Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9, WTF?!?

Sony SUCKS!!!!! (continued)
Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?Messa geID=627629&Replies=19

Subject: Warning to HDV / AVCHD owners wanting DVD output.
Posted by: IdahoJoe
Date: 12/4/2008 3:10:07 PM

After an extensive support session with Sony, please be aware that Vegas MSP9 does not allow DVD compatible MPEG-2 content to be rendered as upper field first.

If you have an HDV / AVCHD camera, it records interlaced video as upper field first.

When Vegas renders out your MPEG-2 files for DVD, it will be lower field first, regardless of your project settings. You will experience horrible shuddering and combing on fast moving sequences when played back on interlaced devices due to frame reversal. Note that the problem will not exhibit on progressive playback devices such as a PC monitor, but once viewed on an interlaced television, it will be painfully obvious.

There is no work around to enable upper field first rather than purchase Vegas full. Other industry players such as Apple have issued fixes for these types of problems, but Sony does not see it as a problem.

If you are thinking of editing interlaced HDV / AVCHD footage for DVD output, you'll need to find a different tool to achieve quality results.
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I was frustrated too with the fact that Movie Studio is unable to keep the field order unchanged while creating an MPEG2 file.
I end up rendering my AVCHD footage from the timeline into an intermediate uncompressed HD YUV and then converting it to SD MPEG2 using a third party software.
Shame on you, Sony.
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VMS is a good editor with a bunch of features, no one asks for any extra. But once you've finished editing your project you need to be able to export into something playable on a standalone player. Right?
In my case I needed an MPEG2 for creating a DVD and an AVCHD file for Blu-Ray. What could've been simplier than that... but... None of those essential features worked properly. And this is nonsense. It's a bug that Sony should have fixed ASAP. I had a trial version then but two month later I see people on this forum still struggling with the same issues.

Ivan123, now, you're suggesting to buy a DVD player with a USB port supporting wmv? I dont know if that's gonna be easy for me to convince all my friends, ralatives, workmates and many other people whom I'm sharing my videos with, to follow this route and toss all their DVD players and get a new one only because my current video editor is unable to create a simple MPEG2 file... That will be tough.
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I would hardly call maintaining the proper field order of your source video a "pro" feature. EVERY SINGLE OTHER editing suite, even the most basic that comes with the hardware, has provisions for keeping the proper field order. Apple even issued a patch for compressor-2 that allows for proper field order in their product when used with AVCHD cameras.

This is a huge bug that Sony chooses to ignore. And it's only going to get worse as more and more of these cameras become in use. Hopefully the number of complaints will rise to the point that Sony will respond, as Vegas truly is a marvelous piece of software. Unfortunately, it is impossible to create acceptable results while this bug exists.
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AVCHD/HDV footage can be rendered as MPEG-2, but Vegas will swap the field order to lower field first, causing combing and jerking playback on interlaced devices.

Each frame of interlaced video has two fields. Think of each field of the frame as a moment in time. You have to play the earliest recorded field first, then the later or it would appear you are going backwards in time. The order in which to display the fields of the frame is determined by the field order. Different types of equipment have different field orders. NTSC DV cameras, for instance, recorde the lower field first. HDV/AVCHD cameras, however, record the upper field first.

Essentially, Vegas is taking our upper field first video, and rendering it as lower field first. Upon playback on an interlaced TV, the lower field of the frame (the later position in time) is now played before the upper field (the earlier position in time). Our output now has a backwards jerking motion for every frame. The effect isn't noticeable on scenes with little movement, but a fast pan is a terrible thing to behold.

You will usually not see the problem on a progressive display, as the entire frame (both fields, or moments in time) will be displayed at the exact same time. Some de-interlacers, however, will show a ghosting or combing type effect depending on the type of de-interlacing. (blending, smart, bob, etc..)

To see if you are affected by this problem, you'll need to watch your output on an interlaced display. Make sure your footage is not static. The faster the motion, the more noticeable the problem. It affects all versions of Vegas that do not allow us to set the render to upper field first. (Vegas Pro allows for custom MPEG-2 templates).
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I'm sure that would work if you don't value your time and don't care for the quality of your finished product.

Interestingly enough, I'm trialing both Corel X2 and the Pinnacle 12 products. Both allow upper field first selection, and even smart render my source keeping quality at 100%. I'm leaning towards X2 right now, but I will sure miss the Vegas interface. Sadly, quality output is more important... after all it's the end video I am concerned about, not the interface niceties.
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I have also duplicated this error. I guess main project properties doesn't affect on rendering options ( if i choose right field order on main properties it doesn't go to rendering)?

I also noticed that VMS does not recognize progressive frames on raw AVCHD m2ts clip properties. It says always Upper field first, although I have also progressive material from Canon HF100.

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If it's too broke, it's beyond fixing.