Question about NLE software features

[Joe999]

I am considering buying Sony Vegas Pro 8 (I have the basic version 7). As I look at its features, I see among the tech specs the features listed below. Can anybody explain one or more of the features listed below, in some terminology that is meaningful, hopefully in a practical sense in terms of filmmaking?

Keyframeable Bézier masks
Keyframeable transitions, filters, and track motion
3-wheel primary and secondary color correction filters
Waveform, Vectorscope, Parade, and Histogram monitors
Transition progress envelopes
Alpha channel support​

 

[oakstreetphotovideo]

Keyframes allow you to change settings over time.

Bezier is a type of curve, so a Bezier mask is a mask defined by curve handles, which can be moved/adjusted over time, so the mask can move or change as the video progresses.

A 3 wheel primary color correction filter allows you to adjust hue/color for shadow, mid-tones, and highlights independently. I'm not sure what they mean about the secondary color.

Waveform, vectorscope, Parade and Histogram monitors all show the luminance values, some are broken down by color, overlaid on graphs so you can see if your video is staying within legal values for your target. They are generally used at the end to fine tune luminance for output.

Transition progress envelopes are controls that allow you to adjust how fast or slow a transition progresses from one state to the next, and also it's beginning and ending values. Most transitions would go from a 0/100% mix to a 100/0% mix in linear fashion but an envelope would allow you to control that.

Alpha channel support is ubiquitous in NLEs (or should be). The alpha channel is a value that is stored with each pixel which specifies the opacity of that pixel. To put it another way, the alpha channel defines transparency in the image. You need alpha support for any sort of compositing (layering one video element over another).

I hope this helps, I may have oversimplified some things, but time is short.

 

[knightly]

Primary color correction (CC) is for fixing footage
...fixing white balance issues by pushing the whites toward or away from blue (sunlight is blue)
...pulling the blown out highlights into submission or the crushed blacks and mids up so you can see into the shadows

see: http://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/segment_detail.asp?sid=190&sortby=&page=5&kwid=0&show=all_videos
Secondary CC is for applying effects to your footage
...color washes and matrix/fight club/se7en types of looks

see: http://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/segment_detail.asp?sid=214&sortby=&page=1&kwid=0&show=all_videos

 

[oakstreetphotovideo]

Thank you, for the clarification, Cole.