As far as I know if you want to render from Vegas and set the bitrate in Vegas then you have to buy Pro. If you aren't sure if the video will fit on a single DVD using the default bitrate (9 mbps, if I recall correctly) then you have to render to AVI from VMS and then use DVDA to set the bitrate.

I think all of the 'DVD' templates are VBR, 9.5Mbit/s max, 6Mbit/s average, 192kbit/s min bitrate, lower field first, GOP length 12 for PAL, 15 for NTSC (at least that's what they are in the Pro version).

And no, you can't change them in VMS....but you can change the bitrate in DVDAS....

Tony

Thanks... I suppose. I have no use for Studio if I can't control the output. VBR with avg 6MB just isn't good enough quality and certainly explains why Vegas Studio 8 output was poor compared to other editors using my own test files.

Output to DV AVI and letting DVDA do the render is just double the work and I'm trying to avoid rendering twice.

I seriously I doubt I will be using Vegas Studio for much editing from now on.
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Sorry, deleted duplicate post.

I was going to suggest upgrading to the Pro version, but I can see from your posts that you don't consider the features and benefits of Vegas to be worth the upgrade cost to solve the bitrate output problem.

So I suppose you plan to stick with the free software you mentioned. Apparently it must have a feature set comparable to Vegas. Do you mind sharing what it is? I'd like to know and d/l it to check it out.

I didn't say the free stuff was comparable to Vegas feature set. I just said they had bitrate control. I find that kind of silly that Sony thinks that should be a feature only in the 'Pro' version. Free/limited edition editors are now preinstalled on computers or included with camcorder purchases. Everyone I have seen included at least SOME bitrate control. Vegas Studio 8 has none. Sony should have at least included that in the Platnium edition for the additional cost.

Even Adobe Premiere Elements gives the user bitrate control and I consider that app on the same level as Vegas Studio.

Although Serif Movie Plus isn't free. It is cheap. looks EXACTLY like Vegas , has unlimited tracks, alpha channel files just work without fiddling with settings, can group tracks, can adjust bitrate with ANY file format supported plus lots of other features. The best 'bang for the buck' editor IMHO and can't wait to see their next version.

It appears you may have put out a challenge to Sony.

Let's see if they do something about it.

Never heard of Serif Movie Plus before, sounds like it has interesting features for a cheap editor.

I have to agree that limiting the "custom" button only to a few filetypes, is not good for the user. The problem is really though, licensing. If they allow customization to all their codecs, the price of Vegas will be $200, not $130 or $80.