Newbie Capture Question

Joeybear wrote on 5/24/2005, 4:25 PM
Forgive me if this question has been asked before, but as a newbie, I'm hungry for a quick answer...

I'm running my VHS VCR into a Canopus ADVC300, and then it's firewired into my computer.
My question is simple... should my finished projects in Vegas be rendered as MPEG2/AC3 or AVI?
I'm using DVD Architect 3 for authoring.

I've tried both, and the MPEG2 (DVD Architect 24p Template) seems to yield better results, but I don't trust my initial observation. LOL

I've read a number of very technical threads regarding this matter, and while that's all well and good, I simply wanna know which is the better way to go in matters of picture quality. The ADVC300 gives me lots of enhancement and cleanup options, but if I'm not doing a good job in matters of rendering, then the point is moot.

Thanks in advance.

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 5/24/2005, 4:52 PM
The arguments for rendering to MPEG in Vegas are several and include:
- better control over MPEG2 settings
- less time spent since only one encode is required
- avoid an additional 4:1:1 to 4:2:0 conversion

Probably the only argument for rendering to AVI first and then encoding in DVDA is that DVDA will probably pick appropriate settings for a good (not necessarily great) and usually useful DVD without much user intervention. It will take more time and you won't necessarily get the best output possible.
B.Verlik wrote on 5/24/2005, 5:10 PM
Don't know that 24P will give you the best results for converting VHS tapes. SInce your tapes are probably 30 FPS (29.997 FPS), it would probably look better with the NTSC DV MPEG 2 setting. (NEVER USE THE DEFAULT MPEG2 SETTING UNLESS YOU LIKE LOUSY QUALITY). My understanding is 24P is used to make your Digital Video look more like film by giving it the same FPS, (you usually have to artificially alter the color rendering to make it all look like it was shot on film.) but you're losing information if you're just converting already encoded 29.997 FPS VHS tapes over to 24P. I don't think it will help any old movies on VHS either. (don't know for sure though)
I do believe it's better to encode directly from the timeline to mpg2. My suggestion is to encode to mpg2 and use the NTSC DV MPG2 setting for starters. You can learn how to make your own custom mpg2 settings down the road.
Joeybear wrote on 5/26/2005, 6:33 PM
Thanks for the input. Sony even recommmends MPEG2 in the manual, but I've always found posts by actual users to be more helpful, and that's why I asked. Thanks again.