Vegas Video discussions from 2006 (Q3Q4)

[Vincent Croce]

I assume you're talking about your compressed file being 10gb. DVD Architect will optimize the file and lower the bitrate to completely fit on a DVD5 or, for the least compression and the best quality, a DVD9 (double layer)...
Converting to a wmv file doesn't sound like a good option here, since you are looking to maintain as much quality as possible.

[Ken Diewert]

Thanks Vincent,

The 10gb file is .avi. I'll try rendering it to DVD architect and then optimize the settings (actually I didn't know I could do this). I just assumed that the 10gb file wasn't going to fit.

[Don Bloom]

You don't say what program you edit with but if you happen to edit with Vegas then render to MPEG2 in Vegas render the audio to AC3 in Vegas and you'll have far more control over the render and bitrate for the render. If you don't use Vegas then bring the file into DVDa and let it OPTIMIZE to FIT DISC- it's going to take a while to render it to MPEG in either case but whatever you do do not go to WMV for DVD use.

Don

[Edward Troxel]

Ken, take a look at Vol 4 #1 and Vol 1 #7 of my newsletters. Bottom line: DVD = MPEG2. However you have two options:
1) Render to MPEG2 (and AC3) from Vegas and give those to DVD A.
2) Render to DV-AVI and let DVD A take care of converting it to MPEG2 and AC3 for you.

The articles describe both methods and the advantages of each.

[Edward Troxel]

I know the Canopus ADVC series and ADS Pyro convertors work well.

[Matthew Chaboud]

This thread got me to sign up for DVInfo, so I'll try and lay out what's happening here to the best of my understanding.

Windows XP sees 4GB of physical address space that it can map parts of to virtual address space on a per-process (application) basis. Before XP service pack 2, one could use the /PAE (Physical Address Extension) switch to push device address reservation (for PCI, AGP, PCIe, and system devices to have a physical address space to call home) above 4GB.

Using the PAE switch caused the kernel to use an additional table for memory allocation, leading to a tiny performance penalty, which is why it was optional before. With XP SP2 came No Execute support (in both hardware and software), but this called for the use of the PAE kernel. Now everyone pays the tiny penalty.

So, you might expect to see a full 4GB of memory show up under SP2, but another thing happened at the same time. Drivers are supposed to be able to handle addresses above 4GB. It turns out that quite a few of them can't. Microsoft decided to err on the side of stability, so all device address reservation now sits below the 4GB boundary. The rest of your phyiscal memory (RAM) goes above this, and the consumer versions (even XP Pro) of the OS won't use this physical memory.

This has nothing to do with your pagefile, and there's not much you can do to fix it. You can decrease your AGP aperture and disable on-board devices to cut your losses (in your BIOS). On my machine, under XP SP2, I see 3.18 GB. Under XP x64, I see the full 8GB.

Vegas 6.0d and 7.0 use an API in windows that allows for allocations that don't always have to take up virtual memory. They only take up virtual memory when Vegas needs the data. This means that Vegas can take some advantage of systems with greater than 2GB of physical memory in select cases. Windows also looks at the amount of physical memory when deciding on the process working set (how much actual RAM gets used by an application). More RAM in a machine will mean more optimistic RAM behavior from Windows. Don't go nuts on this, though. There's not a lot to be gained beyond 2GB at present, unless you're running multiple instances of the application.

[Brian Luce]

How do you remove the letter box from a frame grab? Can you do it in Vegas? Or do you have to chop it out in Photoshop?

Also, if your footage is 720p converted to cineform, how do you ensure the frame grabs are hd? Mine seem like SD.

[Brian Luce]

If you start out with HDV720p, convert to cineform IC, put it on your timeline, do all your cool little filters and titling stuff and then go to render it, should you select "ntsc dv widescreen" if you intend to go to DVD? (sd)

[Vincent Croce]

Ah, the 10gb file was your uncompressed avi! No sweat, size-wise. Your best bet is to read Ed's newsletters to familiarize yourself with the dvd authoring process. They are clear, to the point, and will have you burning your settop compatible dvd in no time (not to mention FREE-thanks Ed).
The basic process to creating the dvd:
1. Capture your footage as an uncompressed avi (with Vegas or other cap util)
2. Edit the avi with Vegas or other NLE.
3. Either render the project right to mpeg2 with Vegas or (my pref) render out as avi and let DVD Arch convert to mpeg2 for you. Some prefer to render the video and audio streams separately.
4. Bring your rendered files into DVDA, create your menu(s) and other aspects for your completed dvd.
5. Let DVDA author your project into a settop compatible DVD.
With the relatively small size of your current project, you'll be able to maintain a high bitrate and have excellent quality footage.
Sorry if I just repeated most of the points from Ed and Don. Now get to those newsletters!

[Richard Alvarez]

Tie a hundred feet of nylon line on it, it makes an okay anchor.
(Canopus or Ads if you want a pass through box)

[Ron Ball]

I have no problem burning my work from DVDA to DVD+R disks. But when I try to burn to DVD-R disks, DVDA will not close out the disk. I thought maybe I was impatient, so I left it running yesterday, and came back 12 hours later and it still did not finish. The process stalls out in the "Burning Lead-out" ... almost done!

I've been able to use Nero and Pinnacle to copy or burn original DVD-R, so I don't think I have a driver problem.

Is there a setting I am missing, or should look at to specify which type of disk (+R or -R) to burn?

Thanks

[Jon McGuffin]

Fantastic reply and really clears the air on this matter for me! I have decided to go with 2Gb for now and assume this will be enough for me to get by. :)

Thanks again VERY much for taking the time to register and post

Jon

[Edward Troxel]

Welcome Matthew. Nice to see you here. Thanks for the great info.

[Edward Troxel]

Your framegrab will be whatever you see in the Preview Window. If you change your project settings to remove the letter box, the framegrab shouldn't have it either.

[Edward Troxel]

Multiple people have had problems burning from DVD A in a variety of situations. Here's my philosophy: If DVD A will burn what you want, great - let it (it does for me and I let it). If it won't, then PREPARE in DVD A and then use Nero or Record Now (or whatever) to do the actual burning.