So Render as then whatever template best fits my output and then just select a folder to save in for future use?

Thanks a bunch for taking the time to answer!

Use the smallest amount of compression you can afford to keep the quality as high as possible with minimum data loss.

DV is only a good choice for SD material if your original files are DV, and even then it's iffy if you've applied effects and corrections. I've used MPEG2/MP4 with bitrates of 15Mbps and gotten much better results than DV.

For HD material you probably want to start at 30Mbps and work up from there. While i like the smoothness of MXF playback, in this range, the bitrate used plays a far, far bigger role than the codec or file type. Any codec will give a good result at minimal compression.

I shoot my footage with a Nikon D5100 DSLR and a GoPro Hero 3. Haven't used DV in a long time. Also, what do you mean by MXF...I don't know much when it comes to file sizes or best saving/exporting setting and I know even less about video compression ect. usually I use .avi or .mov at 720x1280 to save my files...but like I said I'm just trying to figure out how best to save colour corrected files for later use. Haven't had a chance to get on my editing software today but I will try out the "render as" settings I was told about earlier.

Side question on that...my software usually wants to save rendered files deep inside the Sony Vegas folder that was created during install...if Im saving for later use, is it ok for me to designate a different folder (say perhaps in my video folders) thats easier to access?

Thanks again.

>f Im saving for later use, is it ok for me to designate a different folder (say perhaps in my video folders) thats easier to access?

Absolutely!

Hmmm. Maybe MXF isn't available in the Studio version. In the Pro version under Render As, one of the types available is Sony MXF.

The problem with AVI is that except for uncompressed, which is enormous, most of the available codecs really haven't kept up with the times and all take shortcuts and quality hits that may have been considered necessary 5 or 10 years ago due to slower processors, smaller drives, and slower data connections, but aren't anymore. MPEG2 has usually been better than most any codecs available in the AVI container, while MP4/AVC/MXF are far superior. There is lagarith for AVI, which is a very gentle lossless data compression which produces files about half the size of uncompressed, but MP4/AVC can deliver near indistinguishable quality at a fraction of the size. MXF is probably only worth the file size for HD files, but it will be far better than DV at about the same size as DV when used with SD files.

Save the files anywhere you want. I never use the predefined Vegas or Windows folders for anything. I create a new folder on one of my hard drives for each project and put everything related to that project there, such as F:\julias_wedding\, F:\movie_night_advertisement\, H:\fall_foliage_2013\, etc.