In the NLE catagory for best money spent.

1. Getting Edward's tips and tricks spiral bound so I can refer to them constantly. Word for word the most valuable book I have.

2. Buying Douglas Spotted Eagle's book. Very well written and very well laid out. About the best I've seen in any manual.

Both men deserve a big thank you. It's obviously a labor of love for both gentlemen.

Thanks guy's

Beas

Thanks for the kind words. They are much appreciated.

Ditto! I have all Edward's newsletters in the same mondo notebook that I've placed the printed out Vegas manual in (I personally hate PDF versions of these things... I like reading curled up by the fire). And I agree that Douglas Spotted Eagle's book is a solid reference as well. But now what do I do with my shelves full of Avid references/books/manuals? ;-)

Have you also added this (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20830) to your collection, Bryan?

That is a good addition, Rob. There's also many more good tutorials scattered around the web. Some are fairly easy to find - some more difficult. Here's a few more links to tutorial sites.

Sundance Media Group (http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/help/kb/kb_files.asp?s=1)
Tutorials by Marty Hedler (http://www.martyhedler.com/homepage/Vegas_Tutorials.html)
BillyBoy Vegas Tutorials (http://www.wideopenwest.com/%7ewvg/tutorial-menu.htm)

As a matter of fact Rob ,yes I have.

The cost of binding pages and even laminating often used pages is minimal.

An aside:
I bought Vegas before Christmas and hadn't actual started to use it right away. The first project was rough and Edwards Tips N Tricks saved the day.

I finished the first project last week. The learning curve for vegas is steep and it's not intuitive like premiere but it sure is powerful.

Bottom line is , I could do the same project in less than a day once i got through the learning process.

Of course, Douglas's book arrived the day after i finished :)))

<<<-- The learning curve for vegas is steep and it's not intuitive like premiere but it sure is powerful.

-->>>

I felt the same thing about the learning curve in Vegas- but in all honestly the only thing that made it difficult was the fact I was coming from Premiere. If I had started out learning Vegas and not Premiere it would have been so much easier. I had to *unlearn* many things.
Lastly I have to completly disagree with you about it "not being intuitive like premiere". Once the workflow is learned it's the absolute other way around- Vegas is *much* more intuitive than Premiere. The concepts that were difficult to get used to at first make so much sense now- all the operations are quite logical. Premiere is the poison that made it difficult. lol

This is a bit off topic, but does anyone know of a good ACID 4.0 tutorial or tips area? I'll be incorporating ACID into my Vegas program, and I always need all the help I can get. :D

There's always the main Acid forum on the Sony site.

I knew there was an obvious solution out there. :D Thanks!

Vegas is easier to use once you learn it.

<<<-- Originally posted by Bryan Beasleigh : Vegas is easier to use once you learn it. -->>>

Couldn't that be said about everything?

Where can I find Edward's Tips and tricks. Sounds intersting.

Vegas Tips, Tricks, and Scripts (http://www.jetdv.com/tts)

The vegas manual is very well written (use the search tool, Luke!). Also, the 24p white paper is a must for all the 24p shooters (mainly the DVX100/100A lucky bastards).

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/download/step2.asp?DID=441

Oh, and one more thing. You have to USE the application.

Edit 2-3 one-minute projects and you'll get an understanding of what's what and more importantly, you'll know what you don't know. The Vegas Shortcuts PDF (link is on this page somewhere) contains a very brief workflow recommendation which is excellent.

But most importantly, create a few small, doable projects you feel passionate about and you'll get beyond the chaotic state of a new user who does not know where to begin and is trying to learn by reading Everything.

Have fun!

-- Andre

For Acid--check out Acid Power--(do a search at Amazon). I have Sound Forge Power and it is excellent. Thats the only title I know for Acid.