Rendering questions

[Dragonrider1227]

Hi. I'm very new to Sony Vegas Pro and professional video editing in general so I have a couple of questions.
I tried to render in uncompressed AVI and it came out kind of fuzzy to me. So I tried to render in MPEG-2 but I got a message saying; "An error occured while creating the media file (name of video).mpg2. The reason for the error could not be determined." Any ideas what this error is?
Also, I want to enter my video in a contest. Two of the requirements is that it be in NTSC and that the frame rate be in 23.976. The problem is, aside from MPEG-2 (which doesn't work) when I try to set my frame rate to 23.976, it switches format from NTSC to IVTC film. Are these formats similar or totally different? I really don't know my video formats very well.
Sorry if I sound like an idiot here. Like I said, I am a total noob at this but I want to learn

[Nya-chan Production]

Hi. I'm very new to Sony Vegas Pro and professional video editing in general so I have a couple of questions.
I tried to render in uncompressed AVI and it came out kind of fuzzy to me. So I tried to render in MPEG-2 but I got a message saying; "An error occured while creating the media file (name of video).mpg2. The reason for the error could not be determined." Any ideas what this error is?
Also, I want to enter my video in a contest. Two of the requirements is that it be in NTSC and that the frame rate be in 23.976. The problem is, aside from MPEG-2 (which doesn't work) when I try to set my frame rate to 23.976, it switches format from NTSC to IVTC film. Are these formats similar or totally different? I really don't know my video formats very well.
Sorry if I sound like an idiot here. Like I said, I am a total noob at this but I want to learn

Go for uncompressed avi, ideally in lagarith or UTVideo from the pack available here: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech31/
Was it fuzzy right after it came out from Vegas? Or after encode? In what way (maybe a screenshot would help)? It's possible that you entered 29.97FPS footage in the Vegas (check your source FPS and your project settings~) and exported in 23.976, which would produce some ghosting. This is fixable, but first we need to know it really is the case ^^
The rules sound weird - NTSC color decoding is by default 29.97FPS, so the requirements contradict themselves. Can you link or repost the technical part of the rules?

And it's okay to ask - that way you can improve and the next time you'll know better and be able to help someone else ;3

[Dragonrider1227]

It was after encoding. I use Virtualdub. I'll check those files out. Thanks.
Here's a link to the AMV contest rules
http://www.animeboston.com/programming/amv_contest/

Submission Guidelines
Requirements for the video file:

Minimum Suggested Resolution: 1280x720
Frame Rate: 23.976
Encoded H.264 standard.
Maximum file size: 1 Gigabyte
Video format: NTSC (not PAL or SECAM)

I'm not sure how to make sure it's encoded in H.264 standard either.

[Dragonrider1227]

the AMVapp package comes with two versions of UTVideo. x64 and x86. Which should I use?

[RTW47]

the AMVapp package comes with two versions of UTVideo. x64 and x86. Which should I use?

Neither. Get currently latest 14.1.1 version from here
(from 10.2.1, single Ut Video installer is available for 32 & 64-bit Windows. It should automatically install both codec variants on 64-bit OS)
(be sure not to install over 10.2.0 or older version(s))
~Generally, update all elements, from amvapp, you intend to use.

[Dragonrider1227]

Ah, thanks for the heads up on that.
How do these work once you've installed them?

[Nya-chan Production]

It was after encoding. I use Virtualdub. I'll check those files out. Thanks.
Here's a link to the AMV contest rules
http://www.animeboston.com/programming/amv_contest/

Submission Guidelines
Requirements for the video file:

Minimum Suggested Resolution: 1280x720
Frame Rate: 23.976
Encoded H.264 standard.
Maximum file size: 1 Gigabyte
Video format: NTSC (not PAL or SECAM)

I'm not sure how to make sure it's encoded in H.264 standard either.

Ah, thanks for the heads up on that.
How do these work once you've installed them?

You export lossless avi from Vegas in UTVideo (it should be selectable in uncompressed avi codec details when you export), then you encode it with ZarxGUI. That should get you a h264 mp4 file (or mkv file, but cons usually prefer mp4).
Make sure you export the avi in 23.976, but I guess that's not an issue.

About the NTSC - I'd recommend contacting the contest organizer and asking him. Or if you can't do it, send it early on and disregard that bit, a competent organizer will contact you back and inform you that something's wrong - the important thing is to have some time buffer so you can correct things if that's the case. But if I see it right you're editing for the next year's ABoston, so you should be okay if you started now ^^

If you have some trouble still, or if the fuzziness stays, we can work on it further ;3

[Dragonrider1227]

It was after encoding. I use Virtualdub. I'll check those files out. Thanks.
Here's a link to the AMV contest rules
http://www.animeboston.com/programming/amv_contest/

Submission Guidelines
Requirements for the video file:

Minimum Suggested Resolution: 1280x720
Frame Rate: 23.976
Encoded H.264 standard.
Maximum file size: 1 Gigabyte
Video format: NTSC (not PAL or SECAM)

I'm not sure how to make sure it's encoded in H.264 standard either.

Ah, thanks for the heads up on that.
How do these work once you've installed them?

You export lossless avi from Vegas in UTVideo (it should be selectable in uncompressed avi codec details when you export), then you encode it with ZarxGUI. That should get you a h264 mp4 file (or mkv file, but cons usually prefer mp4).
Make sure you export the avi in 23.976, but I guess that's not an issue.

About the NTSC - I'd recommend contacting the contest organizer and asking him. Or if you can't do it, send it early on and disregard that bit, a competent organizer will contact you back and inform you that something's wrong - the important thing is to have some time buffer so you can correct things if that's the case. But if I see it right you're editing for the next year's ABoston, so you should be okay if you started now ^^

If you have some trouble still, or if the fuzziness stays, we can work on it further ;3

Thank You very much. I'll give all that a try. This con says the accept MP4 but recommend avi because it's "It is widely disseminated, high quality, and easy to convert. " so I'd like to send it as that if it's possible.
I don't think I can send it in early, hear back if they want it and then send them it again corrected. From what I can tell on the forums, you send the video, and they send you an email if the video makes it to the finals. I don't think they tell you what's wrong with it and give you a chance to correct it. And to preserve "freshness" they don't allow you to correct the change and send it again for next year.

[Dragonrider1227]

oh, and as for NTSC vs 23.976, I've been informed these are merely guidelines and suggestions for the best quality. They don't have to be both. That makes things considerably easier

[Dragonrider1227]

Gonna sound like an idiot again but how do you "export lossless avi from Vegas in UTVideo?"