You will render your project from Vegas as a matched pair of MPEG-2 (for video) and AC3 (for audio) files. There are built-in templates that produce these files exactly as needed for DVD Architect. If you place markers in the timeline before rendering then these markers can automatically become chapter points on the DVD.

Once you have these files rendered, there is no further editing necessary in DVD Architect. You merely bring in the completely rendered MPEG-2 and AC3 files that were created in Vegas, create menues as you wish, and then burn. You won't be duplicating any effort that you've already done in Vegas.

KB o f DVD formating table

Sorry, can I ask a related question ?

Is it necessary to break up the rendered file into video and audio ? Can I just render ,say, DV Pal which includes both video & audio ? Any downside to a muxed file ?

james

It will work just fine. DVD Architect will then do the MPEG/AC3 encoding for you. However, the general experience here is that Vegas will do it much faster than DVDA will.

maybe not a downside, but DVDA will have to re-render/compress that ONE file into an MPEG-2 video and AC3 audio, no matter what basicallyt. ha.

so, you save a step if you do it in Vegas.

... but the re-rendering will be audio only, which doesn't take long.

The DVDA Shimmy! I hate these dances . .. so confusing and SO unnecessary .. . A Simple on screen menu while in V5 or DVDA2 could cure it ..

Peter, if DVDA is given a DV .avi file then it will have to encode both the video and the audio.

Of course ... should have said if already MPEG2.

I appreciate these posts from you folks, especially Grazie and Chienworks. I am old and uneducated have pretty much given up on DVDA. Thanks, with these basic clear comments, I shall spend a few more hours trying to get something from DVDA that will give me a sample with a simple menu and chapters. So much power, but hard to give up the old 5 step easy software from the past.

Step 1: Drag your MPEG files onto a menu.
Step 2: Customize your menu.
Step 3: Tell DVD to prepare your DVD files.
Step 4: Tell DVD to burn your DVD.
Step 5: .. There's no Step 5. ;)

It's really not as complicated as this thread seems to make it out to be. You can render out your video and audio to separate files in Vegas, but it's an option not a requirement. DVDA will be happy to disect your MPEG into separate audio and video for you -- you don't even have to tell it to do so. It just knows.

Geez, guys, quit trying to scare off the new folks.

Rob

A point I learn in yesterday's VASST seminar is that you should not use an AVI NTSC DV file as your input to DVDA. If you have media on the Vegas timeline all transistions, titles, or generated media are uncompressed. If you render it to DV you are then compressing it. If you then compress that file to MPEG 2 you are compressing a compressed file. It is better to create your MPEG 2 file directly from the uncompressed Vegas timeline. Also, unless I am missing something, you do not have the control of the MPEG encoder in DVDA that you have in Vegas. It is more work to encode an MPEG 2 file in Vegas to be sure that it will be compliant and appropriately sized for your DVD, but the results should be better.

The Optimize function in DVDA gives you plenty of control.

Preparing MPEGs directly from the Vegas timeline is all very well IF you know it's gonna fit onto the disc.

If it's likely to be close to capacity - say 90 mins or more (and motion menus take space) It's a good idea to allow DVDA to do the calculating, otherwise you can find yourself either going back to Vegas to do another render at a lower bitrate, or, worse, having DVDA recompress your MPEG2 into a second MPEG2.

Okay the "Right Way":

1 - Format an uncompressed AVI in Vegas - not PAL or NTSC.

2 - Import same file - no AC3 spearation - from Vegas into DVDA.

3 - Prepare in DVDA, letting DVDA sort out the best bit rate.

4 - Burn disc.

Is THIS about correct?

Now I've done about most variations .. CBR, VBR ABR .. .

Grazie

Ah Thanks this helps a lot

I hear you, and agree there are cheaper packages that do the job easier but Vegas was a gift so I'm determined to get results with it. I know my 1st attempt was not too bad but I did a lot of redundant work because I did not understand the relation ship between Vegas and DVDA. Reading the DVDA manual made no reference to Vegas that I could find..

What mpg files, I'm working with .avi off my dv camera. So do I edit the project make 1 big .mpg file then do as you say. Will this give me a file I can scene select or do I have to break the .mpg up into the sections I require for that?