Best way to learn Vegas

OCVQ wrote on 8/8/2008, 7:06 PM

I have been making simple but (I think) well done video projects for many years now. I always gets lots of compliments. I recently upgraded from Sony Screenblast Movie Studio to Vegas Movie Stuio Platinum Edition and have yet to dive into learning it and using it to its potential.

After reading lots of posts here I get the feeling there is a TON of stuff I could be doing that I'm not. Right now I use simple transitions, fades in and out, usually only one added audio track (typically a WAV file for background music), and occassionally a simple title on a solid color background. I've never even tried rolling titles or credits.

What's the best way to get more out of my new software? Is the onboard tutorial worthwhile? Is there a video or manual out there that you recommend? How about a class? Or should I just rely on good old fashioned trial and error and start experimenting?

Comments

richard-amirault wrote on 8/8/2008, 7:22 PM

Congrats on your upgrade. I did the same thing, but years ago.

I went to Screenblast when I gave up Pinnacle. As flakey as it was, Pinnacle was a lot more intuitive than VMS... but .. I would never go back. VMS is a *much* better program .. it just takes a bit to learn (and I'm *still* learning) Luckily the way Screenblast does things and the way VMS does things are very similar (as opposed to the way Pinnacle does things) you just have more options now.

I don't know what's the best way to lean Vegas. You can read about how to do 'stuff' and then try it .. you don't really even have to render it if you don't want to ... just watch it in the preview window as it plays on the timeline. Try different things and see what result you get.

I would also read thru the "manual" (not the help .. that's good, but the real manual)

OCVQ wrote on 8/8/2008, 8:32 PM

Thanks for your responses to both my posts. Funny... I went to Screenblast when I was fed up with Pinnacle's bugs too. I loved the program (Studio 8), when it worked. Thankfully, as long as I don't use it for editing, it still works fine. I like it for DVD authoring.

Guess I just need to experiment with VMS. In my initial trial run with it, it does seem very much like Screenblast so it should be an easy adjustment.

rch15 wrote on 8/8/2008, 10:58 PM

Youtube has alot of free tutorials on Vegas, besides the Sony ones

MSmart wrote on 8/9/2008, 12:17 AM

Is the onboard tutorial worthwhile?

Yes.

Thread with tutorial links

Movie Studio Tutorials

Another thread with links

PS I'm a former P Studio user, gave up at 10.8 when I bought VMS6. Enjoy your new editor, I sure have.

Byron K wrote on 8/9/2008, 1:31 PM

I too am a convert from the Pinnacle and Ulead camps. I just found that Platinum was much more stable than both of these apps at the time I jumped ship.

Yes I agree that the learning curve is steeper than Pinnacle and Ulead but once you understand the Vegas "logic" it's more intuitive to me and flows better. If I do decide to upgrade to the Vegas Pro the learning curve will be much easier since the user interfaces seem to be pretty consistent. Unlike the jump between Pinacle and Avid.

The VAST tutorial was OK had a few good tips about how to use Platinum. I've found that this forum has a lot of good info and users are generally very helpful to assist with almost anything you want to do. (Be sure to search the forums first (; )

-bK