Ya, right, hmmm.

No simple answer then:)
Let's talk about ROT ( rule of thumb )

Event filming (wedding), assorted SD cameras, nothing spectacular:
ROT-1 stick to 8bit
ROT-2 try 32 bit, linear

What you say?

Get a bigger thumb?

I've stopped making my "normal", ill-educated opinion and my own A-Level maths understanding about elements of, what is, this remarkable function.

I DO see the colour value, value. I see the value in making better some issues I may have with banding & other fx-ing.

I'll let others jump in here.

So, you too Mahesh, are wrestling with where and what, and so on?

Best regards

Grazie

Fair nuff
I shall leave it at default, 32 bit linear.

Can't be any worse than what it is.
Thanks for your input.

Rule of thumb: if you're modifying the color/brightness of pixels, and you're not in an insane rush to get it broadcast over network news TWO MINUTES AGO!!! .... use 32 bit. Otherwise, use 8 bit.

That makes sense, Kelly. I just done a segment, 32 bit - linear. Colour correction looks better ( I think ) but Crossfades definately look better.
Default it is then.
Thanks

Grazie and Chienworks,

I'd better start paying attention to and consider 32 bit and have read posts about it, incl. the DVIinfo one suggested in this thread. So still on learning curve here.

Yet I'm a puzzled on a really basic choice mentioned in this thread: 32-bit float vs. 32-bit linear. I think I know what those mean mathematically speaking, but as to VP8 settings, I only see 8-bit and 32-bit float as choices in Project Properties.

Maybe you're all talking about something else or setting elsewhere.
Signed,

~ Confuzed in Bit-Land.

Confuzed in Bit-Land.? How come we have not met. I am there as well.
There are three choices I see in properties.
As I mentioned in my opening
8 bit
32 bit floating point with gamma = 1.000 - linear
32 bit floating point with gamma = 2.222 - video.

The default appears to be 32-bit linear. That's what i am using now.

May be I should set it to video? That's what I am editing
Definitely confused.

Well, hopefully some of the Wize Wunes from Vegatopia will come and deliver us from the billowing Fogs of Confuzion hovering over our humble hood, paesan :)

It's easy to forget the help file.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pixel format

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to indicate whether you want to perform video processing (compositing, scaling, previewing, rendering, and most video plug-ins) using 8-bit or 32-bit, floating-point arithmetic.

The 32-bit floating point setting allows greater precision for processing video, but requires significantly more processing power than working with 8-bit video.

Tips:

32-bit floating point is recommended when working with 10-bit YUV input/output or when using xvYCC/x.v.Color media.

When using 8-bit input/output, the 32-bit floating point setting can prevent banding from compositing that contains fades, feathered edges, or gradients.

Video plug-ins and media generators that do not support floating-point processing are indicated by a blue icon in the Plug-In Manager and Plug-In Chooser with this icon in the Video FX and Media Generators windows.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Compositing gamma

When you choose 32-bit floating point from the Pixel format drop-down list, you can choose a compositing gamma value.

1.000 (Linear)
The default setting when you choose 32-bit floating point from the Pixel format drop-down list.

2.200 (Video)
Processing in 8-bit video is always performed using a setting of 2.200. Choose this setting when you want to ensure maximum compatibility with projects created in previous version of Vegas.

"It's easy to forget the help file."

Thanks, and true. One could call it an aspect of "I-wanna-do-it-right-now-not-read-about-it" syndrome :) But also sometimes of the fact that Help files don't seem to help too much on certain topics, so one can tend to skip looking in there, seeking clarifications elsewhere such as at this forum.

Use 32 bit video for most work, this will behave as Vegas has behaved in the past.
The color range changes in 32 bit 1.00 gamma, and this may or may not suit what you want. Bear in mind that if you're previewing externally over firewire, you may run into some issues with display not being accurate.

Your choices boil down to these three:

8-bit / 2.222 compositing gamma
32-bit / 2.222
32-bit / 1.000 compositing gamma

1.000 versus 2.222:
1.000 changes the filter and image processing behaviour compared to previous versions of Vegas. In 1.000, Vegas will convert everything to linear light, do the image processing, and then convert the values back. This can give some different results that you may not expect... e.g. the studio RGB <--> computer RGB presets don't do what they say they do.

I would avoid this mode for your main project. In situations where linear light processing is useful, nest another .veg into your master project.
see
http://glennchan.info/articles/vegas/linlight/linlight.htm

8-bit versus 32-bit:
The 32-bit mode does give you higher precision, which will get rid of certain causes of banding.

But it does more than simply give you higher precision. The behaviour of particular codecs will change in 32-bit. Other codecs will not change their behaviours. This isn't really the same behaviour as past versions of Vegas.

See
http://glennchan.info/articles/vegas/v8color/v8color.htm
for a full explanation.

Ah, the Wize Wunes did come through. Viva Vegatopia! :)
(Read: Thanks for the extra input, that does help clarify Help info.)

While I'm concerned about the Preview taking a hit, I'm seriously considering it now.

Thank you all for very descriptive explation. Looks as though one should work with 32 bit on new projects.
Iam itching to ask, what gamma I should use for normal, SD DV fpootage but I shall wait until I have digested GlenChan's articles/explanations.