Thanks, Nick. Can you glean any info from the error message I posted? Any insights would be helpful.

It may have something to do with the old 2GB memory cap problem.
If your OS allows, upgrade to a later version, MSP 12 or 13. You should find reasonable prices online or even on MAGIX (for 13). I see you say on CC forum that you got a copy of v 11. Note that VMS/VMSP 11 are still 32-bit only, but VMSP 11 build 322 is worth a try as a couple of the latest builds of "Vegas Movie Studio can now address up to 4 GB of memory when running on a 64-bit version of Windows Vista or Windows 7." The Movie Studio 11 build 37 release notes claim the same, but I have no experience of that.

Thanks vkmast.

I have 64-bit Windows 7. My PC has 8 gigs of RAM. That should be more than enough to render a 3-minute video, shouldn't it?

How to I get build 322 of VMSP 11?

How to I get build 322 of VMSP 11?

A good question. If you have a copy of that with a legitimate serial number, this should help to update it

http://download.sonymediasoftware.com/current/moviestudiope11.0.322.exe

If it works as a trial without a serial number, you'll probably find out it if helps or not. You'll need to get legit versions of v.11 or v.12 online somewhere as Sony or Magix won't supply them. V.13 is available from Magix.

Note that the MS/MSP 32-bit versions don't allow you to use all that RAM. I'd recommend you allocate that PayPal sum to acquiring Magix Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 13, see https://support2.magix.com/customer/vegas/upgrade

Really appreciate your help thus far!!

Yes, my copy of MSP 11 is indeed a legit version. So, what is that file you linked to, exactly? Once I've installed MSP 11, do I just click on that file you linked to to update?

Did you already try disabling GPU acceleration? options-preferences-video

You should be able to install only the download version. If things go well, it' ll be activated with the serial number you have.

GPU acceleration appeared as an option in ´Movie Studio Platinums as of v.12.

Yes, craig, already set it to zero.

Also, an update: I just tried deleting all files except the first five seconds of footatge, then saving as a new project, then rendering. It still crashed immediately. I tried it with lots of diffrent files. Seems it just won't render a goddamn thing, no matter what files I use. Strangely, if I take on of the files from my current project and load it into a new project, it renders fine! WTF?

I tried some different, older MSP projects, and they all render find. Seems that MSP just doesn't like this current. Effing annoying! It's wierd because the project loads up fine and I can watch the whole thing in the preview just fine. I just can't render it. At all. UGH.

I'm gonna try moving these files to a new project. If that doesn't work, I'm gonna try uninstalling and reinstalling. If THAT doesn't work, then I'll move on to installing MSP11 and see if that works. Just hoping to hear back from vkmast before I get to that point.

If THAT doesn't work, I'm going to take MSP to my back yard, pour gasoline over it and have a bonfire. Then, I'll move onto Adobe Premier -- a REAL editing software that doesn't do this crap. Screw you and your horrible customer service, Sony!!!

I understand the frustration, but I'm afraid you are a bit late in blaming Sony/SCS as they gave up on these apps last summer. Magix own these now and do not support old versions. Most of us here are not Magix and were not Sony, just peer users.

For what it's worth, I use the Backup utility built into Windows10. Every so often I save my Vegas project and force a backup. This only takes a short time in the background because it only backs up new or changed files. Then if something goes wrong, I open my backup and there are all the previous states of my project. I open the most recent .veg file that is working properly and try to figure out what caused the trouble after that point. (My backup regime is more nuanced than that, but that is the bones of it.)

All software has it's own issues depending what you use them for, and you're using an extremely old version. What file type are you rendering too? Can you post a screenshot of you render settings?

Ok, guys, I FINALLY have made a breakthrough.

Turns out that project file was bad for some reason. All I had to do was create a new project, then move the files and SOLVED.

BUT, this revealed yet another issue: the audio is out of sync! ARGH!!

So, I installed my newer version of MSP, which turns out is version 12, not 11. Great, right?

Well, it fixed the sync issue. Great! Now, all I have to do is copy my project files from my MSP 9 project into MSP 12 and I'm golden! Except, for some reason, it WON't LET ME.

Does ANYONE know how to copy files from an older version of MSP into a newer version? I thought it'd be a cinch since they're the same program. It's strange, because I can copy them find out of MSP9, and in MSP12 it allows me to paste, but when I do nothing appears. HELP? I'm ALMOST out of the woods here!

GUYS! I GOT IT!!

All I had to do was open my old MSP9 project file in MSP12. Once there, it rendered perfectly on the first try! It's the exact same file that crashed mercilessly in MSP9, so clearly it must've been some sort of memory thing. I think it had something to do with the fact that my video files were 1080p, but MSP9 doesn't support 1080p, only 720p. I *thought* I could just render my 1080p files at 720p, which would've been good enough. I've done so before, but the complexity of this project was more than MSP9 could handle.

So, to clarify, it wouldn't let me copy from MSP 9 and past into MSP12. I just right-clicked on the file, and selected "Open With" then browsed until I found MSP12. Then, rendered from therre. Voila!

Thanks again to all who weighed in, especially vkmast. Much o'bliged!!

Excellent and note that you do not necessarily need to "take MSP 9 to your back yard, pour gasoline over it and have a bonfire." You can have it installed even though you have v.12, which (as 64-bit) was an excellent option (update to build 896 or 1184 for best results). For further education, please be sure to read John Rofrano's comment in your Creative Cow thread.