Okay, I decided to break this into 2 parts because I was taking so long. Anyways, here is an imgur album of Lars Kerman's Journey to the Mun.
http://imgur.com/a/e4dkw/all
The inefficiency in this is giving me a tick
I mean I'm just looking at it and suddenly "This stage still has fuel, but its bulky so ditching" and I go "GHAHGHAHAGAHGSHSHHAGH"
How was that tick when I did my mun-shot? Launched sideways in the wrong direction, then burned 60% of my fuel going into a highly incluned solar orbit that put me nowhere neat the mun, then used most of the rest finally getting to orbit :p
I don't know but my ship prototypes have yet to get to orbit much less their destination.
Orbit is easy:
Step 1- Make rocket that doesn't implode
Step 2- Point towards space
Step 3- Get to 70000 meters
Step 4- Point right till at the "horizon" on the navball (part where blue and orange meet)
Step 5- Burn till Periapsis is at least 70000 meters
Step 6-
Step 7- Profit
So yeah, that's how you do that. Granted that's certainly not the most efficient way, but its a good start and experience will refine that method down to actual gravity turns, given time.
You forgot Step 4 - Wait untill you have reached your 70 kilometer apoapsis, THEN burn prograde untill your periapsis is at 70 km.
But yeah, it's easy once you get the hang of it.
Edit: Quote from, the imgr album "Yellow circle inside green means getting close"
How did you get the coloured lights? Is that one of the new tweakables? I had no idea.