better control, and have an even better product.

I see what you mean. That makes sense.
Jgastelb

[RokMartian]

Maybe not the same thing, but I have Sound Forge Studio - I think I got it for around $60-70. That works great for the price for me.

[stokestack]

I love Sound Forge. I've tried various audio editors, and they are clumsy compared to Sound Forge. The best thing about it is its clean, efficient interface. Have you seen Pro Tools? It is a pitiful mess. Like Photoshop, it was the only game in town for a while, and thus it has adherents who simply refuse to admit that its UI blows.

The main drawback to Sound Forge is the quality of some of its effects, especially reverb. I guess you should look into third-party reverbs.

The integration between Sound Forge and Vegas is OK but hampered by one major defect: Markers from Vegas do not show up in Sound Forge. So, if you mark an event in Vegas (a point in a video at which a sound effect is needed, for example) and then take the audio into Sound Forge for some precision work, your marker isn't there. WTF?