Project settings for 10 bit video footage

lothar-j wrote on 2/4/2026, 4:01 AM

I've just bought a SONY ZV E-10 II camera for video purposes. It can record video in 10bit 4:2:2 format.
Which settings do I have to use in Vegas pro 23, if I want to use the full potential of the videos? 8bit or 32 bit floating point?

If I stay in 8bit, does will it ditch any data from my 10bit video or are the project settings only for what goes OUT, not what goes IN the project?
I don't want to render in 10bit, I just want to use the better possibilities of 10bit (S-Log3 and color grading).
Thanks a lot for your help

Comments

RogerS wrote on 2/4/2026, 5:16 AM

You can still edit in 8-bit full mode. Before you render change the project properties to 32-bit full with view transform set to off. Then render as normal.

Otherwise if you stay in a full 8-bit workflow the log transform will also be done at 8-bit precision and can induce banding. If you aren't shooting log 10-bit 422 is likely overkill. In general I'd recommend 10-bit 420 HEVC over 422 unless you have an Intel GPU/iGPU to decode it.

Wolfgang S. wrote on 2/4/2026, 5:40 AM

If you wish to grade the slog3 footage with the ACES color management, you have to do the grading in the 32 bit mode.

if you work with transformation LUTs from slog3 to rec709, you can do that in the 8bit mode, and render in the 32bit mode (without transformation).