Comments

winrockpost wrote on 5/5/2006, 3:56 PM
not in front of vegas but make sure the template is DVD Architect NTSC video stream , not just dvd ntsc set to best and click 2 pass.
not the EXACT settings but best i can do from memory.
B.Verlik wrote on 5/5/2006, 4:05 PM
My guess is, that when you are about to make a DVD that when you get to the "Optimize" portion in DVD-A, if you continue from there, it will re-render. If you use the optimize to just look at the information but back out of it and then make the DVD, it will not re-render.
As far as 2 pass renders go. A very good setting I use, which will only yield about 85 minutes with 192 Kbs AC3 is: Based from the NTSC DVD setting
rendering quality: Best
'Video quality' slider: 31 (far right)
7,000,000 Average bitrate
8,500,000 Max bitrate
4,000,000 Min bitrate
2-Pass
Audio tab: Uncheck box that says Include audio stream.
Render out the AC3 file separately in VEGAS too, or you'll have no sound.
Be sure the AC3 and MPEG2 have the same name and are in the same folder and they will automatically be linked in DVD-A as soon as you pick the mpg2.

If your project is less than about 50 minutes, you can render at 1 Pass and do it using a 'Constant Bitrate' of 8,000,000 bps. A very high CBR of 8,000,000 or higher will be hard to see the difference with 2-Pass rendering. Just depends on the length of your project.
The menus will always be rerendered in DVD-A. Like it or not. Maybe they won't if you don't include any text from DVD-A and you only use an Mpg2. (I haven't tried that yet.)
I hope this is some help.
wolfbass wrote on 5/5/2006, 5:18 PM
It's PAL.

Thanks for the reply.

I can't 'Back Out' of the screen you mean. The only way to move forward is have DVDA rerender.

Thanks for trying. Anyone else?
johnmeyer wrote on 5/5/2006, 7:54 PM
Not an answer to your question, but for a photo montage, I doubt you'll get much, if any, benefit from two pass encoding.
wolfbass wrote on 5/5/2006, 8:30 PM
Thanks John, I'll take that on board.

I found that if I had 'reduce interlace flicker' OFF in DVDA it won't rerender the mpeg. So I've found the culprit.

SO,

I thought with Still Montages, reducing interlace flicker is a desirable thing.

What then would be the procedure to get the Montage rendered to DVD with reduced interlace flicker?

If you can start right from the beginning, that would be awesome.

MY GOAL: To produce the best possible image of a Photo Montage on DVD using Vegas 6.0d and DVDA 3.0c.

Thanks in Advance,

Andy

Edit: Spelling
johnmeyer wrote on 5/5/2006, 9:41 PM
I add reduce interlace flicker to each still photo event in Vegas. I then render to MPEG-2 using the DVD Architect NTSC template, with the average bitrate adjusted depending on the length of my project. I use my own bitrate calculator (which I've posted in the past) to determine the best average bitrate to use. I also change the render quality to Best (which is only needed when you have media that must be up- or down-sampled because it is a different resolution than your project).

2-pass rendering is only useful for low bitrate encodes (which I'll define arbitrarily as less than 5,000,000 bps) AND only if you have a project which has significant variation in motion from one part of the video to another. Photo montages usually move rather slowly, but steadily. Therefore, they probably don't need lots of bit to look pretty good (fast motion = higher bitrate). The best use I've ever had for 2-pass encoding was putting each day of the Masters golf tournament on one disc. That was over three hours on a single layer disc. Normally, I never put more than 90 minutes on a disc. This turned out great however, because 90% of golf shots have virtually no motion. The 2-pass encoder looks at every frame from the entire video, figures out how many bits are needed at each point, and then scales the bitrate accordingly. The bits "saved" during static shots can then be used to encode the fast motion in other scenes. If your average bitrate is really high (certainly anything above 6,500,000) there just isn't enough difference between the average and the maximum to make much difference. Thus, for 2-pass to be useful you need low average bitrate, and a big variation in motion from one scene to the next.
B.Verlik wrote on 5/5/2006, 10:36 PM
I'm sorry, DVD-A must have changed a lot since version 1.0d. I can back out of any stage until I hit the "Finish" button. (in the 'Optimize' section, I can hit 'cancel' and get back to the screen before.) In fact, I see no need to even check it anymore, I just skip over the Optimize section.)
Also, not a single option to 'reduce interface flicker' in DVD-A1.0d either. So, I never would've thought of that.
And the DVD settings can still be made with the PAL template. (I think, since I've never used it.) But my VBR settings would be better for actual movement and you should follow johnmeyers advice, as he's the master tester.
Maybe use 'Force resample' also, when you choose 'Reduce Interlace Flicker' in VEGAS (right click picture in timeline/properties). Might help with the stills.
wolfbass wrote on 5/7/2006, 1:52 AM
Thanks John, I seem to be getting closer to my goal.

Is ther a script for adding 'Reduce Interlace Flick' for every still?

What I ended up doing on my other project was rendering to AVI, then letting DVDA render the Mpeg, with 'reduce interlace flicker' on.

Appreciate all the help guys.

Andy
B.Verlik wrote on 5/7/2006, 2:21 AM
I don't know how DVD-A renders mpegs, when it does it automatically, especially since I'm still on 1.0.
But, the description I gave above, assuming they haven't radically changed VEGAS too, should work for getting the option for 'reduce interlace flicker' in Vegas. Just right-click on the picture, in the timeline, go to 'properties' and check the box to 'reduce interface flicker'. Yes, it's a hassle to do each one and maybe there's a workaround for it. I don't have any options for what type of mpeg, my DVD-A will render on its own, and I think it may be better to render the mpeg the way you want, in VEGAS, than let DVD-A do a lousy render. (unless you know the DVD-A Mpeg render settings and they're okay. My DVD-A renders pretty bad unless I set the rate all the way up, which is only good for less than an hour, plus my only option is 1-Pass.)
Not trying to be critical, but I believe rendering to an mpeg2, direct from the timeline will give you the best results. Better than going to avi first.
I've had to set each individual picture to 'reduce interface flicker' and it took time and if anybody knows a short-cut on Vegas 4.0, please tell me.
Mine also has a box that can be checked for the 'Force Resample' on the properties page, very near 'Reduce Interlace Flicker' too, that may help make stills look a little bit better.
johnmeyer wrote on 5/7/2006, 9:59 AM
Is ther a script for adding 'Reduce Interlace Flick' for every still?

But of course. JohnnyRoy wrote one:

Reduce Interlace Flicker on All Events

[Edit]

Here's the one I use, which I based on something Ed Troxel did:


/**

* This script will turn on Reduce Interlace Flicker for all selected events on all selected tracks.

* 04/02/2003 jetdv

*

* Modified By: John Meyer

* 05/3/2005 

**/



import System;

import System.IO;

import System.Windows.Forms;

import Sony.Vegas;





try {

  var counter = 0;

  var trackEnum = new Enumerator(Vegas.Project.Tracks);

  while (!trackEnum.atEnd()) {

    var track : Track = Track(trackEnum.item());

    if (track.Selected && track.IsVideo() ) {

      var eventEnum = new Enumerator(track.Events);

      while (!eventEnum.atEnd()) {

        var evnt : VideoEvent = VideoEvent(eventEnum.item());

        if (evnt.Selected) {

          counter = counter + 1;

          evnt.ReduceInterlace = true;

        }

      eventEnum.moveNext();

      }

    }



  trackEnum.moveNext();

  }



MessageBox.Show(counter + " events changed.","Finished");



} catch (e) {

MessageBox.Show(e);

}



/** END **/