Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 3/21/2011, 11:37 AM
First, never put 10 megapixel photos into a video editing program! They're, like, 30 times the size of a video frame. And that doesn't give you cleaner pictures -- it just overworks and usually crashes your program.

For best results with video use photos no larger than 1000x750 pixels (72 ppi).

Video is only 720x480 pixels. No matter what you put in, it's going to get rezzed down to that size. Using a 3,900 x 2,600 pixel photo is not going to give you a cleaner, more detailed picture. It's still going to rez down to 720x480. That's the nature of video.

You should also render your results in Vegas before you judge the quality. Otherwise, you'll just see a soft render, which can be of even lower quality and resolution. (Not rendering, plus the size of your photos, is probably why the program is "freezing" on you.)

You also don't say how much you're trying to pan and zoom into your picture -- but, at 1000x750 pixels, you can usually zoom in to nearly 60% of the picture.

Chienworks wrote on 3/21/2011, 3:48 PM
(Side note, ppi means absolutely nothing in video. There's no point in even mentioning it. 1000x75 72ppi is exactly the same as 1000x75 3000ppi.)

Well, NTSC video is 720x480. 720p is 1280x720 and 1080p is 1920x1080. It wasn't specified what size the project is.

The minimum size needed for the picture is enough to make sure that the smallest area to be zoomed in on is large enough to fill the project frame resolution. So if one wants to zoom in 2x in a 1080p project or 5x on a NTSC project then a 10MP image is the correct size to use.

However, one has to keep in mind that older versions of Vegas had a lot of problems with lots of large images on the timeline. The newer versions are a lot better behaved, but there can still be issues. If a lot of large images are needed then they may have to be handled a few at a time in smaller projects and rendered to intermediate video files which can then be imported into the main project.
jmden wrote on 3/21/2011, 4:00 PM
Makes sense. Thanks for the help. Seems like the program should take care of that automatically...

Does Vegas have a way to do this or do you just use some other program to do it?

Could that somehow be the cause of the dvd's 'freezin' while the slideshow is playing on the dvd player?
jmden wrote on 3/21/2011, 4:14 PM
Chienworks,

Thanks, for your reply. Perhaps I need to do several smaller slideshows and then bring them together under the same project.

I just updated to Vegas 9.0e. Do you think that will have the problems of the 'older' versions you mention?
TOG62 wrote on 3/22/2011, 12:54 AM
Could that somehow be the cause of the dvd's 'freezin' while the slideshow is playing on the dvd player?

I don't think so. Freezing in the player is related to the quality of burn. This can be related to the burn speed (slower generally better), the burner, the quality of disc and the compatibility of disc and burner. Try a slower burn speed first. If that doesn't solve the problem try different blanks. Verbatim and Tao Yuden are the most widely recommended.
Chienworks wrote on 3/22/2011, 6:57 AM
Perhaps it might also be due to too high a bitrate. Some players can only handle about 8Mbps maximum. If the project is short enough one might be tempted to use a higher bitrate but this can cause problems.
jmden wrote on 3/22/2011, 5:20 PM
OK. So it sounds like I should try slowing the burn down a bit, although I usually pick a speed or two below max. Even slower, perhaps?

Also figure out how to reduce the bitrate a bit as that may also be reason for some players to freeze up? Any tips on that one? Must be a setting in DVD Architect somewhere, I would guess? The players that have had problems have either been very cheap or old or both.

I've got a 4-5yo Panasonic DVD recorder/'multi-player' (supposed to play a bunch of all the different dvd formats) that has no trouble and both dvd drives on the computer have no trouble, but alot of other players I've tried discs on have had trouble. I'm guessing cheaper dvd players don't handle a higher bitrate?

What happens to the quality if you lower the bitrate? I have not completely wrapped my head around the bitrate vs. quality issue.
jmden wrote on 4/8/2011, 8:12 PM
Even though I'm reducing slideshow picture size to 1084 x 1624 from the full 10Mp size and I still have the same problems of very digital looking, huge pixel looking pictures--on two different computers running XP. What gives? I've not had this issue with other video editing programs...
musicvid10 wrote on 4/8/2011, 8:36 PM
"What gives?"

Post your project properties, still event properties, and render properties. The reason for your problems will become immediately apparent (and solveable).
jmden wrote on 4/8/2011, 9:26 PM
Project Properties (Video):
Template: NTSC DV Widescreen (720x480, 29.970 fps)
Width: 720 Height: 480
Field Order: Lower Field First
Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.2121 (NTSC DV Widescreen)
Frame Rate: 29.97 (NTSC)
Full Resolution Rendering Quality: Good
Deinterlace Method: Blend fields

Still Event Properties (Video Event):
Switches (checked boxes): Loop, Maintain Aspect ratio, smart resample
Playback rate: 1.000
Undersample rate: 1.000

Still Event Properties (Media):
Stream: Still 1
Format: JPEG compression
Attributes: 1084 x 1624 x 24
Field Order: None (progressive scan)
Pixel Aspect ratio: 1.000 (square)
Alpha Channel: none

Render Properties: Not sure where to find these. Sorry...newbie here.

Did I give enough info?
musicvid10 wrote on 4/8/2011, 10:41 PM
At the risk of sounding redundant:
What settings did you use when you rendered the file in Vegas?
Codec, resolution, bitrate, that kind of stuff.

jmden wrote on 4/9/2011, 8:30 AM
"What settings did you use when you rendered the file in Vegas?
Codec, resolution, bitrate, that kind of stuff."

That's the problem. I can't find that info in Vegas Movie Studio. I've slowed bitrate in DVD architect to make the DVD compatible with older or cheaper players, but I don't know where to find the info you are asking about in Vegas?

Anybody out there know how to find that info in Vegas? I'm sure it's there, but I've not run across where it is.

jmden wrote on 4/10/2011, 9:18 PM
OK. Perhaps some of my confusion regarding what Movie Studio is rendering the file as resides here: I've always just hit 'Make Movie' in Movie Studio when done editing. This option doesn't allow (in my version) any customizing.

When going over menus over and over again looking for a solution, I found the 'Render As' selection under the 'Project' tab. Within that 'Render As' window, I can select a myriad of options. Only problem is I don't have the expereicne to know what selection to make.

After a reply from Sony Tech Support, they included a link that led me to this page:

http://www.custcenter.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1105

This page details Movie Studio render setting if sending to DVD Architect, which I am.

So, to answer the render settings that I'll NOW be using in Movie Studio, I'll be using 'MainConcept MPEG 2' in the 'render as' field and "DVD Architect NTSC video stream in the 'template field'.

I've also changed the project properties from the default to match the video files (AVCHD 720) to a 1280 x 720 by hitting the folder button in project properties and navigating to one of the source video files. The program then matches the project properties to the source video files, apparently.

Hopefully, these changes will start to make a difference in the overall quality of the DVD.

Sure doesn't seem like this is a very user friendly program when I have to dig like that to get answers and the 'make movie' option doesn't steer you through the options...