progressive vs interlaced, field order?

navboy wrote on 7/25/2009, 7:51 AM
Okay, i've got this project that was initially set to "lower field first" and i've got some still images that are progressive that have had animation keyframing applied, and then 8mm and super8 footage that had been converted to VHS and then sampled and burned to DVD and then pulled from the DVD into my VegasPlat project.

Now then i'm checking them, the same footage as it's been copied around and used here and there in the project seems to be a mix of upper field first and lower field first. It seems like applying keyframes and effects may have altered the setting.

My question is when it comes time to render or export, what settings to i use as far as progressive vs interlace, and if interlace, upper or lower field first? I will render to mpeg2 to go into DVD Architect to get a burn to DVD, but i will export with Avid DNxHD to get a version over to Quicktime Pro to created hinted streaming H.264 versions for QT or Darwin servers, and then do the same or maybe just export from Vegas to get an H.264 version for general web use, like YouTube ...

The more i think about it, the more confused i get.

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 7/25/2009, 8:49 AM
Not a point of confusion at all, when you realize that Vegas does all the thinking for you.
Vegas will take any combination of UFF, LFF, and Progressive in your project and turn it into whatever you tell it to in the render settings.

A DVD can be Upper, Lower, or Progressive. So choose the render setting that either represents the majority of your material, or the critical part. In your situation, the progressive stills will probably dictate your choice. Be sure to select Best rendering.

Your streaming AVC versions will most likely want to be progressive also.
navboy wrote on 7/25/2009, 1:41 PM
That is pretty cool. I did some more reading and nod, it did seem like progressive might be better in this case. I got the idea in general that maybe interlaced would be better for dvd target, and progressive for online video.

But then i'm still confused - if i decide on some other project to go with say a LFF project setting at rendering, do i also pick a deinterlace method? I thought deinterlace was used to convert interlaced to progressive .... I did not use any deinterlace setting on this current project where output is set for progressive ...
Eugenia wrote on 7/25/2009, 3:21 PM
Follow the URL I gave you on the other thread, it shows how to setup your project properties properly, and still export progressively.
navboy wrote on 7/30/2009, 3:27 PM
That is what i ended up doing, setting those and exporting progressively .... Thanks.

What I'm curious about is when to decide to exporting interlaced rather than progressively. for example, when the rendering is for sure going to end up on a DVD that might be played on someone's TV ... ?