If you want a real hands-on book that will teach you all the basics of Vegas, I recommend "Digital Video And Audio Production - A hands-on guide to creating rich multimedia with Vegas4". Although it's for Vegas 4, you will find it works very well for Vegas 5. It features a textbook type format with exercises and test questions. The accompanying CD contains all the media needed to complete the exercises. You can find it by selecting the Support link above, or here is the direct link:
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=684

Since it's a Mediasoftware book, somebody knows if they're gonna release a V5 version soon?
I must admit I'm having trouble playing "instinctively" with Parent/Child and, to a lower extend, with this new 3D Pan/Crop thingy (but I guess I will get through it soon when I really put my hands on it)

I learned enough from the online tutorials that spot mentioned to know I needed to buy Vegas and that I could figure it out.
I then bought Spot's dvds for Vegas 4 and learned enough in one weekend to make my first short film. I did have to ask a few questions at forums like this along the way, but pretty well that dvd series got me there and the movies played in somewhere around 9 festivals so far. Not possible without Vegas and Spot's dvds.
Once you've seen them, I advise also Gary Kleiner's dvds. Then you'll be ready for the Sound Forge dvds if you need extra audio work and support (which all of us will eventually need).
That's one of the greatest things about Vegas- the support. I know of no other product with so many instructionals and if you ever have a question people at this forum and others go out of their way to help.

Just one other thought.....If you decided to purchase Digital Video And Audio Production, you can download a free Vegas5 PDF update that is written by the authors of the book. The link is:

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/vegas5newfeatures.pdf

Another option is to buy Spots training DVD, Vegas 5 FASST. I have both and find they are terrific references. Since the Vegas5 PDF update is free, everyone should get it.

Haze

I was told (where I bought Vegas) that the 5.0 version book would be out sometime in August.

As the originator of this thread said, "...didn't really find anything that would be good for a beginner...", I have to agree. I was using Studio9 and, although it met my newbie needs, it locked up, crashed, and corrupted my project to the point that it's unusable. I had heard that Vegas was the way to go so I bought it.

The interface is nothing like Studio, and I'm REALLY lost! Although there are a bunch of tutorials and instruction for the advanced user, I just don't know where to start with this. I've already spent hundreds of dollars on software and now before I spend even more money on manuals and training courses, I'd like to know what's involved in making a simple five minute video of my kids skateboarding. Are there NO beginner tutorials anywhere?

Take a look at the "Beginner's Corner" series (beginning in issue #4) in my newsletter

Hi all,

Thanks for all the great responses. I think I'm going to pick up one of the above two DVD's. From the look of the description, the Vegas 5.0 Fasst is more for users on version 4.0 than for beginers (me).

Is this observation correct, and if so, should I get Vasst Intro then get Vegas Fasst down the road?

Thanks,
Blue

I am a relative newbie to Vegas as well, and although there are many excellent guides and books out there, you can download the User's Manual for free from this site.

I was in the same boat as you, so I printed out the entire manual, and I read the whole thing before I even started my first project in Vegas. I even marked pages of interest with tabs for future reference. Believe it or not, it *really* helped.

The manual is actually very well written, very informative, and is perfect for someone in your situation. Once I got through the manual, working with Vegas was no problem.

Just my two cents.

I notice that since haze2 put the sony "new features .pdf up on this series of posts that Sony has taken it off. One can no longer access it.
tailgait

You can always go here and select the same file.

Same boat as you. Purchased both the Veg 4 book and DVD Workshop 4. For me, the DVDs really fast-track your learning, compared to reading - books are good references though. You can't go wrong with either VASST Introduction to Vegas 5 or Workshop 4 DVD.

Spot's Vegas 4 DVDs are terrific, the best video tutorials I've ever seen for a software program. I went from being a total never-before-used-an-NLE in my life kinda guy 3 months ago, to where now I create videos like:

www.daytradinguniversity.com/daytradingjuly2004.wmv

Spot's DVDs rock. Get them. Made me a competent Vegas user overnight. Astonishing, really. Thought it would take weeks to learn. Took just hours, after learning the inside tips from Spot.

See my review at amazon.com too. Look up Vegas DVDs, or here's the direct URL:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009XFQM/qid=1091115815/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-5199382-2627337?v=glance&s=dvd



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