First of all, I would like to introduce myself. I am new to the HDV world, and have been trolling around on here for a couple weeks. What a great resource and community! I have just purchased the Canon XH-A1 and I have both Premiere Pro 2 and Vegas 7. I also have a Sony HDR-HC3 that I will be using for seperate angles. I have a couple of questions regarding the two:

1. I have several videos recorded at 1080 60i. Some from each camera. I want to downconvert them to a smaller file size to give my web visitors options that will complement their internet connection, and was wondering if 720 30p would be the best solution. I was wondering if it was possible in Vegas, and if there were any tips you could offer on getting smaller wmv files without completely degrading the quality.

2. Also, Is it possible to edit both 60i from the sony and 30f from the camera on the same timeline? What about 24f? I realize 24f is a stretch, but I was wondering If anyone had tried 60i and 30f together, and how the results were.

Anyway, thanks in advance and thanks for accepting me into the community!

Vegas manages 24f, 30f, 24p, 30p, 25p, 50i, and 60i all very nicely on the same timeline, regardless of the resolution of those formats.

Mixing 60i and 30f on the same timeline output very nicely to either 30p or 60i. Converting 30f to 24p isn't a very pretty sight, however.

So, if I import both 24f and 60i to the same timeline, in 1080, I will still be able to output 720 30p with no problems? Wow, Vegas rocks! Are there any other NLEs with that ability? Seems Adobe says that different media is ok but diff frame rates is a no no in CS3. Maight be wrong, but I thought I heard that. Was considering moving to Avid media composer when I get my MAC, but wondering if Ill still have that capability? THANKS!