Project Properties vs Output?``

Last seen: 7 sec ago

Joined: 02/21/2012 - 1:32am

I have asked this a few times elsewhere. If I have asked here then sorry. So far I have not really found anything out.

This is not a gripe, but a serious question. If I am missing something and not seeing the problem it could be at least a nuisance.

I am always reading and hearing that I must set the Project Properties right: usually to the same as my source. But I have never found out why.

As far as I can see it has no effect on the output, as that is decided by the renderer. The only effect I _have _ seen is when I set the AR of the PPs to a stupid ratio, like 700 * 200 and suddenly in mucked up the rendered result, no matter what the render settings. But that seemed more of an aberration than the norm.

Even though there are claims that it will help editing smoothness, I have found that if I alter the frame size or whatever, in the end it's the Preview quality that makes most difference.

And what if I have various sources? #1 is 1080 50p, #2 is 720i etc. Does the whole thing go to pot? From the exhortations I have seen to "get it right" it would seem so, but I have not seen it yet.

I really would like to hear the truth of this, or be pointed to a source of info about it.

Thanks in advance.

Nick

oldnick

Last seen: 7 sec ago

Joined: 02/21/2012 - 1:32am

Duzzn madder actually. I f

Duzzn madder actually. I found some info.

Nick

04/06/2012 - 6:09am Permalink

caffeinedependent

Last seen: 1 year 2 months ago

Joined: 04/05/2012 - 11:48am

Nick, my understanding is

Nick, my understanding is as follows:

When you set your project properties the same as your source, editing is smoother because there is less of a CPU hit when your system doesn't have to constantly be working to provide you with an accurate preview to match your system settings.
When you set your project properties to match your desired output, your previews will give you a more accurate representation of how your project will appear in terms of aspect ratio, but obviously not quality.
When working with various sources, using the predominant source will provide the smoothest editing.

I use the following trick to speed up editing when working on complex projects with multiple sources:

I set the project properties to SD DV
I create proxies of all source video in standard SD AVI and work with those
I replace the proxies with the original files prior to rendering

That being said, if I had a zippy i7 with a nice GPU to handle the processing, 16GB of RAM and a couple of SSDs I would probably not bother and just always have my project properties set to the desired output ;-)

04/08/2012 - 1:39pm Permalink

Charles Schultz

Last seen: 1 month 3 weeks ago

Joined: 10/25/2010 - 10:38pm

Nick, I always shoot in 10

Nick, I always shoot in 1080p but when I edit I usually edit it at 720p and resize the footage. Yes this may seem a little weird but say you have a shot that you really want a close up of but you could not get close enough, don't downsize the footage and you have a really nice close up. This trick also helps give the impression of having multiple cameras and it looks pretty good.

As for the source footage you want to use the correct format. For example I use ACVHD footage and I could use any format I want they system works faster using the corresponding footage.

Hope that helps a little.

04/08/2012 - 8:07pm Permalink