Sony's latest version of their Vegas Movie Studio + DVD suite has been captivating reviewers around cyber space and I have to say ... my name can be added to that list. If you want a package that allows you to "Capture" easily while at the same time offering powerful "Editing" and the ability to generate either a DVD, VCD or CD of your movie ... then this suite could be what you've been looking for.

Recently, I reviewed Adobe's Video Collection Professional and I was very impressed with the suite of software (overwhelmed in fact) ... but this suite from Sony is overwhelming as well, in its own way, because it is very very powerful and comes in at a very very low price. In my opinion, It would be an ideal investment for the hobby movie maker as it is low cost, easy to use and powerful. The comparison between the Adobe Suite and this Sony Suite is a little unfair as its not exactly comparing apples to apples, more like apples to watermelons ... as the Adobe Suite is for professional movie makers and this low cost Sony Suite is entry level software.

If you have used an non-linear editing tool before ... take a good look at the screen shot above ... you will see that the Vegas Movie Studio interface is familiar at a glance. This is because of the logical arrangement of text, video overlay, Video, Voice, Music and Sound effects tracks to the left. The timeline for these assets is to the right, the Media Pool, Transitions, and VideoFX, Text and Backdrops, Explorer, and Trimmer tabs are located at the bottom left of the interface, and the preview window is located bottom right of the interface. Personally, I was able to acclimatise to the product very quickly and edited a short 2 minute movie with titles and a sound track in a very short time frame.

But I guess all this talk of user friendly interfaces and ease of use means nothing if the features aren't there ... ... so lets look at what Vegas Movie Studio can do when we power it up. Firstly, the new features in Version 4 are the inclusion of the DVD Architecture software, customisable 3d scene transitions, Free Content (sound effects, movie clips, title cards etc.), Flash (.swf) import, asset trimmer window, audio restoration tools, Assignable Still Image Duration and access to the Sony acidplanet.com online community. Sounds good doesn't it.

Other features of the Suite which add extra "oomph" are; "drag and drop" functionality, allowing you to drag a media file from your hard disk directly into the package; still images can utilise pan and scan documentary-style effects, there are over 30 "show me" interactive tutorials; real-time preview, playback and view changes instantly; red-eye removal tools; chroma key "green screen" effects; track level audio effects and envelopes. And, of course, that is just a sampling of the features available. Powerful.

I must admit to being a little prejudiced when I first started this review, being the Adobe Premiere fan that I am, but Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD stood up against the big guys very well. This is a great entry-level product and I recommend it to anyone who only wants to spend around $US99 to make their movies.