Sony Creative Software upgraded its Home Studio range of video and audio editing software today.
The new software range, all Windows Vista-compatible, now consists of Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8, Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8 (both video editing and DVD creation software), Sony Sound Forge Studio 9 (audio editing and production software), and Sony Acid Music Studio 7 (music creation and mixing software).
The Home Studio range enables you to create and edit audio and video clips for sharing with your friends and family. From within the software you can upload clips onto social networking websites, burn them onto a CD/DVD, send them to your Sony PlayStation Portable, email the clips, or save them to your hard drive.
Originally designed for professionals, the range has now been tweaked to be easy enough for budding film and audio creators to use, while losing none of the functionality.
Testing, testing
At a demo of the software in London yesterday, we were given the opportunity to test the software. 'Show me how' menus guide you through the various stages. They show you what you can do next and how to go about it.
Editing home videos and creating audio content such as podcasts and mixes to go with slideshows has become very popular. Sony looks like it has created a fine range of software, suitable for both pros and novices.
"Over the past few years, entertaining personal movies, podcasts and music productions created by hobbyists have demonstrated that more and more people are enjoying the process of making their ideas come to life through the production of user-generated content," said Dave Chaimson, vice president of worldwide marketing at Sony Creative Software.
We were also treated to a more in-depth (and let's face it, a lot quicker and cooler-looking) demo of Sony Acid Studio 7 and Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8 by London music video mixers Eclectic Method. It basically does with video clips what DJs have been doing for years - mixing one clip with another to create something entirely new.
Dragging and dropping clips of speeded-up or slowed-down clips (everything from music videos to snippets from comedy shows to adverts) to overlap each other, the mixing duo managed to create a very funky-sounding track in a matter of minutes. "You can basically take anything that moves and stick it into Acid," Geoff, one half of Eclectic Method, told us.
The updated range will go on sale later this month. Pricing is as follows:
- Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8: £50
- Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8: £70
- Sony Sound Forge Studio 9: £45
- Sony Acid Studio 7: £45
