You don't want to render your file twice if possible. When you edit in Sony Vegas you want to edit in the codec you shot, i.e. DV. Then export it from Vegas in that same codec (effectively making an exact copy) and then compress it using H.264.
If you are working with HD footage you probably have to transcode it before editing. I use a Mac and shoot in HDV. I hate editing HDV so I transcode it on the fly to the Apple Intermediate Codec when I capture it in FCP. I haven't tried editing AVCHD but from my understanding it's not great for editing either. I don't know what the options are in Vegas but transcoding in FCP is done at such a high bit rate with a great codec that it's essentially lossless (it's not actually lossless but the differences must be minuscule). Either way, when I'm done editing, I export in the codec that I used for editing (I archive those files on my hard drive and then later DVDs - I have 4 spindles of discs laying around) before compressing with H.264. You don't have to have QuickTime Pro to compress with H.264 but I don't the options for Windows users. Maybe some of them will jump in here. - Verdi On Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 7:45 AM, RatbagMedia <[email protected]> wrote: > I own up to a lot of confusion. > > When you follow the dictates of various videoblogging expertise the > h.264 codec is a standard recommendation. Not h.263 or just MPEG.4 but > it has to be the Real McCoy. > > Assuming that's correct I have a couple of questions: > > (1) Can a file only be rendered to h.264 by using QuickTime Pro? > > (2) Since I edit in Sony Vegas (Platinum 9.0)I have to render my video > file in SV first BEFORE processing it in QuickTime. So what is the > best format to render the file in Sony Vegas (or some other video > editor) before importing it into Quicktime for exporting as .mov? > > (3) Mac snobbery aside, since I render a file twice, this seems a lot > of extra effort and lot more time for the sake of image quality and > iTunes download options. > > dave riley > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > -- http://michaelverdi.com
