Capturing video in Imovie - single field processing (again...)

Hi!
Let's start by saying that I've read a number of threads already on the 'single field processing' issues with iMovie (08 and up). What's not really clear to me yet, is at what stage (during capturing, editing, exporting, etc.) this single field processing is introduced in the process.
Let me explain my situation:
I'm in the process of digitizing my families old home video VHS recordings, I've purchased a Canopus ADVC55 and a JVC HR-S9500 VCR (with TBC). Both are correctly connected to my iMac via Firewire. I have iMovie '09 and Final Cut Pro X. Sadly no iMovie HD, seems hard to find...
"Use Final Cut Pro X for capturing" I hear you scream, but I'm having great difficulty doing this, FCPX continually crashes during video capturing. Also, the sound has a strange 'clicking' when captured (the small bits that do import before FCPX crashing). I don't have these issues while capturing with iMovie 09.
So my idea was to capture the video with iMovie 09 and then import the .dv file with FCPX as a new event. My concern however is the single field processing that bugs iMovie. Can anyone confirm (or deny!) whether every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out during video capture already or not before the movie file is assigned to a project and used for editing? In other words, would my way of working (capture in iMovie, import in FCPX) leave me with the best possible quality or do I really need to look harder for iMovie HD (or fix the problems I'm having with capturing through FCPX)?

I have found that I can import in iMovie 11 witH no loss for DV. My camera does not work for FCPX since FCpX wants to import from a DV camera with time code, and my consumer level camera does not have time code.
I have found that in Final Cut Pro X, I can use the File/Import iMovie Events command and bring all events into FCP.
This may take a while. I recommend running it overnight. When it finishes, close FCP (may take awhile). Then restart your Mac.
When you restart FCP you will find all your iMovie Events available to FCP and it will not use much disk space.
This is because FCP will reference your iMovie event through a Hard Link (much like Time Machine) so you can have two apps referencing the same physical file in different folders.
I had, for example, a 1TB drive with 850GB used. After importing my events into FCP X, I might have 852 GB used, because it does not double u p the dv files, but it does generate thumbnails and analysis files.
Another advantage of doing it this way is that FCP will not import DV Stream. It needs DV stream to be converted to a mov file with separate (not muxed) audio and video tracks. You can do this in Compressor, but it is a pain if you have a lot of files.
However, if you import from iMovie, FCP handles the DV Stream just fine.
Pretty slick!

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+7. In the resulting screen, create your new iTunes Store account. You will have the option to enter credit card information; if you do not wish to do so, click the None button on the Payment screen.+
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IMovie 11 to FCP Pro X: cure for single-field?

I've got a lengthy home movie (sourced from a DV tape) that I've edited in iMovie 11. Unfortunately, I've been stuck with the single-field processing issue where the output is effectively at half resolution. Now that I can import this movie into FCP Pro X, I'm wondering whether that will cure this single-field problem, if I then continue editing in FCP and output it from there? Or will I need to scrap the project, start from scratch, and re-import from the camcorder into FCP directly?

"Some of the procedures I've seen before changed all of the dates to the day of conversion and I need to save the original info."
Very good question.
I've been testing with tapes that have analog video copied to them so the DV time/date is meaningless. They only show the date I copied them from VHS to DV. When I'm sorting to clips to folders I have to remember is this Japan 1989 or 1991? Then name the TO folder based upon my memory. And of course I don't need the DV timecode in iMovie when I edit.
You need the Time and Date information from the camera to be used to date the folder when the video is imported into iMovie. Correct?
I will test with some video shot with the DV camera.
PS: Here is a description of how CatDV figures out how to divide a long movie into "clips."
CatDV uses two methods to detect scene changes.
It detects the start and end of each scene or shot in a DV movie using the digital date and time information recorded to tape by DV and Digital8 camcorders. As a result it is normally 100% frame accurate in the scenes it identifies in captured footage. On rendered footage and analog material, on the other hand, this extra information is missing and so CatDV won't be able to detect any scene changes using the DV method.
CatDV also has the ability to compare the actual visual content of successive frames to detect scene changes. This allows you to import and log footage captured from an analog capture card for example. By its nature this method is not foolproof, however, and is liable to detect false changes when there is rapid movement within a scene, and to miss changes, for example if the camera is held on a tripod between shots and there is very little change between them, or if you have applied a fade or dissolve between two clips. It is also slow and computationally intensive, and so whenever you have the choice you should prefer to use the DV-based detection on original footage.
You can control which detection algorithm(s) are used when importing movies in the Preferences dialog.

Single-field DV processing... HD only?

In getting ready to start a project in iMovie '09, I read up on all of the topics discussing poor performance of movies using DV footage. This has been attributed to "single-field processing", which has been discussed at great length. Having been scared stupid that my film would look like garbage, I ran a test.
I imported 15 seconds of footage from a Canon Elura 100 mini-DV camera into iMovie '09, and exported to MPEG-4 for playback on a Playstation 3. I hooked up my camcorder directly to my TV to play back the same 15 seconds. (I did this experiment on 2 separate 15-second clips. One indoors, one outdoors.) After flipping back and forth between the MPEG-4 on the PS3 and the same footage playing from the orignal tape, analyzing darn-near every frame, I've concluded the following:
The level of detail is indistinguishable between the two. Let me also say that this is being shown on a Samsung plasma television, and that the PS3 does not upscale video from the hard drive, only DVDs. So this is pretty much an even playing field aside from the fact that the PS3 is hooked up via HDMI, and the camcorder is hooked up using composite. (Since this is standard definition, it shouldn't matter)
HOWEVER, there is a noticeable difference in color accuracy. The colors on the MPEG-4 from the PS3 are washed-out a bit. Colors just aren't as vibrant. The footage still looks GOOD though, and it won't deter me from continuing with my project. Also, there is an interesting benefit of the color difference: It helps brighten dark footage. The brights may not be as bright anymore, but it also means the darks aren't as dark. This would be bad news for a Blu-ray, but there are times that it would help me. Using a mini-DV camera I have learned that low-light isn't my friend, and this seems to alleviate that problem quite a bit.
Having said all of this, (and typed WAY too much, sorry) I must ask a stupid question. Is all of this single-field processing talk restricted solely to those using HDV cameras? I realize that iMovie converts imported DV footage to 960x540 resolution. I also realize that this would strip HD footage of half it's resolution, resulting in poorer quality. But what about those of us using SD camcorders? My mini-DV's natural resolution is 853x480 (16:9), so in essence what iMovie is doing is enlarging the footage. This isn't a problem for movies watched on your computer, or on a PS3 as I do. I do see how this would produce ugly DVDs, since it's enlarging the resolution, only to later reduce it to DVD's resolution. This extra processing would hurt in the visuals department.
I had never seen it mentioned that single-field processing was only a problem for HD resolutions on DV, but this is the conclusion that I have come to. (The 960x540 resolution being the culprit) I have a standard-def 16:9 mini-DV camcorder. And other than the color difference which I described above, the footage is just as sharp. I hope this helps anyone that was as worried about using your DV footage as I was. I apologize if this has been pointed out before, or if I am just dead wrong for some reason. I also apologize if this was common sense that went without saying.

In regard to x264, this doesn't seem like something that can be used when exporting w/Quicktime. How would you go about utilizing it when exporting a finished iMovie project?
And to address your "P.S.", I understand the difference between DV and HDV, I'm not an idiot. I just thought that perhaps the use of the term DV in discussions of single-field processing could have been used as a catch-all to include HDV. I make reference to this in my original post.
Do you have anything to add in regard to visual quality comparison other than scoffing at my choice in cables? I don't think the jump to s-video in this case would produce any remarkable difference. Oh, and how old do you have to be to have s-video cables laying around? Kidding, kidding...
Message was edited by: mike8813

Deinterlace/single field question

G'day folks
I am prepping some PAL DV files for computer playback using QTPro's "Export" feature. However most of the actual work will be done on Windows. Due to the video content I want still frames to display just one field, not a blend of the upper and lower fields. Using H.264 and ticking the "deinterlace" button does not work, even if I have previously set "single field" in the source video and saved as self-contained.
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If you input 1080i, then both fields are simply combined into one frame. In iMovie 08/09 DV had one field dropped leaving a low rez "frame". With 1080i, the odd field is always dominant. With DV, the even field is always dominant.
I don't do much HD work. But for DV I would use iMovie 06.
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If your primary workflow is editing DV clips and making DVDs, iMovie '06 is better suited. Your movie will arrive at iDVD in DV format, which is an ideal match for making a DVD: same resolution, same pixels aspect ratio, and original quality. If you share your movie from iMovie '08 / 09, it gets re-rendered at 640x480 or less, and then iDVD upscales it back to 720x480. The end result is obviously not as good.
iMovie 06 and iDVD 08/09 is a terrific combination.

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cL

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dnito wrote:
Hello-
I need to import some video and audio form some beta tapes and am wondering if this can be done in iMovie 09? Some of the tapes are hour long documentaries that i have scored and I have read on this forum that people have run into problems when trying to capture more than 5 minutes of footage. I have also read that there have been issues capturing the audio.
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Capturing video in Imovie - single field processing (again...)

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