Project Settings Confusion

[_] wrote on 10/20/2010, 6:10 AM
Hi.
I am having trouble in understanding the implications of different project settings.

I have imported some AVCHD clips and am viewing them on the "preview auto" setting in the preview window. Now if I would like the eventual finished product to be either/or a widescreen DVD PAL system 25fps or some format suitable for a website - what do I have to set as the project setting? Wth the project settings at PAL 25fps widescreen the preview is horrible. Experimenting with various options some look fine - others really blocky and unpleasant to work with. Does it matter what you choose at this stage (so I could I work with the best viewable option) ? When you come to render the finished product are all options still available?

"Adjust source media to better match project settings" - to tick or not? And what is being adjusted here, the original clips or some intermediate file?

Feeling very out of my depth here - any pointers to some clear instructions about this? Thanks

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 10/20/2010, 9:06 AM
The simplest answer is that Project Properties affect the Preview, and Render Properties affect the output.

The most efficient Preview occurs when the Project Properties "Match Media Settings".
Search the words in quotes because it is a specific procedure that you must do yourself.

You can temporarily switch your Project Properties to match your Render Properties to check sizing and ratios, for instance, but the preview performance will suffer as a result.

These are the basics; there are exceptions, of course, but let's get you started down the right path before discussing them.
[_] wrote on 10/20/2010, 11:29 AM
Thanks for that musicvid - you have alerted me to the match media settings button - OK - so I click on that and select a clip that I'm using and it adjusts to HD 1080-50i (1920 X 1080 25fps) and everything looks fine. But what is the point of "Adjust media to better match etc" button? Haven't I just done that? It seems to make no difference if it's ticked or not. I can't grasp why all this is not automatic - I mean why would you not want the program to match it all up?

Sorry if I'm being dense here but I've made so many false starts with this video editing lark I'm anxious not to go storming off in the wrong direction again.
Chienworks wrote on 10/20/2010, 3:02 PM
Personally i tend to set my project properties to match the desired output, regardless of the media properties. Why? Because Vegas functions like pan/crop, track motion, generated media, and a few others base themselves on the current project settings and don't automatically change later to match what you render to. For me having these things match the output is far more important than slightly more efficient preview. I can always RAM-prerender small sections if i want fast previews.

Why is it not automatic? Well, partially because of what i mention above. Also, if you have several different types of media that you've imported how would Vegas know which one to base the properties on?
DarrylM wrote on 10/20/2010, 4:45 PM
I can not decide which project setting is better, media settings or render settings. It seems logical to set project settings to render settings. I have always wondered what is the difference or advantage. Am I to understand the only difference is a more efficient preview if set to media settings?
Chienworks wrote on 10/20/2010, 7:13 PM
That's pretty much it. For me that's not enough of an advantage to matter.

Then again, the vast majority of my projects have media that match the desired output already, so it's generally a non-issue.
musicvid10 wrote on 10/20/2010, 8:16 PM
And that is a point where Kelly and I have respectfully agreed to disagree, for some time now.

Because I use relatively slow dual-core machines, I like to see full frame rate preview on my monitor whenever possible. And I still end up doing lots of pre-renders and test renders.

Normally, if one is resizing, it means downsizing. So introducing generated media, pan/crop, stills, etc. is "usually" not an issue save for some minor PAR issues; for instance, HDV 16:9 is not quite the same as its SD counterpart. Thus my choice to switch my project to output settings as a final check-and-tweak opportunity.

So, if you've got a fast machine and are OK with your preview, Kelly's shortcut makes sense. If preview playback is suffering, then the place to start is by matching media settings and other preview optimizing techniques.

The basic principle remains the same (with a few exceptions): Project settings affect the Preview, Render settings affect the Output.
[_] wrote on 10/21/2010, 1:39 AM
Thanks for the replies - my (hopefully) reasonable conclusion is that it doesn't hugely matter in the initial stages e.g. set whatever you like to get a preview that is acceptable for editing purposes as the rendering properties can be adjusted later for different output formats.

Is that (more or less) a sensible approach?
Chienworks wrote on 10/21/2010, 6:32 AM
That's fine but i'd make one exception. Always switch project properties to match intended output before adding generated media, especially text & titles. Feel free to switch it right back after you've added them if you wish, but if you add them while you have the settings set for reduced resolution then they'll still be at that reduced resolution even when you render.
musicvid10 wrote on 10/21/2010, 8:44 AM
I haven't tried this with titles, but another user changed my mind on the text generator properties setting.

Try this quick experiment:
-- Start a new project at 1920x1080. Add a text generator (the default will do). Render to 720x480 Widescreen DVD.
-- Start another new project at 720x480 Widescreen. Add the same text generator and render to 720x480 Widescreen DVD.
-- Now put both renders on the timeline in your 720x480 Widescreen project. Set preview to Best/Full. Click back and forth between the two renders. Which do you think is sharper?