Try this:

Drag all your pictures & video clips into the media pool. You now have thumbnails of them.

Stretch the video track out so it's taller. Zoom out so that you have at least a couple minutes across the timeline horizontally.

Drag the thumbs from the media pool up to the timeline. Arrange them like they were on a slide sorter ... or ... a storyboard! True, the width of the clip on the timeline will vary with it's length. But then, isn't that a good thing?

Movie studio is a great program not a whole lot different from vegas, I used video factory to learn the vegas way of things before purchasing Vegas, it was a huge help. If i was making home video type stuff it would be all I would need, and frankly would probably do fine for many "professional" projects I've done in Vegas. It always amazes me the people who seem to jump right into vegas as their first edit program when they can get little brother to cut their teeth.
But thats just me.

dont forget you can storyboard w the Excal 4 plug in too!

As you have learned there is the Vegas way of editing and the rest. You basicly have to accept the good with the bad. I have always wanted single frame forward and reverse buttons, I think most video applications have this, not Vegas. I am sure it is a "use a key stroke" thing, like I always have one hand free. To lay out clips in a storyboard isn't just for home videos, learn a little about how other programs try to make editing more than splicing clips together. I like the engine of Vegas and will continue to use it, but sometimes it is just too narrow in its editing tool choices.

That's not really too bad, I think it's a good thing. Vegas is a great tool, I'd suggest of all the NLEs it's the most powerful and flexible there is. But it's still "a" tool, not "the" tool simply because there's never just one tool that does everything or suits every task.

For just home movies there's plenty of quite capable packages out there that are way cheaper than Vegas and not as flexible which means not so many ways to get yourself into trouble. First NLE I used was MGI Videowave, came free with a firewire card and I did quite a few thousand dollars worth of work with it, once I had a vague idea of what video was all about then I had the experience and the dollars to step up to Vegas.

Bob.

Actually, everything I said also applies to Vegas movie studio. No storyboarding when that is by far the easiest way for people to tell a story.

Vegas is a great tool for bit heads, but it is just a shame that ULead and Movie Maker have simple storyboard modes but a product like Vegas (Movie Studio) does not. Even the more expensive editing programs have storyboarding.

I know Vegas has a nitch and I have been hooked into that nitch. I storyboard in one program and move to Vegas because I like how it works. Unfortunately, I advise away from that because I think it is easier to learn another complete program that will allow the complete story to be told.

While the other tools like Excalibur are great for video bitheads, that is not a great route for people that just want to tell a simple story. Again, I think Sony is really missing the boat on this part of the creative and learning process.

People can talk about all of the improvements that have happened to Vegas over the years and there have been many. However, the lack of storyboarding is just a shame.

dB

I have Pinnacle's Studio 9 'plus' which has a good storyboard mode with several views. However, Vegas 6 has that new media manager tab which can be dragged to virtually full-screen, and strikes me as a natural for not only viewing but organizing a storyboard.

"Vegas is a great tool for bit heads..."

The fact is, Vegas is a professional tool for video editors. It is not intended to be a toy for moms and dads cutting together birthday party videos.

I have always wanted single frame forward and reverse buttons,...

NUDGE EVENT - NUMPAD
Few frames left/right Num4/Num6
One frame left/right Num1/Num3
Move event up/down track Num2/Num8

Mike

Which isn't to say that storyboarding isn't part of a pro workflow however it's done before the cameras roll and isn't typically part of the traditional workflow of a NLE.
All that said though the storyboard features of most NLEs that I've seen are nowhere near powerful enough for the serious task of building a storyboard which is probably why we'll never see it in Vegas.
This topic has gotten me interested, just how do you use a storyboard in a NLE to edit video? I can see how using a storyboard to plan a production works, each element from the storyboard is given a meaningful number, the takes on the day are slated with those numbers and all this put together in an edit system in post. What I don't see is how you start with what's on tape(s) and build a storyboard using the visual cues taken from one frame of each clip, I'd think that meaningful text labels for the clips would be way more useful. Yes a little more work for the Mums and Dads to get their heads around but given the way most of them shoot video it'd surely be a better way for them to learn.
Bob.

I agree that Vegas is not the program most people should start with, although I don't think Storyboarding is necessarily the only reason. I usually recommend that start with Pinnacle Studio. Despite the stability problems it has had over the years, it is by far the most approachable video editing program I've ever seen.

When they find themselves limited by Studio (and many people never reach that point), I tell them to use Movie Studio. Of course, when they find the limitations in that, it is an easy step to Vegas.

Personally I never missed the storyboarding when I made the same journey myself that I outlined above, although I can fully appreciate its power. I find that right-clicking and using "shuffle" gets me close to what I need.

You say you're finally advising people away from Vegas. That's cool. Keep the amatuers away from a real NLE and let them use Pinnacle Studio, or a similar toy.

You know what? The people buying your video work couldn't possibly care less how you made it. Really. When I was a tape editor no one cared what model Edit Controller I used, all they cared about was what the VHS distribution copies looked like.

A real editor can edit with anything, just as a real writer can compose prose with Microsoft WOrd, Word Perfect or on a Mac with whatever word processor they use.

Do you base your choice of newspapers on the OS and software they use to put it together?

Peter Burn

I am just amazed. Seriously. It boggles the mind. Vegas 6 is released and has a few bugs or doesnt have features someone wants. So then someone says that they are going to not recommend Vegas to others. Guys, give it a rest. While you may think you are a big part of a bigger plan or circle, youre not. Im not. Vegas is much bigger than these forums lead you to believe.

Now heres the kicker. If you recommended to me that I shouldnt use Vegas but you continue to use Vegas, what kind of message does that send about you?

Rather than steering people AWAY from Vegas, think of it as steering them TOWARD something else. For a great many people, Vegas is not a good program with which to start, particularly if they are just doing "casual" video, like home movies. Vegas really isn't a "family movie" program, although a lot of people are using it quite successfully for just that purpose.

For me personally, I wouldn't have any use for a storyboarding feature if it were included in Vegas. Vegas is a GREAT program even without it.

Now, if you really want to suggest a home movie editing program for someone who has never done it before and has no aspirations to become the next (insert famous director name here) then have them look at a program called "muvee autoProducer v4." It's a fully automatic video editor and it is positively spooky how well it can edit home movies and photos into something watchable. It will even burn it to DVD for them.

www.muvee.com

John

My last word: when we got the first MAC-based AVID in 1996 I was really excited about it and told everyone who came to the studio how much better it was than a Media 100. The blank stares eventually tipped me off that the clients had zero interest in the tools of the trade. The only time people commented on editing tools was in 1992 when I was able to upgrade from U-Matic to Betacam SP. I've seen great stuff cut with AVID, Vegas, Premiere 6.5/1.5 and Final Cut Pro. I like Vegas because it is very easy to use but I doubt if more than one person a month asks me what my favourite editing software is. However, if someone is actually shopping for editing software I do point them in Sony's direction. The only really awful editing app I can think of is that Canopus thing: Edius, I think it is called. Or maybe Pinnacle makes it, who cares?

Vegas is a curious NLE with powerful tools, and uncomprehending lacks (like : no Overwrite mode, very poor prerender management, no track lock button, preview stretched when trimming...)
Like RangTang said : we have to accept the good with the bad.
At this time, i consider "the good" bigger than "the bad"

> I have always wanted single frame forward and reverse buttons, I think most video applications have this, not Vegas<

RanTang, the Vegas keyboard is customizable in Preferences>Keyboard. Associate any key you want (I use left and right arrows) to be one frame foward or back.

BTW, I demonstrate this in The Vegas 5 Companion

Gary

Gary's DVD set on Vegas5 is one of the reasons why I'm STAYING with VEgas . .. oh, and that Vegas keeps on developing . .and, I guess, will try to make use of the more powerful PCs as they roll out!

Grazie

"RanTang, the Vegas keyboard is customizable in Preferences>Keyboard. Associate any key you want (I use left and right arrows) to be one frame foward or back."

I think what he was getting at was that he wants an actual BUTTON on the playback panel for this function, not a hotkey. Some people don't like hotkeys and prefer to do as much as possible with mouse clicks. (not me -- I'm a hotkey guy...)