Looking for video editing tips

[btra fan]

Hey all!

I've been at it for a couple of months now, but this is the first time I have attempted to create good quality vids for a paysite that I'm working on. In other words, get good quality with acceptable file sizes so that patrons can download or whatever.

I am shooting HDV 1080i, I know how to make incredible quality HD clips but they are just huge. I want to be able to make .mpg or .wmv files as most sites have. I'm on a PC, have experimented with Premiere Pro 2.0 but got crappy results, moved on to Vegas 7 and got better results but still not meeting my requirements, even tried the Neo HDV method with Vegas and no noticeable improvement.

Think there are a couple of producers on here who edit there own stuff. Would really appreciate any suggestions as I have loads of content that I need to prepare fo my new site and this is the only thing holding me back.

Thanks!