Unless, I'm wrong, Avid DV Xpress is PC only. . .there was a big debacle about it. Vegas Video is good, my only gripe is the fact that the scrub tool SUCKS.

Also, if you're ever planning to do the big time stuff (with film, and such), VV doesn't do batch lists and EDLs and the like.

As of v3.5 Xpress DV is cross platform (MAC and PC) all in one box.

Ah. . .did not know that! Well, like I said, it's all about what you want to do. Vegas Video is substantially cheaper, and not at all a bad editor. You can still edit just about anything in the world on there, including your own feature length film, if you desire--it's just that you will probably have to stay digital, without going to film, and use the program for all offline and online editing.

Also, I say again it has a worthless scrub tool. My editing technique sometimes involves playing the beginning of a clip over and over to see how much I can cut off without clipping the beginning of a word (also useful for determining exactly where audio ends), and it's harder to do this when you can't just run the playhead over the clip and instantly hear the sound--all other NLEs that I've worked with allow this; I can't imagine why Vegas Video doesn't. Sorry for the redundancy.

Josh...

Your complaint with VV3 can be easily and cheaply remedied. For about 100 bucks you can get a Countour ShuttlePro which makes the scrub process just like the old VCR tape editors. A wheel allows frame by frame, with audio, scrubbing or a multiple frame scrub at whatever speed you choose. Try it, you'll like it.

<<<-- Originally posted by AaronKoolen : I like VV3 and find it really intuitive and performance is really nice. One question though. If I was going to learn an NLE program, just so I would have skills enough that I might be able to get bits of work editing for people, would Avid DV Xpress be a better choice? Is it the software of choice for PC's? And from what I've heard it's pretty populare on the Mac too so you would have skills that you could use on other the other most popular platform. -->>>

To answer your question brielfly, Avid DVX would be a better choice if you want to impress people with what software you know. It is the more advanced PC NLE It isn't the most popular NLE for PCs though. That award would have to go to Premiere, which probably outsells Avid at least 50 to 1 (ok, so they give it away free alot too).
In the end, if you want to get work for other people, a kick ass demo reel will make more difference than what software you use.

Vegas is a program that can certainly be used in a business to make professional quality video.
I do just that every day.
Avid Xpress is a very good program and is also capable of making great quality video.

Software is a personal choice.
Yes you may get certain Kudos for learning and using Avid software.
You will also pay more than twice the amount than Vegas.
Is Avid express twice as good?

I would say No, not yet.

It also depends on the type of work you intend to do.
If it is long form documentary or Indy Film than Avid is a better choice in my opinion.
Otherwise I would rather use Vegas.

Just some thoughts.

I've heard of that shuttle dealy . . .maybe I'll try one.

Check out the Shuttle Pro at http://www.contouravs.com/cav_shuttlepro_info.html -- well worth the $100 plus you can freely download whatever drivers you need for it, including Vegas Video 2 & 3.

Looks like I am a new owner of VV3 also. It should arrive in a couple of days and I am looking for a basic learning tool. Vast tour sounds great but I would like some very basic stuff under my belt first. Anyone have any ideas for basic learning of VV3. Hints and suggestions would be appreciated. I believe the book is extra if I read sonics website correctly?

The best way to learv VV3 us to go thru the many tutotials offered over at www.creativecow.com

Also go to digitalvideoediting.com and click the techniques tab and go through the archives (a link at the bottom of the page) there are several task specific tutorials with examples and .veg files you can download and play with.

Actually I just went and got the link, it's faster than you trying to hunt for it.

http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/cgi-bin/showarchivedindex.cgi?id=90&start=30&end=50

Go through the other techniques as well, there is some great stuff on that site.

Oh and here is a great one on effects and velocity envelopes you can have fun with. If you download the .zip files it has the article a .wmf of the project and the .veg that you can open and modify to get a feel for vegas video.

http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/2002/02_feb/tutorials/vegas_velocity.htm

You'll need vegas installed to play with the .veg files

Finally, make sure you download and install the LATEST version (now at 3.0c). You actually don't need to install the CD, just install the download and enter the serial number in the box.