I've read the manual word by word and been struggling with the memory recording unit as well. Just can't find it. Is it possible to let the MRC-1 produce one big AVI/DV file in stead of a number of small clips? I like to work in that way, that's why I also used stand-alone software for capturing in stead if Vegas (which I edit with).

Nope. Everytime you hit start/stop it will produce 1 separate AVI file. Additionally after 22 mins of recording, it creates a new file because it reaches the 4Gig FAT32 file system limit.

Additionally after 22 mins of recording, it creates a new file because it reaches the 4Gig FAT32 file system limit.

However, if you are using Sony Vegas Pro 8 you can use the import tool and Vegas will stitch these files together as long as your destination drive is formatted NTSF (FAT32 will only take the 4GB files, as John has noted).
File>Import>Memory Recording Unit...
Choose your Source and Destination and Vegas will take the sub-clips and make them one seamless file.

This will work with both the MRU and the HVR-DR60

If you are not using Vegas, Sony made a stand alone utility to stitch together longer clips that have been split when using the MRU (or DR60).

You can find additional information about the MRU here:
Digital HD Video Camera Recorder - Memory Recording Unit (http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/hdv/z7u_s270u_m35u/HVR-Z7U/unit_general.html)

You can find the software download here:
Digital HD Video Camera Recorder - Memory Recording Unit (http://pro.sony.com/bbsccms/ext/hdv/z7u_s270u_m35u/HVR-Z7U/unit_software.html)

There is a software version for Mac and PC.

I have used both the Vegas Import and the Sony Utility to stitch together my longer clips. The longest clip I have had so far was a 1 1/2 hour keynote presentation.

I shot a 1 hour program. The MRC1 split it into three pieces. I imported all three into Premier Pro CS3. Once they were indexed and conformed, I grabed all three clips at one time and I just dropped all of the clips onto the timeline. I didn't have to do anything else. I had a perfect 1 hour program. No sweat.

Hi Greg,

I thought you needed to stitch the pieces together?? Was there no loss of frames at all were the two joined?? (I also use CS3 but haven't tried this yet)

I didn't have to stitch them together at all. They played perfectly without any glitches.