Item

Description

Template

Allows you to select a preset template to automatically configure the controls in the dialog.

You may also manually change the settings and save them as a custom template for future use. To create a new template, enter a name in the text box and click the Save Template button . The new custom template name is added to the drop-down list.

To set your project properties to match the properties of an existing media file, click the Match Media Settings button and browse to the file you want to use.

Width and Height

Determines the frame size of your final movie when rendered. The maximum frame size for AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, RealMedia, Windows Media, and still-image output is 2048×2048.

Field order

Determines field order of the frames when drawn on the screen. Consult your capture/video output card’s documentation for the proper field order for your specific device.

Pixel aspect ratio

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to change the pixel aspect ratio of your project. This setting will depend on your capture/video output card.

Computers display pixels as squares, or a ratio of 1.0. Televisions display pixels as rectangles (ratios other than 1.0).

Using the incorrect setting can result in distortion or stretching. Consult your capture/video output card’s manual for the proper settings.

Output rotation

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to rotate your project’s output. Use output rotation to edit projects for display in portrait (rather than landscape) or inverted orientation:

If you want to rotate a media file’s orientation, you can use the Rotation drop-down list on the Media Properties dialog.

For more information about working with rotated projects, please see Creating Rotated Projects.

Frame rate

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to change the frame rate of your project.

The television frame rate in the US, North and Central America, parts of South America, and Japan (NTSC) is 29.97 frames per second (fps). In many parts of the world, including Europe and much of Asia, the television standard is PAL at 25 fps. France, Russia, and most of Eastern Europe use SECAM, which is a variation on PAL and also uses 25 fps.

Pixel format

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to indicate whether you want to perform video processing (compositing, scaling, previewing, rendering, and most video plug-ins) using 8-bit or 32-bit, floating-point arithmetic.

The 32-bit floating point settings allow greater precision for processing video, but require significantly more processing power than working with 8-bit video.

Tips:

• 32-bit floating point (video levels) is recommended when working with 10-bit YUV input/output or when using xvYCC/x.v.Color media.

• When using 8-bit input/output, the 32-bit floating point (video levels) setting can prevent banding from compositing that contains fades, feathered edges, or gradients.

• Video plug-ins and media generators that do not support floating-point processing are indicated by a blue icon in the Plug-In Manager and Plug-In Chooser with this icon in the Video FX  and Media Generators windows.

• If you’re creating a 32-bit project, you can increase performance during editing and playback by using the 8-bit setting during editing and switching to 32-bit floating point (video levels) before rendering.

Compositing gamma

When you choose 32-bit floating point (full range) from the Pixel format drop-down list, you can choose a compositing gamma value.

Full-resolution rendering quality

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to set the quality of the rendered video.

Unless you have specific performance problems, choose Good. Choosing Best can dramatically increase rendering times.

Good uses bilinear scaling without integration, while Best uses bicubic scaling with integration. If you’re using high-resolution stills (or video) that will be scaled down to the final output size, choosing Best can prevent artifacts.

Some file formats allow you to associate a video rendering quality setting with a custom rendering template. Final rendering template settings override the Full-resolution rendering quality setting in the Project Properties dialog.

Motion blur type

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to choose the curve that is used to blur frames when you add a motion blur envelope to the video bus track.

Motion blurring creates the illusion of motion on individual frames (much like using a long exposure time) and can make computer-generated animation appear more smooth and natural.

The Gaussian (asymmetric), Pyramid (asymmetric), and Box (asymmetric) settings use only the left half of each curve, from the central frame back. Asymmetric settings create a hard leading edge with a trailing blur behind the moving object.

Deinterlace method

Choose a setting from this drop-down list to determine the method used to render effects and deinterlace the two fields that make up a frame.

No deinterlacing occurs in the Draft and Preview video preview modes. The Good and Best modes apply the selected deinterlacing method.

Adjust source media to better match project or render settings

Select this check box if you want to scale images or adjust interlacing to allow media files to work better with your project.

This setting will correct for the following types of inconsistencies:

• DV media will be cropped for 320×240 Internet renders to prevent letterboxing.

• DV widescreen media will be cropped in HD projects.

• HD media will be cropped in DV widescreen projects.

• 486-line media will be cropped in 480-line projects.

• 480-line media will be padded in 486-line projects.

When the check box is cleared, source media files are processed with their native settings.

Prerendered files folder

Prerendered video files are saved to this folder so that you don’t need to rerender the project every time you view it.

If you want to change the location of the folder, click the Browse button and choose a location. Ideally, this location should be on a different hard drive than the one where your operating system is installed.

Prerendered files can consume significant drive space. Select a folder on an a/v-capable drive with ample free space: DV requires approximately 228 MB per minute.

Free storage space in selected folder

Displays the total amount of available space on the selected drive.

Item

Description

Master bus mode

Choose Stereo from the drop-down list to create a two-channel stereo project.

Choose 5.1 Surround if you want to perform advanced 5.1-channel mixing. More…

Number of stereo busses

Enter the number of stereo busses for the project. More…

Sample rate

Choose a sample rate from the drop-down list or enter a value in the edit box.

Bit depth

Select a setting from the drop-down list to specify the number of bits used to store each sample. Higher values will increase the quality of playback and any recordings that you make.

Resample and stretch quality

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to determine the accuracy with which audio files will be resampled to match your project settings.

The Resample and stretch quality setting also determines the quality of processing when time-stretching audio events.

Enable low-pass filter on LFE

Select this check box if you want to apply a low-pass filter to each track in a 5.1 surround project that is assigned to the LFE channel.

Applying a low-pass filter approximates the bass-management system in a 5.1 decoder and ensures that you’re sending only low-frequency audio to the LFE channel.

Before rendering your surround project, check your surround authoring application’s documentation to determine its required audio format. Some encoders require a specific cutoff frequency and rolloff, and your encoder may require that no filter be applied before encoding.

Cutoff frequency for low-pass filter

Choose a frequency from the drop-down list or type a frequency in the box to set the frequency above which audio will be ignored by the LFE channel.

Low-pass filter quality

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to determine the sharpness of filter’s rolloff curve. Best produces the sharpest curve.

Recorded files folder

When you record audio tracks, your recorded files are saved in a single folder.

If you want to change the location of the folder, click the Browse button and choose a location. Ideally, this location should be on a different hard drive than the one where your operating system is installed.

If you have not specified a location, you will be prompted for the location where you want to save your recorded audio when you click the Arm for Record button in the track header:

Free storage space in selected folder

Displays the total amount of available space on the selected drive.

Item

Description

Ruler time format

Choose a setting from the drop-down list to choose how you want the Time Ruler to be displayed. You may change the format at any time after project creation.

Ruler start time

Enter the desired starting time for the proje
ct.

For example, the ruler can be offset to start at 1 hour for timecode synchronization purposes.

Beats per minute

Enter your project tempo in Beats Per Minute.

This tempo is used to determine the scale of the ruler (if you choose Measures & Beats from the Ruler time format drop-down list) and to specify the tempo used by the metronome.

Select the Import at project tempo check box on the Audio tab of the Preferences dialog if you want ACID loops to be stretched to match the project tempo when you add them to the timeline or preview from the Explorer or Media Manager window. Clear the Import at project tempo check box if you want to ignore tempo information.

Beats per measure

Specify the number of beats in each measure.

This tempo is used to determine the scale of the ruler (if you choose Measures & Beats from the Ruler time format drop-down list) and to specify the tempo used by the metronome.

Note that gets one beat

Specify the note that receives one beat. For example, if this value is four, then a quarter note gets one beat.

This tempo is used to determine the scale of the ruler (if you choose Measures & Beats from the Ruler time format drop-down list) and to specify the tempo used by the metronome.

Setting Project Properties