How Do I Render Quality 1080p .mov Quicktime?

[Alex Thames]

I use Vegas 7.0e and shot some footage in HDV 1080i. I want to render out the highest quality .mov (Quicktime) file I can in 1080p without it being unreasonable in size. I tried the uncompressed template and the picture quality is excellent, but it's simply too big (hundreds of gbs for a 35 min video). My quad core computer can't even handle smooth playback of such a large, uncompressed file.

However, the other templates I tried under the Quicktime setting give me a very blocky image quality. The size is much smaller - around 700-800mb, and plays smoothly, but the image quality is so degraded and blocky, it's unacceptable. It looks like YouTube almost, except it has a resolution of 1080p.

How do I render out a quality, sharp 1080p image with audio that is .mov? Reasonable size too - I have about 300gb to work with for an 1-1.5 hours of HDV footage.

Thanks!

[Alex Thames]

Does anyone know? I really need this information by tonight, otherwise I am dead (project deadline). Thanks.

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

The answer is, you can't.
Not if you're limited on filesize.
Why is Quicktime your target? Which codec in Quicktime?

[Alex Thames]

I'm not sure what you mean. What do you mean limited on filespace? Isn't 300gb enough to get a decent 1080p .mov file for a 1-1.5 hr long project?

Obviously, uncompressed, 300gb won't be enough, but I'm trying to find a way to get a compressed .mov 1080p file that doesn't have the blockiness of colors and YouTube looking qualities.

Are you saying Vegas can't do that? Why not?

And I don't know what codec I'm using. Any codec would be fine for me as long as it looks sharp/clear/good quality. How would I choose the codecs though? I don't see an option for that under the "Render As" function in Vegas.

The reason I need it in .mov is because that's the file format that was requested by the person needing this project. Thanks!

[Glenn Chan]

PhotoJPEG might work. SD at least plays back smoothly and is what I've seen Artbeats uses.

There might be better codecs.

2- PhotoJPEG may have audio sync issues, so be careful if that is an issue for you.

[Alex Thames]

So far, I've found the codec box. I've tried Sorensen 3, h.263 (don't know why h.264 isn't an option), MPEG4, Intel 4.4, and a bunch of others. All are horrible. Photo JPEG is okay resolution/sharpness wise, but the colors are suddenly very washed out compared to the original .m2t file. No color correction was done in editing.

Also, side question - why is my Quad Core Q6600 only going at around 15% during rendering? Shouldn't it be near 100%?

[Glenn Chan]

It might be one of those Quicktime doing inappropriate color management bugs??? I'm not sure.

[Alex Thames]

It just doesn't make sense to me why I can't find a codec that will render out with a sharp image quality for .mov.

It seems like many other formats give sharp images - .avi, .mpg, etc.

Is there a problem with .mov in Vegas? I see those Apple movie trailers and they all look awesome - how do I achieve that? They are only a few hundred mbs for a few minutes. That's definitely an acceptable size, and the image quality is perfect for me.

I'm assuming it's h.264, but I only see h.263, which produced the MOST HORRIBLE blockiness I've seen. Worse than YouTube, literally.

[Paul Fierlinger]

Well, since it's early in the morning and you are reaching for straws, I can tell you how I do it as an animator. I downsize my 1080p projects to 720p in Mirage. From there I render to QT using JPEG-motion. Have you tried resizing in Vegas? That should work too.

[Alex Thames]

If I have to do 720p, I will, but I prefer 1080p.

Is there really no way to get the quality of 1080p I see in the Apple movie trailers with Vegas at around the same filesize?

It just seems absurd to only be able to maintain image quality by doing uncompressed .mov which makes a 35min video into 300+ gbs.

[Paul Fierlinger]

Have you tried comparing 1080 with 720, side by side? I bet you wouldn't be able to tell the difference with your naked eye, that is, without careful, magnified, frame by frame study or the employment of special measurement technology. I think you need not worry if reducing to 720 is a good solution. Now I'm not sure if motion JPEG or photo JPEG is best for your picture (it's just great for flat pictures like photographs or 2D animation) but some live action people swear by Sorenson. You'd have to experiment a little because I don't think anybody could give you solid advice without seeing your picture (except an animator who's never done what he's suggesting you to do.)

[Perrone Ford]

Ok,

Take this for what it's worth. I have NEVER rendered 1080p. However, the nice folks over at RED have. If you download the milkgirls.mov file from their gallery: http://red.cachefly.net/video/milkgirls1080p.mov you'll see that this is absolutely GORGEOUS 1080p that would fit your file size requirements. According to the file info, they used the Apple Motion JPEG B codec.

I hope this helps.

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Originally Posted by Alex Thames

If I have to do 720p, I will, but I prefer 1080p.

Is there really no way to get the quality of 1080p I see in the Apple movie trailers with Vegas at around the same filesize?

It just seems absurd to only be able to maintain image quality by doing uncompressed .mov which makes a 35min video into 300+ gbs.

A-Vegas isn't great with Quicktime, period.
B-Codec is everything, and is what will determine the quality of your vid. If you're looking for uncompressed quality in QT at a low bitrate, it won't happen. MP4, yes. WMV, yes. DivX, yes. PhotoJpeg is a great format but as Glenn mentioned, it has sync issues. sequential TGA works. CineForm is terrific. But none of these work in a QT container.