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sorry to keep this going, but i am very curious... does anyone have any answers?

pj

Best vs. Draft only affects the preview window or when resizing the frame. If you are rendering SD to SD it has absolutely no effect.

What does affect output file size is duration and bitrate. You said you rendered 10 seconds both times, but you didn't mention what bitrates you used. Of course, a lower bitrate not only makes a smaller file, but lower quality as well.

ok. the clip is that of my friends face, ECU... i rendered looped region only.
i use (mainconcept) MGEG 2, set it to DVD widescreen 16:9, and chose draft (first tab), save as test1.mpg.. then, i goto file again, render as, same thing, dvd widescreen, this time i chose BEST (first tab) and render again. there are no effects on the clip, no edit (besides rendering looped region only)

(im not talking about the draft->best setting by the preview monitor)

the DRAFT is larger in file size and better quality than that of the same clip in BEST setting..

pj

EDIT: the clip is shot on the canon XL H1, at SD 16:9, 30P

Just tried to duplicate your problem. I used NTSC DV AVI (not widescreen) as the input. I rendered a short clip using the NTSC DVD Architect template, but modified first to use Draft rendering (using the Custom button in the Render As dialog) and then using Best rendering. The two resulting MPEG-2 files were identical in size.

I think there must be something in your workflow that none of us are picking up on, and that is non-standard in some way.

that is very strange indeed!
i chose the same template for each render, the only thing i change was DRAFT to BEST... you could see a difference, the draft was sharper, more contrast.. whereas the BEST was more washed out.. (but smaller file size.. go figure)

i have done this test 3 times now.. 3 different days... still same results...
how could my workflow be any different?
regardless of my workflow, the fact that im not changing ANYTHING besides draft and best and getting different file size/quaitly is crazy....

thanks for trying
anyone else??

pj

is anyone else having these issues?? what could be wrong!??
pj

I just ran a test using the "default" template, changing it to 16:9, and testing at both Best and Draft. In this case, the Draft file is slightly larger (6.41 meg vs 6.36 meg for Best) and has slightly better sharpness.

However, the "default" template should NOT be used. Which template are you starting with?

i start with the mpeg 2, DVD NTSC 16:9 display
and change NOTHING except for the DRAFT and BEST settings... that is ALL!

again, no edits, no effects, just 10 seconds of standard def, avi footage...

thanks for your help..
any ideas why this is? a bug?

pj

I just tried this with a generated media track. The BEST was 5.1MB, DRAFT was 5.7MB.
For the generated media, the BEST looked much better than the DRAFT. Less artifacting resulted in better compression, thus the BEST's smaller file size. My theory, anyway.

I'm rendering the generated media out to AVI as a starting point, then I will re-encode to mpg and see if I can see a difference.

Edited:
Reran the test with an avi on timeline, with no effects, etc. Output to Draft and Best. Identical size files. Quality is nearly identical.

Are you sure you started with SD on the timeline? Best/Draft come into play with some effects processing as well as resizing the original footage. My original generated media was HDV-size with text, so resizing came into play. That's probably why I could tell a big difference between Draft/Best in my original run.

Edit #2:
Tried something else and got something similar to what you are reporting: I changed my Project Properties to HDV 1080-60i from DV widescreen. DV widescreen avi still on timeline, then output to MPG Draft and Best. Draft does look a little sharper on one of the bitmaps I am panning. Draft file size is a little larger.

Conclusion: When Project Properties do not match your output target size and timeline media size, Vegas is rendering in addition to encoding. I don't know why Draft quality is better than Best, should be the other way around.

Make sure your Project Properties match your output in this instance.

thanks fldave!
strange huh..
the only thing i can think of, is when shooting with the canon xl h1.. i did have it set to 60i, SD, 16:9...
(when i would click the actual AVI clips in explorer... it would be a 4;3 ratio.. soo, maybe it has to do with changing the pixel aspect ratio...?

like i said, i did not change any of these settings.. but maybe vegas is...

.... the whold bit with it looking squished if opened directly with media player baffles me.. i thought the canon shot true 16:9...
how come it looks 4X3 in media player...
(coudl someone else please explain the "simulate device aspect ratio".. it confuses me!)
there seems to be so many settings regarded project size, you can change the size of the clip, properties of the clip itself, you can change the project templete.. then, again when you render...
i suppose just as long as you are consistant...

as i get older, im getting more confused.. (yikes, im only 24)

thanks again!
pj

EDIT:
just did it again... now they are the same size, but still draft looks better, sharper, more contrast... i did the test withouth audio this time.. didnt help.. still same problem...