FCE and iDVD questions

I am considering buying FCE, as iMovie is driving me nuts with its limitations. What I am mainly interested in is converting old VHS tapes to DVD.
I have a few questions for the FCE gurus:
1. If I import into iMovie 08 and do a rough edit, then move the project to FCE, is there any downside to this?
2. Is the audio editing in FCE pretty good, and is it possible to export audio at some point to Logic? (I'm an audio guy mainly, so audio cleanup will be a sticking point for me)
3. Lastly, once the editing is done, I want to export to iDVD and make some menus and such. If I want to make a few custom video loops for menu screens, what is the best way to do that? Start a new project, edit clips together, and export it as a new movie?
Thanks in advance for any and all help.

1. If I import into iMovie 08 and do a rough edit, then move the project to FCE, is there any downside to this?
You can do it and sometimes it arrives intact but don't count on it.
The downside is that audio will have to be rendered as iMovie works in a multiplexed format.
I'd suggest capturing and editing in FCE every time if there is an option.
2. Is the audio editing in FCE pretty good, and is it possible to export audio at some point to Logic? (I'm an audio guy mainly, so audio cleanup will be a sticking point for me
FCE has a few filters. Use the Open in Editor feature.
3. Lastly, once the editing is done, I want to export to iDVD and make some menus and such. If I want to make a few custom video loops for menu screens, what is the best way to do that? Start a new project, edit clips together, and export it as a new movie?
You don't need to create a new Project just make a new short Sequence in the existing Project. You can have more than one Sequence.
You can also mark in/out points in the Timeline and only the selected section will export.
Al

Similar Messages

Resolution recommendations for HDV, FCE and iDVD

The Canon HV30 camcorder outputs HDV in 1080/60i, 1080/24p, 1080/30F, 1080/24F, 1080/30p. Which of these would yield the best results from a workflow and image quality point of view through FCE and iDVD for creating a DVD to be used on an HDTV fed by a progressive-scan DVD player?
Can any of these formats be edited and then written back to tape without losing a lot of image quality?
Also interested if iMovie 9 is the same in these areas as FCE (which I already have).
Thanks in advance!
MikeR

So, it doesn't matter what I shoot in - the quality will be equal no matter if it's progressive to start with or interlaced? I might have thought that keeping things progressive all the way through would be the best for a DVD played on an HD set.
MikeR

Just setting up FCE and have question

This is probably a stupid question but when I set up FCE and select my external drive as my scratch drive, where will the project folder be created? Is it on the external drive with the clips etc. I import or will it be located in the documents folder on the system hard drive?
Thanks

If you set your scratch disk to an external drive, all files created by FCE during capture, rendering, auto-saving, and all support files (waveforms, thumbnails etc.) will be stored into the external drive. Instead your project file (.fcp) will be saved where you decide to, when you issue the Save Project As command. Project files are usually saved into the user document folder of the startup disk.
A Final Cut Express Documents folder is created by FCE in the scratch disk, containing subfolders specific for each use. One specific subfolder (Capture Scratch) will store all media captured by FCE, and you must never delete files from that subfolder, unless you remove the whole project, because they contain your actual movies.
A warning: in FCE a "clip" is in fact a "pointer to" a portion of the media file in the capture scratch folder, it is not the media file itself. When you capture, a new media file is created in the capture scratch folder and a new clip is created in the FCE browser pointing to that media file. But if you remove the clip in FCE you do not remove the corresponding media file. The opposite is also true: if you remove the media file from the folder the clip will still be in the FCE browser (or timeline) pointing to nothing. This is called an offline clip, which may also be reconnected to the same media file manually.
Piero

FCE and iDVD iLife '08

I know this is an FC forum, but a lot of people here (myself included) eventually use iDVD, so before I go from iDVD 5 to the iLife '08 version, I just wanted to double-check if there were any ridiculous issues that would have been nice to know about before the upgrade. I realize this upgrade may be a tad overdue, but some hasty upgrades in the past had led to stuff not working, and I don't need that. Thankee!
Dave

hey there David,
you may have some issues if your version of FCE is 3.0 or earlier, but that's about QuickTime. i've had iLife 08 since it's release, done all the updates & had no issues. iDVD 08 has some differences from your version, but if you're familiar w/ any version past 04 & check out the online tutorials you should be fine. if not come on back.
good luck.

Another Aperture slideshow and iDVD question

When ultimately making a DVD, why do some people export their Aperture slideshow to iMovie and then iDVD, while others export the slideshow to the desktop and then import directly to iDVD (skipping iMovie)? I suppose another question is: is there somewhere an idiot's guide to all the various output and resolution options? I'm reading that if you export at too high a resolution, iDVD will jack that back down and then you get "artifacts." Are there optimal export resolutions for, say, Standard TVs and HDTVs when exporting from Aperture to iDVD? Thank you!!

MarkPek,
To add to what leonieDF has said.
I don't use Aperture for slide shows very often, but I make hundres of DVD's with iDVD and Toast.
All DVD's are standard definition, unless you use aa application like Toast and create a AVCHD Bluray disk. It doesn't mater what type of TV you play it on, it's SD. Some TV's do a good job of upscaling and the SD looks very good on them.
If you were to send a folder of full resolution 20 MP ( or whatever your camera is) images to iDVD there may be problems. I don't think iDVD is a very good at rescaling images. Sending 1920 x 1080 images or movies to iDVD has worked very well for me. I expect 720p would do well also.
I would recomend you do a test of a slide show of 1 min or less and trry a few different settings. I would try to export with a preset of Apple TV,iPad for a starter. Note that using Apple TV iPad 720p will give you a frame rate of 24, where as the other Apple TV is 30 fps. I have never tried feeding iDVD a movie that was 24fps, I not sure how that would go. I may give that a try and see what happens.
I use FCPX not iMovie, but I think that iMove works the same way. In the moive editing software you can just drag your Aperture stills into the timeline from the photo browser to creat your slide show/movie. But realize that the movie editing sofatware will actually use your Aperture previews for this. So your preview preference will determine the resolution of the images going into your movie. If your previews are set real low the results may not be very good. A setting that is closer to your monitor resoulton would work very well.
Do a test and let us know hoiw you make out. If I get a chance tomorrow I'll drop a quick slide show into iDVD. I'll export the same slide show with a few differnt settings and then put them all on one DVD to play back.

FCE4 and iDVD Anamorphic Ken Burns

I created a 60min movie in iMovie8 using three media: 1) NTSC Anamorphic DV from a Panasonic PV-GS80, 2) JPEG 2816x2112 stills from a Panasonic DMC-FX3, and 3) 848x480 motion JPEG video from the DMC-FX3. An iMovie 8 project in 16:9 aspect was burned to DVD by iDVD and viewed on a 16:9 LCD TV with no problems encountered and pretty decent quality.
However, frustrated by the lack of basic features in iMovie, I purchased FCE4 after speaking with an Apple rep at Best Buy who assured me that it could import iMovie8 projects. Although I was carrying a disc with my iMovie project, I wasn't allowed to verify this in the store. Unfortunately, Apple's claim that iMovie8 projects can be imported into FCE4 is grossly misleading at best. They say "With iMovie ’08, putting together a great movie is as quick as drag and drop. When you want to add professional polish to your project, simply export to Final Cut Express 4 and edit like a pro." In fact, contrary to the FCE4 manual, iMovie8 projects cannot simply be opened: Incompatible files. Apple tech support told me iMovie8 projects must first be exported as XML.
The truth is that iMovie8 projects must be tediously recreated for FCE4 because it can't use MP3 audio files (must recapture from CD's), it doesn't recognize transitions (must recreate Ken Burns effects from scratch), and DV NTSC video clips are captured by iMovie8 at a mysteriously bloated 6.4 MBps rate rather than the 3.6MBps they should be (must recapture all DV). Apple must retract its claims or fix its products to enable upwards migration.
Nevertheless, having recreated 10 minutes worth of movie in ten days of experimentation and reading most of FCE's 1152-page manual, I have yet to produce acceptable output from FCE. Besides the frustrating discrepancies between the manual and actual FCE4 operation, my biggest problems have been to maintain the 16:9 aspect in iDVD, and to render still images (with modest Ken Burns motion) with any semblance of quality in the final output.
The FCE4 project settings are DV-NTSC Anamorphic 48KHz. Anamorphic video from the PV-GS80 is captured at 720x480pix, 29.97fps, DV/DVCPRO NTSC, 3.6MBps, 16-bit audio, NTSC pixels, Ana=Yes, Field=Lower (even). Stills are imported at 2816x2112pix, 29.97fps, Photo-JPEG, Square pix, Ana=No, Field=None. Motion JPEG is captured at 848x480pix, 30fps, Photo-JPEG, 1.6MBps, 8KHz x 8-bit audio, Square pix, Field=None.
All these media appear correctly in 16:9 aspect within FCE4. However, unlike iMovie8, when FCE4 exports as QTMovie, the movie is not recognized as anamorphic by iDVD, so it is burned in a horizontally compressed 4:3 aspect. Why are there no options or controls when exporting as QTMovie, which seems to be the only way to avoid unnecessary processing and image degradation?
Experimenting with FCE4's Export Using Quicktime Conversion, I was able to export the movie at 848x480, but at a huge cost in time for unnecessary transcoding and the resultant degradation in image quality.
Experimenting with the Anamorphicizer third-party software that this BBS recommends to solve the incompatibility between FCE and iDVD, I found that the anamorphic aspect is recognized properly by iDVD, but still images are now unacceptably stretched horizontally. This seems like a poor solution to a simple problem of incompatibility within Apple's own products.
Most recently I stumbled upon the observation that if a FCE4 sequence begins with a few frames of anamorphic DV from the Panasonic PV-GS80, this sequence can be exported as a QTMovie which iDVD will recognize as anamorphic, resulting in a DVD with the correct aspect. This doesn't always work, e.g. if the audio is removed from those few frames, or if their opacity is set to 0% to hide them. It reminds me of the Auto Conform feature in FCE4, but my Preference/Edit/AutoConform=Ask, and FCE4 has never asked. Furthermore, this works even if AutoConform=Never. Unfortunately, I don't want to start my movie with a DV clip but with a still, and this results in a 4:3 movie in iDVD. Furthermore, this "fix" doesn't seem to stick: after editing, the sequence can revert to 4:3 in iDVD for unknown reasons. I can find no mention of this behavior in the docs, and FCE4 shows no differences in properties between these sequences, so I don't know why it happens. Nevertheless, it seems preferable to Anamorphicizer, because still images are not stretched. Can anyone tell me why this happens so that I can control it predictably?
My biggest remaining issue is that FCE4 renders still images with Ken Burns slow pans and zooms unacceptably poorly. First, some images but not others seem to have gross interlace distortion throughout the clip, as if the JPEG were interlaced. It seems like this problem develops after editing even for stills that once looked OK. Adding the Deinterlace filter merely softens the distorted images. Oddly enough, adding the Deinterlace filter or the Shift Fields filter and then deselecting it seems to fix the problem. I've tried changing the Field Dominance setting on stills from None, but no help. Since the original JPEG is progressive, this seems like an FCE bug. How can I avoid this distortion in the first place?
Finally there is the issue that Ken Burns style pans and zooms create unacceptable aliasing and shimmering in the output, even if the motion is minimal. Easing zooms by changing Scale fast at first then slowing down doesn't help. Easing pans by changing in several steps (because the Center parameter can't have Bezier controls) makes the aliasing even more noticeable by changing the rate of shimmering in discrete steps. When still images contain significant detail and linear edges, there seems to be no level of Ken Burns motion that will result in a reasonable image on DVD. Why are these artifacts so much worse than with iMovie?
As a newcomer to FCE4, I am very disappointed in Apple's failure to ensure a reasonable migration path from iMovie. Perhaps they have forgotten how the basic "bait and switch" strategy is supposed to work! I hope someone here can help more than two hours of hold time with Apple Tech Support helped me. I would be interested in any recommendations for other vendors' products that produce better results with less aggravation. If not, I am about ready to get my money back for FCE4!

"This will explain what you can do about this..."
I shouldn't be required to purchase QTPro just to fix the anamorphic bit in the movies exported by FCE, especially when iMovie8 sets the bit properly. Seems like an obvious FCE bug to me. Tom, any thoughts on why a segment with an anamorphic clip first is handled properly?
"Where are you seeing the image degradation? Are you looking at the output on a video monitor?"
I'm editing using a 21" ViewSonic LCD monitor, but then I burn DVD's to view on an LCD HDTV. The artifacts are apparent on both displays.
" Changing anamorphic values after the material has been edited into the sequence will result in image stretching."
I assume you mean setting the Anamorphic bit on my JPEG stills: I haven't done that. I'm saying that after using Anamorphicizer, some still images were definitely stretched horizontally. I created these by simply dragging a folder of JPEG images to the FCE browser. Other than setting the still duration default, I don't know what else I should do.
"If you add motion to the images interlacing will be introduced. "
I understand, but it is much worse on some images than others, so I'm trying to understand how I can minimize the ugliness of aliasing and shimmering. On some still images, FCE seems to me to have started with two mismatched frames, so that very exaggerated aliasing appears consistently throughout the clip, seemingly independent of the motion. I suspect data corruption in FCE, and I remember a warning in the manual about corruption being caused by copying sequences too many times, but can't find it now. Could this be my problem?
I've also found that even though FCE claims to be a reference editor, not touching the original files, there is a problem with handling portrait versus landscape JPEGS. After importing JPEGs, sometimes the FCE image matches the file in the Finder, and sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't, I have found that if I rotate the Finder file, Save it, then Rotate it back and Save again, FCE will finally get its version rotated correctly. This never works by only changing the source file one time: I must do it twice.
"If you're uncomfortable or unhappy with the application you might be better off using another one."
I am mostly disappointed that FCE seems to be so out of sync with other Apple apps, and perhaps buggier than many. My guess is that iMovie and FCE are on a collision course instead of a rational product relationship. I would be happy for any recommendations, because I feel that the time I've invested in learning to use this seemingly overly embellished software may not have been well spent. On the other hand, if someone can correct my misunderstandings, I will be very grateful.

IDVD questions/FCE

I completed project using Final Cut Express. I have three iDVD questions:
1) How do you choose a higher quality burn?
2) When you drag your project onto a theme, the first few seconds show up on the theme page. Is it possible to drag video that will only show up on the theme page? I"m asking because my titles are all that's seen on the theme page.
3) I set the project to burn in widescreen but it's burning in 4:3. Any suggestions?

1. If I import into iMovie 08 and do a rough edit, then move the project to FCE, is there any downside to this?
You can do it and sometimes it arrives intact but don't count on it.
The downside is that audio will have to be rendered as iMovie works in a multiplexed format.
I'd suggest capturing and editing in FCE every time if there is an option.
2. Is the audio editing in FCE pretty good, and is it possible to export audio at some point to Logic? (I'm an audio guy mainly, so audio cleanup will be a sticking point for me
FCE has a few filters. Use the Open in Editor feature.
3. Lastly, once the editing is done, I want to export to iDVD and make some menus and such. If I want to make a few custom video loops for menu screens, what is the best way to do that? Start a new project, edit clips together, and export it as a new movie?
You don't need to create a new Project just make a new short Sequence in the existing Project. You can have more than one Sequence.
You can also mark in/out points in the Timeline and only the selected section will export.
Al

IMovie and iDVD, Stupid Upgrade Questions, Sorry Must Ask

Okay, the deal is I have a PowerMac G4 Version 2.1 with a Combo Drive. I am upgrading to Mac OSX 3.0 so I can do certain things in iMovie and acquire a better browser. (My constraints on the iMovie project about which I've been inquiring are that at least 40 people have been waiting for copies of it for about a month and wondering why I don't come through with it--I sent a lengthy explanation to the guy who'll be duplicating it in case anyone asks. That's one reason I'm in such a hurry I have to ask urgent questions at forums and newsgroups and don't take the time to read every word ever written on every one of these systems and their various applications, abilities, and uses.)
I started out thinking I was about one step from having a completed project and the more I learn, the more grim the situation looks. Yet I've done ALL THIS WORK already to create beautiful titles and elaborately-edited outtakes. I HATE to ditch it all if any faint hope flickers into sight!
My Mac came with the following:
iMovie 3.0.3 -- which seems to be working fine, only problem is, due to deficiencies in other equipment, I'm having trouble getting my movie to DVD or into any other form where it can be played anywhere outside the Mac!
iDVD 2.1 -- My feeble brain, inadequate as it may be, has so far gathered the information that to go to DVD, a project can't be played in iMovie and sent straight to a DVD burner (can it?) There has to be some intermediary step. (Right?) People have argued the various merits of iDVD vs. Toast to accomplish this step. I hadn't opened my copy of iDVD because I am in no way near the point of being ready to make a DVD--I have not yet finished editing the project in iMovie. I made the hideous error of ASSUMING that since this came installed in my Mac, it would work fine when needed, just as iMovie did. When I tried to open it just to see what version I had, it wouldn't open and told me this:
System Requirements
iDVD 2 requires a PowerMac G4 computer with 256 Megs of RAM, a built-in DVD-R Superdrive and Mac OS 10.1.3 or later.
Stupid redundant bonus question #1: WHY would this come installed on a Mac which lacks the hardware to use it? (iMovie could still be used to edit, and then copy projects--if I had a digital video camera--which I don't. The only other way we've figured is to send it back through the Canopus ADVC110 converter I used to get the video in there, and play it out to a VCR--a cumbersome process I've been assured will result in crummy quality.)
Okay, here are the REAL questions:
1. I don't suppose there's any way the Canopus could be connected to the DVD burner and the information sent to a DVD that way? Just asking.
2. Obviously the upgrade isn't going to fix things to make iDVD work, as I'm already using Mac OSX 10.2.8, so I would assume its discontent stems from not having the Superdrive--at least, it was complaining something about inadequate hardware and I think that's what it meant. Will connecting a DVD burner via FireWire convince iDVD to work (either automatically or after some sort of tweaking), or am I stuck replacing the drive? I bought a DVD burner the minute I realized my drive was a Combo Drive and not a Superdrive (which is the first time I stuck a blank DVD in it and nothing happened) before learning details about this intermediary step and that there is more than one way to accomplish it.
3. Is it even worth replacing the Combo Drive with a Superdrive or is it more worth buying a whole new Mac? If I am FORCED to buy a new Mac, what should I do with the old one? (Not only am I ethically opposed to tossing a perfectly good piece of electronic equipment into the ravine, I might get fined for littering. Can a good home be found for it? For that matter it would be a pain as I've saved all sorts of stuff to the Hard Drive which would have to be transferred to the new one before I could get rid of the old one. So can I keep the old one...PLEASE?)
4. After making the system upgrade, will I be able to bypass iDVD entirely by using Toast, or does Toast also have all sorts of requirements my hardware does not possess so I'll still be SOL, stuck replacing drives or even the whole Mac, or going directly to crummy-quality VHS as there is NO OTHER WAY OUT?
5. After making the system upgrade, would I be ready for more advanced versions of iMovie and iDVD? Are any upgrades free, or does every improvement cost? Do I get them all at the Apple site, order some of them from some supplier or other the way I did with the Mac OSX upgrade, or what?
Thanks for helping to clear up my massive confusion!!!

Wow, thanks. It's good to know iDVD is still an option, even if I don't buy the Superdrive (is that even possible, to get the Combo Drive taken out of my current Mac and a Superdrive put in? There's a question still unanswered.)
(I think this is good to know--because part of my reasoning in asking the question was to eliminate one option or the other, and now I'm ending up with options of options, but hold on for Part 2 as I do have some questions concerning the capabilities of iDVD and Toast.)
Partly answering one of my own questions (although I'd appreciate confirmation from someone who actually knows,) if these Toast 7 requirements mean what I think they do, I don't see anywhere that it says the computer MUST have a Superdrive and CAN'T use an external DVD burner!
Toast 7 Titanium
Requirements:
* PowerPC G4 processor or faster (G5 recommended for viewing DivX files on your Mac)
* PowerPC G3 processor and Mac OS 10.2 users, see Toast 6 Titanium or Popcorn
* Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later
* 300 MB of free disk space to install
* Up to 15 GB of temporary free disk space during usage
* QuickTime 7 or later
* CD or DVD burner and recordable media
If this is true (that I can use an external DVD burner) I like Toast already! My Quicktime Player is only version 6.5.2--is it going to be difficult, expensive, or both, to upgrade that? If it is or the other System Requirements are not met I can just go with Toast 6.
As far as those requirements, I promise you I don't understand a word of it but here is what my System Profiler says my Mac has. Maybe someone can make sense of it and help me decide which version of Toast to get or, if not, what to do:
System Profile
Software Overview:
| |
| System version : Mac OS X 10.2.8 (6R73)
(As I said, I'm upgrading to 10.3.0 soon, and obviously if I want Toast 7 gotta figure out the best way to go to 10.3.9 or higher.)
| Boot volume : Hard Drive |
| Kernel version : Darwin Kernel Version 6.8: Wed Sep 10 15:20:55 PDT 2003; root:xnu/xnu-344.49.obj~2/RELEASE_PPC |
Hardware Overview:
| |
| Machine speed : 867 MHz |
| Bus speed : 133 MHz |
| Number of processors : 2 |
| L2 cache size : 256K (times 2) |
| L3 cache size : 1MB (times 2) |
| Machine model : Power Mac G4 (version = 2.1) |
| Boot ROM info : 4.4.6f2
Memory Overview:
Location Type Size
DIMM0/J21 DDR SDRAM 256 MB
DIMM1/J22 DDR SDRAM 512 MB
DIMM2/J23 empty
DIMM3/J20 empty
Network Overview:
Built-in:
| |
| Flags : 0x8051<Up,PpoinToPoint,Running,Multicast> |
| Ethernet address : 00.00.00.00.00.00 |
| IP : 67.0.142.95--> 67.0.128.6 |
| Subnet Mask : 255.0.0.0 |
| |
Devices and Volumes
PCI:
SLOT-1(AGP):
| |
| Card Type : NVDA,GeForce4MX |
| Card Name : NVDA,Parent |
| Card Model : GeForce4 MX |
| Vendor ID : 10de |
| Device ID : 172 |
| ROM# : 1121 |
| Revision : a5 |
| |
USB Information:
USB Bus 0:
Apple internal modem:
| |
| Product ID : 33282 ($8202) |
| Vendor : HCF USB V.90 Data/Fax Modem |
| Device Speed : Full |
| Power (mA) : 500
FireWire Information:
No FireWire devices found.:
(Unsure why it says this as the Canopus Converter is a FireWire device and it's connected, turned on, and has been working.)
Bus:
CD-RW/DVD-ROM:
| |
| Disc Burning : Fully supported.
(Obviously this means CDs only, not DVDs.)
Hard Drive:
| |
| Disk Size : 57.26 GB (1K = 1024) 62 GB (1K = 1000) |
| Unit Number : 0 |
| ATA Device Type : ata |
| Device Serial : VNC303A3L6AAHA |
| Device Revision : VA3BA52A |
| Device Model : IBM-IC35L060AVVA07-0 |
| |
Hard Drive:
| |
| Volume Size : 57.26 GB (1K = 1024) 62 GB (1K = 1000) |
| Ejectable : No |
| Writable : Yes
One thing which may really sway me in favor of Toast is, will it make possible burning 2-hour DVDs? Supposedly iDVD will not enable anything longer than 90 minutes, and when I get to the other big project for which I really want to use the Canopus ADVC 110 converter, that is, converting my home movies from either VHS or 8mm video camera tape to DVD--well, ALL of my tapes are two hours long, because that's the way they come!! I don't see being limited to making 90-minute DVDs as anything but another GIANT PAIN of which I'm already amply supplied! So if Toast will fix this dilemma I'm ALL FOR IT!
As always, thanks for help and advice.

16:9 and iDVD/iMovie question.

hey all again lol. I dont know why the general questions stump me and the more detailed ones i understand. but here it goes.
1 If i shoot a movie on my cam in 16:9 that means i want my imovie and idvd sessions to be 16:9 right?
2 and if i shoot my movie normal then i would want to use the normal imovie/idvd setting correct?

lol thank you...yeah when i import into imovie it goes in and looks like regular tape but once i finish it encodes (or whatever its called) and then transferes it correctly when its done

Powerpoint slides, FCE and DVD

Hi all. I'm starting a project to edit footage of a speaker's keynote speech and PowerPoint presentation slides. I'll be using FCE for the edits and iDVD for the final production to DVD. I'll be working from AVI files provided for me, as well as the original PowerPoint slides.
We're planning on including crossfades to the PowerPoint slides the speaker used in his presentation. For this, I'm planning on using JPGs of each slide; these will be exported from PowerPoint.
The AVIs aren't a problem. My main concern are the PowerPoint slides and how they might appear later on DVD.
If anyone has had experience with this type of project before using FCE, I'd appreciate any special cautions/settings/lessons learned you might be willing to share before I get started.
Thanks in advance.
Mel
macbook pro Mac OS X (10.4.9) 2.16 GHz, 1.0 GB RAM, 100 GB HD, Panasonic AG-DVC30

Thanks, Tom.
I suspected as much with the PowerPoints; which is why I posed the question before getting started.
I agree with the assessment about LiveType. Problem is, it would be prohibitive to re-create into LiveType all the PowerPoint slides throughout a 2-hour forum. To the speaker's credit, he doesn't use a lot of text. But, there are still a lot of slides, nonetheless...
I'll do some test runs with different formats before going full out with the project. Thinking of maybe using a third-party app to convert the PowerPoints to Flash for use with FCE. I've used that approach with good results on web-based productions. But I'll need to test it for DVD output. Anyone have any thoughts about that?
Tom, your caution about the AVIs... they're at 29.97 letterbox. What other guidance would you say about format?
Thanks again in advance.
Mel

Using WindowsDV .avi files in iMovie and iDVD

I'm about to buy a Mac after using PCs for many years. I'm still deciding whether to buy an iMac 20", upgrade the Ram and use an external firewire drive or to get a Mac Pro and use internal drives. Initially I'll use iMovie and iDVD and I have some questions regarding using files I've already created on my PC. Up until now I've mainly been using Ulead Video Studio 10 and Ulead DVD Workshop. DVD Workshop does not do 16:9 menus and has now been discontinued and I've been impressed with iMovie and iDVD when I've seen it in Apple stores.
I have some unedited 16:9 .avi files that I've captured from my Panasonic GS-400 camcorder as well as some already edited .avi and .mpg files. Will iMovie and iDVD recognise .avi DV files when accessed through my network or copied onto the Mac hard drive? I'll load unedited clips into iMovie for editing but anything that's already edited I'd like to put straight into iDVD, add chapters and make a menu etc.
Is this going to work easily or will I have to convert the files to an apple compatible format?
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Ken
Windows XP Pro

Hi Ken and welcome to Apple!
You should not have a major problem. The AVI files should (repeat should) be recognized by iMovie. If not, conversion should (I love the certainty of that word!) be easy.
An iMac will do all you ask, but I recommend not less that 1GB of RAM.
At this stage, go get your iMac, and try to import the AVI files into iMovie. If that is not successful post back!
Remember: iMovie expects to be 'fed' by digital video through a firewire connection.
Any more questions, we are here to help!

Idvd 8 V7 and Idvd 6

I have a few questions.
1. is Idvd 6HD compatible with idvd 8 (v7) and vice versa?
2. I had a machine rebuilt a a local shop and idvd will not open, says no themes. Any idea where they went and if not in the location how do I get them. I do not have any disks.
3. Can I have idvd 6HD and idvd 8 on the same hard drive and use each one? (i actually have the complete ilife 6 disk) If yes, how do i install and make this all work okay?
Thanks,
MAW

Hi
1. is Idvd 6HD compatible with idvd 8 (v7) and vice versa?
There are no product namned iDVD 6HD
There are no HD - DVD at all - There was in a brief moment - I think Toshiba tried
to do this and there is a component in DVD Studio Pro (4) that can code this to DVDs
Still these DVDs - can't be played on standard DVD-players and on Most Macs
(just a few Toshiba (and may be some Macs) can play-back this)
DVD - is a standard and it's limited to SD-video - has nothing to do with iDVD
Roxio Toast™ and Devideon™ and other DVD-encoding/burning programs will do just this.
Yours Bengt W

Quality and aspect ratio with FCE and iPhoto

Project started by importing hundreds of slides shot by different cameras with difference settings. Slides were imported into i-photo where I used the slideshow function to make several segments. As I was choosing the photos and dragging them into slideshows I cropped them all into 16x9 ratio so they would all be uniform. I then sent to QuickTime movie using the built in iPhoto export button and selected “custom export” setting with DV/DVCPRO-NTSC compression with quality set to “Best” and aspect ratio to 16x9.
Then imported into FCE and did serious editing (music, effects, titles, etc.). When finished I tried exporting as both a QT self-contained movie and QT conversion (using DV/DVCPRO and 16:9) but the quality is terrible and when I make a iDVD the picture is squeezed and distorted into a 4:3 ratio despite the fact that the IDVD is set to 16:9. I have spent over a month on this project and have fellow travelers waiting for my “creative” touch. Can anyone tell me where I went wrong on both aspect ratio and quality? Thanks.
PS: Am using MacBook Pro, OS 10.7.4 FCE 4.0.1 and iPhoto-11 9.3.2

Hi
I'm not shure - but I can share my thoughts
I tried exporting as both a QT self-contained movie and QT conversion (using DV/DVCPRO and 16:9)
I DO NEVER - Use Export as QuickTime CONVERSION
I DO - Share as QuickTime .mov - straight off
I had problems with 16x9 until I understood that
• I had to select type of project as WideScreen in FC
• Browser Window in FinalCut E and Pro - can extend far to the Right with several Columns. One Column states Anamorphic. When set my material to this. THEN introduced it into TimeLine. Can not be done in after hand.
• Export as above
• In iDVD there are TWO places to set 16x9
- When creating a NEW iDVD Project - SELECT --> WideSrceen
- In iDVD Project / Projectinfo [ Shift+cmd+I ]- ALSO set 16x9
Yours Bengt W

MiniDV to DVD transfer via iMovie and iDVD?

I own a Sony DCR-PC9, which is a digital tape video recorder (MiniDV) circa 2001. (yes I know, time to upgrade) I have about 20 tapes to transfer to DVD. I am using iMovie to import and edit the video and iDVD to burn the DVD. Digital tape is not HD of course and I really do not know what resolution it is. All the tapes were shot in 4:3 (vs. 16:9) so I know I will have some issues with bars on the sides. My real questions are:
1. How do I make sure that I import the highest quality image I can from the recorder into iMovie? I do not care about the size of the file.
2. I have no problem actually importing and editing but the DVD I create is very poor quality when played on a new LCD HD TV. Is that just the way it is? A “bad” source (digital video tape) being played on a brand new TV? Is there something I can do either in iMovie (editing) or iDVD (compress, not compress, upconvert, etc.) to make the DVD quality better? I really have no knowledge of what “compress, not compress, upconvert, etc.” mean and I threw those in there as I see those words all the time. It seems as though there is some choice in how the DVD is burned in iDVD. Are there other products that can improve the video quality before it is burned to the DVD?
I am not interested in making any fancy edits, adding titles, etc. I just want simply to get the digital video tape on a DVD but with good quality. I did plug the video recorder directly into my new TV and as expected, the quality was not good. Am I just doomed because I have a “bad” source (digital video tape) being played on a brand new TV?
Thanks in advance for your help.

Your camera is a miniDVD camera with FireWire. It is 4:3.
Have you tried the OneStep DVD approach in iDVD? (Look in the iDVD HELP for OneStep).
This will let you transfer your video content to a DVD without using iMovie.

FCE to iDVD (w chapters created in FCE)

Hello,
I've searched old threads on how to Export your FCE project to iDVD. Most of the posts said to "export to quicktime movie", then load your movie into iDVD.
I tried that, and it worked - however, I created my chapters in FCE and they did not carry over when loaded into iDVD.
Is there something I missed in the exporting process so that iDVD recognizes my chapters??
Thank you.

http://www.fcpbook.com/Misc2.html
The important thing is follow the chapter marker rules. Make sure they're applied to the timeline, not the clips. No marker at the beginning of the sequence. No marker within one second of another. That the chapter marker code <CHAPTER> is untouched.

FCE and iDVD questions

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