Hi Himanshu,
Thanks for your reply.

The software supplied by JVC for the HD7 is Cyberlink and is written for XP Operating systems only, my system is Vista Ultimate so I am reluctant to load it and risk it stuffing up the PC with conflicts etc.and I am not keen to remove the OEM Vista for XP

According to Steve Mullens Handbook for the JVC HD7 (www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c ) he says on page 105 that Vegas 7/8 can edit .TOD files but I suspect he is referring to the Vegas Pro versions not Vegas Movie Studio 7/8 and I having the JVC camera for just two days only I havent yet been able to get round to filming any movie with it to try the import of TOD files from the JVC HDD in VMS 8c .
Further, In the Handbook it also says the .TOD movie files can be copied to the Computer HDD and then using the freeware Pfrank file convertor they can be changed to .M2t files then imported to Vegas.

The reason for my forum query was to ascertain whether any forum member has actually carried out this procedure for use in VMS 8c, and if they had any problems thus ensuring that I had all the necessary info before I get stuck in to my first foray with Vegas Movie Studio.
Previously I have been using Adobe Premiere 6.5 and Pro 2.0 for DV editing etc. covering the last 5 years but again Vista has again thwarted any use of those.

Download the Vegas demo if you already don't have it installed, and try it yourself. IF you already have Vegas and HD7, why ask us? As last resort, rename .tod to .m2t and retry.

Alternatively, if vegas doesn't support it, you will have to use an application that understands that format and saves back using a LOSSLESS format.

Terence,

It would seem to me that either JVC or Cyberlink would provide a patch/upgrade to be able to use their software on Windows Vista. If not, the XP version probably works just fine on Vista; you could call/email them and confirm.

How is it one can purchase in good faith a $200 plus software package which is advertised as working with HDV format camcorders only to find that there is a major problem trying to get started with it in Vegas Movie Studio 8 due the camera manufacturers file format differences and the need to rework the files before you can use them.
My experience with this software over the last 24 hours is far from satisfactory I know that the learning curve for new software can be steep. I have used Adobe Premiere both 6.5 and Pro 2.0 for a number of years and know it takes time to learn each but Movie Studio 8 is IMHO very poorlyy laid out and appears to lack a lot of basic functions such as the razor where you can just split a clip on the timeline and insert a transistion and fades to each end without all this clipboard nonsense.
And DVD Archtect Studio 4.5 is also not much better it is not "User friendly"( I similarly think the same applies for Adobe Encore by the way) prefering Ulead Workshop 2.0 instead a very easy to use DVD Authoring system which unfortunately doesnt work on Vista either.

It realy does frustrate when the software you have become used to over the years is no longer made or hasn`t been configured yet for Vista.

You are overreacting.

>How is it one can purchase in good faith a $200 plus software package

Vegas offers a trial version. During this time, you can make sure that it's good for your needs, or not. Besides. the Platinum 8 version costs only $80 on some retailers these days.

And here's a tutorial to help you out to start, I know it has helped quite a few people.
http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2007/09/19/crash-course-on-sony-vegas/

Try just changing/typing the extension to .mpeg. I think this has come up before (although not with Vista).

Thanks for your reply and the URL to the VMS tutorial and tips etc.

Living and purchasing my copy of VMS 8c in Australia ,I have to pay the local product prices with Australian dollars which dont have the same face value as USD, I suppose its a question of market forces?

Finished my first movie 74 mins (DV camera for the moment) which was OK but Archtect Studio stuck at 66% during the DVD burn procedure after 2 hours 20 minutes.

Any thoughts as to why?

Running Laptop ASUS 2.66 ghz dual Core, 2gb RAM,160Gb HDD, 512 MB Video card

Make sure you turn off anything your computer doesn't actually need to run. I use an updated version of an old program (End-it-all). This gives me complete control over what runs and what doesn't and doesn't let me turn off anything I need.

The one I use is called Task Power, I got it from PC magazine website.

Also, make sure you have enough hard drive space. I defrag before rendering and especially before burning.

The HD7 records video using a new flavor of MPEG-2 compression that wanders as high as 30 Mbps in FHD (“Full HD” 1920 x 1080) modeThe program Pfrank or whatever is a simple filename extension changer, but you need to post and find out what mode you recorded your High Def Videos in. VMS does support HDV 1440x1080i @25MBS CBR, which is the HDV standard, including some of the high definition avchd cams, they also use 1440x1080 framesize.

I would do as Eugenia suggests and download both Vegas Pro & DVD Architech (activate both).
You may get Dolby in the trial of Vegas Pro 8 if you have activated VMS. I did perform High Def Mpeg2 exports with the Vegas Trial version.

It sounds like your cam is writing above the standard HDV spec's to obtain better video quality. I would think you would need Vegas Pro 8 to fine tune 1920x1080 at 30MBS Variable bit rates.
I've only been able to use 1440x1080i standard HDV with VMS, which happens to do a nice job with it.

Maybe you can return the cam and exchange it for a Sony HC3/HC5/HC7 or Canon HV20/HV30.
I hear the Canon HV30 is supposed to be nice.

Upgrading from VMS Plat to full Vegas would be the best route if you had to use Vegas Pro. You go to the upgrades webpage and input your VMS plat serial number to qualify.IMHO very poorlyy laid out and appears to lack a lot of basic functions such as the razor where you can just split a clip on the timeline and insert a transistion and fades to each end without all this clipboard nonsense.Just position the cursor where you want to Split and hit the "S" key. Then if you want the 2 clips to transition drag the 2nd over the first OR drag a custom transition & drop it into the splice point.
VMS has many nice "HotKeys"
Mark an In / Out section simply use the "I" and "O" keys. Then render making sure to select "Render Loop Region"