Okay, so I am capturing .avi files compressed with the Xvid codec on it's highest quality setting at 1280x720, 30fps & PCM.
I'm using Sony Vegas 12 as my editor, and getting comfortable with the recording/editing of it. I have several workflow related questions and would very much like to hear your experienced advice.
Question 1:
I want to trim these .avi Xvid files without re-compressing so that I can edit them later, to save hard-drive space. The audio tab is set to PCM. My understanding is that as long as your render matches the original file's settings, any quality loss should be trivial.
Are the settings in this screenshot acceptable for my purpose?
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Question 2:
The best final format for me to render. I know rendering uncompressed and using another program like VirtualDub is my best option for quality; and in the future I will explore that option when I have more hard drive space. Quality isn't critical, however.
For now, using Vegas, what is my best option of compressing down these larger Xvid files? I have been getting decent results out of MainConcept AVC/AAC (*.mp4) using these settings (video rendering quality is set to best):
![]()
Not much to say about that other than that there is a non-trivial quality loss.
I was interested in using x264 because I have used it in the past and it does a good job. However, when I try to render in vegas using it the output files are only giving me a black screen. I tried playing them in VLC and WMP to the same result. I know the encoder itself is working because I can record using x264; but that's no good for editing.
![]()
Those are the settings I used. Any ideas?
Thanks for your time.
I'm using Sony Vegas 12 as my editor, and getting comfortable with the recording/editing of it. I have several workflow related questions and would very much like to hear your experienced advice.
Question 1:
I want to trim these .avi Xvid files without re-compressing so that I can edit them later, to save hard-drive space. The audio tab is set to PCM. My understanding is that as long as your render matches the original file's settings, any quality loss should be trivial.
Are the settings in this screenshot acceptable for my purpose?
Question 2:
The best final format for me to render. I know rendering uncompressed and using another program like VirtualDub is my best option for quality; and in the future I will explore that option when I have more hard drive space. Quality isn't critical, however.
For now, using Vegas, what is my best option of compressing down these larger Xvid files? I have been getting decent results out of MainConcept AVC/AAC (*.mp4) using these settings (video rendering quality is set to best):
Not much to say about that other than that there is a non-trivial quality loss.
I was interested in using x264 because I have used it in the past and it does a good job. However, when I try to render in vegas using it the output files are only giving me a black screen. I tried playing them in VLC and WMP to the same result. I know the encoder itself is working because I can record using x264; but that's no good for editing.
Those are the settings I used. Any ideas?
Thanks for your time.