DVDA Compression of MXF vs Vegas

reberclark wrote on 2/5/2010, 9:13 AM
I am running Vegas 8c. I have started experimenting with MXF files. I rendered my project to a HD 422 1920x1080 50Mbps MXF file and imported it into DVDA.

I liked the video recompression of the file in DVDA but didn't care for the audio result so I deleted the MXF audio and replaced it with an .AC3 render of the audio from my original Vegas project. I burned an SD DVD and it looked and sounded very good.

Being curious I went back and rendered the same MXF to Mpeg-2 NTSC Widescreen for DVDA in Vegas (instead of letting DVDA do the conversion). I was disappointed in the video results.

I have searched the boards for more info on this and have looked at the MXF posts but if anyone can get me more focused on this I'd appreciated the guidance.

Thanks.

Comments

Jay Gladwell wrote on 2/5/2010, 9:18 AM

I think most here agree it's better to prepare files for DVDA in Vegas, rather than letting DVDA do it.

musicvid10 wrote on 2/5/2010, 9:23 AM
I don't think it's your mxf file per se.
DVDA uses the same renderer as Vegas to produce MPEG-2 video. It's just that the settings DVDA uses are a mystery. The custom control over those settings in Vegas is what makes that method preferable for many users.

That being said, the default Mainconcept DVD Architect templates in Vegas are less than ideal. I generally use two-pass vbr, max 9.5, av 6, min 2 Mbs bitrates as a starting point. ymmv
reberclark wrote on 2/5/2010, 9:39 AM
Thanks for the responses. I agree about doing the rendering in Vegas instead of DVDA (that is how I've done it in the past) - I just did this as an experiment.

After my initial post I rendered my HD 422 1920x1080 50Mbps MXF from a Vegas timeline to an Mpeg-2, (DVDA NTSC Widescreen 24P) and got very good results for SD DVD. Adding my previous .AC3 nailed the audio very well.

Any other input appreciated.
musicvid10 wrote on 2/5/2010, 10:27 AM
On the AC-3, use the Pro encoder, set Dialog Norm at -31, and both DRC modes to "None." This will give you the closest match to your original audio.
reberclark wrote on 2/5/2010, 10:32 AM
Yep. Actually I use the Pro encoder with Spot's settings (Douglas Spotted Eagle) and you're right, it greatly improves the audio. I can't recall the settings specifically (they're in Spot's book I believe) but I can dig em up and post em if ya want.