Well worth the money!
Great product. Filled in many gaps I had in my knowledge. Well worth the money I spent on it. I would highly recommend it. Like others have indicated also, it has a good section just for audio. I may get another just so I can have a 2nd edition for reference at my other office location.
Good information. Poor presentation
Took delivery of this book recently. There's a lot of good information in it. Another reviewer remarked that it's not a book for beginners and assumes an existing level of knowledge, particularly as it relates to colour and digital editing. I'd agree with this.
While there is a lot of good information contained in the book, it is without question one of the most poorly written books I've every bought. Graphic examples don't seem to relate to the content on the particular page. There are no references in the written material to the graphic examples so you're left trying to guess what goes with what. There are repetitions of the same discussion. It's a very, very poor editing job as well as less than stellar writing. Having read other books from Focal Press this is a bit surprising.
If you can wade through the poor writing and editing, you can probably pick up some things from the book.
Dives deep in his core compentencies, lacking in other areas
Preface: If you are a beginner and not intending to do video very much, the whole Vegas/DVDA kit may be a bit much. However, if you want a veritable Swiss army knife and are willing to learn, this application can do just about anything you may want, including Blu-Ray DVD authoring. For Hi-def editing/authoring, it's far cheaper than Final cut and most other "pro grade" apps too. Neither the app, review, nor this book is intended for a beginner IMO. It's best for someone who started out on a consumer editing app and wants to grow beyond those limitations economically, or the upgrader.
While the author is acknowledged as an authority on Sony Vegas, this book has some noticeable gaps, such as virtually no information on using the sister application that ships with Vegas 8 Pro, DVD Architect. I am keeping the older Vegas 6 book for this reason. This is the main reason for three stars.
In the areas of DSE's core competencies, such as effects, keyframes and especially audio, the book is an indispensable reference and well worth the price. There are additional chapters in PDF format on the included CD, some useful, such as a glossary, some dated. Despite the deficiencies, it's still the only thing out there besides trolling the web and in the areas covered it's understandable and worth every penny.
Very useful book
I liked this book firstly because you can read it even without having a computer in front of you. It is full of pictures and you can read it even when you are traveling. Initially it covers all menus of Vegas one by one and gives occasionally real examples of how to use them. So it's good for the beginners. After that, covers specific methods and there is an accompanying disk containing several .veg projects. So advanced users will also be satisfied. The author appears to have deep knowledge of video and especially audio aspects. My overall feeling is that I have a book I can refer to whenever I need help in Vegas.
Coulda been a contender.
It must first be said that Douglas Spotted Eagle obviously understands Vegas, which is the best NLE program for its price. But this book did not live up to the editorial review hype
I purchased this manual hoping for an in-depth Vegas Pro 8 learning experience, but I am somewhat disappointed. Editing mistakes within the book made some parts a bit confusing. And if a working veg file is on the DVD to follow what the book is teaching, use the same image as in the book.. But, the author did do a great job of explaining things that were previously murky to me. (Masking, for example.)
The single most important thing I gleaned is what Douglas Spotted Eagle espouses throughout this manual. EXPERIMENT. Check out every fx - every transition - every filter. Add multiple fx to events - see what happens.
The workshop is advertized as 528 pages, so I figured it would be worth the price. But a chapter touting plug-ins should not have been included. I can get that kind of info by Googling.
By the way, there are many Vegas Pro 8 user "tutorials" posted on YouTube. All free!
(7 reviews)
