Format for Vegas to Architect w/o recompr

[zicmubleu]

What is the format to use with Sony Vegas Pro 8.0 as the intermediate file for import into Sony Architect Pro 5 to avoid recompression and also give highest resolution?

I want to create a Blu-ray slideshow with sound of primarily jpeg, AVCHD and .avi video, by first combining multiple images into a single file in Sony Vegas for import into Sony Architect without having to recompress the files in Architect. Since I want the highest resolution the video format available seems to be MPEG-2. The Sony AVC option seems to limit the horizontal resolution to 1440 pixel width, but it is shown as a .mp4 extension, presumably MPEG-4 which I thought was the Blu-ray format of choice.

I have cropped my pictures to fit a 16:9 screen size, I don't want to distort the images and generally there is sky and ground scenery that can be eliminated allowing me to utilize the full HDTV screen. For the images where the vertical can't be cropped I will accept the side bars being blacked out. It is desirable to do the initial processing in Vegas to get around the file quantity limitation of Architect since I generally have a few hundred jpeg images for the slideshow.

I have successfully created Blu-ray discs with this software viewable in conventional standalone players and the images look good, but the recompression in Architect takes about 12-13 hours and is most likely degrading the images at least a little bit.

I couldn't do a screen snapshot (ignorant of method) for the pull down options given in Vegas but I have copied them accurately below.

Video format: Sony AVC (*.mp4;m2ts,*.avc)

Video Template: Blu-ray 1440x1080-60i, 15 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440x1080-50i, 15 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440x1080-60i, 8 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440x1080-50i, 8 Mbps video stream


Video format: MainConcept MPEG-2 (*.mpg;*.m2v;*m2t;*.mpa)

Video template: Blu-ray 1920x1080-24p, 25 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1920x1080-50i, 25 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1920x1080-60i, 25 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440x1080-24p, 25 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440x1080-50i, 25 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440x1080-60i, 25 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440x1080-24p, 8 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440x1080-50i, 8 Mbps video stream
Blu-ray 1440x1080-60i, 8 Mbps video stream



Audio format: Dolby Digital AC-3 Pro (*.ac3)

Audio template: Default Template
Stereo DVD


Audio format: Sony Wave64 (*.w64)

Audio template: 48,000 Hz, 16 Bit, Stereo, PCM
48,000 Hz, 24 Bit, Stereo, PCM
96,000 Hz, 16 Bit, Stereo, PCM
96,000 Hz, 24 Bit, Stereo, PCM

I am not concerned with the audio at this time but included it in case it has some bearing on the recompression issue. Thanks for any suggestions, it will take me some time to try different options, long render times, but I will try what sounds like the probable best course of action at my first chance.

[plee]

Not sure about the Vegas workflow so I don't know if you can mix .jpg's and video without encoding it together into a video file...can you encode it using Vegas before it get's to Architect?

[zicmubleu]

Originally Posted by plee

Not sure about the Vegas workflow so I don't know if you can mix .jpg's and video without encoding it together into a video file...can you encode it using Vegas before it get's to Architect?

That is the work flow: Use Vegas to create a slideshow video of jpeg and video and add sound tracks as desired. Render that into a large file that is then imported into Architect for authoring steps, menus, etc. the render process compresses the data into the formats I listed previously.

Architect is re-compressing the previously rendered file in most cases but I think some go through without the recompression. This leads me to think that I am not choosing the right format for the Vegas output.

I still end up with decent or good quality images but the Vegas rendering step can take a couple of hours and then the Architect step can take more than half a day for a final 18GB Blu-ray image.

[plee]

Originally Posted by zicmubleu

That is the work flow: Use Vegas to create a slideshow video of jpeg and video and add sound tracks as desired. Render that into a large file that is then imported into Architect for authoring steps, menus, etc. the render process compresses the data into the formats I listed previously.

Architect is re-compressing the previously rendered file in most cases but I think some go through without the recompression. This leads me to think that I am not choosing the right format for the Vegas output.

I still end up with decent or good quality images but the Vegas rendering step can take a couple of hours and then the Architect step can take more than half a day for a final 18GB Blu-ray image.

That's what I thought, just wanted to make sure.

Have you tried using one of the .MPG settings?

There use to be a "Blu-Print" option, have they removed it? I know with DVDit Pro HD, that was the option that would not cause it to re-encode the stream.

[zicmubleu]

Originally Posted by plee

That's what I thought, just wanted to make sure.

Have you tried using one of the .MPG settings?

There use to be a "Blu-Print" option, have they removed it? I know with DVDit Pro HD, that was the option that would not cause it to re-encode the stream.

plee - by .mpg you mean the mpeg2 I would guess. That is primarily what I use since it is a 1920x1080 format and I want to use every pixel for my jpeg images. I think I have been using the 60i and 24p values, it has been a few weeks since I authored anything. I was hoping someone might use this set of software and know a chart listed in the pdf doc that showed the formats to use to achieve different things, etc., something I expected but couldn't find. Probably I should try a short set to speed up the end result and take better notes as to what happens. Thanks for your thoughts and suggestions.