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Rendering in 2048×1080 (Vegas Pro 8)
I normally use a project that renders to 1920×1080 (Full HD). But I’ve recently got the bug to deliver Cinema Definition content using 2048×1080. Now I’m rather new to Vegas, so bare with me on this. I’m sure some project settings are just plain wrong!
What I want is for my finished product to look like a widescreen motion picture. Like the way it looks when I watch Star Wars on my TV; it has a very wide aspect. I was watching YouTube video of someone playing two movies under Ubuntu, and both films were displayed in this cinema wide format.
However, every time I render it out it always comes out squished. No matter what player I use to play it back (RealPlayer 11, MediaPlayer 11, or DivX 7). I have tried WMV, AVI, and MOV with the same results. RM format and many others give me a “Codec not found” error.
Here is my project settings:
Width – 2048, Height – 1080
Field order – progessive, Pixel aspect – 1.3333 (HDV 1080)
Output rotation – 0 degrees, Frame rate – 29.970 (NTSC), Pixel format – 32bit
Compositing gamma – 2.222 (video), Full-res quality – Best
Motion blur – Gaussion, Deinterlace – None.I can think that maybe the Pixel format should stay at 8bit, and pixel aspect should stay at 1.0000. But putting at 1.000 gives the same format as Full HD. If you know what I mean. Evev changing to 1.2121 NTSC Widescreen makes it all squished up. How can I set Vegas Pro 8 up to render in the Cinema Defintion widescreen format (for both viewing on PC and TV)? The help file says it may be my video card, but I have a nVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS with 512MB RAM and it has max screen res. of 2560 x 1600. But this baffles me.
Any help here?
PaulJC
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3 Replies
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I’ve always had issues with WMV and pixel aspect ratio (PAR) and have never been patient enough to figure it out. I did just verify that you can render 2048×1080 with a square PAR using Main Concept’s AVC (MP4) in Vegas v8 and it worked just fine, so you might try that.
OK, for viewing on a PC, we’re done, provided you started with square pixels and a 16:9 screen aspect image. Sounds like you are talking about an academy aspect 2.4:1 screen source, which (whether it’s 2048×1080 or 1920×1080) will not have square pixels. The conversion of 16:9 square PAR source to 2.4 “cinematic” aspect is about a 1.33 anamorphic squeeze, so that should look right (i.e., 2048×1080 1:1 pixels will yield a 16:9 screen aspect, 2048×1080 with 1.33 PAR gives you a 2.4 aspect screen).
(As an aside, I noticed Vimeo will display 2.4 aspect video or even vertical aspects, but you don’t gain any resolution, so I’m not sure how popular it is.)
On a television, the situation is easier, since you are much more limited in what formats you can display. Basically, you’ll want to output 1920×1080 with letterboxing top and bottom. To do that, just take your source, open the Track Motion tool, lock the aspect ratio and adjust the size until the video spans the entire screen left-to-right, leaving black bars top and bottom.
Make sense? I wrote a little bit about this peripherally recently which may help:
Pixel Aspect Ratio: The More Things Change_________
…and that’s the way it was.
— Walter Cronkite
https://videopia.org -
I would determine the resolution that you want to deliver in using square pixels. Whatever that is, set your project to that resolution using a pixel aspect of 1.0. Then when you render to WMV, use the same resolution and a PAR of 1.0 as well. There should be no surprises because your project matches your delivery format.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Thanks very much for the information. I am sorry i forgot to mention that ealier when i first read this response. Also, your “Pixel Aspect Ratio: The More Things Change” piece was very informative as well. Thanks again.
PaulJC
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