OK, first question should be are there available good training dvds on how to edit using vegas? not how to use vegas, I have the Vasst vegas dvds and they are great, but more fundamental to a workflow for editing in general that goes into a good method to keep track of the whole footage while limiting what you are using vs not using and marking things you definately want to keep. Seems my workflow is one that makes sense to me but is very cumbersome at best.

Here is what I am doing and you can all tell me whats wrong/right or anything else you can think of.

I have the footage captured each tape by name and in a seperate folder and convert it to a cineform avi for one system that works with them well while another works only with mt2 well, and now I am using gearshift to make dv proxy files to work on, which is great and should be a mandatory part of the whole vegas program.

Once all the files are there I open the new project at 1920x1080 60i and grab a whole 1 hour tape in one folder and lay it all out as is. Than I go through and split or move the potential keepers from the boring, and move all the boring in time to a new line underneath and drop the opacity of that whole line so it goes dark but still visible, and I move the audio with it below and turn the volume down. I still keep it thinking that I may need more lead in or out later, is that smart?

In the end I have one hour tape worth in two lines one the good parts and one the boring, now what?

Do I move the good parts together? how can I mark the really good definately use parts as I go through so later or the next day when I open it again I know that the whole top line is good but these parts are definately to be included?

I am totally worng in my way of going through?

When I did this to each folder (tape) now is there a way to grab each veg file and combine them into one longer timeline?

When rendering out would it be best to render smaller segments as full avi so its not a huge 400gig per hour file but rather several 20 minutes huge files?

As you can see I am a bit lost here as I do not think my workflow is logical enough to be efficient, but cannot think of a much better way to do it and keep track of everything.

Next what are all the alternative hd/hdv/hd yuv, hdv yuv versions which is best for archiving file quality as a master on harddrive? as a ready to print back to tape? as final non HD delivery? and as potentailly blu ray delivery?

Open the one hour clip in 'Trimmer'.

Then select the footage you want and create sub-clips which you then drop into the timeline.

...Once all the files are there I open the new project at 1920x1080 60i...
Probably you'll see better performance on both your editing machines by matching your project settings to your media type, for HDV it is 1440x1080.

...and grab a whole 1 hour tape in one folder and lay it all out as is. Than I go through and split or move the potential keepers from the boring, and move all the boring in time to a new line underneath and drop the opacity of that whole line so it goes dark but still visible, and I move the audio with it below and turn the volume down. I still keep it thinking that I may need more lead in or out later, is that smart?
I think this is the major obstacle to a more efficient workflow - keeping the outtakes on the timeline. Short of jumping into the trimmer-based workflow that Bill suggested, you can also be more efficient editing on the timeline:
1) Split and remove an outtake or "boring" section.
2) Ripple will snug up the clips. Post-edit, you would use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Shift-F. You can also turn on ripple for all edits with the auto-ripple button in the toolbar. See what works for you.
3) Another way to snug up is to double click a blank area of the timeline to select it, then hit the delete key.

Now, if you discover you need more lead-in or lead-out on a shot, if auto-ripple is on just hover the cursor over the cut until it turns into a square with a double-arrow. Square on the right indicates that you are working on the lead-in of the clip after the cut. Square on the left indicates the lead-out of the previous clip. Click and drag to adjust the edit point of the clip, either shorten it or extend it.

...how can I mark the really good definately use parts as I go through so later or the next day when I open it again I know that the whole top line is good but these parts are definately to be included?...
Use Markers. Hit the M key at any time. If play was paused, you'll be able to name the marker. If you were playing the timeline, you can go back and right-click on the marker to name it. Use Ctrl-left arrow and Ctrl-right arrow to move quickly between markers.

...When I did this to each folder (tape) now is there a way to grab each veg file and combine them into one longer timeline?...
You can drag vegs from the explorer to the timeline to nest projects, or, you can open multiple instances of Vegas, select all the clips on one timeline and paste it into another.
...When rendering out would it be best to render smaller segments as full avi so its not a huge 400gig per hour file but rather several 20 minutes huge files?...
Don't render to an uncompressed AVI at 400GB/hr. For standard def, render to DV/AVI at 13GB/hr, for HDV render to perhaps Cineform at about 40GB/hr.

Cineform is visually lossless. The only time to consider uncompressed is if you're exporting a segment for fine work in After Effects or similar, or, to print to film.

OK, first question should be are there available good training dvds on how to edit using vegas? not how to use vegas, I have the Vasst vegas dvds and they are great, but more fundamental to a workflow for editing in general that goes into a good method to keep track of the whole footage while limiting what you are using vs not using and marking things you definately want to keep...
Vegas is an amazing tool with multiple methods to do most common tasks. I don't know if there is a book or DVDs that go into depth on NLE workflow. There are many possible workflows, depending on the needs of the project and the style of the person editing.

Wow! I can't thank you enough, I knew there were easy and fast ways to do what I was trying to do, I also know its tough to have any type of video that goes into the so very many functions and ways of doing things that are available in a program as complex as Vegas, or any NLE for that matter, but that ripple tool alone is a great time saver and way to do things this one post was a tremendous help to my workflow and thought process already and its a foundation to grow and fine tune so thank you for that.