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Pixel Depth and Color Spaces
I’m trying to figure out what the pixel depth setting in Vegas does, and how I should have it set for my project.
I’m using mostly black and white stills (PNGs), with a lot of gradients and crossfades. When I set the pixel depth to “32-bit (video levels),” it darkens the image a bit and seems to increase the contrast. 8-bit lightens the image a bit. I’m not sure which is the more neutral setting or which I should want. I was under the impression that 32-bit would be superior to 8-bit, but what do these settings actually do?
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3 Replies
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The short answer is: if you have to ask… use 8-bit. 32-bit is primarily for those people working with 10-bit YUV source. It will give you more accurate color rendition at the expense of render time and playback speed and should only be used for projects that demand that level of color accuracy. It can used for 8-bit projects that show banding of color but that is rare. The default is 8-bit for a reason… this is what most people should be using.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Well, I would certainly LIKE to get the highest level of accuracy I can get, as this is a project that will be replicated. Render times are of secondary importance. If using 32-bit will reduce banding in my fades (which I have noticed a bit of), then that’s something that’s important to me. If it’s not going to do much for me–or worse, reduce accuracy in my situation–then that’s different.
The images that I’m using have been pretty well adjusted for contrast, etc, to look good on a computer screen. Is there anything that I need to adjust in Vegas (regardless of whether I work in 8-bit or 32-bit) in order to prepare them for DVD render? I’ve read about using the color corrector plugin preset for “Computer RGB to Studio RGB” as well as using the color curves plugin. I’m really not sure what approach to take, though.
Like I said, almost all of the images are entirely black and white, so I’m hoping that will simplify things.
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If you are seeing banding then try 32-bit mode and see if it helps. If it looks good on the timeline, it should look the same when you render to DVD.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com
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