User Manual

USING ADVANCED VIDEO FEATURES | 279
Working in DV format
Vegas Pro software is optimized for DV editing. If your project is destined for tape or television, the DV format is an excellent choice.
The DV codec installed with Vegas Pro provides video with excellent image quality, even over multiple generations, and provides
audio that is better than CD-quality. If you start with well-shot DV footage and stay within the DV format throughout the editing
process, you can output broadcast-quality video programs. This section provides guidelines for working in the DV format.
Selecting source media
Wherever possible, use DV source video clips. You can capture video from DV cameras and decks using an IEEE-1394 card with no
quality loss. You can also convert analog footage to DV using a media converter or by passing the video through a DV camcorder.
Setting project properties
Set your project to match the DV format of your final output. This provides a true WYSIWYG view of the project when you use an
external monitor for previewing. This also prevents you from stretching output or changing field order unnecessarily. You can
match the project settings to a video source file by using the Match Media Settings button (
) in the Project Properties dialog. For
more information, see Setting video properties based on a media file on page 38 and Modifying project video properties on page 284.
Selecting templates
Always select a DV template when performing any of the following tasks in a DV project:
• Prerendering video (For more information, see Prerendering video on page 349.)
• Rendering to a new track (For more information, see Rendering to a new track on page 163.)
• Printing video to tape from the timeline (For more information, see Printing video to tape from the timeline on page 380.)
• Rendering a project (For more information, see Rendering a project on page 365.)
When prerendering video or rendering to a new track, a DV template not only optimizes playback performance, but also helps you
avoid needless recompression of DV footage. DV material is recompressed only when necessary. Cuts-only DV sequences are not
recompressed when you output the project to DV from the timeline or in Video Capture.
The DV templates are designed to provide high quality, pixel aspect-correct, DV-compliant renders when rendering a project or
printing to tape from the timeline. Do not select an uncompressed setting when choosing rendering or print-to-tape options. An
uncompressed setting produces a large file that will not print back to DV tape from Video Capture or from the timeline.