I uprez DV for Youtube on many projects. Rendered out as a 1280x720p Cineform intermediate (the version in Vegas 7) then prepared for the web in Squeeze. I find the final Youtube version superior to simply uploading a SD file.

I'm really just looking for a way to avoid archiving uncompressed .avi files of my SD projects. Thanks for the Avid 1:1x tip..I'll give that a try.

I agree, SD DVDs can look great on a HD set, even without player/hardware upscaling. My friend's DVD player only has the 3 wire component out and SD material still looks good on her 42" HD screen.

Thanks again.
Ken

I have had need to include SD in some Youtube 720p projects. The upscaling in Vegas is b-a-d by today's standards.

Much better to make your Avid intermediate at native SD resolution, and do the upsampling in Handbrake CLI (not GUI). Lanczos is far superior to bicubic. Oh, do your decomb in HB too, rather than deinterlace in Vegas.

I did a quick test with a 1 minute piece shot in squeeze mode and mastered to DV widescreen in Vegas 7.
I imported that SD file into Sorenson Squeeze and rendered directly to the Avid DNxHD codec (DNxHD 75 8 bit).
As expected, quality was better than going to the Cineform codec included in Vegas 7.
Filr size is about 10% larger with those Avid settings

It appears that the Avid DNxHD codec will accept SD material. I can drop the SD widescreen stuff into a 1280x720p project in Vegas and render out to the Avid HD codec as well.
Uncomressed SD .avi was 2.05GB, Avid DNxHD QT file was 460MB.
Seems like a pretty good way to go when saving upscaled stuff for the web.

Ken

Suit yourself, but making a native resolution SD intermediate and doing the upscale and decomb in Handbrake is better.

I tried the Avid 1:1x codec as you suggested for an SD intermediate, but it only renders to an NTSC 720x486 file, not the DV 720x480. Am I missing a setting in there somewhere? Yes, I would really like to save a native resolution file that is smaller than straight uncompressed .avi, and was hoping that the 1:1x choice would do that.
Thanks for the handbrake tip...I'll try that. I shoot progressive, so don't have to worry about interlace issues.

Thanks again, and have a great New Year.
Ken

The 1% stretch never bothered me; or, you could leave 3px black top and bottom and let Handbrake trim automatically. I suggested that codec because it is lossless.
There are two DV codecs in Avid, one is 100 Mbps which you should look at.
Since you will be upsizing eventually, I suggest the Sharpen=0 trick or Unsharp Mask in Vegas.
You will have to use Handbrake CLI to upscale, a separate download than GUI.