Sony Creative Software Unveils Sony Vegas Pro 12

Sony Creative Software, a leading global provider of professional editing and authoring applications, today announced the latest upgrade to its Vegas™ editing technology. Vegas™ Pro 12 adds dozens of substantial feature enhancements, performance improvements and workflow innovations to the award-winning NLE, significantly expanding the creative toolkit for editors and content creators at every level of the post-production market. Combining a familiar track-based editing interface with a fluid, interactive approach to media production, Vegas Pro 12 is the perfect choice for a new generation of creative professionals looking for a no-compromise, cost-effective and straightforward way to express their artistic vision without the complexities and learning curve typically associated with other solutions.   

Workflow improvements in Vegas Pro 12 include Project Interchange with popular editing platforms including Adobe® Premiere® Pro CS6, Avid® Pro Tools® 10 and Apple® Final Cut Pro® 7; Expanded Edit mode, for fine-tuning the timing of a project using an interactive "A-B roll" paradigm; Color Match, for quickly matching the color characteristics of different video clips; and Smart Proxy editing, which automatically and dynamically replaces clips on the timeline with high-quality, edit-friendly HD proxies. On the format front, Vegas Pro 12 can now ingest Panasonic P2 DVCPRO and AVC-Intra content, and encode to the highly versatile HDCAM SR™ mastering format, at bit rates up to 880 Mb/s. In addition, there are new Masking Tools in Vegas Pro 12, including Effects Masking for quickly obscuring a face or logo. Updates to the Vegas Pro Explorer and Project Media windows dramatically improve the ability to find and organize content, thanks to a redesigned Thumbnail View along with optimized Media Tagging capabilities and automated Smart Bin search tools.

To meet the needs of the broadest range of customers, Vegas Pro 12 will be available in two configurations. The Vegas Pro 12 collection follows previous versions by including the Vegas Pro 12 editing application along with DVD Architect™ Pro 5.2 and Dolby® Digital Professional Encoder, for DVD and Blu-ray Disc™ authoring. Vegas Pro 12 Edit is a new, lower cost package featuring all of the editing capabilities of Vegas Pro 12, without DVD Architect and the Dolby Encoder software.

"Broadcasters, indie filmmakers and video professionals worldwide have embraced Vegas Pro not only for its forward-thinking approach to content creation, but also for its undeniable value proposition," said Dave Chaimson, vice president of global marketing for Sony Creative Software. "Vegas Pro 12 Edit continues that tradition and sets the new price-performance standard for professional content creation software, with its rich feature set and unmatched return on investment."

For Sony PMW-F3, F23, F35 and F65 shooters looking to maintain the full dynamic range of their images in post, Vegas Pro 12 uses OpenColorIO technology from Sony Pictures Imageworks and the Academy Color Encoding Specification (ACES) color space standard to build a comprehensive S-Log workflow solution. Vegas Pro 12 editors can apply the appropriate LUT (Look-up Table) to the S-Log source material from a list of built-in templates during the post-production process. The finished project can be encoded to a wide range of formats using the ACES color space standard as well as other popular non-ACES standards.

"Many cinematographers are acquiring in S-Log to maximize the dynamic range and tonal reproduction of their images, but up until now their post-production options have been limited," said Chaimson. "Vegas Pro 12 opens the door for content creators to enjoy the benefits and flexibility of an integrated, end-to-end S-Log production pipeline with minimal effort and no additional plug-ins to purchase"

NEW FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

• Project Interchange: Exchange projects between Vegas Pro 12 and other popular editing platforms. The built-in conversion software supports .aaf, for Avid Pro Tools 10, .xml for Apple Final Cut Pro 7 and DaVinci Resolve 8, .fcpxml for Apple Final Cut Pro X (export only), and .prpproj for Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 and After Effects® CS6.

• Expanded Edit Mode: The timeline can be temporarily split into "A-B roll" tracks at the edit point, with the adjacent clips appearing in a "2-up" monitor view. The sequence can be trimmed while playing, creating a precise, interactive editing experience.

• Color Match: The Color Match plug-in offers the ability to match the color characteristics from one clip to another in the highly versatile and powerful L*a*b* color space.  

• Smart Proxy Workflow: When full frame rate playback is difficult to achieve, Smart Proxy files can be used in their place, and the media will automatically and dynamically switch from original to proxy based on the Preview playback settings. To ensure optimum quality, original media files will be used for the final render.

• Shape Masking Tools: The new rectangle/square and oval/circle Masking Tools make it easy to mask portions of the media by drawing the desired shape over the appropriate areas.

• FX Masking: By masking an effect rather than the image itself, it is easy to quickly blur or pixelate an area of a video clip to hide a logo, license plate, or a person's face.

• Project Media Tagging: Quickly categorize content with customizable Media Tags, automatically organizing the media into appropriately named Media Bins. For simple searches, content can be instantly filtered using the tags or other metadata. Advanced searches are saved as Smart Bins, which automatically update as new matching media is added to the project.

• Panasonic P2 Support: Ingest P2 media using the Vegas Pro Device Explorer,and edit DVCPRO 25/50/100 and AVC-Intra 50/100 .mxf files natively.    

• HDCAM SR (SStP) Mastering: Encode to all flavors of the HDCAM SR mastering format, including the 220 Mb/s SR Lite and the 880 Mb/s SR 444. HDCAM SR is a very versatile, high-quality recording and mastering format based on MPEG-4 SStP (Simple Studio Profile). The rendered .mxf files are compatible with HDCAM SR camcorders, VTRs, and SR Memory solid state recording devices.   

• Comprehensive S-Log Workflow: Vegas Pro 12 is an end-to-end S-Log solution, with the ability to apply the appropriate LUT (Look-up Table) during the editing process based on the display device and the creative goals of the production team. The edited project can be encoded to a wide range of formats, using ACES-defined color space standards developed by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences technology committee, as well as other popular non-ACES standards.   

• LAB Adjust Video FX Plug-in and L*a*b* Color Space Histogram:Manipulate colors in the very powerful L*a*b* color space. Using the same technology as the new Color Match plug-in, the LAB Adjust tool takes advantage of the perceptually uniform L*a*b* color standard to provide dramatic and precise control over the color characteristics of the content.  

More information on Vegas Pro 12 and the entire line of Sony Creative Software products can be found at www.sonycreativesoftware.com. 

Price and Availability

Vegas Pro 12 and Vegas Pro 12 Edit will be available for purchase at retailers worldwide and online at www.sonycreativesoftware.com. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for Vegas Pro 12 software is $699 USD, and Vegas Pro 12 Edit is $499 USD. Upgrades from previous versions of Vegas Pro to Vegas Pro 12 will be available for $199 USD from www.sonycreativesoftware.com. Localized French, German, Spanish, and Japanese versions will also be available.