My findings about Project Settings, File Convertion & mo

[digikey1234]

More than a question I would like to post my findings and get some feedback from more experienced VS10 users...I am sorry if this is to obvious for some people but based on the postings that I read here I think more than one will find it useful
First some background and general info, I have lots of computer experience but these are my first more advanced learnings about video editing and I am loving it! I have an Everio JVC camera it generates mpg files with an extension MOD and the wrong aspect ratio flag, thanks to the recommendations that I got on this site I was able to change the extension and aspect ratio so VS10 will see it as a regular 16:9 mpg file. also, keep in mind that when using the camera, every time you press the start/stop recording button it generates a separate file so for a 1 hour video you can have about 30-40 mpg files.
I created my first project add a few filters, some cuts etc nothing complicated, I followed ALL the recommendations, I sent my project to the share/create disc (authoring) module, I added some chapters menus background music, etc, press the burn button and after 30 mins aprox CRASH! I got the error message during the "converting video of the title" process (there are a lot of postings about this or similar error message) something about "the memory could not be written" so this is where my problem began, but more important where I started LEARNING...
On my journey to fix the issue I tried EVERYTHING from changing settings to remove all the filters and at the end leaving the files as originals without any editing changes, my conclusion or at least that's what I though back then was that at least some of my 40 something files was "bad" It took me a whole weekend removing the files and trying again and again, I found that one way to check which files where "bad" was to convert the files in the edit module to something else (either one by one or in blocks) and using the preview screen to see in which file I got the error message..
Anyway some of the "bad" files that I had to remove (about 6 out of 40) were important for me so I was very frustrated, so I downloaded a try version of another software to emulate my process and found that there was nothing wrong with those files, so the files where not "bad" is just that for some reason VS10 "doesn't like them" (I forgot to mention that there is no difference in the properties between the "good" and "bad" files), I wish I knew the rules that makes a file "likeable" to be converted.. I think this is a good time for my 1st finding:

1st Finding About Project Properties: Despite all the confusion, question and recommendations on this forum about this I can say that the project properties are ONLY that, properties for your project, they are independent from the sharing/converting process and independent from your final output, they ONLY affect the way you preview your project , so that option of matching the clip properties to the project properties, the smart render, etc ONLY affect the way you see your project on your PC and not your final output, In other words they are irrelevant. What is important is what kind of settings you have setup to create/render/convert a new file or to burn a dvd or create a dvd folder (on this topic, yes, you can use your project settings as the settings for the creation of your new file or dvd)

Remember that I mentioned that at the end I did NOT make changes to any of the files, in fact I even tried with one file, that is: Add file to the timeline, (the window advising that the source file is different from the project setting, etc, etc, etc pops up) I changed the project setting to match the inserted file (Irrelevant, I know) and immediately send it to the authoring module make sure that I have checked the box for "do not convert compliant mpeg files" and surprise when the burning process started it actually "convert" (it shows the "converting video of the title" message during the burning process) my compliant file, this takes me to my 2nd finding

2nd Finding About the Do not convert compliant mpeg option. (authoring module)This ONLY works for mpeg and VOB files (from dvds or dvd folders) directly imported on the authoring module (create disc) If you sent something from VS10 or by importing a VSP project on the create disc dialogue box IT WILL ALWAYS be converted (reconverted) even compliant mpeg files, I think that the logic behind it is that if you added something to the edit menu is because you are going to change (edit) something therefore a new file needs to be converted. I don't know if there is a way to "bypass' this.

So I decided to give it a try and create a dvd file from the "bad" files that VS10 didn't like by importing them directly on the create disc module and they ALL worked, the burning process went directly to the menu creation animations etc, it didnt convert any of the files, obviously they were compliant, so you may think if at the end I can use ALL my files by skipping the edit process and import them directly to create a DVD, yes I tried that BUT that option creates a title for every single of the 40 files and end up having a dvd with 40 buttons (if using the button style menu) which was the original reason why I bought a software to be able to create a normal movie with one 1 or 2 titles and chapters wherever i want for each of them in other words being able to merge clips either on the authoring or editing process. On this topic I must mention that I also tried to create a new file by adding/consolidating more than one clip, (and after identifying the "bad" files) but in this case I got an audio/video out of sync problem on the resulting new file.. not good either...

I really like the program I wish I can use it even if I have to skip the editing process for the not "likeable" files, but as you can see I already tried everything, ANY comments will be very appreciated

PS Sorry for the long message...