Workflow in Vegas need help.

[Simon Denny]

Hi,
I'm having a real hard time trying to get the correct or at least a better work flow with Vegas 8.
This is what i have.
Sony Z1 recorded in HD to tape.
Now when i down convert via camera to vegas the footage comes out very soft and looks outa focus.

If i capture direct to Vegas in HD all looks good... now whats my next step in keeping resoultion? mind you i will need to convert to SD so i can make a mpeg 2 file to go onto DVD.

What compresson do i use.
Time line straight to mpeg 2 or is there another step?

So many people say that the downconvert via camera into Vegas looks great, well when i downconvert into Vegas it looks so soft and there is no way i could use this footage.
It seems that at some point quality is lost or maybe this is how downconverted looks when captured in Vegas.

Someone must have an idea or at least have had this problem.

Regards
Simon

[Bill Ravens]

I'm coming to dislike Vegas in many respects. My own workaround for the problems you speak of are posted here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=116164

One must be very careful to not introduce interlacing to a de-interlaced footage.

[Simon Denny]

Thanks Bill,
The link provided me with good info.
Its funny he says ''Outputing the images using this method and you will see they look 'murky' to say the least''. Not wrong with that one, i would say unusable from where i see them.

I'm wondering in the workaround by Ken Stone he talks about Field Dominance set to none, is he talking about interlaced fields? and i wonder how can i apply this Vegas?

Thanks Simon

[David Hadden]

Originally Posted by Simon Ash

What compresson do i use.
Time line straight to mpeg 2 or is there another step?

Compression is up to you and your output media but I'd say just make sure it fits on your DVD :) (assuming you're going to DVD)

Originally Posted by Simon Ash

So many people say that the downconvert via camera into Vegas looks great, well when i downconvert into Vegas it looks so soft and there is no way i could use this footage.
It seems that at some point quality is lost or maybe this is how downconverted looks when captured in Vegas.

If you downconvert to SD in camera and push it out via firewire, it's a bit for bit copy with vegas, and will not degrade in image quality at all from what's coming out of the camera.

The workflow I've successfully used with Vegas and Z1 footage is as follows.

Capture HDV, set project properties to that of your media ( IE HDV 1080 60i or whatever ).

Work in that setting and when you render, render out to Mpeg2 DVDA NTSC Widescreen video stream only ( or something like that, don't have it open in front of me ), and then make sure that rendering quality is set to *best* so that Vegas uses tri-linear anti-aliasing rather than bi-linear (used in "good" setting). Rendering will take longer, but the output quality is very much so better.

I'd suggest using an external bit rate calculator to figure out the proper bit rate for whatever your final project length is.

I have cut 90 minute plus projects in Vegas using this very process and the only time things looked out of focus or soft is when... they are ( not that I've ever shot anything out of focus :P ).

Dave

[Simon Denny]

Thanks David,
Yeah i thought this might be the standard workflow.

Cheers
Simon

[Keith Malone]

Some users of Vegas have a preference to render to MPEG as video only and then render audio only to AC3. I have always rendered to MPEG with the audio ebcause it saves a step in the workflow process.

Does anybody know for sure whether selecting "video only" when rendering makes any difference to the quality? I would like to think that it is irrelevant, but perhaps somebody can confirm this for me.

thanks

[Edward Troxel]

Originally Posted by Keith Malone

Does anybody know for sure whether selecting "video only" when rendering makes any difference to the quality? I would like to think that it is irrelevant, but perhaps somebody can confirm this for me.

It won't make a difference on the VIDEO but it *WILL* make a difference on the AUDIO. If you render the audio into the mpeg2 file, here's what happens:

1. You take your audio and it gets MPEG compressed (remember the compression is lossy - not lossless).
2. That audio is then DECOMPRESSED
3. That audio is then RECOMPRESSED into AC3 format (losing a little more in the process)

So the audio quality will be better if you start with the original audio and render ONCE into AC3 format.

[Keith Malone]

Hi Edward, thanks for that. You've just changed my workflow for the better!

Keith

[David Hadden]

Originally Posted by David Davidson

Render out to Mpeg2 DVDA NTSC Widescreen video stream only

I only ever render to video stream only and separately render audio. It's the only way to fly :)

Dave