How do you control render bit rate? The forum says Vegas does this. But I don't see how. I have a 2 hour project that takes up 5.1 GB and won't fit on the disk.
If you're using Vegas Pro then click on the [Custom] button under the MPEG2 template. In the Video tab you can choose a bitrate. Good quick rule is to divide 600 by the length in minutes, then subtract maybe 200Kbps to make room for the audio. For example, if your material is 95 minutes long then 600 / 95 = 6.316mbps. Subtract 200kbps to get 6.116mbps for the video bitrate.
If you're using Vegas Movie Studio then you can't control the bitrate in Vegas. Render to a DV .avi file, then let DVD Architect's fit to disc function pick the appropriate bitrate for you.
Thanks guys. I always seem to be a couple steps back. I was trying to manipulate the bitrate setting the average and maximum from a bitrate calculator. Problem was I couldn't seem to get Vegas to accept any number other than the three standard rates for max, average and minimum. But if you enter the number for an average and hit return, it accepts it but bumps you back to the main render page. So that was more what I was asking. I will read the troxel report
Wonder, are there recommendations for better rendering software.
Rick, I've always been happy with the quality I get from DVDA.
I don't know why you're having troubles entering numbers though.
I create custom settings a lot and have no problems setting it to VBR and then clicking in each box to change the numbers.
As you've already discovered, hitting return is is not the way to do it but clicking in each box one by one is.