YouTube’s Advanced Encoding Settings recommendations: http://goo.gl/VOtAu
Supported OpenCL and CUDA cards: http://goo.gl/8CvU5

Edit: Sony Vegas Pro 12 is now available for download!  Go here: New Vegas Pro 12

It’s that time of year again. Just announced on September the 7th at IBC, an annual conference and exhibition, Sony Vegas Pro 12 is expected to be available in fall 2012 – (that’s late September to late December for us non-Americans.) Sony promises many new features and workflow additions including a new ‘expanded edit mode’, the ability to be able to work with project files between other video editors, and many other improvements and additions.

Sony seems to be pushing innovation on this update, which will hopefully create an easier user-experience for us all. Personally I’m looking forward to seeing what they can pull off here as currently on Vegas Pro 11 I find some tasks very tedious, particularly masking. After watching the preview video that Sony have released, it seems as if they’ve introduced a few new features in relation to time-line editing which, of course, is where most editing is done. Hopefully these additions and improvements can cut down time and provide more convenience for the editor.

Vegas Pro 12 Logo

Sony Vegas will come in two different packages, the Vegas Pro 12 collection, which will include Vegas Pro 12, DVD Architect Pro 5.2, and Dolby Digital Professional Encoder. Secondly, Vegas Pro 12 Edit which will just include Vegas Pro 12 rather than the additional programs which you may not use, making Vegas Pro Edit a more cost effective package. I wouldn’t expect Sony to change their pricing too much, probably staying with the previous $599.00 for the collection package, and perhaps a slightly lower price for Vegas Pro Edit.

With the announcement, we are given an insight as to what the new Vegas Pro 12 logo will look like. It now resembles a play button which perhaps reflects the simpler and innovative enhancements. Below are some of the new features.  For more information, and to see the preview video, see the official Vegas Pro 12 Coming Soon page.

Announced Features Include:

New! Expanded Edit Mode

Double click at the edit point to see the timeline in a detailed “A-B Roll” view. The adjacent frames of the events at the edit point can be clearly viewed above the tracks for reference, and unused media in the events can be seen in the track area. The edit point/event edge is highlighted in red, and can be trimmed with the mouse or numeric keypad. Setting a Loop Region around the edit point enables you to dynamically add or remove frames from either side of the edit point while the media is playing, creating a highly precise, interactive editing experience.

New! Project Interchange

Import and export a wide range of project files to and from Vegas Pro 12. The built-in software can convert between the native .veg file and AAF for Avid^® ProTools^® 10, XML for Apple^®Final Cut Pro^® 7, Final Cut Pro X (export only), DaVinci Resolve 8, and .prproj for Adobe^® Premiere^® Pro CS6 and After Effects^® CS6.

New! Project Media Updates

Thumbnails are now optimized for 16:9, and media that is a different aspect ratio than the project will appear letter-boxed or side-pillared. A more prominent border around the thumbnails clearly highlights selected clip(s). Right-clicking on the thumbnail and selecting ‘Select Timeline Events’ locates the clip on the timeline, where you can use Ctrl+[ and Ctrl+] to move between selected events.

New! FX Masking

Mask an effect rather than the image itself. This is particular useful for quickly blurring or pixelating an area of a video clip, to hide a logo, license plate, or a person’s face.

New! Shape Masking Tools

While the Vegas Pro Bezier Masking Tool is powerful and accurate, it can be overly complex for masking simple shapes. 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.