importing graphics

srs9 wrote on 8/15/2007, 11:18 AM
i've been experimenting importing graphic imagery on a timeline (exported from illustrator) as .tif and .jpg at various resolutions (72-300dpi) with crappy results. the artwork appears slightly blurred and murky regardless of the file resolution. is there a preferred file extension (.jpg/tif/png), color format (cmyk/rgb), and resolution i should try? the imported video files look great...i need to include clear graphical images exported from photoshop and illustrator into
my rendered video cut in vegas 7....any thoughts?

Comments

UKAndrewC wrote on 8/15/2007, 11:50 AM
As long as the images have the same or larger pixel (not DPI) resolution as your project, they will be fine.

It's probably be the resolution you are previewing at.

Andrew
rmack350 wrote on 8/15/2007, 12:41 PM
RGB , not cymk. CYMK is for print.

a 654x480 jpeg at 72dpi is identical to a 654x480 jpeg at 300 DPI because DPI is totally irrelevant. All you are concerned with is the actual pixel dimensions. This is not a print application.

My numbers here are for NTSC SD video. Yours may vary if you're working in another format. Vegas will automatically assume that stills have a square pixel aspect ratio and will correct them to fit. This isn't the norm for most NLEs so you need to be aware of it. Vegas assumes that the dimensions of a square pixel still for NTSC are 654.54...x480 and will round things out to fit. You could use multiples of that number if you wanted and the first whole-number dimension I know of is 720x528. Most people just use 654x480 and are quite happy.

The best format to use with Vegas is PNG. It is lossless and supports an 8-bit alpha channel when using the 32-bit version of PNG. Jpeg is also acceptible. Tiff, however, must use quicktime to interpret it and this can really slow things down or even crash Vegas. It's not a good choice.

PSD files can also be made to work with Vegas and there's some advantage to doing this because you can modify the layes in photoshop and they'll automatically update in Vegas. You have to make sure that "maximize compatibility" is ON in Photoshop.

Rob Mack
Baron Oz wrote on 8/17/2007, 6:27 AM
I agree with the statement about TIF files - too many will cause Vegas to go belly up. Any of the other formats (PNG, JPG and PSD) seem to be a better choice. When scanning slides for Montages using my Nikon CoolScan V I save to TIF at a high resolution and convert to lower rez PNG for import to Vegas.

Ted
UlfLaursen wrote on 8/17/2007, 9:28 PM
The best format to use with Vegas is PNG. It is lossless and supports an 8-bit alpha channel when using the 32-bit version of PNG

Good to know - thanks Rob.

/Ulf
Soniclight wrote on 8/18/2007, 11:26 AM
I use alot of "graphics" or still images, from BMP and PNG mostly. I use PNG mainly for my imports of frame-by-frame light effects created in ParticleIllusion = sequence of sometimes hundreds of still alpha channel files. I also use Adobe Illustrator but rarely for Vegas, but if one does, one has to rasterize the file for RGB -- and:

--- My rule of thumb is to always make whatever graphics/stills files imported to be as large in resolution as possible before importing them, At least 2X or more of the project's resolution. This is particularly important when one has to do pan/crops.

As to blurriness, it may a file format issue, i.e. having your files CMYK as mentioned by someone here earlier.