Sony Vegas is usually described as "very powerful," but with a "steep learning curve." Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9, while more powerful than ever, has integrated "Show Me How" tutorials that have significantly improved its usability. The use of these tutorials carries over to the bundled DVD Architect Studio, which is Sony's DVD authoring application. This contrasts with the "wizard" approach of many competing editors, in that once you have been led through the process you typically discover many options that allow you to fine-tune the process -- something not seen in deliberately simplified wizards.

One exception that proves the rule is the "Import AVCHD" function, which is a wizard, and which is less flexible than the equivalent function in competing software. Importing AVCHD in Vegas 9 is all or nothing. The option to browse the camcorder's contents and select which files you want to import doesn't seem to be available. You can see and judge for yourself in the following video, from Ron Risman's excellent review at Cameratown: