IDVD Quality Question

Kind People,
I shot my video on a Canon Vixia HF10, downloaded it to Final Cut Express to edit, exported it as Quick Time Movie, dropped it in iDVD, then played it on my TV and the quality was…..not good. The video was a little fuzzy and there were ghosts. Are there any settings I should go back and check in iDVD.
Wolfgang
FYI - I’m going to ask this same question in the Final Cut Express forum.

Hi
Exactly How did You go from FCE to iDVD ?
I do. Export as QuickTime .mov
• Not Selfcontained
• NO QuickTime conversion
How much free space is there on Your internal (boot) hard disk. THIS IS ESSENTIAL
due to that neither Mac OS or iDVD can store it's temp-files elsewhere.
Yours Bengt W

Similar Messages

Visual quality questions

I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I want to be as clear and detailed as possible about my process and goals using iMovie and iDVD.
I read posts on this forum frequently and know that many users are having problems with the visual quality of the final product and are looking for help in finding the best method of sharing.
I use still photos exclusively in my projects. I shoot using jpeg fine or raw and I use a variety of transitions as well as the KB effect on a few of the photos when creating projects. My goal is to create a slideshow movie that I can burn to disc and give to friends.
Currently I am involved with an Apple Tech Support trying to solve a problem that is beyond the scope of these forums. Last week I was asked to create a 10 slide project using a variety of transitions and the KB effect on 2 or 3 photos, share through Export using QT, and to send it to my contact through her Mobile Me. The quality was appalling - as I knew it would be because I have tried various methods of sharing - all with poor results, with one exception. Sometimes the quality after the share is excellent but deteriorates in iDVD; sometimes the quality after the initial share itself is poor. It all depends on which process I choose. Reverting to iMovie HD has not proven successful either.
The one exception for me is to share using "Export Movie". I end with a product icon on the desktop with a title.mov signature. (I used this method last week to resend my 10 slide test project to Apple Support and my contact person commented on the high quality.) The time difference creating the project to me is telling: for example, for a slideshow project that is 24 minutes long in iMovie it takes almost 2 hours to create a movie using "Export Movie", but 36 minutes or less using any other sharing method.
I certainly have not read every post on this forum, nor do I have the expertise or skill of the people who respond to questions from others about visual quality. But I haven't seen the process I use suggested by anyone else. (I have offered my solution to the problem once or twice when I am certain that the questioner is using still photos.)
So my questions are these> Is there a difference in how iMovie/iDVD handle video vs still photo projects? Is the solution I have found to retaining high visual quality just a fluke that won't work for anyone else? I would like to be helpful to others if I can be, but don't want to waste other peoples' time if my solution really isn't a solution at all.

The problem is with imovie'08 or 09 and their way of discarding every second line
in interlaced video material. Not suited for DVDs.
Never got anything alike iMovie HD 6 or FCE/P from them.
Notes on DVD quality
*DVD quality*
1. iDVD 08 & 09 has three levels of qualities.
iDVD 6 has the two last ones
• Professional Quality (movies up to 120 min.) - BEST
• Best Performances (movies less than 60 min.) - High quality on final DVD
• High Quality (in iDVD08 or 09) / Best Quality (in iDVD6) (movies up to 120 min.) - slightly lower quality than above
2. From
• FCE/P - Export out as full quality QuickTime.mov (not selfcontaining, no conversion)
• iMovie x-6 - Don't use ”Share/Export to iDVD” = destructive even to movie project and especially so
when the movie includes photos. Instead just drop or import the iMovie movie project icon (with a Star on it) into iDVD theme window.
• iMovie’08 not meant to go to iDVD. Go via Media Browser or rather use iMovie HD 6 from start.
3. I use Roxio Toast™ to make an as slow burn as possibly eg x1 (in iDVD’08 or 09 this can also be set)
This can also be done with (Apple) Disk Util tool.
4. There has to be about or more than 25Gb free space on internal (start-up) hard disk. iDVD can't
use an external one as scratch disk (if it is not start-up disc).
5. Verbatim ( also recommended by many - Taiyo Yuden DVDs - I can’t get hold of it to test )
6. DVD-R (no +R or +/-RW)
7. Keep NTSC to NTSC - or - PAL to PAL when going from iMovie to iDVD
8. Don’t burn more than three DVD at a time - but let the laser cool off for a while befor next batch.
iDVD quality also depends on.
• HOW much free space is there on Your internal (start-up) hard disk. Go for approx 25Gb.
less than 5Gb and Your result will most probably not play.
• What kind of movie project You drop into it. MPEG4 seems to be a bad choice.
other strange formats are .avi, .wmv, .flash etc. Convert to streamingDV first
Also audio formats matters. I use only .aiff or from miniDV tape Camera 16-bit
strange formats often problematic are .avi, .wmv, audio from iTunes, .mp3 etc
Convert to .aiff first and use this in movie project
• What kind of standard - NTSC movie and NTSC DVD or PAL to PAL - no mix.
(If You need to change to do a NTSC DVD from PAL material let JESDeinterlacer3.2.2 do the conversion)
(Dropping a PAL movie into a NTSC iDVD project
(US) NTSC DVDs most often are playable in EU
(EU) PAL DVDs most often needs to be converted to play in US
UNLESS. They are plabacked by a Mac - then You need not to care
• What kind of DVDs You are using. I use Verbatim DVD-R (this brand AND no +R or +/-RW)
• How You encode and burn it. Two settings prior iDVD’08 or 09
Pro Quality (only in iDVD 08 & 09)
Best / High Quality (not always - most often not)
Best / High Performances (most often my choise before Pro Quality)
1. go to iDVD pref. menu and select tab far right and set burn speed to x1 (less errors = plays better) - only in iDVD 08 & 09
(x4 by some and may be even better)
2. Project info. Select Professional Encoding - only in iDVD 08 & 09.
Region codes.
iDVD - only burn Region = 0 - meaning - DVDs are playable everywhere
DVD Studio pro can set Region codes.
1 = US
2 = EU
Yours Bengt W

IDVD quality

This is a question regarding Final Cut Express to DVD Quality. I am using a Panasonic GS-150. It is a very good 3CCD camcorder. The picture quality in Final Cut's Canvas is awesome. I go to File>Export to QuickTime movie. This was the instructions Apple gave in order to export to iDVD from FCE. So...I do that then go to iDVD. Make a disc image and then burn it using Disk Utility, again, like what Apple says to do. I pop it into my TV's DVD player. It looks bad. Go to this to see what I mean
I took screenshots of the actual DVD. The picture is grainy (it was in sunlight), and pixilzed. Can you give me some advice? You would think since some Hollywood movies are made using Final Cut, it would look better.

I am using a Panasonic GS-150. It is a very good 3CCD camcorder.
As far as consumer camcorders go, it is OK. But it is hardly a good 3 CCD camcorder, it is actually one of the cheapest. A good 3 CCD camcorder will be something like the Sony VX2100 and a very good 3 CCD would be something like Sony DSR 400. I know my Panny 250 (essentially the same as the 150) is very grainy compared to my Sony 170/250. If you aren't already, you may want to hook a cheap 13" TV up to your deck when editing and this will give you an idea of what the footage will look like as you edit. And here is my stock reply on iDVD & Quality:
Quality and iDVD- Quality is subjective; what one person finds as good another may not. Quality is also highly dependant upon input. In other words: quality in, quality out; garbage in, garbage out. It is helpful to have a basic understanding of what makes a DVD a DVD. When you record on mini-DV you are recording to an already compressed format. Arguably a very good compressed format but compressed nonetheless. This means information is being tossed at the point you are using the camcorder. iDVD, or any DVD authoring app on any computer, Windoze or Mac, compresses this material even further into the MPEG 2 format for playback via a tabletop DVD player. Now mini-DV has about 30 frames per second (NTSC). MPEG (in a very basic nutshell) takes a picture about twice every 30 frames and uses this as a reference frame and then only records the motion difference between that reference frame and the next time it creates a reference frame. So you go from 30 frames/second to TWO, with motion difference! This is how one hour of DV which is 13 gigs, can be compressed to fit onto one DVD. Two hours would be 26 gigs of DV compressed to one DVD! Hence the general quality difference between one-hour and two. And keep in mind that is compression will show artifacts that may have always been there but you didn’t see until the other 28 frames where tossed out.
Having a basic understanding of what makes a DVD can help you make better DVDs. As example, if you see that your recordings have a lot of motion… that is bad. Remember, when compress to DVD it only records the motion difference so you want to keep the camera steady and use slow controlled movements (pans & zooms). Quick pans or zooms or jerky movements are the bane of any MPEG compression scheme.
Other than that, you could try other encoders. BitVice & DVDSP for software encoders or LaCie's FastCoder hardware encoder.
Mike

Hi apple users, I am in need of your expertise. I have a mov file and mp4 file which I need converted to DVD. However IDVD quality is terrible and wondering if anyone can help!?

Hi apple users, I am in need of your expertise. I have a mov file and mp4 file which I need converted to DVD. However IDVD quality is terrible and wondering if anyone can help!?
I created project in iMovie then exported it to MP4 and also MOV file at highest definition possible + I added it to iDVD and had a number issues about encoding errors regarding the mp4 file. MOV worked but the quality was terrible.....
MOV file is as follows:
4.08GB
Codecs: H.264, ACC
Colour Profile: HD (1-1-1)
Dimensions: 1920 x 1080
Duration: 12:33
Audio Channels: 2
MP4 File is as follows:
3.02GB
Codecs: H.264, ACC
Colour Profile: HD (1-1-1)
Dimensions: 1280 x 720
Duration: 12:33
Audio Channels: 6
I have a MacBook Pro using the Yosemite system upgrade.
I have updated iDVD and iMovie.
I even bought the iSkysoft app from the mac store and that was terrible too.
PLEASE HELP i am getting desperate and about to launch this macbook into the air
2.66 GHz Intel Core i7
Version 10.10. 2

First of all, Hunt--thanks for responding!
"First, where are you playing the MPEG-2, that you see that jitter?"
On both a MacBook Pro, an Acer laptop and my Mac Tower. I would love to think that it is a problem with the playback system, and that if I merely send the file off to the duplicator they won't have the same problem. Maybe that is the case...I don't know if I have a choice rather than sending it off to see. But it happens in the same spots, in the same way, on all three of the players so I'm a little reluctant to have faith.
"Another thing that can cause jitter in an MPEG-2 is the Bit-Rate - higher the Bit-Rate, the better the quality, but the larger the file. For a DVD, one is limited by the total Bit-Rate (both Audio & Video), but with longer prodcutions, some users choose too low a Bit-Rate. If this is the issue, one would need to go back to the original Project and do a new Export/Share."
Of course, but in the case there is no more 'original project.' It is gone like the wind, stolen along with his computer and backups.
I think I am stuck using one of two files as my master: a DVD he burned where I only see the stutter/vibration/jitter once, or the mpeg2 file where I see it three times. Hopefully, the duplication house can rip if off of one of them and not see the jitter. I know that in audio, my personal filed, you can do a lot to enhance already existing sound--EQ, compression, tape saturation emulation software, etc. I guess I'm hoping there is some kind of analog to the video world that address jitter after a source has been printed--if indeed the source has been printed to be jittery.
Thanks,
Doug

How can i make iMovie -- iDVD quality better??

I have search about the idvd quality in this site but i can't solve my problem yet.
I had a sony DV cam which is PC3, Pal. And I use the imovie..import...edit, then use "share" to idvd...then burn...
So I play the finished DVD in a DVD player, i find many many pixels, the quality of the DVD movie inside is like a VCD. In fact, my DV cam is not the lastest and fine quality, but i surpose the DVD movie should be same quality as my DV cam.
So I use another method to test whether my DV cam....(is model too old, something wrong with my DVcam...)
(1) In imovie, use "share" to my DV cam tape
(2) then i use another converter which is borrow from my friend, is like a DVD burner and player. which can convert the DV tape or VHS...directly convert and save in a DVD disc.
(3) after burning the file. the quality is fine, just like what i shoot from my DV cam.
So what's the problem?? Is the convertor between imovie and idvd not good enough??
Or I need to use other methods? for example, use the imovie export a quicktime movie, then use the toaster make the DVD or VCD is better ?
How can i make it better??

select Quicktime and sele4ct full-quality
That is an option, too, but I use that only when troubleshooting.
iMovie automatically creates a reference movie when it saves at iMovie_project/Shared Movies/iDVD/*.mov. Using the ref.mov instead of a full quality export saves time and HD space.
iMovie sends that ref.mov to iDVD when you press the "Create iDVD project" in iMovie's iDVD tab. BUT: DON'T let iMovie render still images if it prompts it: as a very old nasty bug, it will ruin your stills!!
http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/iMovieHD_bugs.html#jaggystills
...how I wish Apple would finally fix that bug...
You can also use that ref.mov as an input for 3rd party apps. MPEG Streamclip and JES Deinterlacer can "see" it inside the package but with some other apps you may need to copy it out of the package 1st.
Notice also that some 3rd party apps (MPEG Streamclip and JES Deinterlacer do this correctly) may unexpectedly honor the deinterlaced playback setting of the ref.mov so you must uncheck that flag with QT Player before using it as in input. Otherwise the output will be deinterlaced.

You saved me before...A quality question

I finally got my DVD made! BUT...I swear you can see every pixel on the screen. If a man has white hair, there are white pixels all around his head. Movements look like a blur of disorganized pixels, even stationary posters on the wall have their color pixels way past their borders. Jpegs look great, titles that move do not. I went over all the quality questions I could find on here, but most of them just confirmed I am in way over my head. I can not seem to change any of the settings, not the bit rate or anything else that would seem to effect the quality. I have my project set up as a DV NSTC, I did the Adobe encoder on high quality.
For an extreme newbie with a very important project due...does anyone have any tips???
Pleeeeeaaaase?
Sarah
PS...My footage came from a DVD recorder.

Sarah,
While your original footage was compromised by beginning life as an mpeg, you should not be getting the extreme blockiness you are seeing with the DVD. That being said, don't expect to be able to maintain the same quality as your original footage.
A couple of questions. Does the material look OK playing from the timeline? How are you exporting to Encore? What are your exact settings (everything and be sure to scroll all the way down...VBR, CBR, data-rate, etc)? What is your burn speed? What kind of DVD media are you using? What kind of device do you plan to play the DVD back on?
If all else fails, try a better encoder like TMPGEnc ($60?).

IDVD Quality and Buttons Question

Dear Fourm Users:
1. How can I create the best quality slide show? It seems all attempts result in low quality images.
2. Is there a limit to the number of buttons/slide shows I can create on the main page?
Thanks in advance,
Craig

Len,
Thanks for the response. I would like to add more information.
1. I'm using static images for a slide show with music. Nothing fancy. I just want them to be the best visual quality possible. It seems iDVD causes the to become very poor quality. After reading throught this forum it looks like the best method is to make them 720x540 and save as JPG-max. Does that sound correct?
2. I need to have 12 buttons (although more would be better). I do not want to use any of the built-in themes. I just want to use a static background image. I'm getting a warning that I have too many buttons the additonal ones are temporary. Is there a around this or a way to not use any of the built-in themes?
Thanks in advance,
Craig

Iphoto slideshow to idvd: quality & burning issues...

I've made a few slideshows in iphoto due to the Ken Burns effect and also the ability to choose full screen or widescreen. I made DVDs for friends with full and myself with wide for my widescreen- and that works fine.
My question is about the quality of the movies. Obviously a substantial loss of quality from viewing the show in iPhoto on my Powerbook...
Is there a better way to do this with better results? Using iMovie? (Never have used that app before..) Each show has 100-250 slides and I choose a music playlist from iTunes. I am a quality freak and looking the uncrisp images isn't too thrilling.
(Even when playing the disk image in the DVD Player on my Powerbook and comparing with the original project file- it's a little more fuzzy.)
Also, I just got an external Lacie burner (I have combo drive) and have much unsuccess with burning. I have repaired permissions and create as a disk image in iDVD. It plays back great from the disk image in DVD Player on Powerbook. This specific movie is 2.4 GB and I have 10.1 free dis space.
Problems: (tried with 2 or 3 different movies)
*Disk Utility will not burn the image. It begins and then stops and says there are errors (not specific)...
*iDVD goes through 4 or 5 steps and right at the end says "Errors during burning"
(I was also getting a multiplexing error, but I freed up some space and didn't get that last time)
*TOAST- Using the DVD-Video from Video-TS (as recommended on various boards) does not work. It finishes but won't verify and nothing plays...
*TOAST- using DVD-Video: The menu made in iDVD isn't functional. Can't choose different slideshows... Won't highlight, etc...
*TOAST- using "Data" DVD-ROM (UDF):
THIS IS THE ONLY THING THAT HAS WORKED AND PROJECTS ARE ABLE TO BE VERIFIED. MENUS ARE FUNCTIONAL IN MY 2 DVD PLAYERS...
I have the newest versions of Toast and iPhoto and iDVD. It's been very frustrating. Can't figure out why iDVD and Disk Utility won't burn... and TOAST only works using "Data" instead of Video... My Powerbook is a 60 GB 12" G4 1.33 model. I'm so tempted to upgrade to a bigger hard drive and a Superdrive but I don't know if that will help anything.
Thanks for listening!

Video DVDs are 720X480 (NTSC). Much lower resolution than straight iPhoto slideshows and your original photos. Nothing you can do about this until either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray technology come to the market and are affordable.
iMovie will not be better resolution after it is sent to DVD. You could export to HD resolution QT files (H.264, etc.) and play those on computers with QT and keep higher resolution. But those won't play with commercial DVD players.
Disk Utility will not burn the image.
Can you verify the mounted image with Disk Utility?
Can you burn other data DVDs with the finder and with Toast succesfully?
You should be able to use both the Video_TS drag into DVD-Video for Toast and the direct image burn in Toast, as well as Disk Utility. I wonder if there is an error in the image, so see if you can verify the mounted image with DU.
John B

First time ordering - a few quality questions

I am making a book for my mom that will have many pictures that I have scanned in and them imported into iPhoto. Has anyone noticed that printing a photo book greatly reduces the quality of their photos? The scan quality is OK, but obviously not as nice as original digital, and I don't want half the book to look like total crap.
Also, I read thru most of the threads here and noticed a lot of people talking about the dust covers in iPhoto 08 vs. canvas sticker covers (??) in previous versions. I have computers with access to both old and new versions of iPhoto and am wondering which to use. I want a hard cover book that looks professionally done... do the dust covers really not let you have an image on the front? Is it just a blank page? And does the older hard covers really have a sticker of the photo on the front??
And overall, what do you guys think of the quality of the hard cover photo books? Is 10 pages generally too thin? Should I try to beef it up a few pages? Do the pictures ever get wrongly cropped by Apple's manufacturing of the book? Do books look good?
Thanks!!

hiddenmuse:
I had a V6 theme book in progress when I converted over to V7. I looked at the new themes and the dust covers and decided that I really like them better than the glued photo cover. The dust jacket gives you some addition space for dedication and/or other information.
As far as image quality, I can't vouch for V7 as I've not ordered one with V7 as yet, today or tomorrow, but my other hardcover books were very good. Don't expect the quality you'd get in a commercial coffee table photo book as the printing is entirely different. When inspecting the photos in a large hardcover book under 10x magnification I could see the halftone pattern (dots). But not with the naked eye.
I found that the medium books had a halftone pattern visible under strong illumination with the naked eye. The newer softcover books are supposed to be printed at the same resolution as the large so that may not be a problem anymore.
Occasionally users will get oddly colored photos in their books due to some problem at the printers but Apple as been very good a correcting such problems in a timely manner.
As to the quality of the books, IMO they are excellent. I contacted Apple about printing quality and got the following response regarding materials and printing:
I contacted Apple and asked for information that I could pass on. Here's the reply I received from Apple:
"Thank you for contacting the Apple Print Products Customer Service.
I understand that you would like to know the printing process that is used and the color mode the files should be in, so you can better advise users in the iPhoto forum.
iPhoto version 4 or later, allows you to import and print files through the Apple Print Product service as RGB, grayscale, or CMYK color space. JPEG files with RGB color space are recommended for best results.
While iPhoto 2 can import files of various formats, including RGB color, grayscale, and CMYK, this version requires JPEG files with RGB color space when printing photos and books.
For more information regarding iPhoto 2, please visit the following article:
iPhoto: Color, Black and White Prints Appear Garbled or Distorted
For more information regarding iPhoto 5, please visit the following article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=165501
Here are some of the technical specifications for the books, cards, and calendars. I hope this gives you an idea about their quality and form.
BOOKS
All iPhoto books are printed using acid-free paper for long-lasting image quality. The photos are printed at a high resolution (300DPI if you use iPhoto 6). There is no external modification--such as sharpening or contrast adjustment--of the photos; what you see in the application is what is printed in the book.
Hardcovers Books
The cover is hard-bound and covered in linen. You select the linen color during the book-ordering process. The hardcover books have a solid, stiff binding that is glued and crimped. The internal pages, measuring 8.5 x 11 inches, are printed on McCoy 100# Text Gloss paper stock.
Softcover Books
The softcover books come in three sizes:
- Large 8.5 x 11 inches
- Medium 6 x 8 inches
- Small 2.6 x 3.5 inches
All of the softcover books have internal pages that are printed on McCoy 100# Text Gloss paper stock. The large softcover book has a white cover (Kromekoteplus Folding Cover, 16 point) with a cutout on the front that reveals the cover-page photo in the book. The covers for the medium and small softcover books have the cover image and title printed directly on the cover. All of the softcover books have a glued binding and feature a thick cover of McCoy 100# Cover Gloss paper stock.
CARDS
All cards are printed on McCoy 120# Silk Cover paper stock. The postcards measure 4 x 6 inches, and the greeting cards measure 5 x 7inches.
CALENDARS
All calendars measure 8 x 10 inches and are printed on McCoy 100# Silk Cover paper stock.
To ensure the best print quality, we have chosen to use Kodak NexPress technology. The press uses a dry toner, which is fused to the surface of the paper. Please see NexPress' site for more information:
KODAK NEXPRESS 2500 Digital Production Color Press
I hope you find this information helpful in answering questions on the iPhoto forum."
Also, users expectations will vary considerably. But every book that I've given as a gift, large hardcover or softcover medium were received with much enthusiasm. I don't think your Mom will be a bit disappointed.
For every book I give as a give I create an iDVD slideshow of it to give also. Tutorial #6 describes the procedure.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

IDVD quality update... how to get the best looking photo images on your TV

To get the best quality photo slideshow (that looks the best on my TV)
1) create the slideshow with music in "Photo to Movie" program
2) send it to IDVD from "Photo to Movie"
3) create the menu in iDVD
4) make a disc image from iDVD (file - save as disk image) save on the desktop
5) burn DVD at x2 in disc utilities on a Verbatim DVD-R disc
???? Any other suggestions to get a better quality product !!
* special thanks to SDMacuser for all your help and prior posts.
Cheers
iMAC 5,1,Intel Core 2 Duo,2.16GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)
iMAC 5,1,Intel Core 2 Duo,2.16GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

in search of the best looking photoslide show DVD to view on a TV..... a couple more questions
if I understand some of the recent posts to get a clear picture:
Question #1
I need to import all of the photos into photoshop CS (or a similar product) and resize them to 1280 x 960 (4:3)ratio then open iDVD and import them.
If I am doing Ken Burn effects then resize them to 2560 x 1920 and use "Photo to Movie" to create the slideshow then import into iDVD (to get a cool menu)
can you just bring the images in from iphoto (in the same format that they were imported from the camera)?
I am using a Nikon D70 6.0 megapixel
Question #2
If I burn the disc in iDVD... it is not as good as using Disk utility or Toast because of the burn speed (2X) ... is this correct?

IDVD Quality Issues

Hello, I have been using IDVD to finalize and burn my Final Cut Pro and Adobe projects for a while now I have recently run into a problem I had not noticed before. I created a 9 min and 4 second video project using Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5.5. I exported as a Quicktime file, resolution 1920x1280. I have done this numerous times before, but usually around 5 minute long videos. With other projects I have noticed a quality drop when burning, but not this specific problem I am currently having. When the project is exported from Adobe, I make sure to encode at the highest render quality. When it is finished exporting, it is about a 1.86gb file. When I import the project into IDVD, it automatically compresses it to about 376MB using Professional Quality. After burning and playing back on the just burned DVD-R+ 4.7gb disc, I am faced with a distorted image. Whenever the camera moves, there is an etchiness to film, one that makes it look as if it has not been rendered correctly. It is definitely a lower quailty aswell, which is expected, but with this project it is unbearable. So to make this short and sweet, I am positive the problem is with IDVD, specifically when it compresses. So I am wondering if there is an option to stop IDVD from compressing at all to ensure maximum quality or if i would be better off learning to use DVD Studio Pro or Creating my own menu sequences with Adobe and usinge Adobe Encore for my burning. Thank You in advance for any help at all!

Hi
.mov files - is no file format or video codec - it is a Container and can hold material iDVD can use or Not.
Open it with QuickTime Player and then open Inspector and read - Video format/codec: nnnnnnnn
What does it read ?
Yours Bengt W

Import Quality Question

Ok I don't know much about this but,
How much audio quality do you lose when you import from a CD? Also, if the answer is lots, then does iTunes use that lossless audio encoder called apple lossless and if not where can I get and what do I need to use it? kinda 3 questions in one there...

Choose iTunes > Preferences> General pane and click Import Settings.
Choose an encoder from the Import Using pop-up menu.
You can listen to songs encoded in AAC or Apple Lossless formats in iTunes and on iPod models that come with a dock connector. If you plan to listen to your music using a different program or MP3 player, choose MP3 Encoder.
If you want to burn high-quality audio CDs with the songs you’re importing, without losing quality, choose Apple Lossless or AIFF. (Keep in mind that songs imported using this format use much more disc space.)
If you’ll be playing your songs on a computer that does not have MP3 software, choose WAV.
Choose a bit rate from the Setting pop-up menu (not available with Apple Lossless Encoder). In most cases, the default selection works well.
Higher Quality: Choose if you chose MP3 Encoder and plan to create your own audio CDs or listen to your music with high-quality stereo speakers.
High Quality: Choose if you play music in a noisy environment. This setting creates files that are about 1 MB in size per minute of music.
Good Quality: Use to fit more songs on a portable MP3 player with limited storage capacity.
Custom: Choose for greater control over the file size and sound quality.
To choose AIFF and WAV import settings:
Choose iTunes > Preferences>General pane and click Import Settings.
Choose AIFF Encoder or WAV Encoder from the Import Using pop-up menu.
Choose Custom from the Setting pop-up menu.
In the dialog that appears, choose settings:
Sample Rate: The number of times per second the music waveforms are captured digitally. The higher the sample rate, the higher the quality and the larger the file size. Don't choose a sample rate higher than the rate used to store the music originally or you'll waste space. CD quality, for example, is 44.100 kHz, so choosing a higher rate when you're encoding from a CD is unnecessary. In general, the best choice is Auto, which uses the same rate as the original music.
Sample Size: The number of bits used to store each sample taken as the music is encoded. The higher the sample size, the better the quality and the larger the file size.
Channels: If you don't have stereo speakers or if your audio files are monaural (mono files are about half the size of stereo files), choose Mono. If you'll be listening through headphones or a stereo system, choose Stereo or Auto. Auto converts monaural tracks into mono files and stereo tracks into stereo files.

IDVD Slideshow Question

I exported an iPhoto slideshow to iDVD. I used the Ken Burns effect. I've got around 200 photos and it plays great, no problems but....
heads have been cut off on three slides. Can I edit the individual slides right in iDVD or do I have to go back to iPhoto and then export all over again? That would be very time consuming.
17 iMac FP 1.25GHz, & PowerPC G3 Mac OS X (10.4.7) iDVD 5, iPhoto 5

Sorry but you have to go back to iPhoto for edits. If double-clicking a slideshow just plays the slideshow and doesn't bring up the slideshow editor, the slideshow may have been created in iPhoto. Slideshows created in iPhoto are sent to iDVD as QuickTime movies, which means you can't edit them.
If you want to make a change to an iPhoto slideshow, make the changes in iPhoto, send the slideshow to iDVD again, and replace the old slideshow with the new one.
Tip: In map view, slideshows created in iPhoto have a movie icon in the upper-left corner. iDVD slideshows have a slideshow icon.
Hope this answers your question.
SDMacuser

IDVD quality very poor

Hi,
I have H.264 footage from a 5D MkII edited in iMovie and burnt in iDVD. When playing back the project in iDVD (before burn) the quality is fine but once its on disc the quality is so poor, extremely crunchy, pixelated and beyond acceptable. I've even converted the footage in MPEG stremclip and NeoScene to test the results but same results.
PLEASE HELP!!!
Thankyou

Hi
As I get it it depends on what You feed iDVD and how in a way.
I go direktly from iMovie 5 or HD 6 (iMovie 08 & 09 are not for DVD making!)
I don't use Export/Share to iDVD from within iMovie. If there are photos included
and no Ken-Burns effect. Result will be BAD due to iMovie rendering and iMovie
movie project is harmed - photos has to be re-imported and edited in again.
Now I close iMovie and from iDVD import the movie project resulting in iDVD doing the rendering
and so much better.
From FinalCut Express or Pro I do
• Export out as QuickTime .mov
• Not selfcontainong
• NO QuickTime Conversion
• Pro Quality Encoding
• Verbatim DVD-R disks
• x1 or x4 burn speed
• 25Gb or more free space on internal boot hard disk
This works nicely and delivers a result as I intended
Using strange file formats like
• .avi, .wmv will give strange if any result
• .H.264 - Should may be work - have nothing to put on test - or may be not working
Yours Bengt W

Video freezing in fcp4/video quality question

I recorded some DV footage on my firestore fs-4 as raw dv footage. i then dumped it to my hard drive. i then imported it to final cut pro 4. when i watch the footage in the viewer window, the video freezes after about 10 seconds but the audio continues to play. it seems like the computer cant keep up with the footage? then i dump a portion of the clip into the timeline and the audio render line comes up red. i render the clip, and the clip seems to play fine in the canvas window.
Two things:
1) can I use raw dv footage without it freezing up in the viewer window? if not, how can i convert the raw dv files to quicktime files with minimun compression?
2) why does the video that plays in the canvas window look of lesser quality than the raw dv clip playing in the viewer window? is there any way to maintain that higher raw quality for the final master? if so, can that only be achieved by dumping the raw dv footage straight in from the fs-4? or can it be done thru the traditional log and capture?
sorry about the dozen questions.
Thanks.
David

If i understand you correctly :
1) can I use raw dv footage without it freezing up in the viewer window? if not, how can i convert the raw dv files to quicktime files with minimun compression?
either put the clip on the timeline and render it, or render it and export as a QT MOVIE then reimport.
2) why does the video that plays in the canvas window look of lesser quality than the raw dv clip playing in the viewer window? is there any way to maintain that higher raw quality for the final master? if so, can that only be achieved by dumping the raw dv footage straight in from the fs-4? or can it be done thru the traditional log and capture?
dont know anything about fs-4, but i would check tyhe properties of the clip then check the properties of the sequence, for example (is the clip and the seq 29.97 48K, or is one different. what happens when you render, does it help. ALSO REMEMBER THIS :
FCP usually defaults to rendering some but not all, to make sure FCP renders everything - goto SEQUENCE/RENDER SELECTION and make sure you have checks on EVERYTHING, if not keep checking until everything is checked.
then go back and check SEQUENCE/RENDER ALL - do the same thing, god knows why FCP does not default this.....
let me know
thanks ADAM

IDVD Quality Question

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