GC2 is not a waste of time to start using. It is different enough from CG1 that I would start with it and the tutorials on GC. My advice is to just jump in and use GC2. One reason is that the height brushes are not in GC2, isolines are used to map heights, etc. Cajomi's tutes are great and should having you use CG2 comfortably in no time using the basics. Like any complicated program, there is tons to learn, but a lot is new in GC2 so start there. My opinion is you wouldn't gain by using GC1 first if you already have the CG2 demo. GC2 is really great.