Setting the project properties to HDV 1080i really whacked out my stuff. I'm compositing from a chromakey actor on a still virtual set, when dropping in other photos on the virtual TV screen. Admittedly, my chromakey actor has already been compressed to 720x480 in my ongoing effort to bring all my elements into agreement and clarity. But when I applied the project template, everything changed sizes, like the screen/virtual set grew off the window, the actor stayed the same but is tiny by comparison, and the drop in pictures shrank.

I'll try tweaking, but I've probably logged 8 days over the last 4 months trying to get my project to "final deliverable" quality. I can't even come close.

Gosh, where to start?

1: Why not edit the project in it's native format and then render it to NTSC at the end?
2: DV.AVI is kind of an ugly thing to render to, especially since you started with HD media. DV.AVI throws out a lot of color samples. I'm sure there are lots of better choices.
3: I set my project to 720x480, and the preview looks like soft focus. This is sometimes a good sign of a field order mismatch, but there are plenty of other possibilities. Maybe your Preview window is set to Draft or Preview?
4: All SD TVs should crop off the left and right sides of your SD frame. That's just how it worked in analog transmission land. Top and bottom might also be cropped, depending on the TV. DVD Architect should simply be making an NTSC disc so the cropping should be normal behavior for your TV.

So, IMO, the problem is mostly tied to your workflow and the 15 year old analog CRT TV.

Rob Mack

Seriously, you should have started asking for advice here before you got your project so far out of whack. To be brutally honest you've probably done just about everything the wrong way. Go back to square one, if you see something happening that doesn't add up ASK! In this game trying to fix one mistake with another quickly leads to a huge amount of time wasted and very poor outcomes.


Bob.

Sorry it's not working for you but if want good quality from HDV (especially chroma key) I would edit in HDV and then downsample at the very end from a rendered HDV master. I get good quality from Vegas all the time so it can be done if you follow the right workflow. That said using HDV in a DV project should not look bad either so I'm not sure what is set up wrong.

Black Flour, it seems to me that the quickest solution will be to start again. After putting in so much time it is natural to try to climb back up the cliff, but you won't get there. If you work in HD your final result will be excellent. Start by setting project properties to HDV 1080-60i. Since you're doing chroma-key it would be preferable to convert that footage using NeoScene, but never mind. When you're ready to produce the DVD you render the project using Mainconcept MPEG-2 with the template DVD ARCHITECT NTSC Widescreen video stream. Then render the audio to Dolby Digital AC-3 Pro, and load these into DVD Architect. I can't remember whether your DVDA v4 has the needed capabilities -- rather old. If your camera originals are good there is no technical reason for your DVD to be poor.

I will try by starting the project over. I had tried this before, starting Vegas with Ctl+Shft and clicking the Vegas icon, restoring all defaults. I tweaked like crazy to get the clearest image possible to no avail. I eventually threw up my hands and went with the 720X480 project I had already completed in attempt to render the final project. When I saw the results being so poor and DVD being so misshapen for viewing on an older TV, I cried for help. I will give it another shot starting with a 1080i template. I also seem to be running into clarity problems with other pieces I have been bringing in. For example, I render a 3D spinning logo image in Cararra 5.0 to a 1440x1080 24p. When I view this in any external video player, the image is crystal clear. AS SOON as I bring it into Vegas, it gets horrible lines up and down and the edges are heavily pixelated and jagged. The list goes on and on with degraded image quality. The only thing that doesn't seem to degrade is still images I pulled off website libraries.

Here I go...

With all due respect, you seem to be missing a few key understandings of the HDV to DVD workflow. I think you're blaming Vegas for what is actually "Operator Error" on your part.

First of all, I think your biggest problem is that you have not set the "Deinterlace Method" in the Project Properties. I'll bet you have it set to "None." Set it to "Interpolate."

When you say that the DVD was "misshapen" I think what you mean is that the old TV was overscanning as ALL TVs DO. It's up to YOU to be aware of and compensate for overscanning, that's what the "Safe Title" and "Safe Action" areas are for.

I agree on both your major points. I have always felt this to be operator error. I couldn't believe that Sony would carry a product that would result in such horrible image quality. I knew I was doing something wrong.

Secondly, no, I don't understand a wide variety of things in Vegas. I've been using it for 8 years and am self-taught. I have inquired on other technical forums specializing in Vegas what tutorials I can take for seasoned users that will help me best understand some of the features I don't even realize are there. My first step was to begin inquiring... and here I am.

I'm now trying the suggestions you gave. Thanks.

Have you enjoyed any of the VASST tutorials? Lots of excellent technical guidance in those. But I expect you have reasonable knowledge of the program and perhaps this is your first foray into HDV? You'll appreciate that the preview window (at its default of "preview-auto") will give lots of pixelation and aliasing; set it to "best-full" to evaluate image quality. After 8 years of using Vegas I imagine you already appreciate the software's image quality capabilities.

EDIT: when you say "misshapen" what exactly do you mean? All the parameters are user controlled, so maybe you are looking at 16:9 squeezed on a 4:3 set. Assuming you shot in HDV format you have to choose whether to output in 16:9 or 4:3, and edit accordingly. If you want to put 16:9 on an old TV, you either set the TV to show it letterboxed or you must render the DVD in letterboxed format.

"If you want to put 16:9 on an old TV, you either set the TV to show it letterboxed or you must render the DVD in letterboxed format. "

Actually its the DVD player that handles this. Not to be picky but Black Flour is a bit lost and I think its important he gets these kinds of fundamentals under his grasp.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What all this means is you can make a 16:9 (widescreen) DVD and on a correctly setup DVD player if the TV is 4:3 the DVD player will handle the letterboxing. The same DVD played on a correctly configured DVD player connected to a 16:9 TV will show the DVD without letterboxing in all its glory.

Bob

"First of all, I think your biggest problem is that you have not set the "Deinterlace Method" in the Project Properties. I'll bet you have it set to "None." Set it to "Interpolate.""

All very likely however one thought just entered my head that may explain why our friend has been missled and gone down the wrong path.

Now I've only tried this with PAL, I had thought maybe this is unique to PAL and Vegas but maybe not.

If I configure the external monitor such that Vegas is doing letterboxing between the HD timeline and the signal going to the A/D converter, Vegas ignores the de-interlace setting and the image as viewed on the 4:3 CRT is indeed horrid with huge interlace artifacts. No amount of fiddling around with the settings will cure this problem.

My workaround is to tell Vegas I have a 16:9 monitor connected so it doesn't letterbox and I live with the squashed, tall people.

The most important point here though is that what you see on the external monitor is NOT what you get in the final render, it will be pristine so long as a de-interlace method is selected and you render at Best.

Bob.

"Actually its the DVD player that handles this"

Well, yes and no. To allow for that you must check (in render) "stretch video to fill output frame (do not letterbox)". Both the DVD player and TV have facilities for how the image is presented, so they must be compatibly configured. I've seen the confusion people get into in setting up their systems, as I'm sure everyone has. But basically your point is correct and I had in mind the render option.