[Matt Crowley]

25fps interlaced is the PAL standard for UK/Europe systems. What is the original footage format? If it’s also 25i from a standard-def or hi-def source then you shouldn’t get interlacing artifacts.

Make sure your project settings match the frame rate and interlace settings, and use the PAL DVD presets for the MainConcept MPEG2 codec when you render.

[Matt Crowley]

You need to understand that the Quicktime MOV format is really just a way of packaging into a file the video data from a variety of codecs (the compression algorithms). It’s like the Mac equivalent to Windows AVI.

One of those codecs is called “uncompressed” and as the name implies, offers no compression at all and consequently results in massive files (raw video takes a lot of space).

What size/type of video are you editing?

If you have to use high quality HD Quicktime (eg for Mac/FCP transfer) then try installing the Avid DNxHD codec which will provide high quality HD compression. Although the files will still be quite large, they are ideal for further editing.

If you want to render to small files for distribution, try the other codecs listed under Quicktime (click the Custom button) such as Sorenson, MPEG4 or MotionJPEG. You can try the 1Mbps or 3Mbps presets to get an idea of output file sizes.

[Matt Crowley]

For best results, render your HD Vegas project to MPEG2 format and use one of the DVD Architect Video Stream presets (probably PAL widescreen in your case). Then render the project again as Dolby AC3 and give the output file the same name (except for extension) as the video render.

You can then drop those 2 files (MPG and AC3) onto a DVD Architect project and produce a DVD without any intermediate re-compression.

Using the Blu-ray renders in DVD Architect is convenient and probably fine for your videos, but it will force DVD Architect to convert the video and audio to DVD format and that will incur a small loss of quality. You also have more control over the encoding parameters if you use Vegas to produce the MPEG2 file.

[Matt Crowley]

You can handle large numbers of still images as an image sequence. This turns time-lapse or stop-frame sequences into a video clip in Vegas, and you can then apply all the usual video effects easily.

Instead of dragging all your stills onto the timeline, just go Project>Import Media and select the first image in your sequence. The “Open Still Image Sequence” option at the bottom of the Import dialog will become active and you can enable it type the number of the last image you want in the sequence. The images must be sequentially numbered (eg IMG4567, IMG4568…) and Vegas will automatically identify the available range. Just click OK to import the whole sequence and you’ll get a single video event.

[Matt Crowley]

If the video is from a VHS tape, then you only need to record and render at standard definition (720×480 for NTSC or 720×576 for PAL).

You can use the “DVD” or “DVD Architect” presets for the MPEG2 format when you render in Vegas. Use the bitrate calculator that Stephen linked to for calculating the max bitrate you can use.

[Matt Crowley]

Check that your project properties has the correct frame size – you may have selected an incorrect small frame size, which will result in small or blurry preview and maybe also small output renders.

Also make sure you haven’t mistakenly added a blur track effect (or even master effect) – that will cause all video events on the track (or all tracks in the case of Master) to be blurry.

[Matt Crowley]

You’re right – it IS easy (once you know how)…

Just right-click on the audio event in the timeline, and You’ll see a “Channels” menu. Under that you can select “left only” or “right only” to use one source channel for both output channels. You’ll then get mono audio.

You can also combine (mix both to mono) and swap left/right channels.

[Matt Crowley]

If you have some software like Soundforge, then convert the MP3 to a WAV PCM file with the same sample rate as the other audio (maybe 48k?).

If it’s a long music track, then you might have to stretch it slightly to fit. Get the beginning lined up exactly, then Ctrl-drag the end to align the end exactly. Vegas will stretch/resample the audio and everything should line up nicely.

[Matt Crowley]

You might have the preview set to a large size and it’s too big for the preview window.

Try changing the preview quality to Preview>Auto, or right-clicking on the preview window and selecting “Scale video to fit”.

You can also undock the preview window and resize it for a large preview.

[Matt Crowley]

There’s only so much you can do with slow-mo footage that started out at a low frame rate. The “smart resample” in Vegas will basically crossfade between adjacent frames in an attempt to smooth out the motion. Of course, there is no actual motion between the frames.

There are products such as Twixtor that synthesize new frames from the existing frames, based on smart motion tracking etc. These can create fairly smooth motion from an otherwise jerky slow-mo sequence.