Answers.Body: <p>This is the explanation for the four quality modes, as provided by Vegas tech support long ago:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Quality: Best</p>
    
    <p>Scaling: bi-cubic/integration</p>
    
    <p>Field Handling: on</p>
    
    <p>Field Rendering: on (setting dependent)</p>
    
    <p>Framerate Resample/IFR: on (switch dependent)</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <hr>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Quality: Good</p>
    
    <p>Scaling: bi-linear</p>
    
    <p>Field Handling: on</p>
    
    <p>Field Rendering: on (setting dependent)</p>
    
    <p>Framerate Resample/IFR: on (switch dependent)</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <hr>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Quality: Preview</p>
    
    <p>Scaling: bi-linear</p>
    
    <p>Field Handling: off</p>
    
    <p>Field Rendering: off</p>
    
    <p>Framerate Resample/IFR: always off</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <hr>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Quality: Draft</p>
    
    <p>Scaling: point sample</p>
    
    <p>Field Handling: off</p>
    
    <p>Field Rendering: off</p>
    
    <p>Framerate Resample/IFR: always off</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <hr>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Scaling:</p>
    
    <p>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.</p>
    
    <p>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.</p>
    
    <p>Bi-linear - Best compromise between speed and quality. This method
    will produce good results in most cases.</p>
    
    <p>Point Sampling - Fast but produces poor results.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <hr>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Field Handling:</p>
    
    <p>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.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <hr>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Field Rendering:</p>
    
    <p>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.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <hr>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Frame Rate Resample / IFR (Interlace Flicker Reduction):</p>
    
    <p>Frame Rate Resample:</p>
    
    <p>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 <em>and</em> quality is set to good or best.</p>
    
    <p>Interlace Flicker Reduction:</p>
    
    <p>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.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-29T16:33:13.003Z
Answers.Text: Thank you. Very valuable information. Since Preview and Best differ by three of the four settings, which do you suppose was causing the issues?
Answers.UserDisplayName: user3643
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-29T16:44:40.687Z
Answers.Text: My guess is field rendering. Can you post your render and project setting screenshots?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-29T18:36:19.160Z
Answers.Text: I've added snapshots of the render settings to the question.
Answers.UserDisplayName: user3643
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-29T18:45:10.917Z
Answers.Text: Post project settings as well.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-29T18:45:52.187Z
Answers.Text: 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
Answers.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-29T19:09:11.723Z
Answers.Text: Added project settings. I've been told that before about the bitrate and use Handbrake of ffmpeg to recompress. Two things. 1) I don't really notice a quality difference, 2) This would add significant processing time to my workflow.
Answers.UserDisplayName: user3643
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-30T05:20:26.380Z
Answers.Text: Why is your project settings so odd? For one thing, if you're working with NTSC widescreen footage, you want 720x480 with the appropriate pixel aspect ratio. And if you need the output to be 1080p, then the external encoder route is recommended even more, as you can select a scaler like Lanczos, which is higher quality than the bicubic/bilinear available in Vegas and preserves thin lines and edges better than them.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-30T06:43:26.690Z
Answers.Text: It's HDV footage. I don't know why the settings are that way.
Answers.UserDisplayName: user3643
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-30T07:03:00.877Z
Answers.Text: I don't know, in Vegas 8.5, if the rightmost icon on the Template line in Project settings is 'Match Media'. If it is, click that and select one of the footage files. If it's not, right-click on one of the footage files, check its resolution, frame rate, field handling, pixel aspect ratio and set those in Project Settings.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2015-12-29T12:47:47.073Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2015-12-29T12:47:47.073Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Gyan
Body: <p>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.</p>
  
  <p>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.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://youtu.be/2UlEdiXXCi8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Here is a "best" sample of the video on YouTube.</a></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://youtu.be/RiyNJiWl4eA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Here is a "preview" sample of the video on YouTube.</a></p>
  
  <p>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.</p>
  
  <p>Sample Render settings:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Hcuoc.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Hcuoc.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/L1h7R.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/L1h7R.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>Project properties:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/X4lHL.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/X4lHL.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>Here are some snap shots that show it looks crisp with "preview" but not "best".</p>
  
  <p><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Crisp "preview" snapshot on left &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Not crisp "best" snapshot on right.</strong>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Uaf1J.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Uaf1J.png" width="320"></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/0jZMK.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/0jZMK.jpg" width="320"></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/45wN6.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/45wN6.png" width="320"></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/leqid.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/leqid.jpg" width="320"></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vnp5A.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vnp5A.png" width="320"></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/cYGCJ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/cYGCJ.jpg" width="320"></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/9hns8.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/9hns8.jpg" width="320"></a>
  <a href="https://i.sstatic.net/HC4Rt.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HC4Rt.jpg" width="320"></a></p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-12-29T07:16:20.923Z
Comments.Text: 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.
Comments.UserDisplayName: audionuma
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2015-12-29T07:18:04.680Z
Comments.Text: @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.
Comments.UserDisplayName: user3643
Tags: <video-quality><vegas-pro>
Title: What exactly does the video rendering quality option do in Sony Vegas Pro?
UserDisplayName: user3643
ThreadText: # What exactly does the video rendering quality option do in Sony Vegas Pro?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2015-12-29)
  
  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.](https://youtu.be/2UlEdiXXCi8)
  
  [Here is a "preview" sample of the video on YouTube.](https://youtu.be/RiyNJiWl4eA)
  
  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](https://i.sstatic.net/Hcuoc.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Hcuoc.png)
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/L1h7R.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/L1h7R.png)
  
  Project properties:
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/X4lHL.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/X4lHL.png)
  
  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.**
  [![](https://i.sstatic.net/Uaf1J.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Uaf1J.png)
  [![](https://i.sstatic.net/0jZMK.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/0jZMK.jpg)
  [![](https://i.sstatic.net/45wN6.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/45wN6.png)
  [![](https://i.sstatic.net/leqid.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/leqid.jpg)
  [![](https://i.sstatic.net/vnp5A.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/vnp5A.png)
  [![](https://i.sstatic.net/cYGCJ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/cYGCJ.jpg)
  [![](https://i.sstatic.net/9hns8.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/9hns8.jpg)
  [![](https://i.sstatic.net/HC4Rt.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/HC4Rt.jpg)
  
  **Tags:** video-quality, vegas-pro
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: 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.  
  > **username_0**: @username_1 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.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2015-12-29. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
  
  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.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Thank you. Very valuable information. Since Preview and Best differ by three of the four settings, which do you suppose was causing the issues?  
  > **username_2**: My guess is field rendering. Can you post your render and project setting screenshots?  
  > **username_0**: I've added snapshots of the render settings to the question.  
  > **username_2**: Post project settings as well.  
  > **username_2**: 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  
  > **username_0**: Added project settings. I've been told that before about the bitrate and use Handbrake of ffmpeg to recompress. Two things. 1) I don't really notice a quality difference, 2) This would add significant processing time to my workflow.  
  > **username_2**: Why is your project settings so odd? For one thing, if you're working with NTSC widescreen footage, you want 720x480 with the appropriate pixel aspect ratio. And if you need the output to be 1080p, then the external encoder route is recommended even more, as you can select a scaler like Lanczos, which is higher quality than the bicubic/bilinear available in Vegas and preserves thin lines and edges better than them.  
  > **username_0**: It's HDV footage. I don't know why the settings are that way.  
  > **username_2**: I don't know, in Vegas 8.5, if the rightmost icon on the Template line in Project settings is 'Match Media'. If it is, click that and select one of the footage files. If it's not, right-click on one of the footage files, check its resolution, frame rate, field handling, pixel aspect ratio and set those in Project Settings.  
  
  ---
  
  