A Panosonic Mini DV, USB cable, Creative Soundblaster card. I haven't used the camera or program for about one year but everything worked fine last go-around.

USB is not the "proper" way to import video ... FIREWIRE is. Your Mini DV camcorder should have a firewire port. If your computer does not have a plug/card you can buy a new one inexpensively.

I can confirm the camera has a FIREWIRE socket, I'm pretty sure it does. I would like to know why it's not importing correctly now while it did previously with the same setup. I can play back the entire 37mins of recording in the capture video window and it plays and sounds fine.

Well sometimes you can fix things like this .. and sometimes not. I suppose how much of an "expert" you are (or can get to help you) the better your chances.

I own a computer that imported with firewire into Vegas like a champ .. and then, all of a sudden, it choked *every* time. I would miss frames like crazy. TOTALLY useless for capturing anything.

The wierd part is that I could capture just fine (with the same camcorder and firewire cable) if I used Windows Movie Maker instead of Vegas!

I never did figure out what the problem was with that computer. I still own it, but no longer use it for editing. I suppose that I may have installed some hardware or software that messed up something, but that may have been weeks before I tried to upload with Vegas and I could not remember if I did install anything and/or what it was.

I've never been able to capture with VMS without dropping frames regardless of what programs are running in the background. But on my machine, Windows Movie Maker works like a champ even with other programs running in the background. Firewire is definitely the way to capture from the camera.

As I mentioned earlier, I've had success running this exact setup in the past. The playback in the capture window is fine. The file, when transported to the editing window or Windows Movie Maker does not have sound. ? ? ?

1) You have captured via USB successfully using third-party hardware / software combinations in the past. You are not able to do so now.
2) The best method of capturing DV is via firewire. This is undisputed.

Do you want to troubleshoot your previous capture method, or do you want to use the preferred method, which results in a 100% bit-for-bit digital transfer of your material from your mini-DV to your computer?

Once you are clear as to your own intentions, it will be easier for the rest of us to either provide meaningful peer support, or not to do so, as the case may be.

If you are not clear as to your intentions, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for anyone else to respond in kind.

I have no problem switching to a firewire connection. I've not used one before (I don't do a lot of this and the usb has worked) but the camera accepts it so no problem.

My intentions are not to troubleshoot the existing problem if the firewire is going to resolve it. I would like to know how the program appears to capture the video/sound ok, because I can play it back in the capture window normally, yet doesn't create a viable file with sound. If no one knows or doesn't want to take the time to deal with this question, again, no problem. I appreciate the feedback I've received so far.

Maybe this will make it more simple --

Capturing directly via firewire, no matter which utility you use, will always have these two options available:
1) Capture with audio
2) Capture with no audio

In either case, the result will be a fully compliant DV-AVI file.

Thanks all for the replies. There's a firewire in my future.

I too have problems inporting into VMS - it caprtures the movie fine -
but after the apture when I press "done" - I get an error message -
so
I too have been capturing with movie maker and then iporting to VMS

does anyone know if this either reduces quality of the pics or if it takes up more disc space than if imported directly into VMS

thanks

As long as you haven't done anything in Movie Maker other than capture, you haven't edited, rendered, or saved-as, you should still get exactly the same capture that you would have in Vegas' capture utility. It's just a bit-for-bit transfer from the DV tape, stored in a .avi file.