16:9 footage in iDVD from FCE?!

I have recently just bought FCEHD and have created a 5 minute movie. I used to use iMovie and think that it was definitely worth upgrading other than the steep learning curve.
When I imported footage into iMovie it would recognise that my footage was in 16:9 format, however, it would seem that FCE does not. I changed the settings in FCE to PAL Anarmorphic and now the canvas shows as 16:9...all good so far!
Now, when I view my lovely edited video in FCE, all is fine and dandy, it shows in 16:9. So now it's time for me to export to Quicktime so I am able to drag the file into iDVD to create my DVD. It exports my movie, and as soon as I drag it into iDVD...there it is but in 4:3 format....please can someone help me as I think I'm going around the bend!
Thank in advance.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
I love you John, if I had the money I'd fly to the USA now and give you a big kiss!!!
This problem has been causing me such a headache, I'm usually very good at resolving problems but I don't think I would have figured it out had you not posted a reply.
There's no question of it, Apple produce the most amazing Hardware and Software but why on earth did they not think of this problem on semi pro/pro applications?!
As a matter of interest, do you know if this problem still occurs if you use DVD Studio Pro?
Again, thank you so much for your help.
Chris

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Importing a movie into iDVD from FCE

I am perplexed. In the iDVD - Movies display, there are shown half a dozen movies. The other couple of dozen movie files which do appear in Finder - Movies are not listed in iDVD. Nor will the movies in Finder-Movies drag over to iDVD. I clicked on the yellow triangle which appears in the "insert movie" box in the theme, clicked 'import' and it told me iDVD does not support that action. So how do I get a movie from Finder-Movies into iDVD? I did not have this trouble with iMovie.
This is my first completed FCE movie. And things were going so well.

To import movies into iDVD you may use the File/Import/Video... command, after selecting the theme you want to use for the DVD menu.
If a movie in the Import dialog window cannot be imported, probably it has a non standard format, and for sure it was not exported from FCE. Any movie exported from FCE with Export/Quicktime Movie (the only correct method to get a movie from FCE to iDVD) may be imported into iDVD.
So I suggest you review the procedure you used to export from FCE and try again.
Piero

Export from FCE to iDVD, results in black border around movie

Here is the problem....
I have edited a movie in FCE where all of the footage is 1440 x 1080
I export it using: File -> Export... QuickTime movie
I choose "self contained" movie and "audio/video", plus "chapter markers" in the pop up menu.
I then take this into iDVD amd all looks ok in the preview, but once burnt to DVD, there is a large black border around the entire movie. It is almost like it is a smaller movie which does not fill the screen correctly.
Any idea why this happens and how to overcome this. When I lok at the exported movie from FCE- it is 720-x576 and not the full size- is this the problem?
Thanks for any tips.

Hi
Is it widescreen ?
Did You in Your browser window set sequence and material to anamorphous. To me it was a revelation that the Browser window was exstendably to the right with lot's of columns - and one of them was Anamorphous.
Did you start a WideScreen project in iDVD - First window that opens after You clicked Start a New iDVD project (top button). At bottom this new window You set 4:3 (SD format) or 16:9 for WideScreen.
In iDVD You also need to go up to Project and down to Projectinfo
then set 16:9 here TOOO !
Proportion - Change it to 16:9
When I go from FinalCut to iDVD - I do
FCE/P to iDVD
Several things
• How to go from FCE/P to iDVD
• Free space on Start-up hard disk
• Encoding
• Brand and type of DVDs used
• Burn speed set
• iDVD BUG
• Chapters
How to go from FCE/P to iDVD I do
• Disable Screen and Energy saver
• IMPORTANT --> FIRST in FinalCut - Mix Down Audio under Sequence Menu / Render Only / Mix-down
• Export out as a QuickTime .mov file
• Select with Mark - Chapter Mark
• Not as Self-Contained (not important but saves time and space)
• NO QUICKTIME CONVERSION (IMPORTANT)
This QT.mov file I import into iDVD from within iDVD.
Free space on Start-up hard disk
I set a minimum of 25GB (for Mac OS and iDVDs temp files)
Encoding
• I use Pro Quality encoding
Brand and type of DVDs used ( Important as cheap brands DO NOT WORK )
• I use Verbatim
• I use DVD-R
Burn speed set (IMPORTANT)
• I set down this to x4 (or x1)
iDVD BUG
• One can not go back to movie-project for any alterations and then go back to
the iDVD project. It will notice and ask You to either Up-date or Cancel. Neither
of them will work.
Medicine - Start a brand new iDVD project.
Use of Chapters
• I only use a to z and 0 to 9 in naming them. NO other symbol/letter !
• NO Chapter-mark at very beginning - iDVD NEEDS TO set this by it self
• No Chapter marks in or within two seconds from a transition
(Way around this last one - Export movie as QT full quality and NO Chapter marks
Import this into a new Movie-project and now You are free to set C-Ms where You want
them except at very beginning - still)
Material used to build movie
• video - I use streamingDV (or convert all other to this e.g. .mp4, .avi, .wmv etc)
• audio - I use .aiff 16-bit 48kHz or from Audio-CD (44.1kHz) - no .mp3 or direct from iTunes
• photos - I use .jpg - no .bmp etc
Problems - then Trash iDVD pref. file and run Repair Permissions - and have a re-try.
from post ??
May not be relevant, but I had the same problem with iDVD, where burned DVDs showed a green screen. It was cured by quitting Quicksilver and Quickeys as well as disabling sleep and screen-saving
Yours Bengt W

Exporting From FCE to IDVD With Chapters How long

Exporting From FCE to IDVD With Chapters How long will the DVD hold??? if i have an hour and 40 minutes of HD footage all cut together with FCE and has been saved as a movie file, how many hours will IDVD let me burn to it?
if i run over the allowed amount will it say i need to drop quality, i am editing loads at the moment and dont want to get to the end and it come up with an error message. also will idvd include the chapter markers if i export with them?

Sure, no problem.
1. Go to Project > Project Info in iDVD.
2. Make sure "DVD Type" is set to a single-layer DVD.
3. Under "Encoding," choose "Best Performance." Is the arrow solidly in the green portion of the quality bar? If so, go ahead and burn your disc.
4. If not, choose "High Quality." Again, go ahead and burn your disc if the arrow is solidly in the green.
3. If the arrow still isn't in the green, select Professional Quality. If the arrow's in the green, burn your disc. If not, you'll have to delete some of the menus (scene selection, etc.) or menu content and check again. You should be able to burn up to 2 hours if you don't have a lot of other menu content.

Poor quality of from FCE to idvd

Hello All,
We have used iDVD to burn our fce projects. This week we burned a reunion filmed mainly in doors. On FCE the footage looked fine as well as after exporting to QuickTime. Once burned on iDVD and played on a HD tv, the picture is extremely grainy. We switched the tv to standard screen which helps a little, but overall the quality is poor. Even the type on the chapter titles looks blurry. I tried changing the encoding preferences (in iDVD) to professional quality, but couldn't see much difference.
The original footage was filmed in hd and captured at 29.97 fps and hdv-apple intermediate codec 1080i60.
Any advice would be great.
Gobble Gobble,
Jamie

Jamie,
Please provide a little more information.
1) How long is your movie, that is what is the play time?
2) How did you get the movie to iDVD? The best way is to export the movie from FCE as a Quicktime Movie (not Quicktime Conversion). The close FCE and then open iDVD and then go get your movie from with in iDVD.
Also, I hope you realize you had HD material, but iDVD is Standard Definition. How good it looks depends a lot on how well your TV and your DVD player upscale.

Aspect ratio issues in iDVD with mov files exported from FCE

Please help. I believe this is an iDVD bug. I have found some relevant discussion of it on online forums - but have not found a solution that works for me. I am looking for a workaround.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1356500&tstart=31
PROBLEM STATEMENT:
My 4:3 movies, exported from FCE in QT-with-conversion formats (any 4:3 format) - appear in iDVD with gray side-pillars (as expected for 4:3) AND with a black line (letter-boxing) at top and bottom - as would be for 16:9. It appears the aspect ratio is also distorted i.e. 16:9. (The iDVD project is set to 4:3.)
1- A 4:3 mov file exported from FCE using Quicktime Movie format (no conversion) does not have the problem, but I cannot de-interlace the video using this export mode.
2) A 4:3 mov file exported using QT-with-conversion mode (any 4:3 format) DOES have the problem. I need to use this mode in order to get de-interlace.
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3) In Finder, if you click on mov file exported QT-only (no conversion), it opens in the FCE viewer. If you click on mov file exported in any other 4:3 mode, it opens in Quicktime viewer (i.e. there is absolutely something different in the header/ID of these files.)
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I am, so far, left with this trade-off: Give up the de-interlacing, or live with the letter-boxing/ distortion. Neither is acceptable.
I am looking for a workaround:
1) A way to export de-interlaced 4:3 mov from FCE that shows in correct ratio in iDVD
2) A way to "convert" / re-head mov file after exported so that it displays corrrectly (inverse-anamorphicize) so that iDVD reads it correctly
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5) Other?????
I also notice that all the QT-with-conversion mov files are 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the QT-only mov file, which is valuable and preferable to me. (I don't see any quality difference in the display...)

In the Preview window > top frame > middle button
do you have correct for pixel aspect ratio checked or not?
!http://i533.photobucket.com/albums/ee340/gogiangigo/Picture1-4.png!

Exporting from FCE to iDVD

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Hi Michel,
Here is what I did (and settings)
FCE 4.0.1
Mac OS X 10.5.8
QuickTime Player 7.6.2 (518)
Format: .mov
No Itunes purchased. Just converted one or 2 mp3s to .aiff format
Export settings from FCE:
Export: as Quicktime Movie
Include: Audio and Video
Markers: Chapter Markers
Make Movie self-contained: unchecked
Thanks!
Doug
All media stored on external hard drive but when I burn DVD I bring .mov file
onto my desktop.
Using standard DVD R disks from Staples

Will iDVD 08 recognize chapter markers from FCE 3.5 HD?

Will iDVD 08 recognize chapter markers from FCE 3.5 HD?
Thanks, Ed

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Message was edited by: SDMacuser

Exporting HD video from FCE

Hi,
What would be the best process from the point of export (in what video format) to actually burning an HD DVD when exporting from FCE 4.0 without losing quality?
I have -
DVDSP 4.0
Compressor 2.0
IDVD 7.0
MacBook Pro Intel

CAn I export a Video captured and assembled in HD to a standard definition so it will fit on a normal >DVD?
Yes.
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You enter Chapter Markers into an FCE Timeline.
Try a search for details. Here's one;
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6597003&#6597003
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iDVD also has to be configured to accept chapter markers.
Al

Large Files to DVD from FCE

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G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I'd suggest the following -
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Export Custom Video Size from FCE

Hi all, Happy Holidays!!
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1. I first used the cropping in the Motion Tab within FCE.
2. I exported that movie,
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5. Opened the snapshot into Photoshop to make a matte.
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Hello,
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Rita
Dual 2 GHz PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hi Tom,
Thanks for the reply. This is what I am doing and selecting "highest quality". It seems the playback in FCE isn't as good as in iMovie and so the frame I am selecting isn't as good either. Do I possibly have some setting that is making the playback of lesser quality? The video is fine when I export it and burn it to disk.
Rita

Quality problem exporting from FCE

Hi,
i have a quality problem exporting from FCE. I have finalized a 30 minute movie and want to send it to friends on DVD or CD-ROM. when i use "export as quicktime movie" the file has 6.5 GB and won't fit on a DVD-ROM. when i use "export with quicktime conversion" and choose quicktime movie with H.264 compression and highest quality the movie goes down to 4.2GB. Now it would fit on a DVD-ROM, but the quality is not good. The picture looks blurred and i see some type of interlace-effect.
which type of export format do i have to choose to avoid the interlace and blurred pictures? is there a magic format that does not cost that much quality and reduces the movie by 30-40%? or would a video DVD work better? how do i create a DVD? with iDVD?
thanks for your help!

or would a video DVD work better? how do i create a DVD? with iDVD?
That's what Id do.
Export as QuickTime Movie (reference file is OK) and drop the export to iDVD.
You will get 1 hour of FCE Timeline on a single sided disc using Best Performance (iDVD setting).
Two hours using Best Quality (iDVD setting)
Al

Upgrade to FCP from FCE

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Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

I upgraded from FCE to FCP last year. I used FCE for 5 years. I am not a professional but I do a fair amount of multicamera work for local ballet companies. I record and create the DVDs for their performances and individual dancers. I do it for fun and to help out the dancers.
I upgraded to FCP in order to obtain the multicamera feature in FCP. It has been worth it to me. There was very little difference in the learning curve in most aspects of logging, editing, compositing, etc. There are a ton of professional equiptment oriented input and output features that only professionals would need in FCP. I don't understand most of them but I don't need them either.
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Brock Fisher
San Diego
imac Mac OS X (10.4.3) FCE 3.5
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Chapter markers and exporting from FCE

Hi guys, hope you can help.
I am trying to export a film from FCE (latest version) into iDVD 08 retaining the chapter markers.
The problem is that it is not happening when I export using the QuickTime Conversion option, since there appears to be no 'chapter markers' option in any drop-down menu there. Of course, there IS that option in the 'Make QuickTime File' export BUT the film (which is in widescreen) then doesn't export as a widescreen file. That only happens if I use the Conversion option and set the size to 1024x576 or whatever. Since this option to set the size doesn't exist in the simpler 'make quicktime file' export option, I'm at a loss to know what to do.
Basically, I either export as a squashed image but keep the chapter markers OR export the film in the correct ratio but with no chapter markers.
It's really frustrating. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
TP

If you have Quicktime Pro the 16:9 fix is easy.
From FCE export the .mov with Export/Quicktime Movie together with its chapters.
In the QT Pro Player open the exported .mov movie, open its property window (cmd-J), select the Video Track, then open the Visual Settings tab, uncheck Preserve Aspect Ratio and set the Scaled Size to 1024x576, and save.
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Piero

16:9 footage in iDVD from FCE?!

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