This free video editor update is set to make your colors pop
Vegas Pro 20 delivers more color, more control, more collaboration
Vegas Pro 20 has received a major free update - and adopts one of the best tools in Adobe Premiere Pro.
Two months after its initial launch, the video editing software is taking delivery of a raft of new features that aim to “further enhance color grading workflow power, efficiencies and collaboration directly on the timeline,” according to Magix, the developer behind Vegas.
Alongside the latest color correction tools comes a handful of subscriber-only features, including, and smarter integration between Vegas’ desktop and mobile video editing apps.
What’s new in Vegas Pro 20?
It’s the Color Grading panel where the most noticeable changes are occurring. Magix has filled the space with new color correction tools for producing and fine-tuning colors. Chief among them is the new Color Picker for Color Curves, which simplifies color selection for adjustments, and the Hue & Saturation Curve.
Designed to give more control over the appearance of their films, the tool lets users “change the saturation of anything from the entire video to a very specific hue in the video, and they can pull saturation out of a specific color to mute the color’s effect, or pump up the saturation to make a specific color pop,” Magix said.
Continuing in the spirit of giving users greater control, the Vegas Video Preview window now features up to 2000x magnification. Ideal, the company stated, for fine-tuning of color grading adjustments.
Online collaboration is also improved with the inclusion of a commenting tool. When users share projects via File Drop, users can use the new text field to offer insights and feedback.
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Artificial intelligence continues its technological conquest - although don’t expect Adobe Sensei-level features here. Instead, Vegas pro introduces AI-generated thumbnails for shared projects, making it easier to find the right clips and generally improve efficiency and productivity.
And, for subscribers, comes a host of stock video and audio assets, mobile-to-timeline feature for uploading media from phone to the desktop app, and a faster File Drop service. However, with accessibility a top priority for videographers, it’s the Premiere Pro-style speech-to-text tool that stands out. Adobe’s video editor handles auto-subtitling beautifully thanks to its AI integration, so we’ll be interested to see how well Vegas compares as an alternative to Premiere Pro in this critical area.
Vegas Pro 20 Update 1 is available to download now, free for existing users.
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Steve is TechRadar Pro’s B2B Editor for Creative & Hardware. He began in tech journalism reviewing photo editors and video editing software at the magazine Web User, where he also covered technology news, features, and how-to guides. Today, he and his team of reviewers test out a range of creative software, hardware, and office furniture. Once upon a time, he wrote TV commercials and movie trailers. Relentless champion of the Oxford comma.