Thanks, I tried that procedure but when I did it everything went haywire so I thought I must be doing something wrong. After I mark a section with the S's and delete it the video gets jerky in the preview and starts jumping around and the sound is out of sinc with the video. Also, the video that was cut out is never cut precisely where I marked it with the S and the still photos in the squares in the video timeline get out of order with some repeating many times and they don't match the actual video at that spot on the time line. I just started trying to use VMS but so far it doesn't seem capable of even the simplest editing function. Does anyone really use it successfully?

I've performed that particular edit thousands (tens of thousands?) of times and it just plain works right, every time. However, some file formats aren't particularly well suited for editing. What format are the files that you are capturing? If they're highly compressed or use long GOP structures then you might want to consider rendering them to DV .avi first, then editing the DV files.

Since you said WinTV, I'm guessing they are MPEG-2.
That's one of those compressed, long GOP file types to which Kelly was referring.
I did it this way for years also, but it takes a fairly fast CPU or everlasting patience.

In addition to his suggestion of rendering to DV-AVI, you may want to download the trial version of VideoReDo. The Ad-Detective feature in this app works 95+% of the time, and will give you an unrecompressed .mpg file without the ads, for whatever the next step is for you . . .

you may want to download the trial version of VideoReDo. The Ad-Detective feature in this app works 95+% of the time, and will give you an unrecompressed .mpg file without the ads, for whatever the next step is for you . . .

+1

I use VRD to edit out commercials from my TiVo files. VRD is fast and easy. As mentioned, it doesn't recompress your mpeg files which is what makes it so fast.

Where I live, in Belgium, the tv programmes I record with Windows Media Center (DVB-T), are encrypted by MS and can only be edited with Windows Movie Maker. I cannot even drag the files to the Vegas timeline. My point is you are very lucky!

The file is a recording of a one hour HDTV show, 1920X1080X32, 23.976 FPS, 58 minutes, 6.4 Gb, MPEG2. It imports OK so I had assumed the program would put it in the proper format to work with. When it's first imported I can preview it in the little window and everything looks fine but after I make a couple edits the whole thing starts jumping around, sound gets out of sync with the video, pictures on the video timeline don't match the video and it's too unstable to deal with anymore. After that the program becomes completely useless!

VideoReDo does work well to Mark the commercials automatically. It only took a few minutes to run through the entire 1 hr. video. However there doesn't seem to be any way to actually Remove the marked areas. Also, the free trial is only good for 15 days then it costs more to get a key than it costs to buy Sony VMS in the first place! It looks like a good program, too bad it isn't practical.

However there doesn't seem to be any way to actually Remove the marked areas.
It's designed to remove the cuts when you "Save As," and does so very quickly. It joins files from different projects (episodes) too. If you would save a file in the program, you will see how it works.

Also, the free trial is only good for 15 days
That's right. It's not a free application.

then it costs more to get a key than it costs to buy Sony VMS in the first place!
The "Plus" version is $49.99 US, and is all you ever need. The more expensive version has an authoring program, which you already have.

too bad it isn't practical.
If you are doing more than a couple of shows a week, it is most practical from a time-saving standpoint.

When it's first imported I can preview it in the little window and everything looks fine but after I make a couple edits the whole thing starts jumping around, sound gets out of sync with the video, pictures on the video timeline don't match the video and it's too unstable to deal with anymore.

Kelly gave you the answer to this. Your video is using so many resources as to make your preview sluggish when editing. You haven't listed your system specs, but keep in mind it takes a fairly high-powered system and CPU to keep up with editing your HDV on the timeline. AVCHD is worse.

That being said, it's too bad Vegas doesn't have an mpeg splitter-joiner built in. Short of a system upgrade or an intermediate render (again per Kelly's suggestion), something like VRD may be an option for you, considering the time and / or cost of the alternatives.

Thanks, the Save As seemed to work. They should put that in the manual or in Help somewhere. I found that after VideoReDo processes the file it will then play in VLC Media player with de-interlace turned on and looks great.

The reason it "looks great" is because there is no recompression. It just takes the cuts you made and rearranges all the flags to make it one continuous file. That's also why it's so fast. Smart, eh?