Thanks, Mike

Excuse my ignorance but I'm not famaliar with 8MB CBR or VBR. I am using Vegas 7 and looked under the video and advanced video tabs with no luck.

I guess my question was more to the file type/template/settings used to get the best quality. I'm not even sure what the equipment will be used for the presentation.

Thanks,
TomG

HOw is this being played in the theatre -- via Computer (laptop?) or DVD player?

I think it can go either way... what do you think is best and then what filetype and template?

Tom, my apologies for assuming that you knew what I was referring to.
CBR = Constant Bit Rate and VBR = Variable Bit Rate and are terms used in encoding from Vegas for DVD authoring.

Assuming playback is from a DVD player, you have to create your DVD.
Since the video is only 15 minutes long, you can go for the highest possible quality that Vegas will allow you to get.

When you go to render, select MPEG-2 and click the Custom button.
In the tab that comes up, change the quality to Best.
Click the Video tab and then the "Constant bit rate" button.
Change this to 8,000,000.
If you want to save this as a preset, change the wording in the Template box at the to of this tab to something appropriate and save it by clicking the Save icon (looks like a floppy disc).
If the video used has a lot of constantly changing scenes in it, click the Variable bit rate button and change the Max./Avg./Min settings to 8,000,000 / 8,000,000 / 4,800,000 respectively .
If the video is of marginal quality, click the Two-pass option as well.
Save this as a preset if desired.

Audio gets rendered separately as an AC-3 file.
Make sure it has the same name as the video file (i.e.myvideo.mpg & myvideo.ac3) and is rendered to the same folder.
Go into DVDA, load the video and the audio will follow automatically.

So that your final audio doesn't sound too quiet/soft, follow these steps:

Encode set to Dolby Digital AC3;
Click on Custom tab;
On the first tab, set diag. norm to" -31";
On the last tab marked Preprocessing, set the Line Mode Profile
and RF Mode Profile mode to "none";
Save this as a preset.

Mike

Thanks, Mike

That was a big help. Sorry I missed the shorthand since I do know darn well what Varible and Constant Bit rates are.

The only additional advice I have been given is to increase the aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9 (widescreen)

So I will burn using the MPEG2 format and the DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream template using the 8/8/4.8 VBR two-pass.

Regarding your advice on the audio, does this setting so some sort of volume leveling? That has always been another issue that drives me crazy.... just getting a good, sound volume level for the entire show.

I'm going to ship out the DVD to San Francisco in April and the showing is in May. I won't get to see it on the big screen and I will rely on the projectionist's opinion on color and overall look. But this way I can make adjustment before it's too late.

Once again, thanks for your post!!

TomG

TomG, the AC-3 mod I suggested is to ensure that you get a more consistent playback volume.
Sony has a few more details on what setting does what in this Knowledgebase article.
However, it won't compensate for an audio track that was poorly mixed in the first place.
To ensure that you have a good mix, listen to it on a TV as well as thorough one or more stereo systems.

Since you're shipping the disc out, I'd send two copies at separate times just in case of loss and/or damage.

Mike

"So I will burn using the MPEG2 format and the DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen video stream template using the 8/8/4.8 VBR two-pass."

There is absolutely nothing to be gained by setting the maximum and average bitrates to the same value, particularly something as high as 8Mbits/sec. For a 15 minute program, CBR at 8Mbits (8,000,000) would accomplish the exact same thing.

In fact, any program shorter than about 72 minutes will fit on a single layer 4.7GB DVD using CBR at 8Mbits/sec. VBR is useful for programs longer than 72 minutes, where you set the average bitrate to the value which will just fit on the DVD and set the maximum to 8Mbits/sec and the minimum to about 2Mbits/sec. Over the entire length of the video, it will average out the bitrate to the average value you have set, but during moments of high motion or during fades, it can use well above the average (up to the maximum) and on scenes with low motion or static titles or photos, it can use fewer bits than the average (down to the minimum.) 2-pass encoding allows the encoder to look at the entire file in the first pass and determine its bitrate allocation strategy and on the second pass it does the actual encoding. 2-pass VBR maximizes the video quality for files which cannot fit on the disc at the maximum CBR bitrate. However, like I said, 2-pass VBR will not produce better looking video than 8Mbits/sec CBR on programs shorter than about 72 minutes.

John, thanks for the reminder about why and when to use CBR vs. VBR.
You've mentioned it before but it slipped my mind in this thread.
I've now got it permanently engraved onto my monitor so I don't ever forget it :-)

Mike

Thanks John and MIke,

I will go back to CBR and I learned a lot from your comments.

TomG

"The only additional advice I have been given is to increase the aspect ratio from 4:3 to 16:9 (widescreen)"

Why? Is your material widescreen? If so then this is good advice. If not, then it's very bad advice.

Yeah, Kelly

This is a small theatre screen and the projectionist suggested the 16:9 format. I hope he knows what he is talking about.

The material is stills and clips and not really specifically widescreen. Do you think I should just stay with 4:3 and let them use the curtains to square it off?

TomG