I, too, went directly from Pinnacle Studio to Vegas.

I never looked back.

It's quite a bit different from Studio, but I didn't find it difficult to get used to at all. Within a few days, I used it to finish a project I started in Studio (or, rather, I rebuilt a project I had started in Studio) and immediately started a couple more.

Download the demo and try it for 30 days. You'll be glad you did.

Rob

I, like many others, came from Pinnacle products.

If you use it (Vegas), you will learn it. Once you get the feel of it, it's pretty easy to learn.

You won't be sorry.

Learning Curve? Its like falling off a log. Keep reading these posts for the tricky stuff , but for general editing the menus are where you wanr them (not hidden in some submenu) Also check out the Creativecow forum for Vegas - very helpful.

Just do it! - Come here for the really techie stuff . . shred that . . come here for any help .. ! Welcome aboard . . . be prepared for some really long nights and sleepy mornings . . ! ! !

Grazie

I've just been teaching a group of kindergarten teachers basic Vegas editing. Many of them were not deeply into the use of computers. But the basic use (what you asked about) is sooo very easy to do and even comprehend. You get good results very fast, no matter where you come from.
When you start digging deeper you realise that for many things you want to do there are three or four different methods. That is why a simple question in this forum often gets 7-10 answers. At this point Vegas is not "easy", it's downright formidable. But there is logic to it. The surprises you get are of the "Gee, that's neat" variety. And what's more, you are already up and running by then, creating projects, impressing your friends. Telling stories that eventually will change the world ... or not.
Tor

I also started out on Studio 7, then 8 and 9.

Vegas is great, and you'll be able to do many things that you can't do in Studio, like unlimited video tracks, pan and scan, etc. Plus, it's much, much more stable and reliable. Just compare the posts here and the posts on the Pinnacle forum where most of which are from people complaining about bugs (and 2 or 3 "know-it-alls").

But, Studio still has a better/easier Titler, and you'll miss the HFX and "SmartSounds". And Studio renders faster.

You'll eventually get weaned off of Studio and Vegas will become your primary editor, but I wouldn't hrow it away. Studio still comes in handy for many things, and you can easily edit your Vegas .AVIs in Studio, and vice versa.

However, for simple 20 minute projects, it shouldn't take you more than a day to get up to speed if you've already worked with Studio.

You make a cut by pressing the S key.

There is no razor tool. Just place the cursor somewhere and hit S.

Besides what everyone else said, keep a shortcut to the manual in your quicklaunch bar. :) The manual can answer almost ANY question you have (on how to use the program).

Thanks for all the friendly responses.

Another current Vegas/Studio 9 user checking in...

Your way will be smoothed a bit if you primarily used Studio in timeline view rather storyboard, as this doesn't exist in Vegas. One thing to consider is to turn on ripple editing, if you're accustomed to having gaps close up when you delete a clip, the way they do in Studio. And learn to use markers -- this will permit you to very easily and accurately select an individual scene or range from the timeline. With this, you can render a specified portion of your project to a file. Very convenient.

As has been mentioned by another user, I'll keep Studio around, because it's really a good tool (if you're one for whom it works well) for certain types of projects. For example, if you use the Smard Music facility, you can create a file of a specified length in Studio, then bring it into Vegas.

glk,

As others have said, most Vegas features are pretty intuitive. I would suggest you take a look at the manual on how Vegas treats ripple editing. It will speed things up enormously and save frustration if you understand its logic.

Greg

I also came from Studio 7, 8 and 9. Vegas is a great tool and very easy for getting basics done. I'm not real experienced, but I can tell you that VEGAS ROCKS and once you starting getting more creative, it will open up many many more ideas for you. I learned alot from the tutorials that jetdv puts out as well as other sites. This forum is great!

I'm just now starting to use DVDA2. I still rely on DVD authoring in studio just cuz it's so quick to do.

One more thing.......guess what.......NO MORE CRASHES!!!!!

Take care,
Galen