user-1: I have a 20 minute video that needs to finish rendering at a maximum of 7 hours. The video format needs to compatible with Windows without Quicktime.
What the the best options to render the video?

user1081: I would go with a .mp4 format, if it is in HD, the AVCHD mp4 would be better compressed and better quality, but regular mp4 would be faster and compatible with more things, although I do believe that it is compatible with windows even without quicktime. I am not sure though if you can render AVCHD in sony vegas pro 8, I work out of both 9 and 10, but the AVCHD support may have come starting at 9, but I'm not sure. regardless, you should still have support for regular mp4 which would probably be the best option.

user5821: The best rendering options greatly depend on what you're using the video footage for. Here's a few great options sorted by purpose:
YouTube - Videos uploaded to Youtube in 1080p

Sony AVC with the template 'Internet 1920x1080-30p'
MainConcept MPEG-2 with the template 'HDV 1080-24p'

NTSC Video

MainConcept MPEG-2 with the template 'DVD NTSC' (for burning to DVD)
MainConcept MPEG-1 with the template 'VCD NTSC' (for Video CDs)

PAL Video

MainConcept MPEG-2 with the template 'DVD PAL' (for burning to DVD)
MainConcept MPEG-1 with the template 'VCD PAL' (for Video CDs)

Blu-Ray

MainConcept MPEG-2 with the template 'Blu-ray 1920x1080-24p, 25 Mbps video stream' (For better quality video)
Sony AVC with the template 'Blu-ray 1920x1080-24p, 16 Mbps video stream' (For faster rendering)

Other

Video for Windows with the template 'HD 1080-24p YUV' (The most common file format for videos on Windows OS', but far less fast in rendering, and larger in filesize. I recommend using Sony AVC over this.)

All of these options will render a 20 minute video well within 7 hours, even on sluggish hardware. MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and Sony AVC wil probably require a seperate codec. These codecs are included in Quicktime, but also in other codec packs such as VLC.

-1: <p>I have a 20 minute video that needs to finish rendering at a maximum of 7 hours. The video format needs to compatible with Windows without Quicktime.</p>

<p>What the the best options to render the video?</p>
 1081: <p>I would go with a .mp4 format, if it is in HD, the AVCHD mp4 would be better compressed and better quality, but regular mp4 would be faster and compatible with more things, although I do believe that it is compatible with windows even without quicktime. I am not sure though if you can render AVCHD in sony vegas pro 8, I work out of both 9 and 10, but the AVCHD support may have come starting at 9, but I'm not sure. regardless, you should still have support for regular mp4 which would probably be the best option.</p>
 5821: <p>The best rendering options greatly depend on what you're using the video footage for. Here's a few great options sorted by purpose:</p>

<p><strong>YouTube</strong> - Videos uploaded to Youtube in 1080p</p>

<ul>
<li>Sony AVC with the template 'Internet 1920x1080-30p'</li>
<li>MainConcept MPEG-2 with the template 'HDV 1080-24p'</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>NTSC Video</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>MainConcept MPEG-2 with the template 'DVD NTSC' (for burning to DVD)</li>
<li>MainConcept MPEG-1 with the template 'VCD NTSC' (for Video CDs)</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>PAL Video</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>MainConcept MPEG-2 with the template 'DVD PAL' (for burning to DVD)</li>
<li>MainConcept MPEG-1 with the template 'VCD PAL' (for Video CDs)</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Blu-Ray</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>MainConcept MPEG-2 with the template 'Blu-ray 1920x1080-24p, 25 Mbps video stream' (For better quality video)</li>
<li>Sony AVC with the template 'Blu-ray 1920x1080-24p, 16 Mbps video stream' (For faster rendering)</li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Other</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>Video for Windows with the template 'HD 1080-24p YUV' (The most common file format for videos on Windows OS', but far less fast in rendering, and larger in filesize. I recommend using Sony AVC over this.)</li>
</ul>

<p>All of these options will render a 20 minute video well within 7 hours, even on sluggish hardware. MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and Sony AVC wil probably require a seperate codec. These codecs are included in Quicktime, but also in other codec packs such as <a href="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/" rel="nofollow">VLC</a>.</p>
