Resizing 1080p to 720p...which method is best?

[Norm Kaiser]

Very basic question but I can't find an answer...so I figured I'd try here.

Question probably isn't confined to Vegas, but I'm editing in Vegas, so this forum is as good as any, I suppose.

So I shot my video in 1080p. I need to render to 720p. So in Vegas, should I set project settings to my native size (1080p), edit in native size, and then just render to my target size (720p)?

Or should I set project settings to the target size?

Help!

Thanks so much!

Norm

[Seth Bloombaum]

Originally Posted by Norm Kaiser

...So in Vegas, should I set project settings to my native size (1080p), edit in native size, and then just render to my target size (720p)?...

Typically, yes. You'd edit in the native format of your cam and render whatever distributions you need. I would always do this when cutting full-frame source and leaving it filling the frame.

Occasionally other workflows might be better, especially when doing zooms and reframing in post. Here it can be quite handy to work at, eg, 720p.

Do make sure that whenever you rescale on a render, your render quality is set to "Best". It takes longer, but it's worth it. Find this in the custom render settings.

In your situation there's another good workflow in which you render to 1080p, then do your distribution renders in a tool that supports Lanczos resizing. For my web renders, that would be Handbrake, which also offers the excellent x264 encoder. Some small gains can be had in adding these steps, but completion within Vegas is good, too.

[Norm Kaiser]

Wow! Thanks, Seth. Great information.

So what if I do want to do pans and zooms? Should I set project settings to 720p?

[Norm Kaiser]

OK...let me be even more specific.

My cameras shoot 1080p 30PFS but records it to a 60i stream.

I am producing a wrestling TV show that mixes actual match footage with backstage interviews.

I deliver the show to TV stations at 720p.

I tend to do some zooming and reframing of the backstage interviews in post to get the subjects squared up in the frame. So what I've been doing is editing each interview as a separate project and then import each interview subproject into one main project.

So since I zoom and reframe the interviews, I've been setting those interview subprojects at 720p, assuming that gives me more "native" resolution to work with for zooms.

But now I'm reading it would be a better practice for me to edit in the resolution native to my camera, 1080i. But then doesn't that cause me a problem with the interview subprojects? Should I edit the interviews also as 1080i, even though I'm zooming and panning? If yes, won't that break down the resolution (i.e., invoke digital zooming)?

[Seth Bloombaum]

I've never really compared the two obvious methods directly.

To avoid losing resolution when zooming in and recropping, it's very important to use the event pan/crop dialog rather than the control in the track header. I did have to learn that the hard way!

But I'm scratching my head. Seems to me that if your pc is beefy enough to rescale your 1080 footage to 720 on the fly during previews then editing in your delivery format will be a more accurate representation of the final edit. Editing at 1080p isn't going to tell you when you've zoomed in too much.

OTOH, if you're not getting the preview performance you need at 720 due to the rescaling, that's going to be an obstacle too. In which case you could do some testing to see just how far in you can go with your footage and still have it look good in an eventual 720p render, then apply that knowledge in your 1080p project.

I am speculating here, but that's what I'd test out. And if you get performance you like in a 720p project that's probably the best choice.

Saw your other thread re progressive in an i stream. Hopefully that doesn't interact, but, interlace artifacts that occur when rescaling are the worst! They aren't just jaggies on motion, but sometimes blobby irregular jaggies on motion. Somebody there suggested manually setting your media properties to progressive, if a problem occurs I'd start with that, as well as making sure the project is progressive. In theory. I've not dealt with that in practice yet.

[Jeff Harper]

My workflow is: 1. Set project properties to 720. 2. select all video items 3. click on the Aspect Ratio plugin which changes/matches aspect ratio on all video items to fit your project properties. 4. Done

You can use this method at the beginning of editing or at the end, or at anytime. All pans & crops that you may have already performed are adjusted accordingly, no issues.

Attached is a copy of the plug if you need it. Download then unzip folder and place the script on your C drive. Go to programs/Sony/ etc. and drop it in the scripts folder. To use it go to your Vegas menu bar, click on Tools/Scripting and it will be there. Remember to a) change properties of the project first (b) then select ALL video items. (c) click on aspect ratio script. Must be done in that order. To select all video items use control key, then click on first video event on each line, then right click and select "select events to end".