What format trumps what format

Crellin Sound wrote on 7/26/2014, 6:59 AM

Hi There,

I'm running Movie Studio Platinum 11, which I understand has become an antique recently. If I need to upgrade for this project, just say so.

I have some old video tapes which I'd like to digitize, import, and upload for editing in another location. Size of the final product doesn't matter. Only clarity is important.

Any ideas on import settings would be appreciated. I'd like to have the most latitude for use in the long run, either for use in a DVD or on YouTube. Maybe both.

Should I import as Progressive? Or something else?

Any ideas on exporting would be appreciated, too. To what format should I export for the most clarity, if size doesn't matter? And will I later be able to drag the export based on your suggested settings back into Vegas and edit to taste, if necessary?

Thanks

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 7/26/2014, 8:06 PM

You didn't say how you are capturing your tapes. What hardware and codecs?

Crellin Sound wrote on 7/27/2014, 7:41 AM

Sorry about that. Just going too fast on this end.

I used a Canopus Decoder and captured to AVI. I captured from both a Sony TR700 and a Sony VX2000.

musicvid10 wrote on 7/27/2014, 8:13 AM

DV-AVI does reasonably well straight to dvd compliant mpeg.
For web upload, smart render your project and give the edited DV directly to Handbrake.
That's as good as you'll get, and don't expect miracles.

Crellin Sound wrote on 7/27/2014, 9:17 AM

Thanks for the information. You're fast at answering.

I'm not expecting miracles. My plan is to use old footage from here in Africa cut in with some new stuff. With luck, it'll be used in a planetarium show, eventually. Maybe

I made a mistake when I mentioned Import Settings in the first note. I was planning on using Vegas Movie Studio to get the footage into DVD and I meant Project Settings, not Import Settings.

Any ideas on Project Settings that would be good for this?

Chienworks wrote on 7/27/2014, 12:54 PM

For best results project settings should match your intended output. DV-AVI to MPEG2 for DVD means using the DV 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) settings.

musicvid10 wrote on 7/27/2014, 6:11 PM

Search "match media settings" these forums.

"

Crellin Sound wrote on 7/30/2014, 4:07 AM

Thanks to both of you. I always wondered how Match Media worked. Sounds like it'll do just what Chienworks suggested, only in an easier fashion.

I sure with I could set this string up so I could see the whole thing instead of just the most recent post. It would be helpful. But there doesn't seem to be a way to do it.

Chienworks wrote on 7/30/2014, 8:56 AM

Actually there is a difference. Match Media sets up the project to match the source, not the desired output. This gives you ONE and ONLY ONE advantage: more efficient preview. It doesn't offer any of the advantages of matching the desired output, which include knowing exactly what your finished version will look like while you're editing and seeing in advance problems such as mismatched field order or frame rates, or artifacts due to resizing.

Honestly, unless you know the output is going to be the same format as the input, i can't see any reason to use Match Media. It's a false sense of security.

musicvid10 wrote on 7/30/2014, 10:21 AM

There are minute differences between DV source and DVD render aspect.
Unfortunately, there are no DVD aspect templates in Vegas Project Properties.
One could go and create a custom template for DVD, I suppose, but the timeline would no longer preview at best efficiency, and would be prone to settings errors in the hands of the inexperienced.
Better in my estimation to match the source media and render DVD format with "stretch to fill" on, which in any case is slight.

The disadvantage of using a Project template at anything other than source properties is that preview frame rate is negatively impacted, sometimes dramatically as with dual-core processors.

One can always check the output by temporarily setting the project to match output, but unless there's text or some generated media, not much need to do so.

*Lest one think this is a new discussion, Kelly and I have agreed to disagree about this point long ago.

Crellin Sound wrote on 8/5/2014, 10:01 AM

Hmmmmmm,

Interesting. I'll favor the project settings, I think, and take my lumps.