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Project Settings
This one is multiple questions. Forgive me if there is confusion.
If I change the project settings in Vegas, do the media settings automatically change to match the project?
Do the project settings in DVD Architect have to match the media settings that are brought into it? (i.e. The Media is Widescreen, but the DVD project settings are not.)
Also what is the best way to “downsize” HD to Standard?
I have read on this forum or the Vegas Basic Forum that video brought into DVD Architect has to be MPEG-2. Can anyone explain why?
Thanks!
Herman
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3 Replies
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If I change the project settings in Vegas, do the media settings automatically change to match the project?
No. Vegas is media agnostic and it will display whatever media you drop in it at the project setting. A general rule of thumb is to set your project settings to match our output settings so that there is no surprises.
Do the project settings in DVD Architect have to match the media settings that are brought into it? (i.e. The Media is Widescreen, but the DVD project settings are not.)
No, I’ve created 4:3 DVD menus that linked to 16:9 widescreen movies. DVD Architect will take any DVD compliant video and simply use it.
Also what is the best way to “downsize” HD to Standard?
“Best” is always “subjective”, but I edit all of my HD shot projects as HD and I render to DVD Widescreen. This allows me to go back and create Blu-ray copies if I need them. So downsizing to SD on output leaves you with the most choices.
You could also downsize in-camera and edit in SD from the start if you know you will never need HD output but even then, there are advantages to always editing in HD regardless of output because you can zoom in and make a one camera shot look like a two camera shot very easily.
I have read on this forum or the Vegas Basic Forum that video brought into DVD Architect has to be MPEG-2. Can anyone explain why?
No because it doesn’t have to be. 😉 You can drop AVI files or any files you’d like into DVD Architect and it will convert them to MPEG-2. What has to be MPEG-2 is what actually gets written to the physical DVD disc. The reason is because the DVD spec states that DVD’s must use the MPEG-2 codec and all DVD playes only have to come with an MPEG-2 decoder. (yes I know there are hybrid players that support DivX but you can’t guarantee that someone who want to distribute a DVD to will have a compatible player since MPEG-2 is all that is required).
People may have told you that you only “want” to use MPEG-2 with DVD Architect because it gives you more control over making the MPEG-2 file and DVD Architect won’t have to re-encode whatever you drop on it into MPEG-2. So by only using MPEG-2 files you save yourself a render and therefore save yourself time and quality loss.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Okay next question or maybe it’s just trying to better understand things…
My project settings and render settings should always match, otherwise things will get thrown off?
Herman
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Things “could” get thrown off but the problem is that the project can’t always match the output format. Take my HD workflow above for example. I render to both Blu-ray disc and DVD so obviously I can’t have my project set for both. I choose to set it to HDV and when I render to SD DVD there are slight black pillarboxes because 16:9 HD does not match 16:9 Widescreen exactly. This is what I meant by “surprises”.
I can fix this problem in one of two ways (1) I can use the stretch option during the DVD render to eliminate the black pillars at the expense of making my video slightly wider or (2) I can drop the HDV project into an DV Widescreen project and crop the aspect which cuts the top and bottom off slightly. Most of the time I do neither and live with the slight black pillars on DVD (but my Blu-rays are perfect).
So if I was not planning on not making any Blu-ray discs, I would choose DVD Widescreen as my project settings so that everything I do fits the final size and aspect. If you output to a resolution or aspect that does not match your project, there is always the element of surprise. It may look great, or it may not. Why tempt fate? If you want to be sure of what the final output will look like, it’s a good idea to keep the project and output in sync. It’s not a hard rule but it’s a good idea.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com
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