Is there any reason you can't keep using version 12?

I came from the other direction. I began to think Movie Studio would be "bigger, stronger and faster" than the NLE I came from. I thought I needed it because I have a new 4K camera. It may be the learning curve, but most of what I want to do is harder, more hidden and awkward. The old NLE works fine with 4K even though it does not have any Nvidia boosted rendering speed. Nor has it ever crashed or locked up. The depth of training, tutorials and reference available for the old one is vast compared to what I can find for Movie Studio.

Bill

Sure, if you give up the tools like acid studio and other suite programs and don't need the BCC or New Blue power tools then another NLE mighty be good (even If I had PRO I'd probably get the VMS suite just for the power of the BCC plugins.

PRO would be a nice upgrade but I'd miss all of the stuff that makes VMS Suite work for me as I couldn't afford to buy the BCC or New Blue stuff you get.

But if you don't like it and it takes the fun out of doing video just change, why aggravate yourself?

Sony was forced to rethink SMS because Win8 was intended to work with Tablets etc. Since Ms felt they were missing out.

If you are using a small-screen then I guess the buttons need to be larger - and I complain that Win interface needs a mighty close view to avoid mis-clicking. That reflects on SMS and probably the Pro version which shared a common interface ( Well common enough).
Sadly the likes of Sony and Ms have used Focus-groups that will act like a Cmmtte - they satisfy "only" by not offending too many. If Sony was to ask me, I'd suggest they included a short film ( maybe 5min) which included unnecessary shots, some wobbles etc. - just like we did years ago! ( Some hope, eh?).
Then a Tutorial gathers these clips on the HDD/Folder, along with Music, SFX etc and goes about the Editing process. This Tutorial would help newbees and speed up their skills, i.e. without involving Movie File downloads from their cameras..
After you've had the Editor for a few months, you "should" be able to complete this task in well under 10mins - and look on the learning experience favourably.

Such a "Task" could become a benchmark for any software / Interface "Improvements" - so it would be fairly easy to spot where difficulties lay and what areas of the Process need simplifying. Almost any interface can be improved - BUT you have to convince folks it's worth Unlearning what they know....
-That's why were stuck with the QWERTY layout - it's a joke - and we might fiind adding a few "Function" keys ( e.g for Currency, Punctuation effects, Symbols etc. ) could be included - as long as there is a "Long shortcut" option so QWERTY boards will work.

I just hope SMS has a rethink and offers an interface that suits different Users. If I use the Volume line feature ( nearly always) I find the tiny margin between selecting the Media and moving the line is minute - surely selecting the Media should be a dedicated key - allowing the mouse a greater zone for the Line. Obviously we might all have different interface wishes . . . but I wonder when / if actual Users are ever asked?

Many Pros in Britain use Final Cut and are amazed by the features available with SMS - But features alone aren't the Answer - the Interface needs to be so obvious you leave the manual in the Box - That's the mark of good Software . . . . like a Pen . . . it's pretty obvious. It's also why Apple has such a dedicated following - once you unlearn how Ms does things.... Arrgh!

I know that some features are down to Ms - their clunky-way of handling screens harks back to . . . . whereas I'd like to be able to nest all the ( buttons, pull-downs colour pickers ), on a small screen ( like 19 inch) and have the actual time-line on a large widescreen. Then a modest monitor for the Preview, without all the junk that surrounds presently.
That way I can concentrate on the art work-flow and not have to keep moving frames about. Currently I use only one screen, but with LCD so cheap it should be easy enough to have several.

Obviously this interface would not suit tablets - but why not?
- If the tablet had a screen-swap ( do they?) feature, so I can be looking at each ( Screen=) Task without the clutter . . . in effect, the Tablet just got bigger!

Then to cap it off Sony could tell us how much easier / faster the next version is, compared with the earlier Editing Film Tutorial as a Benchmark....
That's it....
I hope OP is still with us . . . you never know: - Sony might just be reading.....

Ho Hum.

@TreeTops,
don't we just love a good rant or two every now and then?:)

Yes, VK, however that rant had some real good points and so did the other posters on this subject.

Funny you would mention tablets. I just installed Movie Studio 12 onto my small 8 inch Asus tablet to see if it would work in a pinch or not. Surprisingly it does, it just takes a long time to render. 30 second test clip took 4 minutes to render. Small tablets can Miracast to a big screen.

OK I've had a few days for my annoyance to die down.I managed to muddle through my last video and I'm in a much better mode then my first post. Thx for going easy on me :)

First the good:

* No crashes, worked pretty good.

* My number 3 point is wrong. I don't know why it changed but suddenly my project was updating the preview window while I was sizing the clips on the timeline. I have no idea what changed?!?! But I'm glad it did and now I can't replicate the the previous behavior. So maybe it was a fluke? Maybe it was setting? I don't know. I did play around a lot with the setting trying to optimize the interface to my liking so maybe that had an effect?.

* The "Config" gear at the bottom is pretty nice to turn auto ripple on and off. I was using the "options" on the tool bar to turn the ripple on and off (I know CTRL-L but I never seem to use that). Heck maybe the old version also had that and I just never noticed. I don't usually need to use auto ripple but this video was 30 minutes long.

The BAD still.

* Giant clown buttons! I mean seriously, There is so much screen space wasted by these buttons. A nice redesign would of been to move most of the buttons to the very top and very bottom of the screen to maximize the screen space. If you really look at how things are laid out, there is a LOT of wasted space. That should be a big focus on the next version of Movie Studio IMHO.

* Fades, I'm not nearly as annoyed as I first was having to hit the fade button all the time, but I still think the old way was much better.

Anyway after using it for about 16 hours I'm starting to get use to this new version. I was just super annoyed when I first started using the new version and thus my rant. I guess I'll hold of on going to Adobe Premier for a little bit :) I do want to someday upgrade to Vegas Pro but it's hard to justify spending the money. It's also super annoying seeing every 13 year old on youtube having the latest version of Vegas Pro and you know they didn't purchase it! I guess I could do that too but I like to be legit and support products I use. the only tool I would really use on Vegas Pro would be the stabilizer. The one in MS13 seems pretty terrible. I edit a lot of GoPro footage and there is always a lot of shake, MS13 the settings "Light", "Medium" and "Heavy" Stabilize never seem to produce the good results. Not to mention it takes forever.