Hello all and thanks for looking.

Just when I thought I might be getting a little ahead on the Vegas learning curve, I end realizing how little I know. I'm working on a project Which I shot with my Sony HC3 in HD format also using Vegas 7.0d.

This first clip was done with an older Sony SD cam and rendered as a 512kb WMV. The quality is poor, the lighting is poor and the studio I am working with was hoping for better.
http://www.myrareguitars.com/EastwoodVideos/classic6_wf.wmv

I brought in my HC3 for their next session with the hope that we could produce a better quality video.
http://www.myrareguitars.com/EastwoodVideos/gp_bg.wmv

I was really disappointed with the second clip. When viewing the HD files in the project media window the footage looks really good. As soon as I drag the clip up to the time line I loose quality. When I render the file down to WMV 512. it seems to be even poorer than the first clip.

My settings in the project properties are hdv 1080 60i. I have tried many different project setting and render settings.

What am I doing wrong? Why does my video quality degrade when place on the time line? This project has one track and it is set to "source alpha"

Today I tried recapturing the video letting the camera down convert and I am still disappointed with the results.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Lou

...As soon as I drag the clip up to the time line I loose quality. When I render the file down to WMV 512. it seems to be even poorer than the first clip.

My settings in the project properties are hdv 1080 60i...
HDV 1080/60i would appear to be the correct project settings. Note that the look from the timeline preview will vary greatly depending on what preview quality settings have been selected (right above the preview window). If you've not gotten into these settings, you should check out Preview - Automatic, Preview - Full, and Best - Full.

Your wmv renders appear to be 320x240 with the wide screen flag correctly set. At 100% of size, they look good to me. Are you evaluating at 320x240, or ???. For good full screen performance you'd typically need to render to 640x480 at 1.2 to 1.8 Mbps. Pixel size and bitrate are completely under your control at the time of rendering.

In what way are you disappointed?

i see that the clips are letterboxed ... IMO output 16x9- you are wasting data with black bars at top/bottom ...
the clips look OK to me at their native size 320x240 ....
you might try using the 512k template but then go in and change the bit rate to 700k ... again make the clip 16x9 not letterbox 4x3 ..;

Thanks for the reply.
I was not involved with the first session. I got involved thinking the use of HD camera would improve the final product. I don't feel that I have added anything . My footage has better lighting but it just feels grainier. (forgive me for making that word up)
Lou

i see that the clips are letterboxed ... IMO output 16x9- you are wasting data with black bars at top/bottom ...
the clips look OK to me at their native size 320x240 ....
you might try using the 512k template but then go in and change the bit rate to 700k ... again make the clip 16x9 not letterbox 4x3 ..;

Thanks

I don't know about the first clip, but the second was shot 16X9.

I'm not sure I'm understanding but when I select 16 x 9 in the clip properties it just resets to default.
I tried the 700k but I did not see a noticeable improvement after rendering.

thanks

Lou

Hey Lou:

Check these clips out. They are done in .wmv from my FX1 footage. The bird is render in Vegas 7 from an HDV time line, to Window Media 9 file. After selecting that, I go to custom, and then select DVD quality. That gives you 640 by 480. Then I select 1.333 pixel aspect ratio and then render the file.

That should a decent file video wise, at a fair bit rate.

Attached files: Stilt is shot with FX1 daylight.

Girls shot with FX1 with 35mm adapter on board.

do you have to use a a bit rate around 512k??

note that Chris B clips have a much higher bit rate ...
stilt is approx 1800k and the 35m adaptor is approx 1200k
and i believe they were rendered using avarible bit rate ...

do you have to use a a bit rate around 512k??

note that Chris B clips have a much higher bit rate ...
stilt is approx 1800k and the 35m adaptor is approx 1200k
and i believe they were rendered using avarible bit rate ...

That is correct. Each rendered with VBR Quality mode

Thanks for the responses, the clips look great.
However I am limited by file size and transfer rate as this project is intended to stream over the net. Just trying to get the best visual for the bandwidth allowed.