HD quality iMovie vs. Final Cut Express (AIC)

Hello,
I was finally able to carry out a simple test to compare output from iMovie '09 vs. Final Cut Express (FCE), which has proven to produce much cleaner output when compared with iMovie '08. Just as I have received help from online mac community I feel obliged to share my experiences with you in case it's of interest to you and helps you.
* Footage: filmed on Canon 5D Mark II (1080p, bitrate >40Mbps
* Imported into iMovie '09, no stabilization and other tricks, exported to Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) with as little quality loss as possible
* Imported into FCE, exported to AIC
Resulting file from FCE is sharper and cleaner when compared side by side in QuickTime. Not surprisingly the same AIC export has different sizes, too.
* FCE: 477 MB for 32 seconds of footage
* iMovie: 253 MB for the same 32 seconds of identical footage
Hope this helps someone. Happy filming!
Roman

It's been long discussed, but your conclusion is not fully correct:
1) If you import at FULL, no pixels are lost by iM. Thus, his Canon footage could have come in perfectly.
2) "One field is DISCARDED with 1080i." Not true. IF AND ONLY IF you use a function or FX that performs scaling, ALL video is chopped to 540p.
3) The functions that do NOT cause conversion of ALL video to 540p include SPEED, DISSOLVE, and FADE. If you use only these FX, then EVERY pixel that is recorded by your camera CAN BE exported by iM 09.
4) If you use no FX, then EVERY pixel that is recorded by your camera CAN BE exported by iM 09.
5) To export ALL pixels, you of course, must choose the correct settings in the QT dialog. They would be the same as you use with FCE or FCP.
The fact he got different sized files shows HE did something to cause the difference. Had he done things "correctly," he would have the same size file.
PS1: Page Curl is a perfect example of a scaling FX. So, by violating the #1 rule of using iM 09 you get support for your incorrect conclusion. Folks shooting with a camera like the Canon do so mostly to get a high-end film look. Very few folks making a film use anything other than SPEED, DISSOLVE, and FADE. In fact, no one making a high-end video would use anything other than SPEED, DISSOLVE, and FADE. So, it is perfectly possible to NOT use any of the "bad" FX. (Although they can be fun I admit!)
PS2: Be aware the black Background IS one of the bad FX. Unless, this bug was fixed in the last update. A static background should not need to use scaling! If this bug remains, use a black JPEG! I keep a black and white matte in iPhoto to use with "Fade TO" FX.

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I'm not a video professional so my opinion doesn't count for much. (Which won't stop me from expressing an opinion. :-))
I love simple tools. My bias is always to use the simplest tool I can find, if it does the job. I don't like spending days or weeks learning software, or having to re-learn it if I haven't used it for a while. I dislike the nuisance and the cost.
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.. which vers. of iM we are talking about?
if your source is miniDV (=interlaced), iM vers≤6 is ok.
iM08/09 have that 'skip field' prob, meaning, you lose halve vertical resolution while using iM08/09.
=> this is discussed +in extenso+ at the iM boards. it leads a few folks (incl. me) to establish this web-site:
http://sites.google.com/site/theimovieoutputproject/
if you really need that extra-grain of quality, you have to start from scratch in iM09 or FC/e.
640x360 is no resolution supported by iM (any vers.), nor FC/e.
for sure, +on export+ you can choose this 'size'.
for DVD-creation, use the app's intended workflows to avoid useless interim-conversions.

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posted many moons ago.
apologies for naff formatting (reposted from an old blog post on an old website). Piero, do you fancy taking this on and hosting it? Improving it? I'm still out of the video editing world so I'm not really interested in reviving any of my old stuff yet.
File below is hosted on my mac so if the link is down, try again later.
This is only any good for DV stuff. No HDV stuff
=======OLD POST 1=========================
OK, here's what I'd do based on what I've tried so far in getting iMovie
.dv files into FCE and avoiding having to render.
Open your iMovie .dv file in Quicktime Pro.
Extract the audio track
Export the audio track as a Quicktime Movie, Linear PCM format, Channels Stereo (L R), 48kHz, 16bit sample size
Delete the audio track from the .dv file
Open the exported audio file, select all and copy.
Select All in the .dv file
Add the exported Audio file using Add to Movie
Export/Save As the .dv file as a self contained Quicktime Movie
Use this movie in FCE
The benefit of this approach as opposed to exporting .dv file in one go is
that the only thing that is truely exported, etc is the Audio track which is
relatively quick. The video track is left unchanged so there is no loss in
quality.
The resultant file never has to be rendered in FCE.
==========OLD POST 2====================
Download: i5m_iMovie2FCE v0.9
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============================
// Permanently broken mac // Mac OS X (10.4.9)

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