Rendering in Vegas 5 for DVDA

Chesapeake wrote on 10/16/2004, 6:51 AM

I've tried the render to .avi in Vegas 5 approach in prep for DVDA and the re-render to MPEG2 in DVDA looked pretty good, but now I'm doing tests to see if I can improve quality by rendering directly to MPEG2 in Vegas 5 using the 2 pass approach before bringing into DVDA. I did this (without using the DVDA template) & DVDA didn't want to use what I had created. Before going through the time of render again, I want to get everything set properly.
What settings do I need to make? Do I go to the audio tab and check include audio? What khz - 48,000 or 44,100? Will this give me the "folder" format that DVDA seems to want? Are there other cosiderations?

Should I not include audio and let DVDA do the audio rendering? Will DVDA know that the video is already in DVDA MPEG2 format and not attempt to re-render?

Thanks,
Al

Comments

bStro wrote on 10/16/2004, 9:21 AM

1. Open your Vegas project.
2. File -> Render As -> choose Dolby Digital AC3 for Save as type. Default template is fine.
3. Click OK and let it Vegas do its work. This will be your audio file.
4. When that's done, File -> Render As -> choose MainConcept MPEG2 for Save as type.
5. Choose the appropriate DVD Architect Video Stream template.
6. Make whatever changes you want, though be sure you know what you're doing. I highly recommend you at least start with one of the DVD Architect specific templates...they will guide you on the correct path. You can fiddle with the settings, including switch to 2-pass, but be sure your settings are still DVD compliant.
7. Click OK and let Vegas do its work. (With 2-pass, you'll probably be waiting a long time.) This will be your video file.

Open DVD Architect, create a new project, add your media to it, cusomize your menus, etc. Or just choose File -> New -> Single Movie if you doon't want a menu. Follow the prompts.

Will this give me the "folder" format that DVDA seems to want?

Red flag there. First, if you use one of the templates, your audio will already be set correctly. (It's 48,000, by the way.)

Second, your mention of a "folder format" implies that maybe you're opening DVDA, choosing Make DVD, and trying to select the folders to which you rendered the MPEG2 files in Vegas. Am I right, wrong, or sort of close? If I interpreted you correctly, what you're trying won't work. There's more to a DVD folder than just the MPEG2 files, and Vegas does not create that structure. That's what DVDA is for. Follow the steps I list above and then hit the Make DVD button. DVDA will create the proper folders and DVD files (not just the videos, but the information necessary to make a DVD a DVD) and burn the DVD from that.

Should I not include audio and let DVDA do the audio rendering? Will DVDA know that the video is already in DVDA MPEG2 format and not attempt to re-render?

If you have a DVD-compliant MPEG2 file, DVDA will not re-render the video portion. But if you include the audio in that file, it will re-render the audio portion. <Edit>Because the MPEG2 will have MPEG audio, and DVDA will not produce a DVD with MPEG audio -- only AC3 audio or PCM audio.</Edit> Best route, in my opinion, is to render the audio its own AC3 file. Give the video file and the audio file the same name (other than the extension) and put them in the same directory, and DVDA will automatically find the audio file when you insert the video file. Otherwise, you can easily change the video's properties (in DVDA) to select the proper audio file.

Rob

Chesapeake wrote on 10/18/2004, 8:59 AM

Rob,
Thanks for the very detailed response; re the red flag - The time I used DVDA to complete the process from .avi gave me the aud and the vid folders inside the DVD folder - the info that makes a DVD a DVD as you say - so when I went to make additional copies of that DVD, I just clicked Burn & browsed to the folder holding the vid and aud folders.

This is where I got stumped coming from Vegas making the silly assumption that I only needed the MPEG2 I had created in Vegas - browsing to it in a similar fashion to previous.
Al

johnmeyer wrote on 10/18/2004, 9:47 PM

NEVER use the Default Template. It has the quality slider in the wrong position.

Sony, PLEASE make two changes in the next release:

1. Remember the last template used and offer that as the choice for the next render.

2. Change the "Default" MPEG-2 template so that the quality slider is all the way up.

Sony: If you don't make these changes, most of the reviewers are going to comment on how horrible the Vegas MPEG renders look compared to the competition. The reaility, of course, is the other way around, but most new users and reviewers won't figure this out in time.