An ocean full of possibilities..too much of a good thing.

[garjobo3]

So many options to choose from.

I always get lost in the sea of framerates, renders..How can i guarentee Im setting my AVCHD footage correctly ( some of which is shot at 1080/50 and other parts lesser quality ) .

It looks so complicated and variable. ALL I want is to edit my video, and burn the thing at best possible quality. Simples.

[Bpotter908]

If all your footage was captured at DV-Pal standard, capture it in that standard, edit in that standard, Export in a "similar" standard

Before you pick up the camera decide what you want to do and at what file format, Then set your work flow up to match what you capture from the camera

[garjobo3]

Appreciate the reply, but its not as straightforward as you make it sound..which still sounds complicated to a newbie anyway! Some of my footage is already on my harddrive, having loaded it up via USB some time back..it is UK/PAL ..but some is HD other parts isnt...and probably include mobile photo footage too!

If one part is 50frames and other parts certainly isnt...what setting do i change it too..Ok, so perhaps Vegas will know, and it will work..but will i get the best possible quality onto dvd ( realise this is not HD..and will lose quality on this format )

Why cant i simply load up my footage via usb...and Vegas automatically will give me the best possible outcome....then i render it, and send to Architect...and then...make as many copies as i wish (from what i understand it..i can do a 100 copies all with equally same quality ).

if i want to go back to project and re-render for a bluray..then thats no problem either..apparently.

[Marc Peters]

With all of those different formats, it's a bit like building a house with different shape bricks; you'll get it done, but they'll be big holes in your wall.

When mixing footage, I tend to convert it all to one single format before editing. This is normaly the most used format. It makes editing a much more straightforward task.

[garjobo3]

Surely to goodness there are simple tickbox setting which - for the mass majority ( this is a basica package afterall!! ) we can use.

Simple enough query, I want best quality possible. Using 1080/50 and also slightly lesser quality..not 50frames. Befuddles me why you cant just bring this stuff into Vegas...and then edit it...and the software does the hard job..BUT crucially it will automatically render/burn to disc at the best possible quality.

Surely, someone can tell me how to ensure I end up with the best quality i can.

[oneloosecrank]

When setting up a new project, put the preset to AVCHD 1920x1080 60i, this will mean that it expects to receive files up to that size. You can drop anything you like into this, including lower framerates. When you render, it's up to you to decide which resolution you render too - if you create the video to the largest resolution you put in, the suite will have to upscale the smaller files. I don't know how this will turn out as I've not done it... I use mixtures of framerates (some 60FPS, some 29 FPS) and always render down to 29FPS - but everything is recorded in the same 720p.
That's where I'd start, you might have to experiment with render settings to see what looks best overall.