Thanks for the suggestion.
I did have a sequence inside the sequence. As a hunch, I removed the sequence and replaced it a copy of all the files in the sequence. After doing that, FCP finally worked through a complete QT export (without lockup) which I used to created a new sequence, and laid to BetaSP. Whew!
The only problem is, that before and not that long ago, I could do a render and mixdown-only render, then lay to tape no problem. It seems like now, I always have to make a QT then lay to tape. Is that normal? Any suggestion would be appreciated.
Thanks again.
Sean