Ummm, wait a second... NTSC DV format .AVI files are only 200 meg per minute. If your 10-second clips are 380 to 480 meg each, then they must be in an uncompressed format. Compressing them to DV format will create files about 20 meg each.

Chienworks,

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if I understand your steps.

1. Render avi files to mpeg2 (using vegas/MC ) at 6MBps
2. For distribution convert them back to DV AVI?

I was thinking to render the orginal avi as progressive - let the end users to take care about interlacing (if they'll need it)

Regards

Hi John,

Thank you for your time and info.

Yes you're right - these files are in uncompressed format. If I'll use DV-AVI Panasonic codec (is there any Sony dv-avi codec included with Vegas 6?) how this will impact distribution... I want to put this files on DVD-data disc. If end users don't have codec/s they can't open the file in the editor. If I can make my orginal files much smaller by using DV-AVI format than my questions are:
1. Which codec is the best for this task (with Vegas 6 in mind)?
2. Any recomendation for pre-render setup?
3. How to make this new (compressed dv-avi) file unniversal and easy to use for the end users of different video editing software?

I wouldn't ever do steps 1 and 2. Render the originals to MPEG if you want to distribute tiny files. Render the originals to DV if you want to distribute higher quality files. Don't every render from MPEG to DV.

If you're making progressive files then i would suggest MPEG1 instead of MPEG2 as MPEG1 is much more universal.

Vegas includes the SONY DV coded, developed by Sonic Foundry, which is just about the best DV codec available. It is remakably faithful to the original, withstanding dozens of generations without objectionable loss. Files created with the SONY DV codec can be opened by any other DV coded, including the Panasonic or or even the Microsoft one.

Sorry for my ignorance, but I can't find in my "render as" menu Sony-DV AVI option.....

Under the file type AVI, choose a template that includes "DV". Vegas will default to using the SONY DV codec.

O.K. In my Project Properties I can choose:

Template: NTSC DV (720x480, 29.970 fps)
Field order: Lower field first
Pixel aspect ratio: 0.9091 (NTSC DV)

Full resolution rendering quality: Good
Motion blur type: Gaussian
Deinterlace: Blend fields

Is this the right template and the best settings for background motion animations -similar to Digital Juice products ?

Now, when I want to "render as" this file, the only choice I have for AVI is Video for Windows (*.avi). which opens NTSC DV template.

Is this template using the native Vegas DV codec?

One more time thank you for your help

That's correct, but you might want to set the full resolution rendering quality to "best."

Thank you all !

I've followed your advise and it's works perfect. My files are now close to 40-50 Mb. I have one more question. Is it possible to use Sony dv-avi codec outside Vegas ?

No, it is not possible to use the Sony DV codec outside of Vegas. The "next best" DV codec is from Main Concept and it relatively inexpensive.

http://www.mainconcept.com/site/consumer-products-4/dv-codec-771/information-783.html

John,

So , my understanding now is that in Vegas 6e "Render as/Save as type: Video for Windows (*.avi)/ Template: NTSC DV is use to create Sony DV files with Sonic Foundry codec (why they don't identify it just as a Sonic or Sony codec ?) and for MPEG 2 renders they use basic version of Main Concept codec ?

Can you clarify this for me.

Thanks.

P.S.
I don't see any significat difference between files created with Sony DV and Panasonic DV. Panasonic is giving me always very 'true" color, plus it's an application independent software, so I can use it with any editor ...and it's free.
Just for the record: I use Panasonic camera, so maybe this is good combination.

When saving DV files from within Vegas, it uses the Sonic Foundry (Sony) DV codec. This DV codec has tested to be one of the best, if not the best, DV codecs available. The Panasonic DV codec is also very good and since it's a "Video for Windows" codec, it can be used in all VFW-compatible software.

As far as the MPEG2 codec in Vegas, Sony licenses the Main Concept API and customizes it for their own particular purposes. While lots of software uses the Main Concept MPEG2 encoder, there are subtle differences in how it's implemented from application to application.

If you're rendering from Vegas, use the default Sony DV codec. When processing DV footage in anything else, the Panasonic DV codec looks perfectly decent, which is good because you already have this codec.

John

John,

Thanks for the info. I still don't understand why Sony dosen't market it's own (very good) DV codec using it's name and also why they don't offer it as a stand alone application. Well, marketig is a tricky animal.

My problem with Sony version of Main Concept MPEG2 codec is that the final product looks often like after "bleach treatment." It's work much better with still pictures, slades than video. Maybe the part of the problem is the quality of the source video. This "bleach effect" is more visible in consumer grade recordings. This is only my observation.

Regards

The levels conversions might not be happening correctly. In Vegas you have to manually wrangle your levels.... you have to manually convert between studio RGB and computer RGB levels in some/many cases.

http://glennchan.info/articles/vegas/colorspaces/colorspaces.html

In your case, you might have that problem if:
A- Your project is a 32-bit project. (32-bit has weird logic to it.)
B- Your source clips at DV.
In that case, your DV clips will decode to studio RGB levels but Vegas' MPEG-2 encoder will want to see computer RGB levels. So the DV clips will look washed out. Still images always decode to computer RGB levels, so they look correct in that situation.