Definitive Highest Quality Export!

Question

Hi.
Please spell everything out for me, because while I've read responses to similar questions, I don't understand all the steps.
Here's the situation:
• I've imported video from miniDV
• I've edited it in iMovie '08
• I'd like to export my edited movie in as high quality as possible. Doesn't have to be a standard consumer format, just highest possible quality.
So... questions!
1) Using iMovie '08 and nothing else, is it possible to export a lossless version of my movie, and if so, how? (I'd really like to be able to do this - don't mind saving to a hard drive!)
2) If it isn't possible to export a lossless version using iMovie '08, what is the best quality export possible using '08 and how do I achieve this?
3) If I am only able to export a lossless version using iMovie '06, may I work in iMovie '08, open up my finished movie in iMovie '06, and generate the lossless export? If so, how do I do that?
Many thanks in advance.

Answer 1

3) video/codec settings, wouldn't "none" be a better choice for best quality than any compression?Sure it would. However, Matt, and with no disrespect intended, I suspect you have neither actually tested this mode nor computed the storage requirements. If you will, let me play "devil's Advocate" here... An uncompressed VGA SD video with, say AIFF audio, requires about 300 mbps or abour 37.5 MBs of storage space per second. (And HD requires about 6.5-7.0 times as much.) This comes to a bit more than 2 GB/min for SD (about 13.8-14.0 GB/min for HD) which is about 124 GB/hr for SD (or 833 GB/hr for HD). I normally use 6-10 hours of source material to create a 90-120 project. This means i would typically need to store something on the order of 0.75-1.25 TBs of source files for an SD project (or something on the order of 5-8 TBs of source files for an HD project). As you can see, most iMovie '08 users would simply not be prepared to handle such an undertaking as "start to finish" native editing format and would not likely have room for more than one project at a time even if they did. However, I suspect you may be asking from the standpoint exporting your finished project here, and would have to admit that this may be a viable solution if your project is reasonably short, you have sufficient storage space, and you actually see a difference in the output quality and it is worth exporting your project at a file size/data rate 8-10 times greater than your source files.
And if compression were chosen, to confirm, you would choose Apple intermediate rather than H.264 for better quality?
It would be my middleground choice. DV would have a higher video data rate (about 28.5 mbps) and H.264 with an unlimited video data rate less (on the order of 16.0-18.0 mbps) while AIC is typically in 20.0-22.0 mbps range for the VGA SD material I normally use. If I had my rathers, I'd pick a quality limited Animation codec as I prefer the way it renders blacks, its saturation, and encoding speed. Unfortunately, while iMovie '08 can import and edit this codec, it cannot export it to other compression formats. In addition, if I set the quality value too high, coding to Animation tends to "choke" my older system when the data rate exceeds the 280-285 mbps range which is almost the same as using "Uncompressed." So, I usually stick with the AIC codec which was specifically designed as an "intermediate" codec in the first place.
Also to confirm, you find "Movie to Quicktime Movie" provides better quality than "Movie to DV Stream"?
Let's say the "Export Using QuickTime..." has the potential to export with better quality. It all depends on the codec and settings used. Also, do you prefer to export with square pixels or rectangular ones, do you like to sharpen your content as part of the export, do you age your export, add hairs, scratches, or dust, use "B" frames, etc? I do and so I usually use the extra codec, settings, and/or options/features available via this route. Besides, to some extent, quality is mostly in the eye of the behoder and I have to admit that I may not be as "picky" as other users. (I still even watch some old 320x240 ecodings on my HDTV.)