WoodyZ your solution seems straightforward, but I'm not sure what imaging tool to use. I tried Paragon's Image Backup for Windows 8, but I couldn't find an option to image from a vhdx to vmdk.
I ended up creating a Windows 8 VM and using the powershell cmdlet Convert-VHD to convert from vhdx to vhd and then StarWind Converter to go from vhd to vmdk as vmroyale suggested.
For future reference what imaging tool would you recommend WoodyZ?
Thanks for all the help!