Is it safe to assume you have Windows 8.1 rather than 8 -- and you have the latest version of Quicktime installed?

BTW, what model of camcorder did this video come from and what format and resolution is it?

It is possible your project properties are not set up correctly or that you're trying to edit a video codec that is not compatible with the program.

MOV files are an Apple proprietary format which is like a Windows AVI, in that it is a wrapper for the video and audio streams. Vegas must use Apple QuickTime to decode these files because, well, they're Apple's.

First, makes sure you're up to date with QuickTime. If their latest build isn't playing nice with this flavor of MOV anymore, then try rolling back to QuickTime 7.6 as this tends to be more stable with their own files.

QuickTime update: https://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
QuickTime 7.6: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL762

Second, it's understandable to get frustrated because you're trying to simply import all this media, but it's not working properly. However, please understand that the app is basically trying to use Apple's codec to decode the Apple proprietary files, and for whatever reason, the QuickTime version installed on your system doesn't want to do that. A workaround is to use another app to convert these files into a more editable format. For example, if they open in Windows Movie Maker, have it save new HD H.264 files and then import those instead.

Latest Win8 version - vers 8.1 downloaded and installed today. Latest Movie Studio version. Latest hardware updates. It's a brand new computer, 2 days old. Fresh reboot, running no other programs.

Downgrading Quicktime to version 7.6 at least got it so I could open the file.

Now I click Render As > CRASH

Consistent crashing on render.

Source of the files: iPhone. They are all mere seconds long, and the total is 8 min. I try to render a fraction of the 8 min > CRASH.

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Update: If I reboot, I can get to the render menu before crashing. Once, I was able to actually start a render before it crashed.

If your computer is brand new, it's probably riddled with junk and fragmentation.

Try running Disk Cleanup and the Disk Defragmenter.

Then do a Save As and save your project file to a new location in a new folder (so that it's new render files don't get all mixed up with your corrupted render files).

You said you go to Render As and then there is a crash, which implies there is an error message.

Do you receive an error? If so, what are the error details?

To be clear, you're basically hitting Project -> Render As and then there is a crash, rather than getting into Render As, selecting a specific template, and then during the render it hits an error?

Thanks - I'll try that. Although I'd be shocked if it had anything to do with a fragmented disk.

I'm also curious to see if using an older version of QT will work. I have the same software running on a much slower Win7 pc, and it can handle it no problemo.

Latest - the disk is 0% fragmented, so I didn't bother defragging.

I installed Quicktime v 7.5, and it seemed to help. It rendered to about 20% before crashing. Still crashing though.

I've uninstalled Vegas and will reinstall and NOT update and see how that goes.

On another note - I can't find in Preferences where it says to use GPU or not. The option is simply not there - but I've read that that might be a problem. Any ideas?

>>> I can't find in Preferences where it says to use GPU or not. The option is simply not there<<<
"Check GPU"."Encode mode" too.
For GPU acc. in v 11, see Release notes, Formats.
And did you try Qt 7.6.9?