Project Properties. . .

WayneM wrote on 1/31/2015, 6:44 PM
This seems like a basic question but I don't find any clarity in the manual or other documentation. BTW, I'm a paper manual user. I ordered the VP13 manual thru Lulu. I also got the manuals for SF11 and DVDA. Lulu did a very nice job at a reasonable price and there was a coupon I found that made it even better.

I'm now shooting different frame rates of HD and might have reason to shoot lower resolution on an upcoming project. The source is typically Canon XA20, AVCHD files.

When I set the properties for a VP13 project shouldn't they match the properties of the highest resolution source material? (I don't need to get into different aspect ratios in this question.) Is there a better general rule?

If I set the Project Properties to a lower resolution will it reduce source video resolution to that level? So, rendering to a higher resolution output file would have lower quality than if the Project Properties were higher, right? Am I on the right track?

When I render I choose the output resolution for the targeted platform such as DVD, BluRay, YouTube or Vimeo. Is that resolution limited to the initial Project Properties?

If I know a project will only go to a lower resolution (480p) YouTube upload do I have anything to lose or gain by setting the project properties to that from the get go? Maybe lower load on the workstation and faster response?

In any case, can't I re-open an existing project and 'crank up' the project properties at a later date if I need to render to higher quality output?

I imagine there might be gotchas in all this that haven't come to my attention.

Thanks much.

Wayne

Comments

PeterDuke wrote on 1/31/2015, 7:05 PM
Project properties are those that apply while you are editing. The source files are not changed and the source files are used for rendering

Setting the project properties to match your source just makes life easier for Vegas while you are editing, and hence for you.

There is one exception that I know of: the deinterlace method does affect rendering.
Chienworks wrote on 1/31/2015, 7:33 PM
Peter's advice is perfectly good.

I do have a differing opinion though. I always set my project properties to match my desired output. This way i see what it's going to look like when i'm editing so there are no surprises later. The downside is that preview display frame rates may drop a bit when the source material doesn't match, but i can always get around that by pre-rendering where necessary.

Either way is fine, and you can always change the properties to suit your current needs at any time and as often as desired.
musicvid10 wrote on 1/31/2015, 7:38 PM
With mixed source, rendering to the lowest common resolution and frame rate is the safest course.
So in this case, it makes sense to preview at those project properties, too.
Most people turn resampling off.
WayneM wrote on 2/1/2015, 6:49 PM
Thanks to @PeterDuke, @Chienworks, & @musicvid10 !

Three answers and each had info and insights that are VERY helpful for me and made sense. I just I'm still a newbie even if I did start using VP when it was Vegas Video! This will be added to my Evernote Vegas reminders and tips note.

BTW, I'm copying notation I've seen elsewhere to put an @ sign in from of a Forum member's ID. That's new to me. Is it just a convention for clarity or is there some way this is used to track responses, or something altogether different.



PeterDuke wrote on 2/1/2015, 7:23 PM
I think the @ is from social media practice
Geoff_Wood wrote on 2/1/2015, 7:26 PM
So, to clarify, if one has higher spec source media, and a lower spec set for Project Properties, then render the project to the higher spec, the higher spec media remains at the higher spec - ie doesn't effectively go through a 'filter' imposed by the lower spec Project Properties ?

geoff
Marco. wrote on 2/1/2015, 7:35 PM
Try it: Set your project properties to a size of 8x8 pixels, import an hd video and render to hd … ;)
johnmeyer wrote on 2/1/2015, 7:42 PM
None of the settings above the horizontal line in the Project Properties dialog has any effect whatsoever on your final render.

The reason for Project Properties is to let you see, during preview, what your video will look like when rendered. Therefore, you usually want to set everything in this dialog to exactly match your render settings.

However ... sometimes timeline performance is more important ... and if your source media is different than the settings you plan to use for render, Vegas has to work really hard to change the source media to look like the format you are going to use for rendering. Therefore, if you want faster timeline performance, and don't care about fidelity to the ultimate result, you will get MUCH faster timeline performance if you match the project properties to the source. This is so important that Vegas even includes a feature in the Project Properties dialog that lets you do this at a click of a button.

Finally, if you have multiple video resolutions on various timelines there isn't any "right" answer, but in general, if you want the fastest timeline performance, you should match to the most difficult-to-preview video. This is generally AVCHD.
Chienworks wrote on 2/1/2015, 7:43 PM
Geoff, with the except of deinterlace method, the project properties are unused during rendering. Vegas will calculate a one-step transform direct from the media properties to the render template, ignoring project properties.
Chienworks wrote on 2/1/2015, 7:44 PM
Wayne, the @ is from Twitter, where putting that in front of a name sends a signal to that user about the message. Or something like that, i guess. I've never used Twitter. In most other contexts it does nothing.

There's no way to track responses in this forum, other than manually going back and reading your thread again.
Warper wrote on 2/2/2015, 3:41 AM
As far as I know, project properties affect rendering directly. Each videoevent on your track is transformed to project properties (resolution, field order, fps). Effectively it's done in pan/crop step.
Track motion and track composition are applied in project properties.
After composition of all tracks of your project render codec comes into play. It trasforms project into something you ask it to.

One-step transform is never done. There are special cases when project& rendering have sompatible settings for smart rendering and you apply no track motion, no video FX, no pan/crop, no nothing... In this special smart redering case Vegas bypasses all transformations and shows "no recompression required", but it's just that - special case, an exception.
Marco. wrote on 2/2/2015, 5:19 AM
Did you try using an 8x8 pixel project to render an hd video to hd? You will see this project property has zero effect to rendering. And same is for frame rate, field order and pixel aspect ratio.
Chienworks wrote on 2/2/2015, 7:44 AM
Sorry, Warper. All that that you are seeing is in the preview window, but it is ignored when rendering. Project properties do not transform the source media at all, and it is the source media that is used when rendering.
Geoff_Wood wrote on 2/2/2015, 2:02 PM
So Project Properties should really be called 'Project Preview Properties' or 'Timeline Properties' ? With a separate setting for designated Preview Monitor output ?

geoff
WayneM wrote on 3/7/2015, 6:25 PM
. . .but then that would make it clearer and put us all in a state of shock! :-)
John_Cline wrote on 3/7/2015, 6:45 PM
Project Properties DOES affect rendering. Generated media, including text, is generated at the resolution set in the Project Properties. For example, make a project at 192x108, add some text and then render the project out 1920x1080. The text will be a blurry mess.
videoITguy wrote on 3/7/2015, 6:58 PM
John Cline, makes a very important point that relates to what a project property does with the timeline. If you are really mixing, video, gen media, titles, and still frames on the same timeline - you had better utilize the setting in that way to preview what you eventually want to get out of the project. This will cause no harm to higher related elements already imported while preserving the basics like gen media.
So good to then determine what your output is desired to be before you start the overall project. Then import and create all sources to fit within.
Grazie wrote on 3/8/2015, 12:14 AM
How about a Graphical WARNING that could alert us to Property Project mismatch. How about a Red Event outline? At least this would, hopefully, make investigate further.

As I've got more and more involved with multiple formats I'd personally would entertain this as an option.

Grazie



NickHope wrote on 3/8/2015, 1:11 AM
+1 Grazie