Rendering Xvid Codec
 

Anyone know how to render using the Xvid Codec in Vegas Pro 8.0?
Xvid.org: Home of the Xvid Codec

I downloaded and installed the XviD Codec 1.2.2 and then re-started Vegas, but I don't see anything when I go to "render as" and search for it under the drop downs.

I am trying to render out a 20min short documentary to a manageable size. The NTSC DV AVI comes out to about 4GB and I was looking for something high quality in the 600-800MB range.

It's been a long time since I used Vegas, but I'm not sure why you can't get at XVID for encoding output (should be able to). If you'd like to get even better compression, use H264 instead though.

My guess is that you get access to Xvid options the same way you do for Divx and that is to choose AVI as a render option.
Then click "Custom", go to the Video tab and select Xvid in the "Video format" dropdown box.

This is how it works on my Vegas 9c, you have to be in AVI mode.

That did it Mike / Brian, thank you both.

Robert, I will try that H264 option as well, thanks.

Upside - Better video quality for a given file size.

Downside - Takes more processor power to encode AND play.

For SD, the extra CPU power needed isn't really a big deal with any reasonably modern computer (especially with a multi-core CPU). You can also turn off CABAC when encoding, which eases the CPU load considerably (for both encoding and playback as well), and it only costs you about 10% more in file size to get the same quality (still an improvement over XVID, DIVX, etc.).

For those who really want to crush file size as much as possible, using Nero's AAC encoder (free) will give you an advantage over MP3 audio encoding (especially with SD, since audio is a greater % of total file size). At real low bitrates (like 48Kbps) the quality is considerably better. I don't know if you can use AAC in an AVI wrapper though. I've only used it with MP4 wrappers.