How to Render 1080p Video using Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12

: By: Derek Moran; In: VEGAS Movie Studio; Published: 07 September 2012; Last Updated: 02 September 2022

In this tutorial I will show you how to set your Project Properties and Render Settings for making 1080p HD Video, using Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12 64 bit Edition.

In a similar tutorial to this one about Rendering 720p HD Video, I discussed in more depth the new changes to Movie Studio Platinum 12 and how they effect rendering. So instead of repeating the exact same thing all over again in this tutorial, I suggest you may like to have a quick read of How to Render 720p Video using Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12, if you haven't already done so.

Setting your Project Properties for 1080p

Unlike 720p video, 1080x1920 HD Video can be recorded in either Interlaced or Progressive Style.

Most conventional Video Cameras still shoot at 1080-60i (NTSC) or 1080-50i (PAL). Which means you are actually recording 30 or 25 "even" lines of video and 30 or 25 "odd" lines of video. The two Interlaced Frames of video play one after the other and create the illusion of a solid picture.

Newer cameras like some DSLR cameras or the popular GoPro cameras, can shoot in true Progressive style at 1080-30p or 1080-25p. Which means they create video exactly like conventional Film that you see at the cinema. Each frame is made of a complete solid image.

So why am I telling you this ?

Basically you can set your Project Properties to match exactly what your video was shot in. However, once get to the rendering stage, you have to make an important descision. If your Video is going to be shown on a computer only or uploaded to the Internet and put on YouTube, you must convert/render it as Progressive Scan video. Interlaced video is only designed to be shown on TV screens.

Render Settings

1080p video can be rendered using the exact same Video Codecs that 720p video uses. So if you have a decent Graphics Card that is compatible with Movie Studio Platinum 12, and would like to speed up your rendering times, you can use GPU Rendering in the Mainconcept AVC/AAC .mp4 Internet HD 1080p template.

Please watch the tutorial video below for full instructions on how to do this.

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About Derek Moran
Derek Moran is the author of all articles on Movie Studio Zen.
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cgross

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· 07:01 13/08/2019
Hi Derek,

Hope all is well. I am using Vegas Pro 14 which is slightly different. For one thing. The settings include something called pixel format. Do i use 8 bit, 32 floating bit video levels or 32 full bit full range. I suspect its 8 bit but I want to be sure. There is also something called motion blur type and resample mode. Would appreciate your thoughts on those. I notice that some of my render videos had a blue tint on the people which did not appear in the raw footage. Obviously I need to make some adjustments. The video was shot in 1080 on a Panasonic camcorder which records in an M2ts file. Thanks, Charles Gross
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  Derek
  
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  · 09:57 13/08/2019
  
  Hi Charles
  Leave pixel format set to 8 bit for everyday video.
  The 32 bit settings are true professional settings for advanced video types that pro movie makers use.
  Most people set Resampling to disabled.
  To comment on your "blue tint", please post a new message in the forum and then I can say more. Vegas should not be adding in blue tints. Vegas actually displays the true raw colour of your video. It is most likely your Media Player that is shifting the colour - most media players add their own special filters to make the video artificially brighter and more colourful. There are some settings you can look at on your computer.
  Make sure to read my Colour Correction tutorial:
  https://www.moviestudiozen.com/free-tutorials/sony-vegas-pro/526-colour-correction-tools-sony-vegas-pro
  
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george washington · 03:13 30/06/2016
terrible software, one minute one function works and 1 month later now it does not work. Soft option to upload to youtube does not work. Secondly, when you render the project it only renders a portion this month. A month ago it did the entire project. I wish I had the time to sue this company for my time, product not fit for its purposes violation. A PURE WASTE!
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  Derek
  
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  · 12:01 30/06/2016
  
  Hi George
  Instead of making a statement, ask a question next time and I can help you with your problems.
  
  1. The YouTube uploader does not work because of YouTube, not Sony. YouTube keeps changing the code that operates their login function. This is why it does not work. Since the dawn of time on this website I have always advised everyone to never use this function in Movie Studio. You DON'T need to use it anyway. Follow my tutorial which explains how to render a video and then press the UPLOAD button on YouTube. Then navigate to Documents/Movie Studio Projects/Your Project/yourvideo.mp4 Your video will now upload to YouTube. This is how everyone of planet Earth uploads videos to YT.
  
  2. The reason why only a part of your video is rendering, is because YOU have accidentally turned on "render a loop region only". This setting is at the bottom of the Render As window. Turn it OFF and re-render your project. It will now render 100% of the video.
  
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Max · 12:52 13/08/2015
Thanks !
very useful
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Courtney · 02:18 25/10/2014
Dear Derek,
Thank you for your time and for all of the information and support you give!!!!!!!!

I have followed your instructions on your video "How to render 1080p video for Movie Studio Platinum 12" and have made a short film.

Would you be able to clarify for me if the aspect ratio would 16/9 by default? I can't seem to find information on the project's aspect ratio in my Project Properties nor in the template.

Kind regards,
Courtney
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  Derek
  
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  · 12:47 25/10/2014
  
  Hi Courtney
  
  All HD video is 16:9 aspect ratio by default, the same as YouTube and Vimeo.
  There is a quick way to confirm this by using simple maths.
  16 divided by 9 equals 1.77777777....
  To find out if a videos dimensions are using the 16:9 aspect ratio, divide the width by height. If it equals 1.77777 or very close to it, then it is also 16:9 aspect ratio.
  Example #1 1920/1080=1.77777
  Example #2 1280/720=1.77777
  
  Cheers :)
  Derek.
  
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David Centifanto · 03:31 20/04/2014
Great tip on rendering. Changed my settings to my Catalyst graphic card and cut my rendering almost in half. What a time saver.
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  Derek
  
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  · 09:49 20/04/2014
  
  Hi David
  I am collating a list of Graphics Cards that work well in Movie Studio and Vegas Pro.
  Could you please report back as to what model card you have ?
  If you go into the Catalyst Control Center, it should tell you the model number. Right-click Windows Desktop to access.
  Regards
  Derek :)
  
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Michael · 16:56 12/03/2014
Hi, I'm just getting HitFilm Express 2 (Really good special effects) and, Sony Ultimate 12 also, Stop Motion Pro v8.
Do you know how to render something from Stop Motion Pro v8 to Sony Ultimate 12. I know HitFilm Express Suite 2 is the same brand/company, Sony so Ultimate 12 when importing into HitFilm, it will work. But, I don't know if Stop Motion Pro v8 will be able to open into Sony Ultimate 12? Can you help me?
Thank you for your time. :D,
Michael
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  Derek
  
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  · 18:11 12/03/2014
  
  Hi Michael
  There is no program called "Sony Ultimate 12". Which program do you actually mean ?
  Movie Studio Platinum 12, Movie Studio Platinum 12 Suite, Vegas Pro 12, Vegas Pro 12 Suite ?
  Hitfilm Express 2 is not made by Sony - if this is what you meant ?
  I have no experience with using Stop Motion Pro 8. This is the first time I have ever heard of this program. Treat any video made with this program as you would other videos. I just looked up the specs for this program and it reports that it can create video up to 30 frames per second.
  So what ever frame rate you recorded to in Stop Motion Pro, use the same frame rate in Movie Studio or Vegas Pro.
  Once I know which Sony version you actually have, I can then advise further.
  Also, what is the final destination for your Stop Motion video ? Internet, TV, DVD, BluRay ?
  
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Derrick · 12:24 05/12/2013
My music starts skipping like crazy halfway through my project after I rendered it and burned it to a dvd why is this help please??
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Peter · 08:25 24/07/2013
Hi Darek!

I wanted to ask You about the "ReFrames" in the output file. Does it matter?
The file from GoPro Hero3 Black have ReFrames = 1
The file rendered according with your instructions always have ReFrames = 2
Hov can I change this?

Greetings from Poland
Peter
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  Derek
  
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  · 22:50 24/07/2013
  
  Hi Peter
  This is not a setting that I would be changing and not one to worry about. It is referring to "reference frames". The setting can be changed after you go into Render As - Customize -Video tab.
  This is what the official Sony Documentation says about it:
  "[I]Type a value in the box to specify the number of frames that will be used to find correlations between frames for performing compression.
  
  Higher values allow the encoder to perform better compression, but require more work for the encoder and more buffering by the decoder.
  
  Some applications (especially hardware devices) have limited buffering capabilities and cannot decode video with a large number of reference frames.
  [/I]
  Derek.
  
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  Peter · 07:50 25/07/2013
  
  Hi Derek :)
  
  Thank you very much for the explanation.
  I noticed that even if I set the value of the reference frames to 1, in the output file ( in the properties ) that value is 2
  Am I doing something wrong?
  
  Peter
  
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Maylon · 08:51 19/06/2013
In your rendering Custom Settings template where you are changing the variable bit rate minimum and maximum settings there is also a block to check (or not) labeled “two pass”. You didn’t mention anything about this. Also if I click on Help it hits on ever single other part of the template but skips this completely and doesn’t mention it. I also did a search in the help menu on “two pass”, and nothing comes up there either. So what is "two Pass" and when is it appropriate to use it? Thanks
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  Derek
  
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  · 10:07 19/06/2013
  
  Hi Maylon
  Good question.
  You can select "Two Pass" if you wish. Two Pass basically renders the video twice to produce a higher quality video. Many times when you select this option, it is hard to notice any significant difference between a normal render.
  Selecting Two Pass will also double the rendering time.
  If you want to check this feature out, then I suggest you render the same video twice using the different settings. Then you can compare for yourself. Remember to name both renders slightly differently, so that it does not write over the first video.
  Derek :)
  
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How to Render 1080p Video using Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12

In this tutorial I will show you how to set your Project Properties and Render Settings for making 1080p HD Video, using Sony Movie Studio Platinum 12 64 bit Edition.

Setting your Project Properties for 1080p

So why am I telling you this ?

Render Settings

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