Creating a file
 

When rendering a file there is a slider that allows you to set the video quality from high to low. Is there any reason that I should not always use high? I typically create HD files for the internet or files to be used in DVD archetic. ALso when using interlaced footage, how should I decide if I should use lower or upper fileds first?

Re: Creating a file
 

It’s hard to answer such a vague question since you are not saying what kind of file you are creating, but as a general rule with lossy codecs, the higher quality will most likely produce a bigger file. What you need to determine is what quality is high enough for your project with a small enough file size.

And that depends not only on the visual quality of your project but also on the type of file you are creating and what codec you are using. And on how you want to distribute it, i.e., what physical media you are using and how big a file they can handle and how big a bit rate the respective players can handle.

Re: Creating a file
 

I always have mine set it to it's maximum setting.

The online help file has this to say about that option (confirming what Adam said).

Quality settings affect various types of material differently. With some experimentation, you may find that certain types of scenes can be rendered at lower quality settings (resulting in faster rendering times) with little or no apparent loss of quality. Other material may need the highest possible setting to achieve the desired quality level.