Hi Tim, thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it.
Ok, the file that I want to work with is an avi,
I'm a little (read a lot) confused.
1. where/how can i check the codecs and resolution of the file?
2. I dont know how to do this
3. I think that I can do this ok
4. Is it - file, render as..?
Sorry for bothering you with some more questions, I am muddling my way through vegas but really dont have much knowledge of it.
Cheers again.

Edit: so is it not possible to just delete say 1 minute of footage from the file without rendering it?