Most users here seem agreed that Sonar is the place record, mix and then sync sound to video, but that a video package like Vegas is the place to prepare the video, given also that Soundforge (bundled with some Sony video packages) is also the best option for red book CD creation.  I was wondering whether this is still current practice, as I'm very confused by the plethora of flavours of video packages.  A need has arisen for some basic video to add to a substantial Sonar project.  I need to present this as a finished DVD, but I don't want/need to invest in a full-on pro video installation.  I don't have any special brand loyalty (except to CW, of course!) What's the minimum needed to do justice to the music?  Open source options?  I am hoping fellow Splatters here could share their sound-to-picture experiences with a video virgin! 

I've only used Sony Vegas so I can't recommend it above any others, but I did find it fairly easy to get started and produce some basic videos. Quite straightforward to drag and drop clips and stills, add fx, fades, etc.

did you already check the freebies, like windows movie maker? they'll do the basics for you, and they're free :-)

+1 for Sony Vegas Eezyp.
 
If your version of vegas is prior to 12,  I would also recommend a plugin script by vasst called 'gearshift'. It creates a lower resolution surrogate video to make editing faster, then substitutes the hi Def video back in when you render. Pretty handy for highly compressed consumer formats that most cameras use as well as HD pro formats.
You can download it here:
 
http://vasstsoftware.com/downloads/
 
If you have Vegas 12 or 13, smart proxy function is built in.
 
Good luck with the movie!

Another plus for Vegas Pro.  Sony seems to make very good software, there's much I don't know about it still, but it never causes the grief that some other hem software does.  

williamcopper
Another plus for Vegas Pro.  Sony seems to make very good software, there's much I don't know about it still, but it never causes the grief that some other hem software does.  

williamcopper
Sony seems to make very good software,

Actually in this case they acquired very good software! Sony acquired the original developer, Sonic Foundry, about 10 years ago. Thankfully they have done a reasonable job of running with it. Sonic Foundry also developed Sound Forge and Acid Pro, both of which are now Sony programs. 

I was in a similar situation a year ago, when I had a one-time need to put audio to a slideshow. and didn't want to spend money for a one-off project. I ended up using Windows Movie Maker and it did the job just fine. It depends on how extensive your video editing needs are, but you described yours as "basic" so maybe Vegas is overkill.

I like Vegas 'cause it thinks/acts like a DAW.   I use the Movie Studio lite version and it covers all my needs which is just to act as a tool for preparing pic for Sonar and sending samples to clients.  I need things like adding time code or replacing a scene or converting a hard to work with codec format. The lite version of Vegas is great.
 
I rarely create videos for anything but references for scoring,  last week I tried to create a youtube video with the multiple split screen thing and could not do it in my lite version.