Best render settings for PP CS3
 

I'm trying to get the most out of Premiere Pro CS3 in the render section.
Having only just got the program I was wondering if more experienced users could suggest the best setting for making, from the time line a MPEG 2 file.
Captured HDV from a Sony Z1
Project settings are HD
Render section.
VBP 2
MIN: 4Mbps
Tar: 4Mbps
Max: 8Mbps

Pal: Field order/None
Quality setting:4
This quality setting, what is this all about?

M Frames :3
N Frames: 12

Any advice would be welcomed


Nick

Not much usable information to go on. But a few generic remarks may help you improve on that.

I assume you shot in PAL mode, correct?
I also assume you want MPEG2 for output to DVD, correct?
I don't know how long the duration of the sequence is and I haven't the faintest about the nature of your footage, whether it is rather static (interviews, a lot of stills, etc.) or whether it is high action sports.

Despite all the lacking information, here are a few things that caught my attention:

2-pass VBR suggests a duration of more than 1 hour, Min 4 and target 4Mbps suggests a duration of 2 hours or more. Field order should be lower field first.

Are you exporting elementary streams or muxed? What audio do you use, PCM or AC3?
Are you going to Encore with the MPEG for authoring? If yes, just export as DV AVI and import that into Encore as asset and let Encore do the transcoding.

Otherwise I suggest you start reading about encode settings. It is a very complicated matter and can not easily be explained. Encoding is more an art.

Thanks Harm,
Seems to be a lack of info to render MPEG 2 from the timeline.
I dont want to encode to Encore at this stage as i use another program for DVD encoding.

Nick

To get the 'most' quality you'll generally want to maximize your bitrate, so your target should be closer to 8Mbps than 4 which you have currently. The tradeoff, as Harm implies, is that your mpeg file may then end up too big to be burned on disk, if your footage is lengthy (more than an hour).

The quality slider is generally a tradeoff between .. um ... quality and time taken to render.

You'll also need to decide if you prefer an interlaced or progressive DVD - but that depends on the material (action or not) and your own preferences...

As I understand it, the quality setting deals with how much time is dedicated to encoding any fast motion.

Aside from the cost in CPU cycles, why would anyone want to leave the Quality slider anywhere other than all the way up?