Bit of a newbie here. (I can hear the collective groan).

I am using Sony Vegas Plat 8 and a PD150. Did my first bit of editing last night, watched the finished product and was quite happy with the result but when I went to publish it as a movie, there was some serious quality degredation in the .avi file. Is there any quick and easy fix to this? When I have uploaded the footage it looks beautiful - as sharp as anything, which is why I am quite upset about this loss in quality in the final movie file.

Suggestions? Thanks in advance.

P.S I haven't attempted to burn it to a DVD yet as I am convinced the degradation will be even worse.