Now with nested timelines, less. However, there are certain things I can't get away with: Chroma Keying ... 3-D work . . er .. gone blank!

I all depends on the level of complexity I want to go with. The trouble is, Vegas just sits there and beckons/teases me on! "So, Grazie you think you are tough enough? Bring it on! Bring it ON!"

Of course there is a fall off Previewing usability. Text and generated stuff slaughters my 3.2gHz.

But I wouldn't get too high bound in wanting to trim down to 2 or 4 tracks. Just slap 'em on and see what happens.

Grazie

I use precisely as many video tracks as are required for the project, no more, no less.

chienworks :) I knew someone would say that.

While that is true, there is something to be said for trying to keep things nice and organized meaning that its very easy to add too many tracks then needed.

I'm curious if for basic edits, no layered effects, do you try to keep within 1 or 2 tracks? or do you tend to use more.

I know lot so ftracks are common with layered effects, tracks that need compositing blend modes etc. Thats normal and i do it as well. But i tend to get a little loose with my tracks, causing an organizational nightmare :)

Well, even for basic edits with no layers, i can still say i use precisely as many tracks as needed. :) However, within those parameters, i tend to reuse tracks whenever possible. With keyframes, there is seldom a need to add a track for an effect if you have already added one previously. I find fewer tracks makes keeping track of the project as a whole much easier. I have to do a lot of horizontal scrolling along the timeline and that's annoying enough. Vertical scrolling up and down as well means i lose track of way too many things.

I'd say the minimum number of video tracks is made up with a couple of tracks of generated media (titles and other), a track of cut-aways, and one or two tracks for clips. This is without any fancy stuff like parent/children etc.
Then there are the audio tracks with dialogue, foley effects, background and a couple of tracks for music. I'd find it tedious to make do with fewer, I think, and generally I'd have more. But, as others have said, depends on the complexity of the cut.