Render Settings

andyw35 wrote on 5/29/2012, 2:54 PM

I have seen this question asked numerous times but have yet to find a definitive answer so hope someone can help.
My media is recorded on my camera @ 1920 *1088 46201kbps in .mov format. When I edit it I am unsure what the best settings are to render the project for computer playback.
I would be happy to keep the .mov format but that doesn;t seem to be an option.
I usually play them back on a Windows 7 computer and don't normally burn to dvd. I ideally want to keep the quality as good as possible, whilst retaining compatibility with a default Windows PC without any extra codec packs installed, although I am happy to install them if that's what's required.
I don't generally do anything fancy, just basic stitching together of the seperate files, and fade in / out and cross fades.
I hope there is enough info on this for someone to help.
I fully appreciate that this is like asking 'what is the best car to buy' and is subjective but i don't want to get 2 years down the line only to find I've been using the wrong format.

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 5/29/2012, 3:28 PM

It really does depend on how you're going to view it, Andy.

Are you really just going to look at it on your computer? You'd, of course, use different settings if you were going to post it to a web site, and still other settings if you were going to watch it on a portable device or an iPad or tablet.

But you're going to watch it on your computer?

I'd just output an MPEG2 or a Sony AVC at 1920x1080. Either should give you virtually-original quality when played on Quicktime Player.

And, while technically these aren't MOV formats, the folks at Quicktime were very instrumental in developing the H.264 codec, so a Sony AVC file is as good as any Quicktime file.

AlanADale wrote on 5/30/2012, 12:57 AM

Well if you do really want to keep things *simple*, don't really do a lot of editing, don't want to install yet more codecs but still want to keep a good windows viewable format then why not try the FREE application that Microsoft already provide. I started off using this (Windows Live Movie Maker - WLMM) when I was in your position and to be quite honest it's really quite good and to be honest, sounds ideal for your needs.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows7/products/features/movie-maker

andyw35 wrote on 5/30/2012, 12:44 PM

Thanks Steve
It will be just played on a computer, it's a win 7 media centre hooked up to an LED screen 1920 * 1080
I will give the MPEG2 / AVC a try, they sound like they will be what I need.
Thanks or your help
Andy

andyw35 wrote on 5/30/2012, 12:50 PM

Thanks Boy Atlantic
To be honest that's what I was doing up until I got the Sony software, I was having some problems with it crashing out after 30 mins or so and couldn't face a rebuild.
I thought I would try and use something that gave me a little more flexibility (although I probably will never use it)
I have to say though that the Tutorials in vegas are superb, I've learned a lot, it was just the rendering that was puzzling me, but with the suggestion I think I should now be sorted.