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I have created a video with Sony Vegas Pro 8.5 with an intro that includes graphics, pan/crop events, and generated text. There is also a "lower third" banner right after it.

What is odd to me is that there are quite a few issues when I render it with "best" video rendering qualtiy, while "preview" gives me no troubles. While on "best" the problem is that the text, most of the images, and anything with a pan/crop event are blurred and/or wiggle. You can especially see the wiggle on the portrait images once the next image starts scrolling up and on the third slide for the duration it is showing.

Here is a "best" sample of the video on YouTube.

Here is a "preview" sample of the video on YouTube.

This makes no sense to me. Why is the "preview" setting better than the "best" setting? What exactly does this setting do? Vegas Pro 8.5, if it matters.

Sample Render settings:

enter image description here

enter image description here

Project properties:

enter image description here

Here are some snap shots that show it looks crisp with "preview" but not "best".

            Crisp "preview" snapshot on left                     Not crisp "best" snapshot on right.

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  • Hypothesis : the preview mode uses uncompressed video whereas your export is in MPEG-2, which even at it's best settings will produce artifacts such as those observed.
    – audionuma
    Dec 29, 2015 at 7:16
  • @audionuma I should mention that these artifacts are consistent across all formats tried. mpeg-2, mp4, HDV, etc. I wasted a lot of time this evening realizing that it was this setting. I tried it last because "preview" implies lesser quality than "best". My question was originally "How to fix this" but tried this as a last ditch so I can say I tried everything. I was not expecting it to fix it.
    – user3643
    Dec 29, 2015 at 7:18

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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This is the explanation for the four quality modes, as provided by Vegas tech support long ago:

Quality: Best

Scaling: bi-cubic/integration

Field Handling: on

Field Rendering: on (setting dependent)

Framerate Resample/IFR: on (switch dependent)

Quality: Good

Scaling: bi-linear

Field Handling: on

Field Rendering: on (setting dependent)

Framerate Resample/IFR: on (switch dependent)

Quality: Preview

Scaling: bi-linear

Field Handling: off

Field Rendering: off

Framerate Resample/IFR: always off

Quality: Draft

Scaling: point sample

Field Handling: off

Field Rendering: off

Framerate Resample/IFR: always off

Scaling:

These methods come into play when conforming sources that differ from the output size. They are also used when panned, cropped or resized in track motion.

Bi-Cubic/Integration - Best image resizing algorithm available in Vegas. Quality differences will be most noticeable when using very large stills or stretching small sources.

Bi-linear - Best compromise between speed and quality. This method will produce good results in most cases.

Point Sampling - Fast but produces poor results.

Field Handling:

This refers to the field conformance stage of Vegas's video engine. This includes Interlaced to Progressive conversion, Interlaced to interlaced output when scaling, motion or geometric Video FX and Transitions are involved. Skipping this stage can sometimes result in bad artifacts when high motion interlaced sources are used.

Field Rendering:

When the output format is interlaced, Vegas will internally render at the field rate (twice the frame rate) to achieve smooth motion and FX interpolation.

Frame Rate Resample / IFR (Interlace Flicker Reduction):

Frame Rate Resample:

This kicks in when speed changes are made through Velocity Envelopes and/or event stretching. In can also be used when up-converting low frame rate sources. This only kicks in if the resample switch is turned on and quality is set to good or best.

Interlace Flicker Reduction:

This kicks in if the event switch is turned on and quality is set to good or best. See Vegas' documentation for a description of this switch.

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  • Thank you. Very valuable information. Since Preview and Best differ by three of the four settings, which do you suppose was causing the issues?
    – user3643
    Dec 29, 2015 at 16:33
  • My guess is field rendering. Can you post your render and project setting screenshots?
    – Gyan
    Dec 29, 2015 at 16:44
  • I've added snapshots of the render settings to the question.
    – user3643
    Dec 29, 2015 at 18:36
  • Post project settings as well.
    – Gyan
    Dec 29, 2015 at 18:45
  • Mind you - 2 mbps is very low for 1080p output. It should be ~5x that. If you want a final output around 2 mbps then you should recompress the Vegas exported file with a tool like Handbrake or ffmpeg.etc
    – Gyan
    Dec 29, 2015 at 18:45

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