Just to get you started as the first cut is always the hardest.

To get rid of the bits you don't want you can do it at least two ways.

put the thing on the timeline and drag the ends so you've just got the first bit you want. Now put another copy on the time line past the end of the first bit and repeat for the second bit you want.

Alternatively find the middel of a bit you don't want, hit "S" to split and drag the ends left and right to trim all the bad bit out, if you have ripple edit on the ends will slide back together as you go.

Always try to work from beginning to end, this isn't even a rule but when you're new to it its a little harder to hit a lot of the issues you can run into.

As others have said though, play with it. Remember you're not actually cutting anything up, if its a total disaster you can easily start again. Best trick is make multiple backups with a logical number scheme like backup-01.veg, backup-02.veg. The .veg files are very small so having a hundred isn't an issue!

I know you've done the RTFM thing but it's a lot to keep in the brain. Doing it is the only real way to learn. And be patient with yourself, try simple things first, VV is very seductive I find, I spent a lot of time doing pretty complex stuff but unless your into mtv stuff you'll probably never use it and if you feel the urge, sleep on it for while, I've never heard anyone complain about too few fxs in a video!

Screenblast is a cut down version of Vegas and has some very good tutorials. You could download the demo version and get used to that. The learnings are very easily transferred.

Ian G.

If you go to Vegas 3.0c updates, you will see that there are tutorial files you can download. Also download the Vegas 3.0 manual which gives you step-by-step instructions on how to put together a small project. The tutorial files include the media for the tutorial in the manual. I did this when I downloaded Vegas 4 beta earlier this year to get a taste of editing in Vegas. I found it a very helpful exercise. Don't be concerned that it is for Vegas 3 as it will still help you to become somewhat familiar with Vegas 4. It won't, however, go into making a DVD.

Being a newbie I felt your pain. I highly recommend Sonic Foundrys Digital Video and Audio Production. It comes with a CD that even has video and audio to use for the training. It covers a lot and is excellent, I only wish they would have included how to set up Vegas 4.0 and how to create and use folders. Another excellent program I highly recommend is Vegas 4.0 Editing Workshop by Class on Demand with Douglas Spotted Eagle. (You will learn much) including many advanced editing applications and tools. Check out www.creativecow.net it contains lots of useful Vegas tutorials. Most of all experiment and have fun.

I'll throw in don't try to edit in one sitting. If the project is of any length you'll benefit from doing it over a stretch of time and then once you think you're done, just put it aside, the look at it again a week or so later. You'll have a more critical eye and see things you otherwise may have missed and for sure (me anyways) don't like and end up changing.

If you're ever going to get to be a skilled editor don't be afraid to experiement. Mistakes are a good teacher. While you should trust in what you're doing, two heads are better than one, three is better yet. Meaning listen to what others have to say, IF they aren't afraid to tell you the truth and not worry about maybe hurting your feeling and don't simply say everything is fine as is when even you know it isn't.

My view, many people leave scenes that should have been snipped and the scenes they do leave are frequently too long or seem out of order or have no meaning or purpose. Its all about story telling. Example: Gone with the Wind was a long movie, but there's isn't much you'd want to cut out. On the other hand Matrix Two was way too long, and disjointed (in my opinion) and the only reason I didn't walk out in the middle was because I went with others and I was drving. Your video should be as long as it needs to be, but not one frame longer. ;-)

I also went through this learning exercise. As someone earlier said, I think the best way to start with Vegas is with tutorial in the Vegas 3 manual. Search for Vegas 3 on Sonic Foundry's web site and eventually you'll find the manual. Download it and print out the tutorial. It'll make a huge difference in just learning the very basics.

Others have mentioned great choices for learning V4. I also have Class on Demand's DVD set. This is excellent but Douglas Spotted Eagle goes very quickly. I look at the series more as a good demonstration as to what Vegas can do rather than step by step instructions to learn it.

Checkout http://www.blue7media.com/vegas/ for lots of popular Vegas links. Also, do a search in this forum on training and you'll find this is a very frequently discussed topic.

I came to V3 then 4 from S8 and the learnig curve was pretty steep yet intuitive and, best of all, fun.

As for DVD authoring do you have DVDA?

My first attempt at authoring a DVD went spectacularly well. I read the manual, asked a few pertinent questions here like how to add chapter markers, and experimented. It wasn't too complex a project but I ended up with a main menu with three objects two of which had moving pictures in the menu display and the third led to an audio only section.

One menu object played the video and the other went to a submenu of chapters over three pages with each chapter having it's own picture depicting the content.

So far not one DVD player has refused to play it.

My point is... I just played around with it all, layed down a few ideas on paper (well, notepad actually) and went for it.

Great fun and great results and, so far, I have had quite a few requests from family members for copies.

Good luck!