[Casey Menninger]

Thanks for the great tips, guys!

[Casey Menninger]

Thanks, Guillaume!

Just for future reference, what would be the advantage of using the Sony AVC template to create the MP4 instead of the XDCAM EX MP4 template? All of these codecs, templates, and wrappers are quite confusing to me…

[Casey Menninger]

I may have answered part of my own question in the last hour…

…the quality of my test clip (video and still photos) is much better if I use 1920×1080 30p instead of 1280×720 60p for the MP4 (XDCAM EX) template. I simply “disabled resampling” on the video before rendering, as suggested by John R. last year in a similar answer…By the way, the resulting file will only play on VLC, and not Windows Media Player. (I have both players installed on my Windows 7, 32 bit system.)

(The quality of WMV 1920×1080 60 p was also very, very good, especially if I increased the bit rate to 40 M. However, the resulting file (which will only play on Windows Media Player) was severely letterboxed, not filling up the whole screen.)

[Casey Menninger]

Hi John,

It must be something with DVD Architect. No matter what untouched, default 24p template I use, DVD Architect says the video stream is not compliant and must be recompressed. It doesn’t do this if I use a 30 fps NTSC template.

Casey

[Casey Menninger]

Yes…

[Casey Menninger]

Mike,

As far as I can see, the template you mention is also YUV, per the specs in the drop down box…

[Casey Menninger]

For what it’s worth, this is what pops up in DVD Architect 4.5 about “compliant” NTSCvideo files. It doesn’t say 24p is compliant, is that the problem?

NTSC MPEG video (.m2p, .mp2, .mpg, .mpeg)
If you’re using the MainConcept MPEG-2 encoder in Vegas Movie Studio, use the DVD Architect NTSC video stream or DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream template to render your video stream (you’ll need to render your audio stream separately according to the parameters listed in the AC-3 audio or PCM audio headings).

Aspect ratio and frame size:

Aspect ratio
Frame size

4:3
720×480

4:3
704×480

4:3
352×480

4:3
352×240

16:9
720×480

16:9
704×480

Frame rate: 29.97 fps

Maximum GOP (group of pictures): 36

Maximum bit rate: 9.8 Mbps

No low delay

[Casey Menninger]

Hi John,

I don’t think I changed anything…Video: 24 fps, 720×480 Progressive, YUV, 8 Mbps
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.212

I might have changed the setting that defaults to 9 bits to 10 (8, 9, or 10 are the choices)

[Casey Menninger]

Thanks…should have been obvious to me…!

[Casey Menninger]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the help and tips!

John, I already tried your advice (disable resample) and I saw a notable increase in clarity in the final MPEG — thanks!

Under File, and Properties, I was able to successfully “match” the video properties of the original file. I did not know about that feature…

I applied the source properties to my project as noted above, and chose best for full-res rendering quality. What do I do under Project, under the custom settings of the rendering window? Usually, I check “Best” quality, but because of the aforementioned match, should I leave it at “use project settings”?

Somehow, I did not know you could make a 24 frame NTSC DVD. I thought that was the frame rate for PAL. Assuming the source is progressive, it is indeed better to render as 24p as opposed to 60i (using the top parameters that Dave mentioned in his post)? I always have flickering issues with interlaced footage. 24p will play alright on NTSC DVD players?

Finally, if I use AC3 audio, how far up can I pump the max and average bit rate in VBR for MPEG rendering?

Thanks again guys for your expertise…!!!