Yes, DSE appears on a number of forums and is widely recognised as a world leader in the use of and as a teacher of Vegas. His book is the most informative manual you can find and covers just about every aspect you can think of. Highly recommended!

The VASST DVDs put flesh on the bones of what is a large and often difficult suject. As a newcomer struggling to come to terms with so much in the NLE world I found these DVDs filled in all the missing gaps in my understanding and they do say that a good demonstration is worth a thousand words (well, if they don't say it, I certainly do!). The DVDs are comprehensive and easy to follow while the style is professional and supportive and you do not end up feeling patronised.

I've only seen extracts from Garry Kleiner's DVDs but the presentation did not appeal to me as much - a subjective test I know but one that left me in little doubt that VASST offered the better product. And from what is said in Irascian's link about the misuse of Douglas Spotted Eagle's name I have no doubt that I made the right decision.

Richard

Sorry, I should also have said that Edward Troxel's Newsletters on his jetdv.com site are very helpful.

Richard

Thanks for the advice!
I won't give Kleiner one cent.

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StudioSeventyTwo

Yeah. Don't be put off by the fact that they date back to March 2003. Much of the basic functionality in Vegas remains unchanged from earlier versions, so even older tutorials are of value.

The other good thing about these newsletters is that they are a great introduction to the world of "scripting" (as is JetDV's website) - one of Vegas' strengths and something which I was totally unaware of when I was thinking of migrating from MSP. There are great productivity gains to be had both by utilising ones people have already made and/or modifying them for your own needs.

Thanks everyone!
I think I will go without a guide book, there are better things to spend my money on, especially seeing that most good information is available for free on the web.


Thanks again!

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StudioSeventyTwo

The web/forum approach is very god if you've got the time, are prepared to take answers with a pinch of salt and have specific problems to solve. In fact it ius probably the most efficient way to solve a specific problem.

But..

What you might be missing out on is that a book, especially if read from cover to cover, will almost certainly open your eyes to other possibilities - ie things you might not otherwise have thought of. I'm on my third reading of DSE's Workshop as recommended in this and plenty of other threads - there's always something new to learn.
It's not a massive investment, put it on your birthday list.

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Tim

Yeah, I will definitely buy the DSE Workshop book, just not right at the moment.
Thanks for your advice!

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StudioSeventyTwo

I agree with Tim. Forums are excellent for dealing with specific problems but it is essential that you search them before submitting a query as people naturally enough get quite cross when they are asked to deal with the same point time and again - and the search criteria aren't alway easy to identify.

Many of your issues will probably have been covered already in a good manual such as DSE's excellent work. Frankly I wouldn't be without it and it has certainly helped me to appreciate what other things can be accomplished with Vegas. What is more, it's at your elbow all the time and you don't have to waste time waiting for a forum reply that may never come. I can't recommend this book highly enou: its an excellent investment.

Best Wishes,

Richard