1st time user--can't figure out how to start.

AriannesVideos wrote on 2/18/2007, 6:32 PM
I guess I should have done a little research on this program before spending the money I did on it. I was looking for a program to help me make slideshows with all of my still pictures. I was looking for something simple that I could add different songs to during the duration of the video. I download this, open it and I have no flippin idea how it works.. I have read the manual, I have gone through the "show me's" I am LOST!! Is this not a beginners program? Maybe this is not the program I needed. Can anyone help me, mabye just get me started?

PLEASE HELP!!!
Or maybe someone can offer some advice on a different program that I could purchase, and maybe try to sell this one on Ebay.

Thanks,
Arianne

Comments

jimmyz wrote on 2/18/2007, 7:51 PM
for slide shows just drag the photos from explorer onto the timeline. Then each photos time can be adjusted by dragging the edge.. Same with music drag file from explorer onto timeline. Vegas is worth a little bit of time to learn but well worth it. I think if you really don't need to do video you could try proshow golds demo and see if that is more to your taste.
Paul Mead wrote on 2/19/2007, 1:19 PM
Yes, Vegas Movie Studio can be very overwhelming when you look at all the options available. It is so much easier when you have someone else walk you thru your first project so that you can learn to ignore all those options that you aren't ready to use. But, what you want to do is very simple to do. Like jimmyz says, you just drag and drop your photos onto the timeline. Spend some more time in the Show Me topic How to Make a Movie or Slideshow and it will eventually make sense.

If all you ever want to do is slideshows then there are probably easier tools you could use, but if you are thinking of eventually editing video then it is well worth it to learn your way around in Vegas. I felt very overwhelmed when I first started using this product but I can honestly say that I really love using it now. It is a wonderful product that, once you get used to it, is actually quite intuitive. Combine that with the fact that it is recognized as one of the most stable and reliable editors available (meaning less frustration) and you have a great product. Don't go to eBay yet...
skeltech wrote on 2/20/2007, 5:13 AM
Sure, you could use PowerPoint. Nah....

Vegas is much better. You can make a DVD to play most anywhere. Sounds like you are going through a pradigm shift. It takes me a couple of trys sometimes. Then wammo! It starts to make sense. Give it a break then go back at it.

Try making making something close using what is there. Get the music track in. Then layout title boxes text slides. You could label them pix1, pix2, pix3, etc. Zoom in and out to see the alignment in time between the slides and music. Add your pictures. As you go along keep saving your work but change the name slightly. I like to add a number at the end like projA_01, then 02, 03.. I will get a bunch of files with the same base name. If I screw up, I can fall back to an earlier version.

Keep at it. It is a good user interface. I really like it. I made a few similair videos, I was smokin' by my last one. It was gettting real easy to do.

~Steve