FCE HD import size versus export - settings?

I have an issue with FCE HD4 - I am confused by the "System Settings" versus "Easy Setup", and why my exporting looks very different from my source material.
I apologize if I'm using the wrong terms but I hired 2 people with pro cameras for this job and I'm not well-versed in video. Plus I have been limping along with FCE 4 HD for a while, but it's paid for...
The basic issue:
The video I am importing is "wide" format, but when I output it, it is "square". Screenshot shows the difference between the "viewer" window and the "canvas". Notice that "canvas" alters the size a makes the video "square" and positions letterbox-like bars at the top and bottom. I don't want that.
When I open the source video in Quicktime, it shows the Format as Apple ProRes 422 1920 x 1080, which looks amazing and "wide".
When I choose "export > quicktime video" the result is 720 x 480 which is not "wide".
How do I export to make the file "wide", e.g. 1920 x 1080? Or how do I set FCE 4 to show the canvas as "wide"?
thanks

An Easy Setup is a group of standard settings for video & audio: frame size, frame rate, video codec, audio, etc. When you create a new sequence, the sequence settings are determined by the currently active Easy Setup.
When I choose "export > quicktime video" the result is 720 x 480 which is not "wide".
This is because your Easy Setup, and therefore the Sequence you created, is the default "DV-NTSC" easy setup. You have already figured out how to change the Sequence settings on an existing sequence.
That said, I noticed you said your source material is QuickTime ProRes 4:2:2. FCE does not actually support ProRes ... you may be faced with a lot of rendering while you edit, and your results may be unpredictable. FCE officially supports Apple DV and Apple Intermediate Codec. Final Cut Pro (as in Final Cut Studio and Final Cut Pro X) support ProRes. For best results with FCE you should transcode (convert) the ProRes 4:2:2 material to QuickTime/Apple Intermediate Codec. You can probably do that with MPEG Streamclip. Before importing the material into FCE, set your easy setup to one of the AVCHD easy setups that matches your frame size & frame rate.

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Basically I need to make this file, which is a short film, 1 minute shorter to be eligible to enter it into the Cannes Film festival next week.
What would be the ideal import and and export settings to make a new master e.g. to create a new file that is most uncompressed.
I very much appreciate your help!

It seems that every time you reply your goal has changed.
If you're worried about the self-contained movie requiring FCP to open, that's a simple fix. Right-click on the file and choose Get Info. In the Info window, change the 'Opens With' to QuickTime Player. You'll maintain the best quality and others won't need FCP to open it.
-DH

What are highest quality export settings from iMovie to FCE 4.0?

I am using iMovie '08 to create Ken Burns effect movies from iPhoto photos to import into FCE. I want the least amount of loss from iMovie to FCE.
What are the highest quality settings for exporting from iMovie to FCE.
I do not care about size of file etc. Highest quality is all that matters to me.
Cheers,
Chuck

Well here are the facts.
My original question rephrased: "I want to know what are the settings to export Ken Burns created movies (therefore using photos) from iMovie (in this case iMovie '08) with the least loss and regardless of file size for importation into Final Cut Express".
I went to the local Apple store and some of the users (employees) of Final Cut Pro mentioned appropriately they thought .DV would be the best. However when we played some created videos they looked horrible when compared to .MOV with H.264. This just did not make sense, but we went by what we were seeing. Not being able to think with this I did more research and found this article which explained why .DV lookes like pooh pooh compared to H.264 video.
The article http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93002 explains a setting in Quicktime preferences that if not selected some videos appear pixelated.
So, when this preference in Quicktime is selected (never thought to try playing on VLC) the .DV movies look better than those using H.264. So with this resolved then my trial and error testing was realistic. That is I could try different export settings and see which ones looked better to determine the best export setting.
I tried what I thought was everything as far as "Export using Quicktime..." settings. Then I read in "iMovie '08 & iDVD: The Missing Manuals" under "The Video Codecs: A Catalog" an explanation of every type of compression when using the settings under "Movie to QuickTime Movie". Finally someone wrote more data on the codecs. I never found such explanation on the apple website (discussions etc). I really got tired of reading how H.264 is the better than sliced bread "greatest quality for the file size" which I think is true but did nothing to answer my original question. The book then mentioned the option "none". I was like I don't remember this option for "Compression Type". (BTW this all applies to iPhoto '08, Final Cut Express 4, and QuickTime Pro). So I tried "None".
Wow! Zero pixelation! Vivid colors! So I created three videos. One using H.264, DV/DVCPRO - NTSC and None (I had already tried many others but for this last experiment just these three). I also maxed out the Quality for each compressor. Results:
- H.264 colors looked a little faded from the original photos and minor minor fuzziness, file size about 6 MB
- DV/DVCPRO - NTSC colors a little more vivid and less fuzziness, file size about 60 MB
- None...Bam! absolutely photo quality resolution and color, file size about 600 MB. I didn't care about the size.
So, bingo "None" as as the compressor settings in Quicktime to export iMovie '08 Ken Burns effect slide shows for importation into Final Cut Express (FCE) with minimal loss and who cares about the file size. Yeah, this is mammoth file but this allows me to make snappy Extremely High Quality Ken Burns effect videos in iMovie for FCE. Then when I export from FCE I don't make a copy of a copy but make my first compression of the video.
That is my answer!
I consider this thread closed and will only open if I find any of this is incorrect. BTW I already imported the iMovie '08 video with compression "None" into FCE and after rendering it looks awesome and plays well.
Cheers,
Chuck

FCP export settings for import in iMovie '08

Q: What QT/ Compressor export settings do I need to use in FCP in order to be able to import the MOV file in iLife '08?
The reason for using iLife '08 is solely for sharing the movie to dotMac.
(if you know alternatives bypassing iMovie '08 ... be my guest).
Background:
I create my footage with a Sony HDR-HC7.
I capture the footage on my Macs (G5 and MBP) via FCP.
I edit my sequence in FCP using the HDV sequence presets
I output using FCP export to Quicktime. MOV file has HDV properties.
Funny: the captured MOV file with HDV properties can be read by iMovie '08 , the edited sequence with exactly the same HDV properties can not be read by iMovie '08 .
I tried a Compressor conversion to:
- Apple preset iTV --> no import
- Apple preset iPod video --> no import
- Apple preset m2v and m4v --> both no import
- Apple preset mp4 --> no import
iLife help mentiones that it accepts DV, mp4 and some MOV formats.
Q: what is the list of "some"
Please help.
Coen

Q: What QT/ Compressor export settings do I need to use in FCP in order to be able to import the MOV file in iLife '08?
Don't have FCP v5/6 but with older FCP/FCE usually use AIC for crossover in MOV file container.
iLife help mentiones that it accepts DV, mp4 and some MOV formats.
Q: what is the list of "some"
I have personally used DV, AIC, MJPEG, MPEG4, H.264 and i believe Photo-JPEG with which another individual indicated he was having problems. As to audio for these files, usually use DV, Linear PCM ("Big Endian" Integer), AAC, or even uncompressed. Avoid Apple Animation and Apple Video compression formats which will import/edit but will not correctly export. However, be advised that there are some caveats. E.g., a "Large or Full" slideshow export from iPhoto places the MPEG4/AAC data in an MOV file container which iMovie '08 will not import. However, if you use the MPEG Streamclip "Save As..." File menu option to save the same data in an MP4 file container. Therefore, would say that some problems here may be associated with iMovie '08 "pre-scanning" of files and possible minor bugs in proper error trapping on compression formats vs file containers.

Advice on export settings (codecs, sizes, etc.)

I have a 1-minute iMovie, non-HD, 720x480. It was shot with a basic camcorder.
I exported it using the Share > QuickTime > Web preset, and it came out as a 1MB movie, 320x240, and is REALLY grainy and kind of hard to watch.
So I tried to experiment with expert settings, but every expert setting I try multiplies the final file size (typically at least to 20MB or more).
What I'm looking for is "one step up" from the Web preset -- something that's 2-4MB in size, and looks better than my 1MB exported version.
I don't see many details on what the "Web" preset is, except that it's 12fps (I think that's fine -- this isn't sports), and 320x240. Does anyone have any tips or recommendations on other codecs/settings that would produce a better result but at an economical size just slightly larger than the Web preset?
(I'd love it to be larger than 320x240 but when I step up to 640x or 720x I get into 30MB movies...)

Even at 320x240 resolution, the MPEG-4 looks great whereas the H.264 was too blocky and grainy.
That may be due to other factors, not just whether the movie uses the Apple MPEG4 codec or the H.264 code. H.264 is able to deliver beautiful movies, as evidenced by Apple's movie trailers. (Don't expect to achieve that quality without using high-end, high-price software.)
To compare features of two movies you can open both in QuickTime Player, then choose Window > Show Movie Info. Click in the two movie windows in turn to compare their features.
The Movie Info window lets you look at important variables like the Frames Per Second, Data Size and Data Rate of the two movies. These were set by the iMovie export pre-sets used to create the movie.
If the movies aren't exactly what you want, you can use iMovie's Expert Settings export option to configure your own exports using "improved" export settings. You can increase the data rate, for example, to get better quality image. Or lower the window size to improve quality with the same data rate.
The H.264 is a particularly useful codec, delivering great-looking video at very low data rates. How low you can go will depend, in part, on the content of the video. It's often a matter of trial and error.
One strategy is to export with H.264 using a very high data rate so you see what the codec can deliver, then try other exports with lower data rates until the quality is no longer acceptable. When the movie file size achieves your goal, you're done.
Apple's new "Apple TV" export pre-set does a great job using H.264. It doesn't let you control things like the window size, however, at least not from iMovie.
But if you have QuickTime Pro, note that the Apple TV export pre-set automatically exports at the current size of your movie window. So if you want a small-window export, set the movie window to that size before exporting.
Karl

Export Settings - FCE - For new YouTube

Although there have been several posts on this I don't see a good answer. The link to Ken Stone's site didn't help.
I am using a Canon HG20, FCE, on a MacBook Pro (intel) running 10.5.6. I am mainly creating a simple 2 - 3 minute video interview in FCE that I want to export to a file and upload to YouTube. I want it to preserve widescreen/HD so that it will show up in YouTube with a viewer choice of "View in HD."
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Thanks.

Hi(Bonjour)!
I've read and follow this new article on Ken Stone web site:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/you_tube_hdgary.html
And the resulting clip can be displayed in HD on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yAl1jMftZM&fmt=22
For standard def displayed in 16:9, set the frame size in export with quicktime conversion to 640X360 pixels: the resulting movie will be displayed in full frame without letter or pillar boxes.
Michel Boissonneault

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I have 25 Sony 8mm old Home videos some over 20 years old importing as ntsc with a brand new mac-book pro and FCE 4.0. What is the best import and export settings to save for the future. Quality is important and time and space is not that important but I don't want to get silly considering the quality I am importing.
Thanks for your time.

I have 25 Sony 8mm old Home videos some over 20 years old importing as ntsc with a brand new mac-book pro and FCE 4.0. What is the best import and export settings to save for the future. Quality is important and time and space is not that important but I don't want to get silly considering the quality I am importing.
Thanks for your time.
*((((You will need to convert the analog video to QuickTime using Apple DV-DVCPRO NTSC codec. The normal way to do this is with an analog-digital converter such as the Canopus ADVC-110 or ADVC-300 (not the ADVC-mini). However, if you have a miniDV camcorder that supports analog-digital passthrough then you could use the camcorder as the converter device.)))))*
I was lucky and found a sony camera that I hooked a four pin firewire to a 9 pin (800) to my mac.
*(((Keep in mind that DV video requires about 13GB per hour. If your 8mm tapes are all 120 mins (2 hours) long, you will need about 650GB to store all the captured video. Sounds like a 1TB drive to me. BTW - Firewire, not USB.)))*
I was thinking 2TB
*(((You need to capture the video in FCE. The proper easy setup is the DV NTSC DV Converter easy setup. Editing will then be done in a DV NTSC sequence.*
*How you export from FCE depends on what you want to do with the finished video. If you just want to burn DVDs, then export to QuickTime Movie. If you want to save the video at its 'full resolution' then also export as a QuickTime Movie. If you want to post to the web, or do certain other things with the finished video, you would export to QuickTime Conversion.))))*
I just want to store it on 2 hard drives one connected to a pogo plug so my family can see them and store the second at my brothers house as the back-up. What would be the best format for that?
Now you know my hardware so should I import the whole 2 hours or batches of like 1/2 hour segments.
Again thanks for your help this is saving me many trials and errors.

Best export settings in iMovie for later import to iDVD

Hello,
I've created a few iMovie projects that I've put on DVD using the Share To iDVD option.
I have a few different projects that I want to put on one DVD. What are the best export settings in iMovie to create files that I can later import using iDVD?
Cheers

I would sugest using the Apple defaults - which you will get if you use SHARE/Export Movie.
It is possible to infinitely tweak the parameters by using SHARE/EXPORT USING QUICKTIME, but in my experience, you are not likely to visibly improve quality. However, you might be able to get more compression(i.e. a smaller file size) at nearly the same quality.
However, there is no harm in experimenting if you like.
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For frame rate, use automatic or 24 frames, but you can use fewer and see if it imporves quality.
For bit rate, you can use up to 20 Mbps, but 16Mbps is the highest I have gone, and that results in a very large file. With h.264, you can get good results with 10 or even lower. (Note: 10 Mbps = 10,000 Kbps)
Here is the HELP section on this.
http://help.apple.com/imovie/#mov3a9e47fe

FCE-HD export settings for slideshow

Hey dear specialists,
I need to have a help for the export settings for a slideshow
I am using FCE-HD 4.01 on either MacBookPro with Mountain Lion or on my old G5 with 10.6
Input are slides in JPEG with 15MByte Pixel.
As soon as I am using transition of a picture the result in export in all setting I can choose from FCE, which I found out is very bad, because picture has the interlacing effects at the borders
What can I change to get a good result
Thanks in advance for the feedbacks
Best regards
FJ
N.b.: screenshot abstract >>>> see right hand video lines

Hey Russ,
the video rate of the object does not change when I manipulate on the easy setting
If I import pictures, I do this directly from pircture folder into the BIN, and that should be independently from video input setting
The frame rate should also not be a problem for me here in Germany, because working directly from MAC to flatscreen
I put you a screenshot of the new sequence
The Mov output looks not that bad, even if one looks into detail see picture attached, the steps between one and next frame creates problems
I try also to send you the latest version of a slide transiltion example in iPhone quality ( this can not be attached ) it is a 2MB file. If you like I send you by email.
looks a bit improved vs the morning, but I do not feel confident.
What do you think?
Best regards and will come back tomorrow
FJ

Quicktime Export Settings for Keynote Import? Keynote freaks out 16:9 clips

I have 1440 x 1080i HDV footage imported into the latest FCP that is getting exported into Keynote. I notice that most of the exports and imports into Keynote end up doing weird stuff, like reducing the resolution, or turning it into a 4;3 format even though it is 16:9 on the export.
I don't care about the file size with Keynote, so I don't want to compress it any further than how HDV ruins footage to begin with.
So far the only thing that has worked is exporting it as a ProRes file.
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Thanks!

Yes, the Keynote presentation slides/project is set for 1920x1080, the reason is I'm outputting via a high lumens projector that natively projects at 1920x1080p.
Even though a Macbook Pro does not have a screen that size, the Macbook can send out even larger than 1920x1080, but I am limiting the output to the native screen res of the projector.

FCE export settings for higher quality video

Hello. I'm a self-schooled newspaper video features producer and relative newcomer to Final Cut Express, shifting from Premium Elements. I've just begun using it to upload videos to my newspaper's finicky web system, which will only accept .flv files of a certain size. My modus operandi has been to export my videos as large .avi files, using Quicktime conversion and DV/DVCPRO/NTSC, with medium quality, with 16 bit sound set at 32 Khz. Then I run that .avi through the Adobe Flash Media Encoder with a frame rate of 15 fps, deinterlacing and resizing the screen to 640 by 480. This procedure (outlined by our former video editor) produces serviceable web quality video (You can see video that results from using these settings at http://wvgazette.com/multimedia). So, two questions: 1) I have created an 8-minute FCE music video for my band and wish to export it at a higher quality (for use on Vimeo) than these newspaper settings. Which of them do I change so that a higher quality video results without waiting all night for a massive file to upload? 2) And wthere might I turn for guidance on better understanding the Sanskrit of FCE video export settings for newbies? Thanks for any help.
Douglas Eye
http://hundredmountain.com

The simplest way to produce good quality video for the internet is:-
1. File>Export Using QT Conversion.
2. The "Format" window should say, "QT Movie".
3. In "Use" select "LAN/Intranet" from the dropdown menu.
4. Click "Save" and when it has finished encoding, upload it.
Do not mess about altering audio settings, frame rates etc.
Using the above settings an 8 minute video would be encoded in around 20 minutes (depending on computer speed) and would be well under 100MB.
Is that too big?
Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown

Panasonic TM-300 Highest Possible Import/Export Settings

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It could be some type of import setting I have on FCE is causing me to have a grainy image.
*Can somebody let me know the import and export settings I need to use to get the highest possible quality?* I don't care how big the file is when it's done... I'll buy a whole shelf of hard drives if I need to. I want Scorsese like quality...
Panasonic TM-300 has the top end capability to record in HA60i/24p - 1920x1080 - AVCHD and that is what I am using.

"Where are you seeing this blockiness exactly? In the viewer set to 100%? What are the exact item properties of your clips?"
Can you answer these questions? Are you only talking about the blockiness on exported files compressed on YouTube?
You're watching this fullscreen? How big a screen? How big is the exported file? This is very heavily compressed media. Compressed on export and then compressed again by YouTube. Any gradient, like shadow areas, will show artifacting. The second video is really soft, which masks a lot of the artifacting, but produces an image with a lot of ringing around the high contrast edges. It's been compressed pretty well considering the contrast and depth of the shadow. It looks as if it's been purposely black crushed, but that may just be an accident of the lighting.

Export Settings for best quality, smaller file size?

I have a one hour movie I made of a concert and exported it using Share --> Media Browser --> 720p. It came out great quality but it's 4.4gb's.
I need to figure out how to get that down to about 1GB while keeping 720p. HD movies in iTunes are two plus hours and only 3gb's from what I've seen. How can I use the same compression settings? There has to be a way to compress it a little more, while staying in 720p right?
What am I missing? TIA!

Compression quality really depends on the type of video that you are trying to compress. If the video is full of motion and noise, it will be very hard to reduce the file size through compression without massive loss. Compression is a trade-off. If you reduce the fame size to 480p, you may increase the quality of the video while reducing the file size versus trying to do the same thing at 720p.

Import and Export settings and presets

Thanks in advance.
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I don't think you can in QT... You can in FCP by selecting CUSTOM as your setting when exporting to QT. Just rename the settings from custom to what you'd like it to be.

FCE to DVD (Export Settings)

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Movie is filmed in HD 16:9 ratio.
Can anyone give me ideal export settings from FCE?
Thanks,
Doug

File>Export>QuickTime Movie (NOT QT CONVERSION).
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Then drag the file into iDVD.

FCE HD import size versus export - settings?

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