Best render settings in Vegas for DVDA
 

For rendering a video in Vegas 9 to be pulled up into DVDA, I have tried several renders for the best quality but just need to know the best settings for this. It is PAL 4x3 from avi. 32bit sound. I have gone for 2 pass encoding, interlaced, - Main concept MPEG 2, DVDA PAL video stream with audio (48K), & video included video streams. Is this the best way to go or are there other settings I should know about ?

I also tried the above with progressive and there were too many jaggies in the playback.

RonC.

Ron, if the program is less than 70 min. long, I always use a custom CBR setting of 8,000,000.
Anything longer and I turn to my trusty bitrate calculator found at http://www.johncline.com/bitcalc110.zip and use the appropriate VBR settings.
If the video is of marginal quality, I do it as a two-pass render.
No matter what it says, I never let the Max bitrate exceed 8,000,000 to ensure compatibility with older and/or cheap players.
BTW, I always render in Best mode as this helps maintain the quality of any stills and generated media.

I always render my audio separately as an AC3 file. Render a looped region, give each file the same name (but with a differenet extension) and when you drag one into the Menu sacreen of DVDA the other will follow automtically.

Richard

Thanks Mike, & Richard, for your helpful replies.

However, I have NEVER used DVDA yet, and always seem to be working J.I.T. but whenever I go to use DVDA in the hope of producing a menu based DVD, I just find it impossible to follow in a short time, as the manual does not "lead you by the hand" to show newbies what to do in a step by step way.

I therefore revert back to just producing the DVD direct from the Vegas timeline and it works. However, I am a bit disappointed that this very simple method does not give you any options for 2 pass, and setting bit rates etc.

Therefore, is there a little tutorial somewhere that just shows you how to simply produce a DVD with maximum quality - (rendering time not being an issue), with menus placed from your markers on the the Vegas timeline ?

I have friends that tell me how simple it is with other programs such as Pinnacle, Power Director etc. as they seem to provide better step by step information.

RonC.

Get thee to Edward Troxel's Excellent Newsletters.

There, in Volume 1 #7 and #8 you'll find the basics. Though for an earlier version of DVDA, these basics haven't changed much.

v2#4, v2#6, v3#2, v4#4, contain info on the various updates to DVDA. While you're there, you could download the issue index, too :-) Heck, grab all the newsletters...

Ya' know, there are all kinds of software. DVDA is a great DVD authoring environment, it gives you the ability to exploit most of the DVD-Video spec. However, if you're looking for software that just slurps in your clips and has some snazzy templates, DVDA ain't it, IMHO. That's what the more "consumer" oriented authoring environments do well. On the mac, iDVD is a great example of this - the animated menus are great. However, if you want to do some serious authoring, end-actions, alternative audio tracks, mixed media types, etc., you'd better be on (mac) DVD Studio Pro. Same thing with DVDA.

Ron, as Mike alluded, always render your audio and video separately. For mpeg 2 rendering so that DVDA takes it as it is without re-rendering, go to DVDA help and search for mpeg....the specs will be listed...

DVDA is excellent for burning your final product.

As I said above, do the dual render and drag into the blue menu window of DVDA. If you want chapters identify these in your Vegas project by entering Markers (press M) and naming as you wish. You will be given the option of opening a menu based project when you start the new DVDA project. In the blue window R cl on the image which goves you the option of deciding how many items you want on each page of your final menu - it will also give you the choice of the type of button you need. Move the thumbnails about your pages as you wish (R Cl & drag if on the same page) and then change your titles as you wish (press F2 after highliting the title you want to alter and type away).

I've streamlined this a bit but not by much. Use what I've said as a basis to experiment and remember you've always got the Go Back Button or Ctrl+Z to undo something you don't like or that hasn't worked as ytou expected.

Have fun.

Richard