We capture the HDV footage using Vegas Pro 8.0c, Always have. Never had to install any 3rd party software that I'm aware of.

It's just weird that I can bring that same hard drive to my computer -- running the same version of Vegas -- and render it without a problem. And I had no problems rendering from that same drive on HER computer either.

It seems like the problems started after she installed Neat Video and also turned on Norton. But like I said, she has now uninstalled Neat and turned Norton off and is still having the same problem.

I'm beginning to suspect the project file might be corrupted. It's really the only other thing I can think of.

"We capture the HDV footage using Vegas Pro 8.0c, Always have. Never had to install any 3rd party software that I'm aware of."

Then you are capturing M2T (Windows) HDV, not MOV HDV as you thought. This is an important distinction.

"I'm beginning to suspect the project file might be corrupted. It's really the only other thing I can think of."

No, if there was anything wrong with the project, it would not work on any computer. The problem lies in her system, and unfortunately there's nothing we can do to troubleshoot that without someone sitting at the other computer, sorry. Why doesn't she post her own thread here?

You're right, the HDV was M2T files. Sorry about that. I don't have the project here where I am.

The cameras used were a Canon T3i, a Canon T4i, and a Canon HV30. Also a Panasonic HMC40.

I still think a corrupt project file is a possibility. Hear me out. When I had her computer and drive, all I did was render what was on the timeline, and that worked fine. When she took it home, that worked fine for her too. It was only when she added MORE clips to the timeline that it began freezing on render.

Now one of the problems she began to have when working this project on the laptop was that it would crash whenever she tried to add a clip to the timeline. (It also crashed when trying to render, but I'm thinking that was a memory/resources issue.)

I didn't try adding a clip to the timeline while I had her computer. It may very well have done the same thing to me if I'd tried it.

So I'm thinking a corrupt project file is a real possibility. It probably got corrupted during the frequent crashes (due to memory/resource insufficiency) on the laptop, and is now crashing when rendering any NEW clip added to the timeline.

It's really the only thing I can think of.

I've advised her to create a new project, pull ALL of the clips from the wedding into the new project, and save it. Then put a number of clips -- some from each camera -- on the timeline and see if it renders. If it does, then good.

Next, she should reinstall Neat Video and apply the effect to some of the clips on the timeline. Render again. If it crashes, then the problem is likely Neat Video. If it doesn't, then most likely her other project file is corrupt.

I'll let you know what happens.

"Why doesn't she post her own thread here?"

Because I'm the more tech-savvy. I help her with technical issues.

I don't see where you've defined "crash"?
Error message, freeze, blue screen, what?

It really sounds like a QT 32 memory issue, vanilla flavor, specific to her machine.
I can assure you, a corrupt Vegas project will not open.
It won't open and then "crash" when you add a file.
A problem with a specific file or generic QT 32 memory handling errors are entirely separate issues.
But there's no way to find out until you're at the computer.
First thing to try is rendering intermediates from all the Canon files and replacing the project media.
BTW, I'm sure you already know Vegas 8 reached its end-of-life before Windows 7 was released, and is not supported on that OS, whether it works for some or not.

I started as a field engineer thirty years ago, and I promise you, troubleshooting by proxy never works. Hope you get it sorted.

Well I did a little field service work for IBM myself, but spent most of my career doing telephone IT support for Microsoft and IBM -- which is pretty much completely troubleshooting-by-proxy. Not ideal, I agree. But I won't be able to sit down at her computer for at least a week, so we're trying to find a resolution any way we can..

I do know that Pro 8 came out long before Windows 7 or 8 existed. But so did a lot of other programs. As I said, I have no problems with Pro 8 on my Windows 7 machine.

You may be right about the Quicktime issue. She and I are not running the exact same version of QT. I'm running 7.6.2 and she's running 7.6. Wouldn't hurt to have her uninstall that and install 7.6.2.

They are the same, no diff that would affect Vegas.

Hmmm...freezing when rendering...

Temperature issue? Something different about her home setup than when it was over with you?

Easy to check: just render with a side panel removed.

EDIT: Okay, so if the project crashes on a laptop, too, I guess that rules temperature out.

The only thing I know of that's different is her monitor, but it's still generally the same as mine.

It all makes no sense.

Okay, there's a new wrinkle.

She created a new project. Added files from the wedding to the Project Media -- not all of them, but a lot, and some from each camera.

She added a number of clips to the timeline, some from each camera -- making a total of about 4 minutes of video.

It rendered fine.

Then she added more clips to the timeline. When the timeline got to be longer than 5 minutes, it started freezing during render -- again.

So now I'm really perplexed!

Here are the system specs for her computer...

Computer: HP Envy H8-1450

Processor 3.50GHz AMD FX 6120
Cache L2: 6MB
System Bus 5.2GT/s
Chipset Socket: AM3+
Type: AMD970
Memory Slots: 4x DIMM 240-Pin
Type: PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
Installed: 10GB
Capacity: 32GB
Graphics Card Type: Dedicated
Installed: AMD Radeon HD 7570 with 2 DDR3 SDRAM Dedicated and up to 4096MB Shared Graphics Memory

Storage
Hard Drive Installed: 2TB (1x 2TB 7200rpm; 1x 16GB SSD)
Type: SATA
Optical Drive Tray-Load SuperMulti DVD Burner

Reads
DVD: 16x
CD: 40x

Writes
DVD-R: 16x
DVD-RW: 6x
DVD-R DL: 8x
DVD+R: 16x
DVD+RW: 8x
DVD+R DL: 8x
DVD-RAM: 5x
CD-R: 40x
CD-RW: 24x

Drive Bay Expansion Qty: 2
Size: 5.25"
Type: External
Quantity: 2
Size: 3.5"
Type: Internal
PCI Expansion Qty: 3
Type: PCIe x1
Quantity: 1
Type: PCIe x16
Quantity: 1
Type: PCIe Minicard

Inputs/Outputs
Ports 6x USB 2.0 (A)
4x USB 3.0 (A)
Display 1x DVI
1x VGA
1x DisplayPort
1x HDMI
Audio 1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Headphone Output
1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Microphone Input
1x Combo Analog Headphone/Optical Digital Audio Out
1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Microphone/Line-in/Line-out
1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Rear Speaker Out
1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Side Speaker Out
1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Subwoofer Output
Flash Media Slot 1x Smart Card
1x xD-Picture Card
1x MMC
1x SD
1x MiniSD
1x CompactFlash
1x Memory Stick
1x Memory Stick PRO
1x Memory Stick Duo
1x Memory Stick PRO Duo
1x RS-MMC
1x MMCmobile

Communications
Network 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45)
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0

Keyboard & Mouse
Keyboard Type: Full-Size
Features: Numeric Keypad
Mouse USB

General
Operating System Windows 8
Power Supply Not Specified By Manufacturer
Dimensions (WxHxD) 6.9 x 16.3 x 16.2" / 17.5 x 41.4 x 41.1 cm
Weight 26.5 lb / 12.02 kg

I can't see what the issue could be . . however . . I've got to ask the bleedin' obvious here: You loaded your copy of Vegas? You have had her PC authorised over the Internet? From your Internet? Could that be a problem?

Grazie

The system specification is very elaborate and doesn't show anything out of the ordinary aside from the graphic card. Are you sure that is has 4GB shared memory? Shared means it would take memory from the system RAM. Is that feature enabled? How about the Vegas settings?

For more than 5 minutes length..., does the rendering crashes in the same place?

Set

Vegas Pro 8.0c allows installation on 2 computers. It has been installed on both of our computers for some time. She uninstalled it on her laptop. Yes, I did the install and registration from my Internet connection, but she has since uninstalled and reinstalled, doing the registration from her Internet connection. No difference.

With Windows 8, I have no idea how to check to see if it is using the 4GB for video memory or not. If you'll tell me how, I'll get that checked.

I think it is freezing at the same place, but I'm not sure. By 'the same place', I mean the same percentage completed. A corrupt video file is always a possibility. I'll know more when I have her computer on Sunday..

FWIW, she and I have a company -- Bliss Video Productions. She does editing work for me. And she's VERY good at it! She has a creative eye for the beautiful. I'm the technical one.

She tells me Vegas freezes at 9% when rendering. Hope that helps.

Again, are you sure the graphics card has shared memory as mentioned in the system specs? If so, I would assume it can be adjusted in the BIOS and I would set it to a lower value, 1GB should be sufficient.

You mentioned that the problem arises when clips are added after the 4 minute mark.

Can you try and load the clips that are after the 4 minute mark in a separate project and see if it render out OK?

Good ideas. Unfortunately, the computer is 200 miles from me right now. I won't have it in front of me until Sunday.

As I said, I don't know how to check in Windows 8 to verify if the system is using the 4GB of shared video memory or not. If someone can tell me how to do that, I will be glad to give it a try -- when I'm in front of the computer.

HDV bad recorded file is a VERY HIGH possibility. And I just had a bad experience with it on new memory card recently (thankfully there's another camera and other day of his performance, so I don't "lose all completely").

in that 9% location, try look in the timeline to that location, and test playback on that area or make small render - if you got crash, note the location and change that media if possible.

To recover bad media, in new project, with no eventFX added, you can rerender them to new HDV file again with no-recompression - Vegas will just copying file), and will get crash on that location. But, your re-rendered HDV file will be useful (free of error).
Put the re-rendered HDV and original HDV file (this will be very tricky - and you will face a lot of crashes, so better start with new one), sync them for comparison.
Turn off any thumbnail previews in timeline (Preferences>Video>Thumbnails to show in video events), from 'affected' area, skip about 3 or 4 seconds, try make split as less as possible (you will get crashes a lot during this), and cut that 'bad part'. Rerender the rest.

Set

Bad HDV clips are certainly a possibility. I'll do some tests when I have the computer. Thanks!