Hey,
Why render the audio separate if u aren't planning on using surround sound? Is ac3 audio a lot better overall? Also, do u just go into custom than choose no audio? Oh, and one more question should u choose mpeg 2 or dvd in the advanced options? What's the difference?
Kevin

The standard MPEG render won't produce AC3 audio and not all players are happy with the audio stream that is included with MPEG. The alternative to AC3 is PCM (uncompressed .wav) and these files are very large compared to AC3. This is why most folks use AC3 and why it has to be a separate render.

When rendering, there is a built-in MPEG-2 template that says something like "DVD Architect NTSC video stream". Of course, you'll have to pick a different one if you use PAL or 24fps or widescreen, but make sure you choose one with "DVD Architect" in it if you are using DVD Architect. This will take care of all the settings for you and make sure you produce a file that can be used in the DVD authoring software properly. It's also a good idea to check the box that says "Save project markers in media file." This way any markers you have on the timeline will easily become chapter points on the finished DVD.

For the audio, choose Dolby Digital AC-3. This render should go very quickly.

Hey,
I see it now! Thanks a ton for the help!
In Christ,
Kevin

You will need to purchase the Dolby ac3 encoder fro Sony-Vegas if you have not already in order to create the ac3 file.

He's using Vegas+DVD Production Suite.

J--

Yep VideoCurmudgeon is right, using Vegas + DVD. So no need to purchase there! Thanks for you all your help!
In Christ,
Kevin

Chienworks,

Is there any sound quality benefit to rendering to AC3 in Vegas, over just letting DVDA convert the audio to AC3 (mpeg rendered with audio)?

I am partial to having the audio with the video (render to DVD NTSC template has sound, DVDA template does not IIRC) - just a personal preference.
If it does have a negative impact, I would want to change my habits - otherwise, I would prefer to keep it the same.

I want to have AC3 audio on the disc.
I'm not interested in surround panning at this point.
If my music tracks have surround effects already in them, will doing it either way (Vegas/DVDA) impact what surround encoding makes it to the DVD?

Thanks,

Chris

I can't imagine the final result would be the slightest bit different either way since both Vegas and DVDA use the same encoders. However, DVDA seems to take a lot longer to render files than Vegas does so you'll probably save a lot of time by having Vegas do it.

If you do render a muxed audio & video file in Vegas to hand off to DVDA then DVDA is going to have to reprocess it anyway, so you're taking an extra time hit by doing it that way.

Hey,
I noticed that the mpeg 2 files seem so small, is that normal?

It's supposed to be "small" because it's a compressed format. How small exactly? And how long is the video? Did you change any of the custom settings in the render process?
Tor

If you use the audio from the MPEG you are sacrificing a lot of quality.

You are in effect compressing the audio to MPEG Layer 2 first, which is a pretty bad format used on VCDs. What's worse is if you compress this already compressed file to AC3 you'll get even more artifacts.

My advice is render separately in Vegas, either WAV or AC3.