Today, almost all recordings on modern devices are in HD (High Definition) format. It's very important to know how to make HD recorded videos so that they look good when they are uploaded to the internet or played on TV. With Sony Vegas you can quickly select a variety of presets, so the HD rendering process can be completed in an instant. See Step 1 below to find out how.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Setting Up the Project
Step 1. Enable GPU acceleration
If you have a compatible graphics card installed, you can use it to help speed up rendering times and sort out some processes from your CPU. Click Options and select Preferences from the bottom of the menu.
- Click the videos tab.
- Click the drop-down menu next to "GPU acceleration of video processing" and select your graphics card. If your video card is not supported, it will not appear in the menu.
- Click Apply then OK to close the window.
Step 2. Open the Project Properties window
You can open this window by clicking the Project Properties button above the preview pane, or by clicking File → Properties. This will open a new window for you to customize all the details of the project.
You can set project properties before you start editing your video
Step 3. Choose a template
At the top of the Video tab, you'll see a Template drop-down menu. There are lots of templates to choose from, but if you're rendering in HD, there are only a few you need to pay attention to.
- If you're recording in NTSC (North America), select "HDV 720-30p" for 720p or "HD 1080-60i" for 1080p.
- If you are recording in PAL (Europe), select "HDV 720-25p" for 720p or "HD 1080-50i" for 1080p.
- The main difference between NTSC and PAL is the frame rate used (29, 970 vs 25).
- If you are recording at a higher frame rate than standard NTSC or PAL, such as 60 fps, choose the appropriate template for the resolution you want.
Step 4. Change the order of the entries
If you're rendering 1080p video, you'll need to change the fill order of the frames. Click the "Field order" drop-down menu and select "None (Progressive scan)". This will result in a smoother video.
Step 5. Check the rendering quality
After selecting a template, look for the "Full-resolution rendering quality" drop-down menu. Make sure it's set to "Best".
Step 6. Select the deinterlace method
Most modern digital recordings are recorded in progressive mode, so you don't need to deinterlace. Click the drop-down menu and select "None". Any other way can result in unwanted scanlines in the final result.
If you're rendering in 1080p, select "Blend Fields" as most 1080p footage still uses frame interlacing
Step 7. Check the box "Adjust source media
.. . This will help reduce the chances of small black bars appearing around the edges of the video.
Step 8. Save your template
When you're done configuring the template, you can save it for easy access later. Enter a name to help you remember it in the Template field, then click the Save button. Your template will be added to the list, so you can quickly select it later.
Step 9. Click the Audio tab
Here you can adjust the audio settings for your project. There are a few things to check to make sure the video has the best sound.
- Sample rate (Hz) - This should be set to 48,000, which is DVD quality.
- Resample and stretch quality - This should be set to "Best".
Part 2 of 2: Rendering Videos
Step 1. Open the "Render As" menu
Now your property project is set up, so you can choose how it's rendered for the final output. You can find the "Render As" button on the toolbar or File menu.
Step 2. Select the output format
On the Render As menu in the Output Format section, you will see a list of available formats. There is a lot of discussion about which format works best, but in general there are three formats that are considered best for HD video:
- MainConcept AVC/AAC (*.mp4;*.avc)
- Windows Media Video (*.wmv)
- Sony AVC/MVC (*.mp4;*.m2ts;*.avc)
- MainConcept will produce the fastest render times if you use GPU acceleration.
- Sony AVC is the best choice for Vegas version.
Step 3. Expand the format you want to use
For example, if you want to use MainConcept, expand it to show all available templates for that format. Choose the best template for your video.
- For MainConcept, if you are making 720p video, select "Internet HD 720p". If you are making a 1080p video, select "Internet HD 1080p".
- For Windows Media Video, if you are making 720p video, select "6 Mbps HD 720-30p" (NTSC) or "5 Mbps HD 720-25p" (PAL). If you're shooting 1080p video, select "8 Mbps HD 1080-30p" (NTSC) or "6.7 Mbps HD 1080-25p" (PAL).
Step 4. Customize the template
Click the Customize Template… button to open a new window containing all the template settings. Note: This is different from your Project Properties template, and the following settings only apply to MainConcept.
- Uncheck the "Allow source to adjust frame rate" box. This can help prevent stuttering in the final video
- Make sure that the "Frame rate" drop-down menu matches what you set in the Project Properties window.
- Adjust the bit rate for smaller file sizes. To get a smaller size, lower the average bit rate at the bottom of the window. This will result in a low quality video. For 720p the lowest average is 5,000,000, and the highest is 10,000,000.
- Change the "Encode mode" drop-down menu to "Render using GPU if available". This will force the program to use the GPU to assist rendering, which can significantly speed up the process.
- If you're using the Windows Media Video format and are creating 1080p videos, check the "Image size" drop-down menu in the Custom Settings window. By default, WMV selects a resolution of 1440x1080 which will result in a skewed image. Set it to "(Keep Original Size)" then set the "Pixel aspect ratio" menu to "1,000 (Square)".
Step 5. Run the render
Once you've set all the rendering options, it's time to start processing the video. Click the Render button at the bottom of the "Render As" window to begin the process. A progress bar will appear and you will see a frame counter at the bottom of the preview window while rendering.
