Sorry! I did and the PC crashed on me. Completely. I'm going to go try again.

Let's try something very simple and see if we can identify where things are going wrong. Please follow these instructions precisely, to the letter, then tell us what happens.

Create a new folder on your drive: C:\video
Copy a video clip from your camcorder into this directory.
Start a new Vegas project with an empty timeline.
Browse to the C:\video\ folder in Vegas' explorer.
Drag the clip from the C:\video\ folder onto the timeline.
Split the clip with the S key.
Delete the second part of the clip after the split.
Ctrl-drag the end of the first part of the clip out to the right to slow it down.
Save the project with File / Save As ... into the C:\video\ folder; do not check the 'save media with project' option.
Close Vegas.
Open Vegas again.
Under File, choose the project you just saved and open it.

What do you see on the timeline?

One other question, which is actually a lot shorter and simpler than the experiment above ... when you say the clip is black are you describing what you see on the timeline or what you see in the preview window? If you're describing what you see on the timeline, try putting the cursor in the middle of one of those clips and tell us if you see that clip in the preview window.

Good suggestion, back to basics.

You all are so helpful!

So Mr. Esslinger ... YOUR RENDER "shortcut" works. THANK YOU!

I'm still puzzled why the error is occurring though and am going to do the "back to basics" experiment suggested by Chienworks today and will get back with you all.

I really hope that whatever we find out will help anyone in the future that encounters this issue. And, at a minimum, we have a GREAT workaround posted by Mr. Esslinger!

Chienworks,

When I say the clip is black I am describing both what is onthe timeline AND what I see in the preview window. I have put my cursor throughout ALL the missing black frames and nothing displays.

Now the good news!!!! Your "back to basics" test WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of all the steps you listed, the only one I can see that might be different is that instead of letting it save where Sony Vegas was defaulting to, I went out and saved to the folder (as you said) where the original video was posted (e.g. C:\video/folder).

So is this the key? Do you have to have ALL your videos in one spot and save the .vf to that SAME location (folder) as well?

Thank you so very much!

You don't *have* to do that. You don't have to follow any rules at all to be successful. However, doing that helps you keep track of what's going on.

I still wonder about the possibility that you were somehow editing files that were still on the camcorder instead of working with the copies on the hard drive. That would explain most of the issues you were seeing. If that's the case then the step where i had you copy the camera clip to that folder is the crucial step.