Hi all,

I'm very new to Digital Video, having just purchased a Sony MiniDV Camcorder (DCR-HC27) and Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD Platinum. My aim is to use the camcorder for mini projects for myself (Editing holidays etc..) but also at work to put together video presentations etc..

As i'm new to all this, there was no way I could justify spending £400 on getting Vegas 7, as Studio should have all the functionality I need, but I want to make sure I'm using the software to the fullest so I've got a few questions!

1) I've seen videos using things like muzzle flashes, explosions, lightsaber effects, green screen effects... Can I use these in Movie Studio or are they strictly Prosumer applications? How-to links would help too!

2) Free or cheap plugins. Will most "Vegas" plugins work on Moviestudio unless stated otherwise (Which I know I few are).

3) What are the big things I can't do in Movie Studio which Vegas can - Given that Vegas is over £300 more than Movie Studio there must be quite a few! Don't want to waste my time when planning a project trying to do things which the software can't!

4) If I wanted to get a few books on how get the best out of my software, any recommendations? I've seen references to Movie Studio being very close to Vegas 5 or 6 (Forget which) so would a book showing hints and tricks for some of the earlier versions of Vegas be worthwhile and translate over to Movie Studio well?

Looking forward to getting out there filming and editing

Cheers

Dan

Managed to find out most of the answers myself, but just in case others are wondering...

1) Sony Chroma Keyer gives pretty good results for adding muzzle flashes and the like, and pretty easy to use.

2) VAAST and Detonation Films gave me some useful basic plugins.

3) I read the full manual provided in PDF format on the disc. Made it very clear what Vegas 6 can do over Movie Studio.

4) The above mentioned manual pretty much covered all I needed, but Amazon has a couple of books if I need further guidance, and there's always this forum and Google!

Cheers

Dan