Exporting to Quicktime - quality vs. size

Ok here is my dilemna. I want the best possible quality at about 1-1.5gb per hour worth of video. I also need to be able to re-import this video file into imovie for changes in the future.
What is my best option?

I use those Digital 8 tapes that are a little more expensive than mini dv, but I get what you are saying. Keep the tapes, and preserve.
My whole reason for doing this is that I have all these tapes that are a pain in the butt to load up and view, so if I exported them into a video file I could categorize them. I use my mac mini as a home theater component and it would be nice to see my home movies in front row where the quality would be close to perfect but the size would be reasonable.
In summary - I will keep the tapes for backup purposes, but I want to also export them into a format/setting that would be comparable to just hooking my camcorder in to the TV (from a quality standpoint). Divx? H.264? What settings?
Thanks!
iMac 2.0 ghz / MacBook 2.0 ghz / Mac Mini 1.66 ghz (Intel) Mac OS X (10.4.7)

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Exporting to Quicktime

When I export to Quicktime, the slide size is too big for the screen. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong and what I need to do to fix?
Thanks in anticipation.

Hi,
Please explain "too big for the screen." In what way is it too big, and for what screen?
I am in the process of rebuilding a 300 slide Keynote presentation, many slides of which have a lot of builds and motion. I want to save it all to a movie on DVD. What I didn't understand from the outset is the issue of TV Safe, and while the slides were all perfect when presented via Keynote through a projector, when it was made into a DVD-held movie, the peripheral was clipped badly. Now I'm rebuilding every slide taking the TV Safe zone into consideration. As you can see, I too had a situation where my presentation was "too big for the screen." Hence the reason for asking you to further clarify your issue.
regards,

Exporting 1280x720 video as "quicktime" reduces the size to 655x368?!

I've finished editing 1280x720 .mov clips into a 2-minute long project. They're in great definition in the preview and everything. However, when I go to export it as "Export > Quicktime Movie...", there is a fair loss in quality (I could see small details in the video; now they're somewhat smushed together)!
I've tried different methods using "Export > Using Quicktime Conversion..." too, but when I click on the "size" button, the "current" or native size is a mere 655x368 pixels, and the video quality is still slipping down no matter what selections I make. I tried manually changing the size to 1280x720, but the quality goes down. I also tried exporting directly to youtube, but it didn't even upload in HD 720p like the original file declares it should. It appears Final Cut Express wants to downsize my video and won't allow me to bring the full quality of the video through the export process.
Why is this?
(Unless, of course, I'm just not getting something...)
Getting really frustrated because the original video file is outstanding blu-ray-like quality, and I want to preserve that, but I've been trying for over three hours now... Any answers are helpful. Thanks guys.

I've tried that, along with trying out a few different formats. But since FCE believes the "current" size is only about half of that (the viewer must be changing the size somehow), it somewhat stretches the video and reduces the quality.
Edit: I figured out a (temporary) way to export in full quality, and it's working - I simply adjust the magnification of the viewer to "100%" instead of "fit to window/fit all". But will I have to do that all the time? Because I'm guessing that's not how it works - it should export automatically at 100% of the original sequence and clip sizes.
Edit 2: I think I got it!
It turns out, I initially had it set to "fit to window". It hadn't occured to me to try out "fit all" until I tried out the above. So I selected the "fit to all" option... Now when I go to export, it gives me a current or compressor native size of 1280x720, the proper size. That was pure luck, figuring that out.

Too large of a file size when exporting to Quicktime

In '08 when I export my movie to Quicktime the file is quite large, more so than the normal +1 or 2 mb increase from exporting to quicktime results in '06. How do I get back to the smaller file. The file I am exporting right now is 4.5 mb on imovie '08 but turns into a 20mb file after expoting.
Here is what I am doing. Exporting the imovie to quickime for streaming purposes on my website. I use 'export to quicktime' under share and then choose 'Movie to Quicktime Movie' in the 'Save Exported File As and I adjust the 'options' with these settings:
compression: H.264
Quality: Low
Key Frame Rate: 24
Frame Rendering: yes
Encoding mode: multi-pass
Dimension: 320 x 180
Scale : Letterbox
-I am using 16:9 aspect ratio when I import from my camera to iMovie '08.
-I then upload the quicktime movie to 'Vital Stream Small Business Services' and copy ad paste the link onto the back end of my web site. The final result ended in this when I used '06 http://www.legendsgrouprealty.com/Listings_Details.cfm?PropertyID=30, now with the new movie I made with 08' the movie takes quite a while to 'download/stream'.
Any help would be great, hope I provided enough info.
Thank You.

You have somewhat more control over the size of the output if you use the "Limit data rate to..." option instead of the automatic mode controlled by the quality slider.
You didn't mention the frame rate setting that you are using. Did you leave it at "current"?
The other thing you can do is load up a movie exported from iMovie '06 and one exported from iMovie '08 into Quicktime, then click on Window -> Show Movie Inspector, and compare the values. Make sure everything listed under "Format" is the same, then check the data rate.

Quality difference between exporting via Export vs. Export using Quicktime

In iMovie 08, is there a difference in quality between Exporting a movie at the largest available size via the "Export" menu item, versus using "Export using Quicktime"?
I have a very long movie of family movies (9 hours) and have been unable to do a straight export (gets to the end after 25 hours or so and gives me a non-descript "can't complete" error message), but would rather split it up into several smaller files than compromise on quality, if there is such a compromise using the Quicktime function.
If I do go the Quicktime route, what settings should I choose, or just the default. Also, Export using Quicktime option makes a .mov file. What file type does the straight "Export" function create?
thanks much!
Neil
[email protected]

What file type does the straight "Export" function create?
All presets are compressed as H.264/AAC content.
Also, Export using Quicktime option makes a .mov file.
The MOV file container is "generic" and may contain any form of compressed data compatible with the QT components installed on your system and which the accessing application will allow you to use. In the case of iMovie '08, proprietary and third-party components are not allowed even if installed.
If I do go the Quicktime route, what settings should I choose, or just the default.
You use the audio and video codec and settings best suited to the goals of your export. Since you have not mentioned what your are trying to do with your exported content, it is impossible to make any recommendations here.
I have a very long movie of family movies (9 hours) and have been unable to do a straight export (gets to the end after 25 hours or so and gives me a non-descript "can't complete" error message), but would rather split it up into several smaller files than compromise on quality, if there is such a compromise using the Quicktime function.
A 9 hour export at the largest (960x540) dimensions implies a 4.128 Mbps data rate which equates to a file on the order of about 16 GBs in size. As you did not mention which export/sharing option you were using or if everything was being done on a single hard drive, such an export may require a total of 48-64 GBs of available storage space for temporary, Media Browser, and target/duplicate file(s) plus free memory for rendering purposes. So one of your potential problems could be file space availability.
As a general rule, increases in the duration of your target movie may require geometric increases in either available file space or the time it takes to perform the processing. It is, therefore, usually better to "chunk" your projects (break them into smaller, more manageable segments than to process them as a single project/file) and process the segments independently. In addition most people will not watch a 9-hour movie in one sitting in any case. (I have gone as high as 5 hours but even the product of this effort amounted to less than 4 GBs of file space.)
To "chunk" an iMovie '08 project, simply duplicate your completed project as many times as needed and then divide each into manageable segments and deleting segments so as to remove the duplicated segments. I would likely consider 6 segments targeted at about 90 minutes each but division of content anywhere between 60 and 120 minutes would probably be considered "manageable" for most purposes.
In iMovie 08, is there a difference in quality between Exporting a movie at the largest available size via the "Export" menu item, versus using "Export using Quicktime"?
There should be no difference in quality if you use the same compression formats and target settings. Changing either the compression format (each of which may have its own particular characteristics) or the settings (such as the data rate which directly affects both file size and quality) will usually produce visual differences in your product.

Export to Quicktime/Movie to MPEG-4 Quality Much Worse with Snow Leopard?

I just tried exporting an HD movie from iMovie using Export to Quicktime - Movie to MPEG-4 for the first time since upgrading to Snow Leopard and besides taking forever to export, the quality at the same settings I've used before is terrible. There's terrible macroblocking even on relatively slow moving scenes. I've exported several movies using the same workflow previously to upgrading and the video was perfect.
I use mpeg-4, H.264 encoding, 4096 bit rate, 1920x1080 HD resolution, key frame every 15 frames. It's definitely a change in the encoder as just sharing to the Media Browser results in expected quality.
As a test, I tried upping the bitrate to 5120 but it didn't help with the macroblocking.
Anyone with similar problems and/or a solution?

I've actually started noticing more artifacts using the Share to Media Browser quicktime presets. The movies that are created don't seem to be as high quality as ones I've created before. It's almost like quicktime is missing keyframes or something and then artifacting. It's not consistent. I've got one mobile formatted movie where it artifacts badly in the first minute and then not at all afterwards. It's kind of frustrating.

Exporting from Quicktime to reduce file size

I'd like to export from quicktime to a smaller file size. That is, I have a 16.9 meg file I want to optimize for my website. When I try exporting it using the share function, there's no audio on the exported file. I've tried the Export function as well, using Movie to Quicktime movie settings, and the default H.264 compression. Same result...no audio. What settings should I use that will retain audio and shrink the file size so it'll load faster? Thanks.

QuickTime Pro can't extract audio from MPEG-1 files (muxed) so only the video is converted.
MPEG Streamclip (free) can export to QuickTime formats and include the audio track.

Quicktime – quality issue with uncompressed export

Hi
Not sure if anyone can help with this one.
I'm trying to export a Quicktime video in uncompressed 4.2.2 format from Flash. In quality terms this works perfectly from Flash 8 as I just select the uncompressed option, put the quality slider to best and the result is super sharp. Problem is I have movie clips placed in my movie and they don't render. I upgrade to Flash CS4 which solves the latter issue but it won't let me set quality to best when exporting for Quicktime in uncompressed 4.2.2 format. It defaults to medium quality and the resulting video is slightly blurred. How do I get back control of the quality when exporting uncompressed?
Thanks in advance for any pointers.

I too have been using the code supplied on the apple quicktime forums, and the same results have occured video is converted but no audio. I also have a mac mini running quicktime 7 and have used the exact java code and it works with audio.
If you try to convert the audio portion of a movie on windows to say AAC audio only, you'll get another error saying that the track is invalid. Yet on mac mini same files and code produces the file perfectly.
My Windows Platform is WindowsXP running Quicktime 6.5.2 and JDK 1.4.2
Mac Mini is Mac OSX Tiger, Quicktime 7.0.1 and JDK 1.4.2
I eagerly await Quicktime 7 for Windows, maybe it will work then.

Export to quicktime from final cut producing bad quality audio

Hello
In exporting out quicktimes form the timeline in final cut I'm experiencing bad quality audio. Its almost like a fussing or noise in the background. I have tried to export the same quicktimes from a new sequence and only after a couple of attempts managed to get a quicktime with clear audio. I found the only way around this is to export out the audio as a separate aiff file which produces a clear audio file. This is not ideal as it creates more work when in a rush.
Anyone have any ideas how to rectify this?
Is anyone else experiencing this problem?
thanks in adavence

The sound is perfect in fcp.
I originally export from fcp using export quicktime movie, thats what causes the problem, which is why I had to resort to exporting the audio file as a separate file to the quicktime as an aiff which solves the problem. But it seem sa shame to have to export the picture and audio separately then use quicktime to marry the 2 together , then to re-export just so you cant have the files as one movie.
I just dont get what its doing.
Thanks for taking a look. I apprechiate it.

Quicktime export from FCP quality bad on Windows Quicktime

Hey all,
I believe this question has been brought up in a previous post (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2932763&#2932763 "Quicktime export from FCP quality bad on PCs"), but it was never answered. So I captured video using final cut pro using the following capture preset:
Sequence Preset - DV NTSC 48 kHz
DVR-TRV900 using NTSC
29.97 fps
DV - NTSC at Best Quality
24 bits per pixel
720 by 480
When I view the video under quicktime for mac, it looks good. However, when I view the content under quicktime for windows, the quality is noticeably degraded. For instance, when I looked at the video clip in mac, there was a text overlay that displayed the time and date. When I look at it in Windows quicktime, the quality has degraded to an extent that the numbers are no longer readable. Besides the overall quality difference in playback between mac and pc quicktime, there are no other noticeable artifacts. Also, I tried viewing the video in VLC (video lan client) on windows, and it looks perfectly fine.
Ray

seems like this is a PC Quicktime issue rather than an FCP issue, you may have more success in resolving the problem if you post your question on the Quicktime for Windows forum
that said, you might want to check the Quicktime Player preferences on your PC (Edit > Preferences > Player Preferences)
make sure you have checked the "Use high quality video setting when available" checkbox
good luck
Andy

Why Can't I Export to Quicktime from Garageband?

Has anyone else experienced this or would know how to fix it...
I created a .mov file from Keynote and brought it into Garageband as a Video Track to sync the music to the Keynote presentation. Now I'm ready to Export to Quicktime from Garageband. When I choose the Export command from the 'Share' menu in Garageband, it runs through two dialog boxes - first "Creating Mixdown" and then "Converting..." - after the second dialog box disappears no Quicktime file is created.
I have tried several things to remedy this, but have had no luck - such as updating to Garageband 3.0.1, running Disk Utility, restarting the computer. I also made sure to check the Preferences in Garageband before exporting.
Can anyone tell me how I can get it to export?
Also, the final Garageband file size is approximately 180MB and the presentation runs approximately 8 minutes. The final file will need to be 'full quality', as it will be shown from a projector at a meeting.
Mac OS X (10.3.9) Keynote v3.0.0; Garageband v3.0.1; Dual 1GHz G4; 1.5GB SDRAM

Which export did you use?
Try going into prefs->export, enable the export to disk option.
Than in the Share menu choose export to disk.
Then do a search on the name of your song (in the Finder) and see if it shows up.

Iphoto transitions exporting to Quicktime

Working in iphoto 08. "Fit slideshow to music" simply does not work, so I manually adjusted dissolves and display length to have the music and images end at roughly the same time. Exporting to Quicktime seems to ignore all of my transitions and the photos are done displaying with about a minute left in the music.
Exporting to idvd or imovie creates unacceptable reduced quality of the images. Is there a way to make the iphoto slideshow export exactly how it's playing in iphoto?

First are you using iPhoto 08 which is version 7 or iPhoto 09 which is version 8?
Exporting to Quicktime from iPhoto 08 (V7) will not get your transitions as a straight to QT export doesn't support them. With iPhoto 09 (V8) a slideshow export was added that would give you all of the features you had in the iPhoto slideshow.
Click to view full size
So if you're at Version 7 you'll need to use a 3rd party slideshow application like PhotoPresenter or use iMovie to get your transitions.
PhotoPresenter has over 25 animated themes and interacts seamlessly with iPhoto. Some of those themes are demonstrated here: PhotoPresenter Animated Slideshow Themes.
OT

FCP project not the correct aspect ratio when exporting to Quicktime

Hello All;
I am trying to export a FCP project in its native resolution (1440 X 1080) to Quicktime but everytime I try, the aspect ratio is messed up and people look taller and thinner than they should.
The project is a resolution of 1440 X 1080 as determined by examining the sequence settings in FCP.
I configure quicktime (see below) to a resolution of 1440 X 1080.
So why isn't my Quicktime video the correct resolution when I play it with the IMac's Quicktime player ? I shrink the player to 1/2 size to fit it all on the screen.
My exact settings are below ...
Export - Using Quicktime Conversion
Format - Quicktime Movie
Video Settings - Compressor - MPEG-4
Quality - Best
Not sure if I changed the framerate - if I did, I probably changed it to 29.97
I didn't touch the other settings in the video settings - left them to default
I didn't change the filter settings - I left them at default
Size - 1440 X 1080 (The actual resolution of my source video)
I checked the box - preserve aspect ratio using letterbox (If applicable)
Other settings were left at default
Sound Settings - Format - AAC
Rate - 48 KHZ
Render Settings - Quality - Best
Target Bitrate - 128 KHZ (This was left at default - I did not change it)
Prepare for Internet Streaming - Fast Start checked (This was default - I did not change it)
All other settings not specifically mentioned were left at default.
Thanks. Tim

I don't have much of an answer for you, but to test try not checking the preserve aspect ratio. Rather than reexport the entire 1 hour just export 10 seconds so that you can trouble shoot different things.
Hope that helps a bit,
Eric

Questions about exporting to full quality?

Hey there -
I just wanted to make sure that if I want to give my friend back a DV file from the converted tape that I choose Export, then Full Quality? I know that creates one file vs individual clips but her tape was one long one, I did chapter markers for the dvd and make splits but I don't think she wants those (some are arbitrary, e.g. the tape was long than an hour so iMovie HD split it into two clips). So, I just want to be sure that that's the right choice for exporting?
And, on that, does that remove transitions or keep them?
Lastly, there is a weird screen in QuickTime in the resulting file. It's a colorblock screen of sorts - a whole punch of pixels (big TV ones, not sure what they are called) in a bunch of colors. It's happening RIGHT at the end of the footage - not thrilled about it but it is the DV file, I guess. Depending on answer to above, I may at least extend the end transition so it doesn't make future editing difficult. Any way to eliminate it from happening?
Thanks for your help -
Alexa

+You should be able to move the cursor frame-by-frame with the arrow keys to get to the precise 'cut' point.+
I know - it's strange but I lost a few seconds of just black screen at the end - I even went back and checked against the actual movie. At any rate, I'm slicing them off carefully and now am adding just a few seconds of still time at the end so it's not an issue.
+What exactly is it that your friends want to do with the digitized footage? I recommend that you make them a DVD of the edited movie, and then export the movie back to the camcorder so they also have a digital mini DV tape of it. This way, they can view the DVD to see their movie and show to others, but they also have a backup on tape.+
Ah, let's see - somehow I've agreed to convert a bag full of VHSC and VHS tapes (and hours and hours of my life for footage that's not even my family!) At any rate, I am giving them the deluxe end product - a customized movie with smoother transitions and chapters, a customized DVD menu with images and chapters (and music, if it fits) and a customized case and printed DVD (Taiyo Yuden printed Watershield DVD). Yes, the works. So, then I told them to buy a external HDD and I would move the resulting DV files to it so they would have them should the ever want to use the footage again (e.g. make an "anniversary" montage that pulls in just clips from their wedding, or a wedding montage for their kids that includes the baby footage that I digitized.) So, they have the VHSC and VHS originals, they'll have the movie on DVD and they were going to have the DV files on a hard drive of the appropriate size. That was my recommendation since the problem was that the tapes sat around in the first place - they aren't going to convert them without help. But, if that's the "best" option for longer-lasting backup, I can offer it to them.
+If this were for your use, I would recommend that you also create a disk image of the iDVD project as backup. ...Because the disk image file is self-contained, you can safely delete the iMovie and iDVD projects without losing the ability to burn DVDs of the iDVD project that is now saved as the disk image. You use Disk Utility (or Toast if you have it) to burn the actual DVD disk.+
That is the best advice I could have received! I hadn't really figured out what I was going to do with the actual iMovie and iDVD projects after I was finished. I was reluctant to delete b/c - ahem - they've come back to me after 2 months of the last project and asked for another copy!!! But, I've already added one external for this, I can't house their memories in various forms forever. So, if I do the disk image, I'll retain the ability to make the disk - that's exactly what I need. I've already been caught once by the dreaded "you've updated the move file" bug once, simply because I had opened the original iMovie project - and I had to build the whole DVD again (and it had 24 chapters!)
Thanks so much for the counsel on the disk image - I had heard about it but just wasn't sure how I should directly apply it to these projects.
Appreciate it!
Alexa
Message was edited by: akcorcoran

General error in FCP re: rendering and export after Quicktime 7.5.5 update

Hi
My FCP 6.0.4 rendering and export to Compressor no longer works after an update to Quicktime 7.5.5.
Rendering fails after a few seconds "General Error!" pops up. Exporting to Compressor, after setting it compressing, Compressor after a few seconds fails. (audio is processed) My current work around is exporting a sequence using Quicktime conversion (time consuming) and then opening in Compressor.
I've done the usual, deleting prefs, new sequences and projects, even saving movs in different codecs.
(been using H.264)
My sequences are all custom sizes but tests using presets also fail.
Any ideas anyone?
And I was so happy the Quicktime upgrade could play sequence movs recorded months earlier that until now I couldn't play properly due to previous Quicktime upgrades!
Apple gives with one hand and takes with the other....

Hi There,
Thanks for your reply on this.
Well basically since I'm using content already in the H.254 codec (eg: a trailer off the internet, or the downsizing of HD footage) i'm just exporting to a codec that didn't have to be rendered and gave quality results. I used motion jpeg B as an export codec because it was quick (although HD space hungry) with no drop in quality. The resulting exports could be imported into a custom sequence (720 x 405) as square pixel aspect ratio files. Overlapping the canvas with other windows (eg: viewer) meant I could play a clip (with dropped frames) but not have to render it. I selected the H.264 codec as the sequence codec because I've found other codecs introduce darkening or lightening or blurring or other undesirable artefacts when exported to Compressor. H.264 used in the sequence settings exported through Compressor would give resulting m2v's as sharp and contrast accurate as the source file.
That was until the recent 7.5.5 Quicktime update where attempts to do the same things I did before result in "General Error!" coming up after a few seconds of play or rendering.
Traditional DV codecs are "blurry" in my opinion, especially when coping with web content or conversion of HD downloads.
If you can suggest an editing codec that works best with FCP that is quick, doesn't introduce blurring or general degrading of the image I'd be happy to try it out. I typically downsize HD content from the web for DVD playback, so it's usually in a H.264 codec already. So i would need a codec for export from Quicktime that would work best with a codec in FCP. That doesn't alter picture quality when compressed to m2v in Compressor.
Thanks!

Exporting to Quicktime - quality vs. size

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