If it's AVCHD, copy/paste the timeline to a new project.

Yes, it's AVCHD. Will try your suggestion tonight and let you know if that solves the problem.
thanks!

That did not work either. And now, there isn't even any error message - the new project just closes.
Any other possible solutions???

Maybe there is too much on the timeline? This did not happen until I started putting more and more audio files on the timeline.
If that's the case, that should not happen either.

Your audio files are suspect.
Please eliminate them by renaming one by one until your project opens again and reports a missing file.

musicvid - please be more specific.
Do I rename the song's name, the file name, what? Do I rename it in the project media?
I just tried to rename the song for one of the audio files in the project media and could not - said that it's being "used by another program or person"...and to close any other programs. Well, I don't have any other programs open.
I just upgraded to 9.0b hoping that would help.......now I can't even keep VMS open for even one second after clicking on the play button!
This is REALLY trying my patience.....
ANY other suggestions, folks?

like this: rename song1.mp3 to song1.mp3X
You would rename them in Windows Explorer by bringing up the context menu.

But don't do it with Vegas open. You may even need to restart your computer.

Test them one by one. Did you get your audio files off the internet? Are they DRM protected? That is often a cause of the kind of problem you are describing. It's just a shot.

I imported those audio files (songs) into itunes from CDs which I had purchased. I don't know if they are DRM protected - but these songs play fine on itunes, if that means anything.
I will try to rename them as you described.

Also, did I do something worse by updating VMS to version 9.0b?

I imported those audio files (songs) into itunes from CDs which I had purchased.

OK, you are using files ripped into iTunes and VMS 9. That brings up the obvious question, which version of Quicktime is installed on your machine?

VMS 9 supports QT 7.6.2 and earlier.

Also, there are better ways to rip a CD than iTunes. CDEx is a great ripper / Lame frontend.

I Have QT 7.6.8........so maybe that's part of the problem then?

Also, I just noticed something else. I have another project which plays just fine. The audio files are songs that I purchased via itunes; however, in order to import them into my project, I had to rip those songs to a CD, then import into VMS from that CD. (to change the files from M4p to Mp3).

Maybe that's the key! I'll try renaming the files, first though.

If you purchased from iTunes they will be DRM protected.

Renaming the files is just to see if the project will open by excluding them. It was not offered as a fix, only a diagnostic.

Versions of Quicktime later than 7.6.2 will not work with VMS 9. You will need to roll back to one of the earlier version, also your iTunes to version 8.

Using iTunes to rip your CDs to compressed format is not necessary and may introduce other problems. Use a Lame frontend, such as CDex, to rip your CDs to WAV format.

Good luck to you.

Okay, now I don't really think it has anything to do with the version of Quicktime or itunes. My other projects in VMS play just fine - including the project which has 7 songs purchased from itunes (which I of course converted to .wav files).

I tried to re-name the audio files. Went into Explorer: saw that I had two files for each song now - an Mpeg4 file and a SFK file. The Mpeg4 files didn't show the file extension, just the song name; however, the SFK files did, so I renamed those. I also renamed the song names. Went back to VMS, it opened fine (didn't say files were missing)...but of course closed again in a few seconds.
I even deleted the sfk files from the Explorer contents. VMS still closes.

Finally, I was able to delete ALL the song files from the project (after multiple attempts because VMS now closes after just a few seconds). Still, after all of those songs were deleted, it still closes, but not until I click on "play".
Now, there is a message "Application generated an exception that could not be handled".

Again, my other projects play fine, and VMS does not close when playing those projects.

I suppose I'll have to pay for the SONY phone support.......unless someone else on this forum has any more suggestions????

There are many tutorials on the internet to show you how to change file extensions in Windows, the default being to "hide extensions for known file types." You could also change the folder name those media files are in, the whole idea being so Vegas can't find them when you open the project. The sfk file are peak data files and have nothing else to do with it.

Once again, your version of Vegas requires QT 7.6.2 and iTunes 8 to work correctly with mov, mp4, tiff, etc. etc.
WAV files do not open with the Quicktime lib because they are a Windows extension.

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=12&MessageID=660127

Best of luck.

I understand what you're saying and I appreciate your help......
however, how do you explain that the other project I have in VMS, containing .wav audio files, opens perfectly, and plays without closing???

"however, how do you explain that the other project I have in VMS, containing .wav audio files, opens perfectly, and plays without closing???

I have already answered that question for you:
"WAV files do not open with the Quicktime lib because they are a Windows extension."

What that means, in its simplest terms, is that WAV files open natively in Vegas using the built-in Windows engine, and do not require a third-party lib, such as Quicktime, in order to do so.

It might actually be more helpful if you thoroughly read the tutorial I linked to. I wrote it for new users just like you, and it should lead you to answers to both your file loading problem and your other questions. In fact, I went to some length to make sure just these kinds of questions were addressed. Again, best of luck.

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=12&MessageID=660127

Musicvid - Thanks for expanding your explanation regarding QT and WAV files...now I understand about that.

I have reverted QT back to 7.6.2 and my project now plays and I can edit again without it closing - you were completely correct, of course.
I am very happy that I can now finish my project; but I'm also very dissapointed that I need to revert my iTunes to version 8 (which I really DON'T want to do).
What I've decided to do, is switch back to the earlier QT when working with VMS, then switch back if I want to use iTunes 10....for the meantime.

I also viewed your tutorial you referred to, and noticed you updated the info to say that the QT issue has been fixed in VMS 10, but not for VMS 9 and some others.
I wonder if SONY just wants our $ for the newer Vegas versions, rather than make the QT fix for the older ones. ??

Which now leads me to another question, if you don't mind:
If I choose to upgrade to VMS Plat 10, would I be able to import my VMS 9 projects to that newer version?
I wonder, is there a tutorial for that?

thanks again for being so patient to help me through this

Your VMS9 projects should open just fine in VMS10. Sony products are always forward compatible, but not backward.

As for your other question; it gets asked occasionally, and the answer is simple: Development on one Vegas version stops once a new one is issued, and this is true even when third-party developers (Apple) purposely break compatibility by continually "updating" their own product. The feud between Apple and Windows NLEs (not just Vegas) is well-known and insidious, to the point where Apple has even broken compatibility with Quicktime and its own NLE (Final Cut). You are welcome to do your own historical research, which goes back many years (beginning with 7.1.4), if you wish. One thing I can unequivocally promise you, is that the greedy party is not Sony!

Now that you have found your solution, and are able to ask questions based on a little knowledge, this will have to be my final post on this topic, and good luck in the future.

Okay, here we go again! After about 10-15 minutes of editing this project, it's back to closing. (and I still have the old QT in the computer, too.)
I received a reponse from the email support. I also tried all of their suggestions, to no avail.
Now I will attach my project file to the incident and send to them as they requested. I am attaching the project WITHOUT the "suspect" audio files.......and wait another week for their response I guess.

Update: (in case anyone is interested)
I did have a couple of those MPEG-4 audio files lurking around in my project media. So, I took them out and now the program stays open!
So, it was a combo of two things that caused the program to close:
1)QT version newer than 7.6.2 installed
2)Incompatable audio files caused by importing the files via iTunes library

Now, I am importing those same audio files directly from the audio CDs - no problems!
But, I will probably upgrade to VMS 10, so I can keep the newest QT version and not have to switch back and forth.