Final Cut Express movie or iDVD - need best quality

I have tried various settings, rendering, and burning, and I am not satisfied with the quality of the iDVD burning of the FCE movie. I used an HD camcorder - looks awesome straight from camera to HD tv via hdmi plug. Movie loaded into computer via FCE and still looks good on browser and canvas. When I use File, Export, Quicktime Movie or Quicktime Conversion, to save the movie, the quality does not seem as good. Then in iDVD it doesn't get any better. What are the best settings on FCE and iDVD to make the best quality movie.

Zak- from all that I've read, QT Movie is better than QT Conversion for quality - Correct?
The FCE program supports the HD quality. When moving to iDVD, it seems Best Performance is the best quality. Are there any specific settings I need to do in iDVD, as there aren't many to choose from. I have a 3 1/2 hour movie set up in FCE with transitions, double video, editing, etc. I have split the movie so I can produce on 2 separate dvd's for best quality and I am using the 7.7 double layer dvd's to burn on. I have also put in photos, iphoto, that look perfect on the canvas of FCE in the movie, but when on idvd , even before i burn the dvd, the pictures lose quality have are a bit fuzzy.

Similar Messages

  • Why does my final cut express movie flicker after i put on disk using idvd

    Why does my final cut express movie flicker after burning to a dvd using idvd.  Its about 90 minutes long.

    Hi
    As Alchroma writes - more info needed.
    FCE/P to iDVD
    Several things
    • How to go from FCE/P to iDVD
    • Free space on Start-up hard disk
    • Encoding
    • Brand and type of DVDs used
    • Burn speed set
    • iDVD BUG
    • Chapters
    How to go from FCE/P to iDVD I do
    • Disable Screen and Energy saver
    • IMPORTANT --> FIRST in FinalCut - Mix Down Audio under Sequence Menu / Render Only / Mix-down
    • Export out as a QuickTime .mov file
    • Select with Mark - Chapter Mark
    • Not as Self-Contained (not important but saves time and space)
    • NO QUICKTIME CONVERSION (IMPORTANT)
    This QT.mov file I import into iDVD from within iDVD.
    Free space on Start-up hard disk
    I set a minimum of 25GB (for Mac OS and iDVDs temp files)
    Encoding
    • I use Pro Quality encoding
    Brand and type of DVDs used
    • I use Verbatim
    • I use DVD-R
    Burn speed set
    • I set down this to x4 (or x1)
    iDVD BUG
    • One can not go back to movie-project for any alterations and then go back to
    the iDVD project. It will notice and ask You to either Up-date or Cancel. Neither
    of them will work.
    Medicine - Start a brand new iDVD project.
    Use of Chapters
    • I only use a to z and 0 to 9 in naming them. NO other symbol/letter !
    • NO Chapter-mark at very beginning - iDVD NEEDS TO set this by it self
    • No Chapter marks in or within two seconds from a transition
    (Way around this last one - Export movie as QT full quality and NO Chapter marks
    Import this into a new Movie-project and now You are free to set C-Ms where You want
    them except at very beginning - still)
    Material used to build movie
    • video - I use streamingDV (or convert all other to this e.g. .mp4, .avi, .wmv etc)
    • audio - I use .aiff 16-bit 48kHz or from Audio-CD (44.1kHz) - no .mp3 or direct from iTunes
    • photos - I use .jpg - no .bmp etc
    Trash iDVD pref. file and run Repair Permissions - and have a re-try.
    from post ??
    May not be relevant, but I had the same problem with iDVD, where burned DVDs showed a green screen. It was cured by quitting Quicksilver and Quickeys as well as disabling sleep and screen-saving
    Yours Bengt W

  • When I import a Quick Time movie into the timeline using Final Cut Express, why does it need rendering?

    when I import a Quick Time movie into the timeline using Final Cut Express, why does it need rendering?

    Because your clip properties do not match your sequence settings.
    It will help a lot if you provide details ...
    FCE Easy Setup
    Sequence settings (vid rate, frame size, compressor)
    Source of your clips (camcorder make/model, etc)
    Clip properties (vid rate, frame size, compressor)

  • I have a mpeg file I want to edit in Final Cut Express. How do I best go about importing this file? I assume I must find a way of converting it....?

    I have a mpeg file I want to edit in Final Cut Express. How do I best go about importing this file? I assume I must find a way of converting it....?

    Use MPEG Streamclip to convert it. Depending on the type of file you might need to purchase the MPEG-2 playback component.

  • My homemade DVDs won't open in Quicktime or Final Cut Express. Do I need a converter? They seem to be .VOB/.BUP/.IFO files. Thank you!

    My homemade DVDs won't open in Quicktime or Final Cut Express. Do I need a converter? MPEG Streamclip didn't work. They seem to be .VOB, .BUP and .IFO files.
    Help please!
    Vicki

    David, thank you so much. After a great deal of frustration and despair at ever getting it working, I can now edit my precious home movies. Appreciate you taking the time to help me! Vicki

  • Can you export FInal Cut express project to IDVD?

    I am currently using IMOVIE and IDVD. I am considering purchasing Final Cut Express. Someone told me that you cannot export a completed Final Cut Express File to IDVD. Is this correct. Would I have to invest in DVD Studio?
    Thanks,
    Benjamin

    Completely untrue. Some people seem to have issues
    with chapter markers not importing correctly on
    occasions, but otherwise it works fine
    Can anyone comment on this problem and the solution? I just upgraded to FCX HD and iDVD 5.0, and I can no longer put chapters in my movies. Worked just fine under FCX 2.0 and iDVD 4.
    Thanks,
    -dan

  • TA26655 opening final cut express movie in imovie hd

    I need to fix the exposure in a school play video that I shot, but I only have imovie hd along with idvd hd to create the dvd.
    I'm going to have to purchase an older copy of final cut express to do so, I think. If I open the imovie hd file in final cut express and tone down the exposure, can I then import that "fixed" file back into imovie hd or will I need to finish editing in final cut express and make a dvd from that? My ultimate goal is to make a disk image of the dvd movie for making future copies. What is the best way to do this?

    Hi
    Can only answer parts of this but anyhow.
    A. iMovie and FinalCut - or really iMovie HD6 and FinalCut Express 4 or FinalCut Pro 6 - doesn't use the same way to handle VIDEO. So one can not jump from one to the other.
    B. This has been made even worse as
    • iMovie HD6 - and iMovie'08 to 11 - HAS nothing in common but the name - not a bit of code is related.
    • FinalCut Express and FinalCut Pro was one way compatible from Express to Pro - not back
    • FinalCut is now also disgraced in naming - as FCE/FCP - doesn't have any relation to FinalCut Pro X either.
    So this is not as easy as it could have been.
    You can in iMovie HD6 - Export out as a full quality QuickTime.mov movie and in FinalCut Express or Pro import it to lay a final touch to it - BUT - all is glued in so no further changes can be made to what's done in iMovie HD e.g. texts and transitions etc.
    BUT !
    The tools to color-correct and brightness / contrast adjustments is superior in FinalCut to iMovie where they are but basic. (nearly of no use at all - very very raw)
    So this and some other tool's made me take the jump into FinalCut Pro (6.0.4) and I love it. Steep learning curve - but the freedom is fantastic.
    Must problem is in the very beginning
    • selecting what kind of project You are doing - e.g. PAL SD-Video 48kHz audio
    • how the material is stored - and setting up the scratch disks (they jump back - so one must keep a very observant eye to this - EVERY time starting-up)
    • but when this is a natural habit to get all sorted out (photos, audio and video where it must be) then the fun really begins.
    Good Luck - and have a fantastic time - Key-framing is just one of the wonderful tings You'll find.
    Yours Bengt W

  • How do I export a final cut express movie in both PAL & NTSC formats?

    I am wanting to provide both a NTSC and PAL verion of a movie onto a DVD, how can I do this using final cut express?

    Ok, I have successfully converted a DV-NTSC video to DV-PAL using Nattress Standards Conversion in FCE. The resulting output file (a self-contained QT movie) verfied as PAL in QuickTime movie inspector, 720x576 at 25fps and it plays perfectly, the video looks great, and the sound is in sync.
    I had to figure out a workaround for one step in the documentation (Graeme uses an FCPro feature called 'nest items' that doesn't exist in FCExpress. I got around that by manually creating a second PAL sequence instead - see below).
    If you're starting with an NTSC video, the basic procedure I used is this:
    1 - create a PAL sequence and place the NTSC clip in that sequence (yes, that's right)
    2 - create a second PAL sequence (add the word NEST to the name so you can tell which sequence is which)
    3 - nest the first PAL sequence in the second PAL sequence
    4 - open the second PAL sequence (the NEST) in the viewer by Control-clicking its timeline and select +Open in Viewer+
    5 - apply the G Converter filter to the NEST (which is now open in the Viewer)
    6 - click the filters tab in the Viewer so you can see the G Converter filter
    7 - drag the +original NTSC clip+ from the Browser to the +Source Clip well+ in the filter
    8 - verify that the other G Converter settings are what you need, especially that you have checked "Nested", "High Quality" and "Source is NTSC-DV" and that the convert setting is NTSC->PAL (these are the defaults, but you should verify them anyway)
    9 - render the NEST sequence ... +this may take as long or longer than the length in time of your sequence+
    10 - export the NEST sequence as a self-contained QT movie ... which will now be a PAL movie
    One other note, the Standards Conversion filters need to be copied to the +Library > Application Support > Final Cut Express Support > Plugins+ folder (not the Final Cut Pro Support > Plugins folder as specified in the documentation)
    If you are going to try this with your project, I suggest the following:
    1 - edit your movie in an NTSC sequence. After completing all your edits (when you are done editing) export it as a +self-contained QT movie+ (it will be an NTSC movie)
    2 - re-import the exported NTSC movie back into FCE (it will now be your complete movie as one large clip)
    3 - follow the instructions above for using the G Converter filter to create the PAL version of your movie (using the re-imported movie as the only clip you will put in the first PAL sequence, and in the Source Clip well in the converter filter.)
    You can use your first export (the self-contained NTSC movie) to create your NTSC DVDs; and the second export (the self-contained PAL movie) to create your PAL DVDs.

  • How can one burn a Final Cut Express Movie to a DVD?

    To whomever can help:
    Hello all. My question is how can I take a finished project in Final Cut Express and burn it to a dvd? Do I need to use iDVD or something else. And if so, how can I burn it and make menus and such?
    -Matt

    how can I take a finished project in Final Cut Express and burn it to a dvd? Do I need to use iDVD or >something else. And if so, how can I burn it and make menus and such?
    Just over half way into this tutorial is a _how to_ get a Final Cut Sequence into iDVD. The method is pretty much the same out of FCE even though iDVD has changed with differing versions.
    Knowing which iDVD you use will help if you need more info.
    http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/idvd_5stone.html
    Al

  • Final Cut Express, Chapter Markers iDVD

    How does this particular tool work with iDVD?
    Obviously, I do all my editing in FCE4. Then I convert it an .MOV file & transfer/burn it to DVD with i-DVD.
    Must I create separate chapters within iDVD itself in order to have actual chapter menus on my DVD? If so, what purpose do the chapter markers serve in Final Cut Express? The only thing I can assume is that it will give the viewer the ability to “scan” with the channel button on their DVD player, but there will not be an actual menu on the opening screen of the DVD itself...???
    Any answers appreciated, thanks!
    Auggie

    I know to little.
    What I know and that is important is
    • Don't set a Chaper marker in the very beginning of Your movie. iDVD demands to
    do this start marker by it self.
    • in iMovie HD6 or prior - there is one more thing - not to set a Chapter mark in a
    transition or within 2 sec of it.
    Don't know how this relate to Final Cut - my guess is - not at all.
    BUT THERE ARE ONE - Super Important thing more.
    • Titles of Chapters can only be set from a to z and 0 to 9.
    DON'T even try !"#€%&/()=? etc.
    If You do the encoding process in iDVD will halt (often close to the end) with
    the sad message "Multiplexing Error"
    Yours Bengt W

  • Burning an AVCHD Final Cut Express project using iDVD

    I have a 1080i AVCHD video that's been edited down to 45 minutes in Final Cut Express, I'd like to burn it to DVD using iDVD, but the quality when I export as a quicktime movie and burn the disc is not good at all. I'm not expecting it to be HD quality. I'm hoping for DVD quality, when I burn this it barely looks VHS quality. It just seems like iDVD isn't compressing it well. Would it look better if I exported it to a quicktime movie from FCE and changed the size to a more DVD friendly 720x480? How do I go about doing that?
    In iDVD I'm using Professional quality, I have around 20GB free on the hard drive. Should I free up more space before I try again? Any help here would be great.

    Hello,
    I have been experimenting with this problem for weeks now. I realize we have no way to quantify "looks great" or "degrades" but this may help. I watch the finished product on a 42" HD Hitachi plasma TV. The AVCHD footage rendered through FCE using either Pro Res 4:2:2 or AIC 1920 x 1080i preset ends up looking worse than SD 720 x 480 when rendered and burned through iDVD. There are compression artifacts all over the screen. De-interlace / re-interlace maybe? Also, using the RGB outputs from the Sony HDR-SR12 looks stunning when played directly through the TV. No compression artifacts visible. So, if the camera can transcode the image so easily in real time, why can't my mac do the same? Just the import alone is a degradation of the image. Seems to me we are waiting for FCE and FCP to have native support for AVCHD.
    We have new 8 core Mac Pro towers here at PCC and the results are the same. Apple says no AVCHD support unless you have an intel mac but that is only for import. It does not natively support the format.

  • Final Cut Express Movie turns into Widescreen

    I've seen a lot of discussion about this on the forum, but no real solutions.
    ANd to re-cap...Its not Audio, its not chapter markers, its not having something selected in the timeline when exporting.
    When I create a non widescreen project in Final Cut Express (Current Version)
    And then export it as a reference movie (as it is suggested to do)
    Then import it into iDVD for burning. It becomes a widescreen project.
    I have 2 projects I created in FCE. Both are from the same type of source material, both are about the same length, acording to the Quicktime movie inspector, identical in every way almost except for the actual content.
    One burned fine in iDVD, the next one, done the same day was converted to widescreen by iDVD.
    Any solutions to this...I'm obviously not the first person with the problem.

    Same problem with a fullscreen movie exported as a quicktime movie from FCP, then iDVD forcing it into widescreen. I solved the problem by exporting from FCP with Compressor. In Compressor I chose DV_NTSC as my format and it works fine as fullscreen in iDVD. It even saves chapter markers. So that's my current workaround until Apple fixes this terrible bug.

  • Final Cut Express 4.0.1 needed for Mavericks

    Hi - I haven't done any video editing for a while or, more importantly, since I installed Mavericks after a crash late last year. Of course, today I need to redo my reel for a job application, and when I tried opening some of my old project files in Final Cut Express, I get an error message that the .fcp files are too new.
    I installed FCE from discs after the crash, so the program is "stuck" on 4.0, and since Apple no longer supports FCE, the 4.0.1 update doesn't show up in Software Update.
    So obviously I'm stuck in quite a rut. I've tried various fixes (included running Terminal and running Software Update from there, specifically searching for FCE 4.0.1) but none of them work. I think my only option is to find the update from 4 to 4.0.1, which, again, isn't available official through Apple. I'm a few hours away from looking it up on dodgy torrent sites given my level of desperation.
    Does anyone out there have the update files that they can send me? Or a universal location where they are stored? Or is there some other fix for Mavericks that I haven't found via extensing Googling?
    Thanks
    -Jack

    This is the Final Cut Pro X discussion forum. You will want to go to this thread in the Final Cut Express forum. 
    Russ

  • Final Cut Express tells me I need to register again

    I think my computer may have a virus. FCP tells me I need to register my serial number again (I have used it for 2+ years with no problems), but as soon as I start typing any information in the 'Final Cut Express Serialization' area the OK button turns grey, so it won't respond when I have entered the information. I have tried deleting FCP but am told that 'FCP cannot be moved to the trash because it cannot be deleted'. I have deleted the FCP ID file as recommended in other discussions but no luck.
    When trying to install again using the original disc (genuine Apple software) I am told :
    Error creating folder
    1008:9,-5000 Access denied error
    Upon clicking 'OK' I am then told:
    You do not have enough access privileges for this installation.
    Please help, I am going mad!!!

    Make sure you're an admin user, trash you're preferences and repair permissions. Make sure the drive as the correct permissions set in Get info.
    The OK button gets grayed out when you start typing the number, because the number is incorrect. When you finish typing the number correctly, case sensitive, hyphens, correct groups of letters or numbers, the OK button will light up again.

  • Getting Final Cut Express movie (burned using idvd) to play in Windows

    I have made my Final Express movie into a dvd using idvd. However, it will not play on Windows media player, even though it plays on a regular dvd player. I am not certain why, but is there a way I can make it compatible? I have tried even burning it as a "disk image." I know I made it work before, but I can't recall exactly what I did previously to make it play in Windows media player. Any suggestions?

    Unfortunately, I have never found a way around this. It seems like DVDs created in iDVD are incompatible with some DVD players and most PCs that I have tried.

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