Misaligned text on render

TedLeib wrote on 7/1/2010, 7:30 PM
I've found a problem that only seems to crop up when I'm editing HD footage. I can place text over the picture where I want it. In the preview window it looks perfectly placed. However, when I render the text is smaller and no longer in position. (It looks as if the text renders assuming a smaller screen size).

The problem persists whether I'm rendering in 1440x1080 or 1280x720, but does not occur when I render in NTSC Widescreen (SD).

The properties of the project are 1280x720, matching the source video.

Anyone else run into this? Better still, anyone have a solution? :)

Ted Leib


Comments

Former user wrote on 7/1/2010, 7:36 PM
What aspect ratio do you have set for the project?

Dave T2
musicvid10 wrote on 7/1/2010, 8:44 PM
In this case, you will want to set your project properties to the output size instead of the media size.

You can still use your existing text events by setting the new size in the generated media properties, and adjusting the text until you like the output.
TedLeib wrote on 7/5/2010, 10:52 PM
The project properties are set to 1280x720, which is the aspect ratio.

Musicvid, I set the properties to the output size and I was able to adjust the text through trial and error (i.e. moving the text, rendering, moving the text again).

This doesn't seem to me to be a normal or expected thing. If my timeline is played the text is aligned in the preview window. It is only on render that it becomes misaligned. We should expect WYSIWYG functionality in the preview window, in my opinion.

TL
musicvid10 wrote on 7/5/2010, 11:24 PM
The generated media properties are taken from the project properties. How else is Vegas supposed to know?

That is why I said "In this case . . ."
If you will have generated media in your project, setting the project properties to the output first will make everything right from the get-go. All you will sacrifice by not matching the source media is some preview performance.

And you apparently did not go back and set the generated media properties to the output size, which you would have to do after the fact if you started with a different project size.

Have I missed something?
TedLeib wrote on 7/8/2010, 1:00 PM
I understand what you're saying. I guess I think it would be nice if whatever we see in the preview window was what we get on render. If the aspect ratio remains the same there shouldn't be any reason for two different video elements to not align upon render as the same way they align in preview. Or so it seems to me. But perhaps there's a reason why that would not be the case(?)
Chienworks wrote on 7/8/2010, 3:15 PM
At render time you can choose a variety radically different properties. There's no way for Vegas to know, while you're editing, what render settings you'll be using.

That being said, i'd love to have Vegas be a little more automatic and adjust things on-the-fly more. When i change properties i'd like to have the option to have Vegas change all the generated media to match all by itself, rather than me having to go do all of them. But even still that doesn't cover cases where your render settings don't match the preview you've been working with.
musicvid10 wrote on 7/8/2010, 4:29 PM
In order to optimize preview playback, we need to be able to set the project (preview) properties exactly the same as the media. There is no instance where I would want the project properties to "control" the render properties pre-emptively.

Looking at it from the other end, I agree with Kelly that it would be nice if setting the render properties would auto-adjust the generated media properties to conform. Maybe that is a feature request you could make. But I can also think of cases where I do not want the render to make the choice for me, so there would need to be a switch to turn this behavior off, too.

To me, the simplest scheme is the present behavior; that is, that the Project and Render properties are independent of each other in as many ways as possible (meaning all the stuff above the divider in Project Properties).

So really, I am quite happy for the time being with either; optimizing preview, or matching media to output, depending on how I set Project Properties. It's easy enough to switch back and forth. And if one project is feeding several different output formats, it's easy enough to save several versions of the project.
Chienworks wrote on 7/8/2010, 4:54 PM
I always start a project with the properties set to match my most important output, regardless of what the media is. That makes sure that all my generated media, cropping, PIPs, track motions, etc. will come out ok. After that's all in place i may consider dropping the project properties to something more efficient or closer to the source media, but often i don't. For me getting the output right is much more important than preview frame rate. I can always RAM pre-render for that, but nothing fixes mismatched settings automatically.
TedLeib wrote on 7/8/2010, 5:18 PM
Despite some very good observations, I feel that we're missing the point here. If Vegas can take different source media and properly align them in Preview, there's no reason why it can't do the same on render. I'm not asking Vegas to do anything more on render than it ALREADY can do for preview. Again, if the ASPECT RATIO of the media are the same, and they align in preview, there is no reason why Vegas cannot make mismatched resolutions align on render, just as they do in preview.

In response to the following: "if one project is feeding several different output formats, it's easy enough to save several versions of the project." That's true if you have locked everything. But oftentimes there are small modifications that need to be made after initial delivery. Separate project files for each output format would require changes to each of those files. Not ideal.

I do thank you all for jumping in on this!

Ted
musicvid10 wrote on 7/8/2010, 5:19 PM
Most of my external media consist of:
-- A fading or zooming title at the beginning:
-- A still title at the beginning of Act II
-- A credit roll and no-copying statement at the end, followed by color bars and test tone.

If I were really doing a lot of creative effects and generated media, I would agree with Kelly on the properties priority.
musicvid10 wrote on 7/8/2010, 5:26 PM
I'm not asking Vegas to do anything more on render than it ALREADY can do for preview.

Actually, you are asking it to do more -- which would be to extrapolate a set of instructions before passing them to the codec, rather than simply following a numerical set. You see, there is a difference between using actual media, which contains identifiable properties, and generated media, which is just a set of discrete instructions, as the starting point. Generated media does not exist as actual media, until we render it at some point.

But I still think it's worth a feature request, and one that I would use at times if I also had the option to turn it off. Let us know what Sony's response is.
;?)
TedLeib wrote on 7/8/2010, 5:37 PM
Fair enough, musicvid. There is some code that would need to be written. But the template for that code would be found in the preview code.

I will indeed let you know if I get a response from Sony. Thanks again!