After upgrading to the latest release, my auto preview appears to have stopped showing the video in the preview window. Playback from the timeline diplsays fine. Just auto preview I only get sound. Any ideas?

It's a FEATURE! Read the "ReadMe" file for these details:
Sony Creative Software Inc. - Vegas Release Notes (http://sony-529.vo.llnwd.net/dspcdn/releasenotes/vegaspro80c_readme_enu.htm)

Enhanced Trimmer window with integral video monitor, separate external monitor, Enable Timeline Overwrite, and Fit to Fill modes.

When the Show Video Monitor button in the Trimmer window is selected, video that you preview from the Vegas Explorer and Media Manager windows is played back in the Trimmer. Because the Trimmer is placed in the same window dock as the Explorer and Media Manager, you will not see your video preview. To preview Explorer and Media Manager video, you can drag the Trimmer to a new dock group, or you can turn off the Show Video Monitor button to preview in the Video Preview window.

Cheers Edward. I bet this one will catch a few more out!

OK, I will now face embarrasment and ridicule by admitting I don't use the trimmer window. I honestly am not sure what advantage/need I have of it, when I can edit/trim on the timeline.

Care to enlighten me?

I typically do not use the trimmer window either. There are specific cases where I WILL use it (i.e. I'm looking to fill a 10 second hole on the timeline and I know I'm looking for a segment in a specific 20 minute clip) but for normal editing will just drop the footage onto the timeline and start chopping.

However, people coming from other NLE's get lost because they are so used to having a secondary preview window to select what gets added to the timeline. It has it's uses and many people like using it over chopping on the timeline. Just a matter of what workflow you prefer.

Unlike Edward I tend to use the Trimmer for most of my first edits as it allows me to arrange the shots from a sequence of events in the order I want and at the length I want (and by toggling the Tab button I can move both sound and vision or either one or the other into thr Timeline just where I want it to go). But I know many distinguished Sony Vegas editors (of whom Edward is most certainly one) use the Timeline for most of their editing.

In the end I think it's a matter of personal choice although I think a debate on the merits or otherwise of both methods might prove well worthwhile.

Regards,

Richard