Project Properties: HD 1080-60i (1920x1080, 29.970 fps), 1920 x 1080, Frame Rate: 29.970 (NTSC)

MediaInfo (I just looked at Properties for one of the clips I shot, not sure if there's another place to find info):
VIDEO: Data rate: 19490kbps, Total bitrate: 19622kbps, Frame rate: 29 fps AUDIO: Bitrate: 132kbps, Audio sample rate: 48 kHz.
Looking at Properties in my Vegas bin says the Streaming format is H.264. Under Plug-In it says this:
Name: qt7plug.dll
Folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Sony\Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10.0\FileIO Plug-Ins\qt7plug
Format: QuickTime 7
Version: Version 1.0 (Build 7330)
Company: Sony Creative Software Inc.

Render Properties: (to .avi)
Template: = HD 1080-60i YUV
Description: HD 1080-60i, using Sony YUV codec. OpenDML compatible.
Audio: 48,000 Hz, 16 Bit, Stereo, PCM
Video: 29.970 fps, 1920x1080 Upper field first, YUV
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.000

To clone myself, I just dragged the second clip into Video Overlay and dragged it over using Cookie Cutter. It works again when I delete the overlaying clip.

The program is Version 10.0 (Build 179)

Anything else I should provide just ask! I'm so confused!

Sony YUV AVI is not a playback or delivery codec. It is ungodly large and taxing on your system.

What is your intended use? BluRay? DVD? Youtube? Computer playback? Web hosting?

FYI
--MediaInfo is a free download from Sourceforge.
--The Preview in Vegas and the Output from a Render are two entirely different things.
--Search "prerender" or your Vegas Help and/or tutorials to discover the uses of "prerender" for your Vegas Preview.
--You have serious effects on the timeline, They will not Preview at full frame rate without a "prerender." Best of luck.

Here's what the Properties of the rendered video say: in .avi format, the 22 second clip is 2.61 GB (which seems huuuuge). Data rate is 994333kbps while Total Bitrate is 995869 kbps (again, seemingly huge). I'm wondering if the size of it is what makes the rendered video still choppy. Which codec should I use instead?


Using MediaInfo, one of the clips I would like to use has this info:
General
Complete name : C:\Users\Curtis\Videos\DCIM\100NIKON\DSCN0010.MOV
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : QuickTime
Codec ID : qt
File size : 62.4 MiB
Duration : 27s 477ms
Overall bit rate : 19.0 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 2012-01-01 00:00:00
NCDT : NCTG

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=8
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 27s 477ms
Source duration : 27s 494ms
Bit rate : 18.7 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.302
Stream size : 61.4 MiB (98%)
Source stream size : 61.4 MiB (98%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2012-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 2012-01-01 00:00:00
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
mdhd_Duration : 27477

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 27s 467ms
Source duration : 27s 477ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 430 KiB (1%)
Source stream size : 430 KiB (1%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2012-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date : UTC 2012-01-01 00:00:00

The MediaInfo for my 22s rendered video was this:
General
Complete name : C:\Users\Curtis\Documents\Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10.0 Projects\TestFrench1.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 2.61 GiB
Duration : 22s 523ms
Overall bit rate : 996 Mbps
TCOD : 0
TCDO : 225225000

Video
ID : 0
Format : YUV
Codec ID : UYVY
Codec ID/Info : Uncompressed 16bpp. YUV 4:2:2 (Y sample at every pixel, U and V sampled at every second pixel horizontally on each line). A macropixel contains 2 pixels in 1 u_int32.
Duration : 22s 523ms
Source duration : 17s 217ms
Bit rate : 760 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:2
Compression mode : Lossless
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 12.231
Stream size : 1.99 GiB (76%)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Signed
Codec ID : 1
Duration : 17s 500ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 536 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 3.20 MiB (0%)
Interleave, duration : 246 ms (7.37 video frames)
Interleave, preload duration : 250 ms

Hope that helps! I plan on putting it on a DVD because it will be shown in class, although YouTube would be the second option.

You can create a DVD direct from Vegas.
Or, using the appropriate DVD Architect templates, author a DVD in Architect.
You have a Youtube option already available in Vegas.

I recommend using the interactive tutorials that came with your program, using the forum and knowledgebase resources to find out the basics. Diving into video editing with no instruction whatsoever is not very efficient.

Under no circumstances that you will encounter is rendering to Sony YUV AVI useful.

You can also find more discussion about optimizing preview performance and doing selective prerenders using the resources mentioned above.

Best of luck.

All I'm wondering is potential reasons why my video skips after applying an overlay. If it is the YUV AVI format, which should I try instead! I've been using the program for over a year with my old camera and everything worked just fine until I used the HD. And I'm not a serious film maker so I'm sorry I'm not as knowledgeable on things like codecs, that's why I'm asking here!

Simply put, if you're talking about why playback skips and stutters when you play your timeline after you've added and overlay (or an effect) this is merely your computer not being able to keep up with the playback because your effects (including the overlay) have not been rendered. Even though your computer is very fast, the combination of visual effects and 1080p60 video will cause the video to lag.

Render your timeline (by selecting Selectively Prerender Video from the Tools menu) and the program will create a rendered version of your timeline, which will play as smoothly as your original footage. (The program is essentially creating a temporary video based on your effect, which it uses to play your movie.)

If you don't want to render your entire timeline, you can drag to create a Loop Region before you select the Prerender option.

"All I'm wondering is potential reasons why my video skips after applying an overlay. If it is the YUV AVI format, which should I try instead!"

This has been explained the best I possibly know how. The Preview and the Output are two different things. You need to prerender your timeline effects, and appropriately render your Output for your intended use.

Besides the interactive tutorials, Help, Knowledgebase, forum Search, and internet tutorials, Steve, who just replied above, has published books on the very things you are asking. You can find them on Amazon.

Thank you both. Will try prerendering before I render and hopefully the finished product will look great!

Prerendering before you render isn't strictly necessary and won't alter the output at all. It just lets you see smooth motion in the preview so that you can make sure your edits are correct.

If one prerenders the timeline or portions of it in the DVD output format at full resolution (Best/Full), those effected sections will smart render in the output, saving (sometimes considerable) time.

However, since there is still obvious total confusion wrt the non-relationship of the choppy preview to the appropriate output, I'd say any refinements to the discussion lie somewhere down the road . . .

Best.

I'm not concerned about the preview anymore, just curious why the rendered video was still choppy. I'll try rendering in all the formats and see if anything works. You all can help other, more tech-savvy people at this point. I appreciate the help, but maybe I'll just refilm everything on the old camera.

Sorry I was a jerk in the last post, but thanks to you guys I solved the problem! All I did was prerender it using the "MainConcept MPEG-2" format and "DVD NTSC" template (which solved the skipping in the preview screen) and then render it using the same format. Beautiful, HD video clip perfect for burning to DVD! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who dealt with my stupidity. Project saved! Thanks again!