Retaining the best video quality after editing

[Adam Lucio]

I was wondering what video settings are best used to retain original quality of the video. Is it just simply choosing between .avi, .mpg etc etc or is there something else that should be considered. Ive noticed a decrease in quality in all my videos once editing is complete. Im using vegas 8.0 and currently render to .mpg

Before editing:

After [ignore watermark at the bottom.]

I know that no matter what quality will be lessened due to compression and all that. I was just wondering if those more experienced could chime in on what works best, or at least if there as in industry standard.

I hear .avi is quite popular but IMO looked worse than .mpg [unless I did something else wrong.]

 

[Skip Talbot]

Its more about what bitrate and what codec you are using than the format. First of all make sure that the resolution and framerate of your Vegas project matches that of the source media. You can change the project resolution and frame rate under File -> Properties. Also, when you click Render As to produce the final video make sure the output video also matches this resolution and framerate. This will keep Vegas from resampling your video which will result in a loss of detail. I'd also try and keep the same format as the source material if you can. This might not be possible depending on what the video is being used for, but I know that Youtube now takes a wide range of formats including AVCHD. When rendering your videos choose a Template from the drop down that both matches your resolution and frame rate and gives you the highest quality. You can also click custom and tweak the bitrate and codec and select one that's higher quality. I would try the mp4 format or, if your camcorder is recording in AVCHD, rendering back to that same format. This is what I've been doing as I use a Sony HD hard drive camcorder and its given me fairly good results. When rendering AVI's its important to pick the right codec and customize it to give you the best resolution.