I'm using a vegas pro 8 trial and dvd architect 4.5 trial and can't get the picture quality quite right,i've gone through every setting i can think of,"save as file type","template" even the project properties and can't get the picture quality as good as when i use pinnacle studio 11 plus,surely vegas a £500 program should give better results than pinnacle studio 11,a £45 program.I need to get vegas working right because i'm getting an xdcamex soon and want to use vegas with it,i'm not sure if studio will work with the xdcam fomat which is mpeg-2 long gop,although studio has handled every other format i've put into it including avhcd.Also studio can take hi-def footage and burn it to a standard dvd,still as hi-def or avhcd(only 35 mins admittedly) which then plays in a hi-def player,can vegas do this ?

Set Preview window "Preview" to Best Full. That should do it.

Hi again Grazie,i've tried all those settings,"best","draft","full","quarter" etc.Also what does the project preferences box do ?When i select it a window opens up with loads of dropdown lists,ntsc,pal,widescreen,loads of other settings,also frame rate,pixel aspect ratio,etc,what seems strange to me is that it was originaly set on ntsc (not ntsc widescreen) instead of PAL,yet i'm using a pal camera,(DCR-SR90 E).Is this because i downloaded the trial from sonybiz.com which is american,( i know this because if i try and buy vegas pro the price comes up in dollars.
Regarding the picture quality i'm getting on dvd,it's either not a sharp as a pinnacle studio burn or it's juddering,like if someone walks past the cam which is on a tripod so rock steady that person judders past the cam and out of shot,all of these things are only happening in vegas.
Last resort,do you think xdcam footage,which i think is mpeg-2 long gop will work with pinnacle studio ?
ps Grazie,you're lucky you're not my next door neighbour cos i'd be picking your brains constantly !!! haha

I finally sorted my picture quality,when i added my own clips to "project media" a right clicked on a scene thumbnail,selected "properties" and i've got format as mpeg-2,attributes as 720x576x32,pixel aspect ratio as pal dv widescreen,and field order UPPER FIELD FIRST.UPPER FIELD FIRST ? When i have been rendering,i save as type Main concept mpeg-2,template DVD architect pal,i've also been trying other save as types and templates and they mostly save as LOWER FIELDS FIRST.So i changed to upper field first,same as my footage and it worked !!! Yay,pic is now good !!!.

So here's my template
Save as type:Main Concept MPEG-2

Template:
Select DVD architect Pal Widescreen Video Stream,then select "Custom"
Windows opens with tabs

Project Tab> Render>Best

Video Tab> Output type>DVD, Frame Rate>25.000, Aspect Ratio>16.9,
Field Order>UPPER FIELD FIRST
Variable Bit Rate, Two pass checked
Didn't touch anything else

Advanced Video tab> Video Format>Pal
Didn't touch anything else

Audio Tab> Checked "include Audio stream"
Didn't touch anything else

System tab> Didn't touch anything.

Renamed this template "This one for DVD"


Then i rendered it,saved it,opened up in DVD Architect,burned as "Pal Widescreen" and all was sweet.

Renders in real time,ie 2 mins of footage took 2 mins to render.


My cam is a Sony DCR-SR90E which records in MPEG-2.

And i'd like to say thanks to everyone who answered.

Paul.

Hey Pk - I might be your neighbour - if you want to meet up for some hands on stuff - just PM me if you think I can be of any help.
Mark.

__________________
Lowering the tone of video since 2004.

www.zaskarfilms.com You tube channel 'zaskarfilms'
JVC DV5001e (big cam), Sony PC6E (tiny cam), Vinten pro5, PAG light, SM58, Sony ECM50, Sony C-76, 0.5x convertors for sony, Rode video mic, Vegas 7.

Yes i definately want some hands on experience,i've had a look on your site,Zaskarfilms, and it's great,i wanna get into videography and editing,gonna get a another cam soon,hopefully a sony pmw-ex1.

PS How do i send an personal message on this forum then ?

Just click on my name above and a box wilkl open with the pm option.

__________________
Lowering the tone of video since 2004.

www.zaskarfilms.com You tube channel 'zaskarfilms'
JVC DV5001e (big cam), Sony PC6E (tiny cam), Vinten pro5, PAG light, SM58, Sony ECM50, Sony C-76, 0.5x convertors for sony, Rode video mic, Vegas 7.

I look forward to the diagnosis and solution, Mark.

__________________
Tim

Diagnosis and solution ?

Slaps hand on forehead! Only scanned the thread and when I saw your post listing settings, I read it as list of settings you'd tried and failed with. Scanned down, saw Mark's offer and hence posted.

Anyway, by way of a penance, I've done a bit of hunting and discovered this about field order:
Sony Creative Software - Forums - Vegas - Video Messages
which may be of interest and
Video Fields
which includes
Different video formats and different video codecs treat either the top or bottom fields as the “first” field. You must know which setting is proper to use, or you will get reversed fields. DV formats ALWAYS use field 1 dominance -- LOWER FIELD FIRST!

If you mistakenly render your DV video as UPPER FIELD FIRST, you will see what reversed fields are. Moving object will seem to “jitter.” That’s because instead of playing the fields in the proper temporal order (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10) you will be taking two steps forward and one back (2,1,4,3,6,5,8,7,10,9).

You don't say what format your source was, but if the above is true then it wasn't DV.

Hey, that's a whole new bunch of interesting stuff I didn't know I didn't understand

__________________
Tim