Decided to return to AMV and GMV making.

[Wandering Utlaga]

I apologise if this opening is a little long winded.
Well, anyway...Its been well over a year since I've made a video. I used to make Sonic amvs using Windows Movie Maker, but I eventually grew bored with it, partly due to the way the program would often lock up and force me to shut down the computer. My videos weren't very impressive, partly because I never wrote down my plans, but they weren't as bad as a lot of the amvs on youtube are.
This was the last full video I made. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZkq5TlZYPM
And this was a beta I made so I could become editor on a class project. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRu3X8ZJOvI

Anyway, I recently got my hands on Sony Vegas. I've used it to test with some non-amv videos I have planned, but after making a plan for a Kingdom Hearts video and getting the clips together, I realised I had forgotten one thing - I've no idea how to use the program beyond its basics. There are so many more options than I'm used to its hard to tell what does what or where.

What I'm wondering is what are some commonplace techniques or tips for things that I can do now or haven't used before, or work differently?

[Nya-chan Production]

Not really. Place clips on the timeline, explore. Get better sources without subtitles, don't encode in DivX (this should help: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech31/), enjoy.

Two quick tips: S key splits the clip on the timeline you're on. And Shift + B prerenders section into memory for smooth preview playback.

[Wandering Utlaga]

Well, heres my attempt with Sony Vegas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwzxGFiGS8o

I already know one mistake I made, and thats I didn't quite understand what order the layers went. I went over-under, rather than under-over. I also let a few clips go on too long, but the next song I use will have more flexibility when it comes to characters so I'll have more to draw from.

[Nya-chan Production]

I can see a few subtitles there... and that logo seriously disturbed me the whole time (it's not much better than the DivX logo for me)

Also, you should probably move to some other parts of forums, since this is no longer Vegas problem, but AMV feedback ;>

[Wandering Utlaga]

I will try and find a better place for this topic, thank you .

I tried to fix the subtitles with cropping, and thought that youtubes timeline bar would cut off the tiny bits that were left (that was lazy of me, won't do that again).Except for that last scene. I had a reason for leaving that one, but I can't remember what :/
And I'll be sure to to get rid of the watermark in the future, or at least replace it with something that won't disturb the viewer.