I have beautiful footage from my Canon C100 - but when I put it into Vegas and output it, looks crappy. why? saturation gone, looks dull and not sharp, contrast and sharpness all fail - what am i doing wrong?
Do you have log footage?
What are your project settings/preview settings? Which properties have you allocated the footage in the media properties of every clip?
More information please!
Log footage? I have it set on 24 fps, properties I have allocated the footage in the media properties of every clip? No idea what you are asking.
that video is sharp as a tack in camera, outputting on Vegas renders it dull, out of focus almost. really frustrating.
and it is jumping, whereas the camera is smooth moving.
Please see https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/important-information-required-to-help-you--110457/ re requested information particularly under points B and C and, as well a MediaInfo report (a free app) on your video media as requested at point C-1.
Try "disable resample" and share MediaInfo for the media you are using. There may be a mismatch between framerates.
Set your Preview Quality to Best (Full) instead of Draft (Half).
Better yet, hire some one who knows what he's doing...
...and how about including your computer specs... Your User Profile is empty.
@Adis-a good catch on the Preview settings. I wonder if the user has the hardware to play at a higher preview resolution. And not being able to say what profile in the camera they are using is telling....
OK, the preview thing was changed to best - wonderful, thanks for that. Also, re-sampling was shut off, again thank you. I still have an un-smooth pan from the automated slider - fine in camera, video appears to be stammering / un-even in the movement - any ideas for that correction?
You have to provide far more information than you have given. Several forum members have suggested what to provide. Read @Dexcon reply above. Provide all the information in specifics. Then maybe we can get to something that is workable for you.
Without knowing the specifics (not generalities) of your computer hardware, not knowing specifically what type of video you are editing, we will be playing "20 questions", guessing.
Also download MediaInfo, run it, drag your video on top of it and choose View>Tree. Give a screenshot of it and add it to your reply.
As mentioned, I still have a shake going on with the video - stammering and not smooth. All the other suggestions fixed my original issues, thank you to all - now, how to remove the jittery video? 
What are your computer specs?
3.5 gighertz, 25
I have an older computer, 3.5 ghertz, 24gb RAM
Is your project set to 29.970 fps or to 25?
25
If you have an "older" computer, you can't expect the performance to be any different. Giving the megahertz on the processor does not give any real information as to the make and model. You can have a single core, dual core, quad core, hexacore, etc. processor. Each is different.
As for the flicker, you can try Flicker Control.
@Kevin-Palmer curious as to why your project settings are UHD 4K and your footage is 1080HD.
I don't seem to see flicker controller?
Look for "Flicker Control"
Ah, version 18