I feel your pain!
I had a couple of editing programs I'd learned before Reaper so it wasn't too tough.
To me, Reaper's strength is it's extensive functionality and avenues to customize the interface so it's easy to do what you want and forget about all that other stuff.
A couple of suggestions;
Learn to use the Media Explorer and dock it. It's how to access your computer's files without leaving Reaper.
Also, for the somewhat limited commands you're probably going to use (and the limited times per year you're going to need to do post), learn to use the "Floating Toolbars".
I set up one for each stage of editing/processing I do. I think in the latest version of Reaper, you can set up 5 (or was it 8?). In each toolbar you can set up a button for many commands (such as "trim right or left", render, toggle snap to, toggle zoom (or anything that's in the "action list" plus macros of several commands if you like,.. but setting up macros for the first time is kind of a mind bender). Once you have the toolbars set up, you can forget about having to go to the main menu or remembering all the "right clicks" to reveal the hidden dialog boxes and sub menus (although learning to check for these by right clicking anything and everything is a good habit to get into).
When you're setting up your toolbars, the box that's revealed when you hit "edit me" and then "Add" is important. learn that dialog box! There are similar dropdowns everywhere and they all have a "Filter" search box. Use it. The things that you can create a button for and put in a toolbar are "Actions". Take a look at the Action list and see if you ever want to go through the 1000+ actions in search of the one you want. The Filter will search these lists and once you get the hang the key words, it's a life saver! Examples of keywords are either an action or an object such as "move", delete, edit or cursor, item, track.
Look closely at stuff. There is a tiny spec sized ! mark on the floating toolbar. Clicking on it allows you to do stuff like dock the floating toolbars on the right or left edge. I like that better than having to move them out of the way.
I ain't no expert but I have gotten to the point that I don't have to go through the notes I wrote when I went through the manual (the second time!).
There are also a gazillion Youtube tutorials on Reaper. Watch as many as you can stand (there's also tutorials on the Reaper Wiki).
I can't really remember which tutorial I watched but there's one on customizing screensets (there's a section in the manual but it's easier to understand if you can watch someone else do it). They teach you how to set up several screensets for different uses such as one for recording, mixing and one for editing. You can have your floating toolbars set up differently in each screenset. So, you can switch between which screenset you want to use.
I think it's a good idea to write stuff down like project settings or anything I had to grovel through the 400 page manual for. Once you figure something useful out, figure out if there's an easier way to do it and once you've made up your mind, write it down or put in a toolbar! I have a junk toolbar that I stick things in that I haven't really decided if it worth having.
Some of the things to write down are modifiers such as the command, option, shift and control keys. You will need to get the hang of some of these modifiers such as holding the "shift" key while you drag an item back in forth to get it in the right time position.
So,.. learn what you need to 'cause there's way too much there unless you work with it as a full time job.
The key is to customize the interface so it does exactly what you need it to do. They provide a framework and it's up to you to fill it in.
Topic: Reaper tips & tricks (Read 14724 times)