Who is right – John Rofrano or Sony?

[Mike Kujbida]

Kate, Vegas has been able to smart render SD MPEG-2 files back at least as far as Pro 8 (the earliest version I have for testing).

The key is that you must render at the exact same bitrate that was used in the original encoding.

I confirmed this by importing VOB files from some old projects I’ve done.
If I try to re-encode to MPEG-2 at the default bitrate, it always recompresses.
If I use the exact same bitrate (CBR or VBR) used in the original (I save a lot of presets!!), no recompression is done.
I know there are tools out there that you can use to examine the original VOB files to determine the bit rate used but I haven’t used any of them so can’t recommend a specific one.
I hope that answers your questions.

[Kate Morris]

Thanks for your help once again, Mike. Using a program called G-Spot I was able to determine that the “Sys Bitrate” is 10080 kb/s VBR, while the average rate of the test clip that I’m working on is 6986 kbps. Audio is AC3 48000 256 kb/s stereo (2/0). I-frame info N=12 M=3(100%), 2 max consecutive B-frames.

The codec solutions suggested that this was a “winning combination”.

A) MPEG-2 Demultiplexer/MPEG-2 Splitter/Mpeg Splitter (Gabest)
B) CyberLink Video/SP Decoder(PDVD10)
C) ffdshow subtitles filter
D) Video Renderer

The worry that I have is that there are so many different variables involved when creating a custom MPEG-2 export template that I will never be able to stumble across the correct one.

I will have nightmares about trying to get Vegas to work like I want it to work 🙂

Sorry I misunderstood you before, I thought you meant that there was no possible way that Vegas could handle MPEG-2 SD smart render.

[John Rofrano]

[Kate Morris] “In a recent thread, John Rofrano said “Vegas Pro only smart renders DV AVI, DV MXF, IMX MXF, HD MXF, MPEG-2 (for files such as those from HDV and DVD camcorders), and some XDCAM EX formats.””

Please re-read that statement. It clearly says:

MPEG-2 (for files such as those from HDV and DVD camcorders)

DVD camcorders are Standard Definition MPEG-2 so I never said that Vegas doesn’t smart render SD MPEG-2.

[Kate Morris] “So who is right? Can Vegas 10b really smart render MPEG-2 standard definition? Has anybody ever got it to work?”

Yea, I do it all the time. I am saying the same thing as Sony because I was quoting directly from the Vegas users manual.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Kate Morris]

Hurray! Thanks a million for pointing me in the right direction Mike, I’ve finally getting the “No Recompression Required” message when I render my MPEG-2 files. Like you said, it was all down to the bit rate.

I’m sorry for getting John Rofrano involved in this thread – I have been doing A LOT of reading back through the Creative Cow forums, and you and John have both given a huge amount of help to the community here.

I’ll put a new topic up explaining the settings I needed to get the MPEG-2 smart rendering working, in case it helps people in the future.

Thanks again, you’ve made a lot of people very happy 🙂

[Kate Morris]

Hi John!

I apologise for the misunderstanding – fortunately, it has led to me finding the solution to my problem.

It was wrong of me to frame my topic in such a way that it might have been perceived to question your expertise. As I said in my reply to Mike, you contribute a huge amount of time and knowledge to this forum, and I for one am very grateful.

I let my frustration with Vegas get the better of me – I spent money I couldn’t really afford to buy a copy. Hopefully as I learn more about the software, I can pass on a few tips to people who are in the same position that I am in now.

All the best,

Kate

[John Rofrano]

[Kate Morris] “It was wrong of me to frame my topic in such a way that it might have been perceived to question your expertise. “

You should feel free to question my expertise any time you think I am wrong. I do make mistakes and occasionally I even learn from them. lol 😉 I learn a lot from the people here as well so I can’t take all the credit but I do try to help wherever I can.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com