So I just last night went to "render as" a small video, and found out the mpeg2 choice has no audio.

Would help if you tell us which template you used. Some templates include audio, some do not. If you are carrying your files over to DVD Architect, you should use one of the templates that do not include audio (one of the DVD Architect video stream templates) and then render your audio as a separate AC3 or PCM file.

As a side note, I've also always wondered why if I render out a video in Vegas, what type of rendering has to take place again in DVD Architect?

If you use a proper template, DVD Architect will not have to re-encode anything. It will still, however, have to prepare. Preparing takes your MPEG2 files, adds any instructions required by your DVD project, and produces the correct file structure for a standard DVD.

Rob

Thanks to both of you for the response and input. In the past I've always selected a standard template that existed in the choices and it was mpeg2 with audio.

Why do I want to render the audio seperate from the video for DVD Architect? This may seem very basic, but as I've previously done them together, I don't know the steps how to do them seperately then how to pull two different files into DVD Architect.

If I'm asking too basic of a question, can you simply point me to a link or guide on how to do this?

Thanks for all your help.

As a relative newcomer I've always read that the "standard" approach is to render video for DVD using MPEG2 and audio for DVD using Dolby Stereo or 5.1 (ac3). I believe the ac3 codec offers exceptionally good good quality at much better compression than the default PCM. Also, the Dolby logo looks quite nice on the packaging :)

Reasons to render seperate audio would be to create an AC3 or WAV file for the DVD. Or to create multiple audio tracks (such as a director narration) for DVD use.

Vegas gives you more control over AC3 settings than DVDA does.

Dave T2

Ok, thanks for the additional info. I just did a short test to get the jest of how to actually go about this step by step, and it seems to work ok.

I need to read a bit more to understand some of the nuances about the different options of the rendering and DVD processing audio seperately.

Why do I want to render the audio seperate from the video for DVD Architect?

Primarily because that's how DVD Architect prefers it. If you give DVDA a single file that contains both the audio and video, it is going to pull the audio out of there and re-encode it -- even if the original audio stream uses the proper type of compression for your DVDA project. This puts your audio through two compression processes (once in Vegas, again in DVDA), which can result in a loss in quality.

Besides, of the MPEG2 templates that come with Vegas and include audio, they all use MPEG audio, which is not standard for DVDs in the US. AC3 and PCM are more widely supported. In fact, DVD Architect will re-encode MPEG audio to AC3 or PCM even if you have it in a separate file.

I don't know the steps how to do them seperately then how to pull two different files into DVD Architect.

To do them separate, you first render the video -- choose MPEG2 for the type of file and then choose one of the DVD Architect Video Stream templates. After Vegas is through with that, go back to File > Render As and choose Dolby Digital AC3 for the type of file. You can probably stay with the template that comes up by default. Give it the same name as your MPEG2 file but leave the extension as AC3. Save it to the same folder also.

After both files are done, add the MPEG2 file to your DVD Architect project. DVDA will automatically attach the AC3 file.

Rob