Hi - I currently use Sony Movie Studio 6 Platinum - I think it's great and it suits my demands ideally ...

Is it worth upgrading to Movie Studio 8 Platinum?

Vegas is still a bit too expenside for my budget at the moment.

Thanks.

Look at the new features the new version provides (and don't forget the ones added in version 7!) Do you think those new features will help you?

Looks like the upgrade price is $50 and will get you:

Export video to PSP® (PlayStation®Portable)

You can now export Sony AVC/AAC (also called H.264 or MPEG-4 AVC).

MainConcept AVC/AAC codec. You can use this plug-in to import H.264 video in your projects and to render H.264 video to Apple iPod® video format).

5.1 surround support.

Support has been added for opening and rendering ATRAC3™, ATRAC3plus™, and ATRAC Advanced Lossless™ files.

Stereo and 5.1-channel AC-3 rendering.

Cut/copy/delete operations can be applied to grouped events.

Enhanced video preview.

Full-screen preview to a secondary Windows display (including DVI monitors).

Insert I-frames at marker positions when rendering MPEG-2 (works in conjunction with I-frame viewer in DVD Architect Studio 4.5).

Support for editing files recorded with Sony AVCHD camcorders (only in Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8.0).

Improved native HDV .m2t playback performance and improved memory handling for HDV longform projects (only in Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition 8.0).

Multithreaded audio engine maximizes real-time audio playback and rendering performance - more tracks and effects with lower latency.

Support for opening and rendering ATRAC3™, ATRAC3plus™, and ATRAC Advanced Lossless™ files.

Gracenote® MusicID™ technology for extracted audio from CDs.

Improved snapping — color-coded visual snap indicator and the ability to snap to event edges on other tracks.

Display of media marker names in events.

Freehand envelope drawing on the timeline.

Support for Microsoft Vista

Think I can find something there for me ... ;)

We never saw Version 7 in the UK - this is a definate step up ...

Thanks Edward.