Sony Vegas Alternative Mac Video Editor

[MacroStuff]

I realize that I am asking an age old question here, however, I still find it necessary. As I have recently upgraded to a Mac, and has been an overall amazing journey, I have lost my absolute favorite video editor, Sony Vegas. As I am constantly working with video, I am in dire need of a fast replacement. At this time, I have two choices: find a replacement, or install Windows 7/8 with Bootcamp and begin using Sony Vegas again. I have tried for a week or two with both iMovie and Final Cut Pro X and they are worthless. The audio editing is unusable and it is much more difficult to simply split and delete a section of a video. Since those are no longer choices, I am afraid I have come to the inevitable, yet I would still enjoy hearing others' opinions. I greatly appreciate any support. Thank you.

 

[floh]

I have tried for a week or two with both iMovie and Final Cut Pro X and they are worthless. The audio editing is unusable and it is much more difficult to simply split and delete a section of a video.

I found FCPX to be quite usable and love working with it by now. But it is a strange and new concept and feeling. So if you were very used to doing things differently, this might really put you off. iMovie was not bad once (especially for free), but it hasn't been updated in a long time and I wouldn't recommend it right now.

So, if you would like a workflow and editing experience that is more similar to Sony Vegas, you could give Adobe's Premiere a shot. It is an awesome piece of software, although sadly right now only available through Creative Cloud. But that way, you can easily try it for 1 month without spending tons of money. If you are going for a simpler version (I don't know which Sony Vegas edition you are used to), you can also get "Premiere Elements", which you can still buy like normal software (e.g. from the Mac App Store).

 

[acearchie]

Be careful with your words. FCPx is not worthless. It just doesn't work for you.

If you come at it completely fresh it's actually very intuitive.

However, I would really recommend Adobe Premiere. I have just finished my 6th project on it and I am confident in saying that I now know it pretty much as well as FCP7.

 

[Jodles]

I also absolutely love Sony Vegas. Those who haven't tried it don't know what they're missing out on...

I haven't been able to find any suitable replacement on the Mac sadly. I think your best option is bootcamp. I still grab my old Windows lappie for that purpose (and it's still incredibly fast even on a 6-7 year old Windows laptop editing HD content!).

 

[floh]

I also absolutely love Sony Vegas. Those who haven't tried it don't know what they're missing out on...

I haven't been able to find any suitable replacement on the Mac sadly.

I have worked with Sony Vegas. It is good. But it is by now means irreplacable. If you know an NLE software well, you love it and are very fast with it. But most things can be achieved in any NLE, some stuff is faster in Vegas, some is faster in FCPX, and some is faster in Premiere. Anyone who tells you that one of those is "the best and only" is wrong.

I'd say: Try out FCPX and Premiere (Elements) for 2 weeks (two weeks really working with it). By then you'll know which one you prefer. After a month of learning, you will be as fast in any of them as you were in Vegas, and it will save you the time to dual boot.

Editing is not about software. People tend to forget that.

PS: This comment is more meant for the OP than for Jodles, don't get me wrong...

 

[crjackson2134]

I've used Sony Vegas for many years and loved it. That said I've never really found another NLE that makes me very happy (because I moved to Linux). I'm 2 months on a new Mac Pro and OSX now so things are changing again.

I installed FC Pro yesterday, and started playing with it about 2 hours ago. After 2 hours, I'm pretty impressed and feel it will replace Vegas easily. I still have a few features I've yet to find, but I know they are there.

I've quit for the day, but I fully expect that after 10 hours of use, I'll be just as happy as I ever was with Vegas. You just have to learn a new interface, the basics don't change. I found cutting / splitting / deleting to be very simple.

Give it some more time before you throw in the towel. I can't speak for Adobe Premiere. Once I become reasonable competent with FCP, I doubt I'll want to move from it.

 

[daybreak]

No mater what software you use for editing. They all let you cut your video in a nutshell.
What they cant do is tell you the footage you bring in is good or bad.
Treat your software like a car.

 

[jdiamond]

Adobe Premier CS 6

...
So, if you would like a workflow and editing experience that is more similar to Sony Vegas, you could give Adobe's Premiere a shot. It is an awesome piece of software, although sadly right now only available through Creative Cloud.\.

What do you mean? I just bought Premier CS 6. Adobe has pledged supporting it for several years. You only need to go to Adobe Cloud if you need CS 7.

Of course, CS 6 is kind of a dead end in that it's unclear if Adobe will release software again, but it'll probably have a lifetime as long as typical video editing products do...