Exporting R3Ds for DVD

[Tony Wilkes]

I'm exporting R3Ds using Vegas's MPG2/AC3 codec to burn a DVD, but they're coming out far too dark and harsh on the TV screen. They look perfect exported as an AVI played through Media Player, and in Vegas's preview window look a little washed-out if anything.

I assume this is something to do with RGB settings, so is it simply a case of filtering everything through a 'Computer to Studio RGB' effect, or is there something more complex going on?

Cheers,

Tony

[Brian Kaz]

While someone else may have a better solution, I simply made a custom Sony LEVELS template that I apply at the end of the plugin chain to get shadow detail & highlights back. My TV version looks like this:

Input start: 0.000
Input end: 1.000
Output start: 0.080
Output end: 0.875
Gamma: 1.0

With the above settings, I've been able to match what I see on my computer screen to nearly any TV. This works great with HD content, pretty sure it'll work with SD DVD as well.

[donatello b]

"They look perfect exported as an AVI played through Media Player, and in Vegas's preview window look a little washed-out if anything."

i'm going to assume you do not have your computer monitor , media player , vegas preview , TV calibrated to a set standard ?
it's been a few years since i set up my computers ...
from what i recall adjust Media player using the controls on the monitor ( on my computers the graphic card CC has no affect on media player image) ..
adjust sony preview using graphic card controls ...
so basically you have to calibrate media player using the CC on your monitor ( i use SMPTE bars = you'll have to decide if you are going for 16-235 or 0-255 ) ... once you have that adjusted .. now open Vegas drop in bars and adjust using the graphic cards CC ... i've never been able to get media player, vegas preview & TV monitor to match perfect but can get them fairly close ... i do not do final CC using vegas preview ...

[Tony Wilkes]

Thanks for the advice guys.

As a guide for transferring R3Ds to a DVD, what Project Properties and render settings do you use?

I currently have my project set up as 1920x1080 25p, as that matches much of the other footage, and am rendering out using Vegas's PAL DV Widescreen template, which DVD Architect handles fine but looks quite noisy compared to the original images.

I've read some not-great things about DVD Architect - would burning with a different app like Nero give better results?

Cheers,

Tony

[donatello b]

i take all my r3d projects out to blu ray ..

on HD projects to SD DVD ..
Vegas project properties set to HD ...
just before i render i go ito project properties and set:
pixel format 32bit FULL range (for PAL projects ... video range for NTSC... for most blu ray i use 8bit not 32bit float)
composite gamma to 2.2
rendering quality to BEST (usually "good" for blu ray)

if i have any interlace clips in TL i either run a script or manually go to to each of those clips in TL and set the clip properties for that clip to " reduce interlace flicker"..

next "render as" ... in pop up window - set type file to mpeg2
template to = DVDA PAL widescreen
then click on CUSTOM ..VIDEO .. if project is over 40min set low bit rate to 4,200,000 .. if under 40min then i either set low bit rate to 6,000,000 or choose CONSTANT bit rate and manually set to 6,500,000 ..

when clip is finished rendering i then PLAY it .. if it is good =WYSIWYG then i take it into DVDA ...
in DVDA under PREPARE if it states it will recompress the clip = STOP = do NOT let DVDA (or any program) recompress the mpeg2 clip ...

i have not seen any difference between Nero, roxio, DVDA = provided none had to recompress the mpeg2 file ...