I have some 720 x 480 videos that I just finished editing. What is the "best" preset to use to get the highest quality from Vegas? I mistakenly used Main Concept AVC to get an .mp4 file, that file was unplayable. Then realizing that 720 x 480 is standard def, I selected Main Concept MPEG-2, with the maximum bitrate of 9,800,000 bps, average is 4,200,000 bps, and minimum of 192,000 bps. This render gave me an .mpg file, video is pretty bad, worse than the source (which is not that great to begin with). So, please help me to select which preset and which template to use.

Thanks!!!

select DVD Architect NTSC Widescreen Video Stream under Mpeg 2 and don't change anything.

I did the render as you instructed, and the resulting .mpg file has worse video quality than the source .avi file. Can anything be done to improve the .mpg file?
Thanks,

Norris, the render format you choose depends on what you want to do with the video.
If it's a DVD, then it has to be MPEG-2.
If it's for the web/YouTube/Vimeo, then MP4 is best.
If it's for archiving, it depends on what format your source footage was.

Norris, the render format you choose depends on what you want to do with the video.
If it's a DVD, then it has to be MPEG-2.
If it's for the web/YouTube/Vimeo, then MP4 is best.
If it's for archiving, it depends on what format your source footage was.

Thanks Mike,

My purpose is to archive, these are videos of my son when he was an infant, back in 2001. The source footage is .avi from a JVC consumer camcorder bought in 2000 (forgot the model), so I think it's DV format. So what do you suggest I do for archiving?

I think it's DV format.

Don’t just think what it is. Download MediaInfo (http://sourceforge.net/projects/mediainfo/files/latest/download?source=files) and let it tell you exactly what it is.

Adam,
I d/l MediaInfo and verified that the source footage is DV format, the files have .avi extension.
With that info, what should I render my project to, to keep it as high quality as possible for archival purpose?
Thanks,

Sorry Norris, my response earlier I thought you were making a DVD, don't know why I assumed it.

For highest quality of your avi files, uncompressed avi will be theoretically best, but the file will be unbelievably huge. Someone will chime in I'm sure with a specific recommendation.

Jeff,
Thanks for your input. I did went ahead with what you suggested, to make a DVD to distribute for family members. Since DVD looks worse than the source, I'm just looking to archive the high-quality .avi source material.

Norris, since your source video is DV-AVI, render to AVI using either the NTSC DV or NTSC DV Widescreen template for archive purposes.
There will be no quality loss between your source video and the copy.

That was great, very quick from the timeline render to .avi. Thanks to all who responded.

Now I have many recent videos in AVCHD format, 1920 x 1080i resolution. What do I render to if I want to archive at the highest quality possible?
Can I render to .avi in this case?

Adam,
I d/l MediaInfo and verified that the source footage is DV format, the files have .avi extension.
With that info, what should I render my project to, to keep it as high quality as possible for archival purpose?
Thanks,

OK, so it is DV. The .avi extension only tells us the type of the container, it is the DV that tells us about the quality. Still, the question is really difficult to answer. I would certainly keep the DV-AVI originals as well as the project itself (the .veg file) in my archive. That would allow me to rerender it in the future to whatever format becomes available (I also keep all the older versions of Vegas on my system to make sure I can always rerender my archived projects).

And for the present usage, the format would depend on what you want to do with it, whom you want to show it to and how. MP4 seems to be the ideal distribution format these days.

Since you're starting with DV-AVI, render to DV-AVI for your archive. It will not actually need to "render", it will simply copy the sections you want to keep over.

Ah, that's why it was so quick.

OK, so it is DV. The .avi extension only tells us the type of the container, it is the DV that tells us about the quality. Still, the question is really difficult to answer. I would certainly keep the DV-AVI originals as well as the project itself (the .veg file) in my archive. That would allow me to rerender it in the future to whatever format becomes available (I also keep all the older versions of Vegas on my system to make sure I can always rerender my archived projects).

And for the present usage, the format would depend on what you want to do with it, whom you want to show it to and how. MP4 seems to be the ideal distribution format these days.

What would you recommend regarding my newer videos, all in AVCHD: what format to render the edited video to to retain the highest quality possible (for archival purpose, not for distribution)?
Thanks,

Same thing. Archive the originals and the .veg files. That will preserve the media exactly as it is.