IMovie 6 and general advice

Amateur iMovie user (but not bad at it!), some general advice requested...
1. Is iMovie HD 6 worth buying (seems like there's a bit of grief associated with it), or can you get the same effects and titles etc with a 3-D party plugin to iMovie 5? I only bought 5 six months ago - I'm a bit behind the times...
2. Is it worth just saving up and buying, say, Final Cut HD Express or something and forgetting iMovie altogether?
3. Or would you forget about all the software upgrades, save up and buy an HD camera?
Cheers
Perry

Perry,
The questions you ask are good ones. But I don't think others can answer them for you.
What kind of movies do you make and how often?
Have you looked at the new features in iMovie HD 6? You can see some of them highlighted in the right column of this page.
http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/
Remember too that iLife '06 is more than just iMovie. How much do you use the other iApps? The new iWeb is cool (almost worth the cost of the upgrade by itself - to me at least) as are the upgrades to iPhoto and GarageBand.
The new version of GarageBand allows you to work on the audio track of your iMovie projects. To me that's the best new feature of iMovie and it's not even really a feature of iMovie!
Final Cut Express HD is the next step if you feel like you can't do what you are trying to do with iMovie. Do you feel like you've outgrown iMovie? FCE is great software but it's got a learning curve.
Finally, I'd say hold off on the HD camera for now. The prices will continue to drop over the next few years and most people don't even have an HD television yet. Do you? If not, I say get the HD television first.
Matt

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Once I finish an iMovie project and I publish it to various destinations (Dropbox iTunes YouTube etc) do I need to keep the original raw video on my MacBook or can I archive it to an external hard drive.

I have now finished 3 iMovie projects and have learned how to prepare them for sharing through various media like Dropbox, iDVD YouTube iTunes etc. but I now have produced a huge number of related files which are filling up my hard drive to the point that I can't import any further raw video until I archive or delete many of these files.
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iMovie works best with uncompressed audio. If your track is MP3 or AAC, you may get better results by converting your track to the AIFF format and then using that in iMovie.
You can do this in iTunes. Go to iTunes/Preferences and click the General button. On the General page, click the Import Settings button. Choose IMPORT USING: AIFF ENCODER.
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General advice on using SCCM (SMS) to deploy SAPGUI

I was curious for anyone's opinion on the use of Microsoft's SCCM tool for deploying SAPGUI. At our organization, I am hoping to take advantage of this capability so that the SAP technical team is not "too" involved in the day-to-day deployment activities.
Some specific questions:
1. The only way to do this is to create an SAP installation server so that you can then create the single installation package (and then hand it over to SCCM)?
2. Assuming I am correct on #1, to patch the GUI, youu2019d have to patch the installation server and create a new installation package and let SCCM advertise it out (i.e. not make use of any of the SAP techniques (e.g. the new automatic workstation updated).
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Thanks for any input!

We have multiple agencies which have thier own method of deploying out to their end users. Mostly through SMS (or whatever it is called now a days) but that is up to the agencies requirements.
Here I will elaborate on your questions and divulge a little of our situation.
1 - Correct. Create a Installation server and build the package. From that package it can be put into a SMS package and deployed. (we use this method)
2 - Yes and also. Yes, you can update the Installation server and re-create your package with the updated patch included. I believe you would also need to remove the SAP GUI to re-install the new with the updated information. My advice would be to utilize SMS to push just the patch from SAP to your end users which will update the existing machines with the already installed SAP GUI. (We use this method)
3 - We utilize the variable SAPLOGON_INI_FILE which you can point the machine to an area of your choice to where your saplogon.ini file is located.
Our use:
We use both the installation server as well as Wise Studio for our package. Installation server creates the SAP GUI deployment. Wise Studio comes in and allows us to set variables and allows us to have a predetermined INI laid on the machine. (We have low speed connections as well as disability users and General users etc. Depending on switches used during the push install or manually, it will drop a copy of the INI as requested which is built into the Wise "wrapper" we created) It also allows us to place SSO information and files, registry info, additional INI's which are specific to our landscape. The Wise installation then calls the SAP GUI installer created from the Installation server. At the end of the GUI install, it places the predetermined INI file over the one created at the point of install. (Keep in mind this is just a brief overview)
I am sure there are other possibilities but these are just from our experiences here. I would have to let others speak to how they perform such operations.
Regards,
Zecher
Edited by: Michael Zecher on Jun 10, 2011 10:39 AM

IMovie 11 and Virtual Memory

I am shooting high school basketball video with two Sony HD cameras:
1 camera follows the action on the court, the other stays on the clock.
I then use iMovie 11 to superimpose the clock video using Picture-in-Picture onto the game footage.
Both cameras shooting highest HD at 30 fps.
Last basketball season, I was using iMovie 09 on a MacBook Pro, Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD. I would import Video 1, import Video 2, superimpose Picture-in-Picture, share to iDVD, burn videos, no worries.
This basketball season, I am using iMovie 11 on a Mac Pro, dual Intel-6-core, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD. I am having some kind of problem with memory (I think).
I boot my Mac Pro. I import 1-hour Video 1, it takes 11 minutes. If I now import the 1-hour Video 2 (with no reboot), it takes about 30 minutes.
If I boot my Mac Pro, import 1-hour Video 1 in 11 minutes, then reboot the Mac Pro again, the 1-hour Video 2 takes 11 minutes.
When I share to iDVD to burn standard DVDs, if I reboot before sharing in iMovie 11 to iDVD, it takes about 30 minutes. If I do not reboot, it takes about 2 hours.
When I export to Quicktime in iMovie 11 at 1920x1080 to burn on a Blu-Ray disc using Toast without a reboot, the export fails 4 times out of 5. If I reboot before exporting to Quicktime, the export always works.
On my MacBook Pro, using iMovie 09, of course all the times were slower because of fewer/slower cores, but I was never rebooting constantly.
So, as I write this, iMovie 11 on the Mac Pro is working away to export a Quicktime so I can burn it to Blu-Ray in Toast.
I have 16GB total RAM:
Free: 13.2GB
Wired: 824.5MB
Active: 1.7GB
Inactive: 281.7MB
Used: 2.7GB
VM Size: 118.5GB
Page Ins: 152.8MB
Page outs: 204KB
Swap Used: 344KB
Using about 5 cores for exporting the Quicktime (502.1%).
In another thread, I saw someone recommend using Onyx to in between imports or exports as a way to clean up memory.
But, that same thread also talked about how the poster's VM would get up to 4GB and that was when he used Onyx.
Is my VM size unusual? I cannot seem to find definitive information on the VM size and whether something is not right on the Mac Pro, or whether this is normal.
I hope someone in this forum can help. In the meantime, I just reboot my Mac Pro in between every import or export, which (to me!) is a little crazy.
Thanks much for any help or advice. If I can provide other details, please let me know.
LinuxElf

This is all being done on the internal SSD. 512GB total space.
When I started my latest two-video import, I had 460GB of free space.
After importing two videos and generating Quicktime video for Toast to burn a Blu-Ray, plus leaving the last game's Quicktime on the SSD, I now have 199.5GB free as I burn standard DVDs. (I get two Quicktime videos per Blu-Ray, so every other game I have an extra Quicktime sitting on the internal SSD taking up about 30GB space.)
After I have finished burning DVDs, within iMovie, I move the iMovie Project and associated video files from the internal SSD to a DROBO external drive unit.
So, once I am done with today's work, and after all the files including Quicktimes are moved to the DROBO, I expect to have over 480GB free.
That is a relevant question, thanks for asking, I should have included that in original post.
LinuxElf

Can I have both iMovie 09 and iMovie 08 installed on the same Mac?

Hi,
This question may seem odd, but... I work at a college. In my role there, I provide training for students and faculty using a variety of technologies (including the iLife suite). I would like to purchase and install iLife 09 for my Mac for personal and professional use; however, I also need to maintain iLife 08 applications for training purposes for work. Is it possible to have both versions installed simultaneously?
Thanks!

Yes, you can, although Apple does not support the methods shown below. Here's how you can do it:
_*If you have NOT installed the iLife09 upgrade yet......*_
a) Open Finder & click on the "Applications folder"
b) Click on the "New Folder" icon and name the folder anything you want (like iMovie08)
c) drag the iMovie.app into the folder
d) install iLife09....you will now be able to open iMovie09 by clicking on the icon in your dock, or open iMovie08 by going to the newly created folder and clicking on the older iMovie.app file.
_*If you have already installed iLife09........*_
----IMPORTANT----
*MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BACKUP OF YOUR MAC in case something goes wrong, such as a recent Time Machine backup so you can restore your files!!!! Also, make sure you have the original installation disks for both iLife08 and iLife09, or the OSX installation disks with iLife08 on it..........*
a) Open Finder & click on "Macintosh HD", then open the "Library" folder, then open the "Receipts" folder
b) Scroll down and find the files marked *iMovie.pkg, iMovie_712.pkg, iMovie_713.pkg, iMovie_714.pkg*, etc. You will not have all of those files, and the numbers may be different than 712 or 713, etc. Move these files to the Trash. *DO NOT MOVE iMovie_PreviousFolder.pkg or iMovieHD6.pkg to the Trash if you have them...keep them in the Receipts folder.*
c) Open Finder & click on the "Applications" folder, then find iMovie.app and move it to the Trash
d) Open Finder & click on the "Macintosh HD", then open the "Users" folder, then open your user folder (i.e., "Paul"), then open the "Library" folder, then open the "Preferences" folder, then move *com.apple.iMovie.plist, com.apple.iMovie7.plist and com.apple.iMovie8.plist* to the Trash. You may not have all of these files, or you may have different names for your preference files, but as a general rule, any preference files with the words iMovie should be moved to the trash.
e) Put your iLife08 or OSX install disk 1 in your DVD drive
f) Double-click on "iLife08.mpkg" (iLife08 install disk) or "Install Bundled Software only" (OSX install disk)
g) When the "Install iLife08" or "Install Bundled Applications" window appears, click on continue for all the agreements until you get to the "Standard Install" screen. Click on "Customize" and a new screen will appear with a list of all the applications (iLife08) or the words "Bundled Applications" in the OSX install disk, and next to those words is a small arrow....click on that to show the contents of the installation software. Uncheck all boxes except iMovie. Make sure that box is checked, then click on "Install" and follow all prompts to install iMovie08 back to your Mac.
h) Once iMovie08 is back in your Mac, you will need to move it to a new folder as follows:
i) Open Finder & click on the "Applications" folder
j) Click on the "New Folder" icon and name the folder anything you want (like iMovie08)
k) drag the iMovie.app into the folder
l) Now, reinstall iMovie09 as follows....
m) Put your iLife09 install disk in your DVD drive
n) Double-click on "iLife09.mpkg"
o) When the "Install iLife09" window appears, click on continue for all the agreements until you get to the "Standard Install" screen. Click on "Customize" and a new screen will appear with a list of all the applications. Uncheck all boxes except iMovie. Make sure that box is checked, then click on "Install" and follow all prompts to install iMovie09 back to your Mac.
p) You will now be able to open iMovie09 by clicking on the icon in your dock, or open iMovie08 by going to the newly created folder and clicking on the older iMovie.app file
Hope this helps!

Parallels general advice

I have a 2011 Mac Mini and I'm about to purchase a MacBookPro and wanted to be able to run some of my work related Windows based software on the Mac's using Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac software. Both Macs will be running Mountain Lion and I would be installing Windows 7 Home Premium. I haven't installed Parallels yet and was looking for some general advice or precaustions that anyone might have relating to the installation and use of the software and the various ways of viewing/accessing the Windows side.
Any thoughts or advice is appreciated, thank you.

Thank you for the informative replies. This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. A bit more information about my Mac Mini, I do have 8GB of RAM and I recently replaced the original HDD with a 128GB Corsair Force GS SSD that has the OS and all applications running on it. I use a Firewire 800 connected G Tech HDD and Netgear Ultra 4 Plus NAS for file storage.
The main purpose for Parallels for me would be when I get the MacBookPro. I am an audio video integrator and do home control programming, etc. and the programming software is not available in Mac versions. I actually have a dedicated custom built desktop Windows 7 PC but that is my CD ripping, video conversion/editing, music playing machine that I don't want to "infect" with any software that is not related to the above mentioned functions. I like working in the Mac environment for my daily mail, MS Office, etc. and most of my clients use Macs so it helps me stay current with what they are using. That is why I would like to be able to run my control programming software on the Mac Mini using Parallels. I thought it would be nice to be able to do the programming on the Mac Mini with the 24" monitor then just bring it along to the job site on the MacBookPro that I'm about to buy (my 9 uear old Dell laptop I was using is on its last leg!).
I did look through Getting Started/User Guide from Parallels web site and will check out the Parallels Mac Forum to prepare.
Just so I understand how Parallels works, it apparently does not create a separate partition for Windows but rather runs Windows side by side with my Mac OSX within the same partition? Is this a correct assumption? Also, if I have drives like the above mentioned G Tech that are formated for Mac OSX will I be able to see and access those drives from the Windows side running on Parallels?
Thanks again for the great information.

HFM- General Advice

Hi guys,
I'm new to HFM and I'm starting to work in a project. I'd like to know if you have any general advice you could share about two topics.
1. Initial stage. Do you have any question list you usually apply to customers to evaluate their applications? Is there any questions guide we should follow? Which are the main questions we should ask if the client does not have a HFM application?
2. Which advice would you give to a consultant starting to work in a support project (let's say, the client has already a HFM application)?
3. Accounts: these are part of my current nightmares. I know how to build an account in the classic way (HFM client). But how do you build the accounts in EPMA? Do you usually do that one by one? Even if there are more thant 2000 accounts?
I know these are silly questions, buy I do not have any HFM experience. And I was given a quick and basic training before starting to work in a project.
I really appreciate any advice you could give me.
Thank you!
Guy

Hi,
1. Initial stage. Do you have any question list you usually apply to customers to evaluate their applications? Is there any questions guide we should follow? Which are the main questions we should ask if the client does not have a HFM application?
** First of all as far as I know there is no guide for this,
In Initial stage you need to understand the business flow, roles of different users, level of their consolidation and calculations. Apart from this, U need to find out that How they capture the data across entities, cost centers,etc.. this will help you to decide the dimensionality to be used for application.
Moreover, Be curious and ask as many questions as you can from client, this is the best time when U can get every minute details for understanding
2. Which advice would you give to a consultant starting to work in a support project (let's say, the client has already a HFM application)?
In this case the most important thing is to get the Knowledge of application correctly whether it is from KT or from docs. Don't just take the knowledge on paper and verbally, But it is very important to check it with your hands, it will clear your confusions straight away and mainly it will freeze ur understanding.
Be curious and ask as many questions as you can for application working.
Get the handover of documents properly and take a track of work done in past or changes done before joining support.
Keep track of the montly activities properly and process to be followed to work at Support.
3. Accounts: these are part of my current nightmares. I know how to build an account in the classic way (HFM client). But how do you build the accounts in EPMA? Do you usually do that one by one? Even if there are more thant 2000 accounts?
** Yes, multiple members can be added to EPMA via flat files and through interface tables.
This is a link for Flat File:
http://thetravelingconsultant2.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/epma-101-loading-dim-members-via-flat-file.pdf
This is admin guide for EPMA:
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E17236_01/epm.1112/epma_admin.pdf
As you are new you need to go through these files and specially admin guide which will give you the way to work on EPMA and what are the capabilities of EPMA.
I Hope this is what you were looking for.
Please tag it as Answer/Helpful if you find it useful.
Regards,
J

Disapointed in iMovie 11 and iDVD

I have done a lot of home movie work in the past on Windows with Sony Vegas - capture from MiniDV camera, edit, burn DVD and been very pleased with the results.
I am just switching to Mac, and expected the results to be at least as good as they were before. After making my first disk, I am not impressed at all - and I'm not sure where the problem occurred.
My first project might have been doomed from the beginning - because of a mixture of video types I was working with.
I had several clips that were recorded on MiniDV, captured via firewire as DV-AVI into Windows, then these files were copied to the Mac (I had been saving the video until I got my new Mac since I wanted to edit on it) - there were several other clips that were recorded on an iPhone 4, then imported directly into the Mac with iMovie.
I did not try to mix the HD video from the iPhone with the SD video from the MiniDV camera into the same video - but I did try to put them both on the same DVD as separate clips)
Make each video event as a separate video - then close iMovie, open iDVD, and pull the completed clips in - I didn't "export to iDVD" or whatever the term is.
The DVDs I used to make on the Windows box look NOTICEABLY better than the DVD that came out of the Mac. Is the weak link in iMovie, iDVD, or somewhere else? Is the problem that I tried to mix HD and non HD onto the same DVD?

I wont try to tell you what the real difference is between the sharing, cause I (really) dont know, but I can tell you how the programs handle it differently.When you share directly to iDVD, it does it (makes the DVD from the iMovei project) in one step. I suspect the movie version it makes (renders) to compress from the iMovie project just isnt as good as when you share to media browser first, Sharing to media browser makes a movie that resides in the project's file (you have to right click the specific iMovie project to see it, then "show package content" where it will be in a folder called "movies". When you "Share to media browser" it makes a version of the size you specify based on your needs, iPod (small) or larger, say for a DVD, or if you upload a movie to your iDisk or YOuTube, again iMovie has to make these movies first, they are all in this folder within the project, (iDVD does not leave a rendered movie in that folder). Anyway, you share to Media Browser and pick the highest level you can, and make sure you pick the highest iDVD quality in the preferences of iDVD ("Professional"; i think they call it), and you get a decent DVD (Assuming your movie clips were high quality to start with) remember that DVD IS compression, so you dont want to lose more than you have to in the compression) , DVD is standard definition and so you will lose HD in that process too.
But I compared this "share to"work flow MANY times in the past and the quality of share to iDVD was pretty bad and the other way was pretty good, CLEARLY different, tested several times (This was pre iLife 11, but was with iLife 09, i doubt it got "Fixed") . So it you dont like what Share to iDVD looks like, try the other way. Let me know. dont want to give bad info here. I should do the trial again for the umteenth time, but I did it maybe 6 times before and it was obviously different, intolerable with one way, fine with the other.
THe odd thing to me is that, assuming I am right (and i was 100%, 6 months ago) WHy Apple got it wrong. If you remember the whole idea of iMAcs and "i" anything (Imac was the first, then i apps and iPods iTV, pad...) was "for the rest of us", easy , default presets were always perfect, no work arounds, and it is a MEDIA company; Make it easy and automatic to make the best DVD you can give us! Bizarre.
I have been sharing to my iDisk and more to YouTube lately, and that stuff looks pretty darn good, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that you are generally watching them on a small screen.
Check out this if you can stomach 3.5 minutes of 7th grade basketball game: you can guess which one my kid is...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7ykk9tlvpc
In the end this is what i want to do, share stuff of my family, and keep the original source files for whatever my needs are, burn an occasional DVD. I'm a regular guy, my camera is a consumer model HD camera, I spend too much time on my computer, gotta keep it simple and fast, and dont get carried away. The whole Blue Ray discussions make my head spin even more, do you import at Full or Large (I think those are the 2 options Full is Full HD, file 3 times as large) realzing that you really cannot easily burn a Blue ray (HD) version anyway, or if you do using other software like Toast, are limited to 20 minutes. I tried both using HD source clips and couldnt tell the difference, wasnt worth the 3X extra HD space the event clips took up, and they will fill up your HD fast)] as it is I have all my childhood and my kids childhood source clips on an external 1 TB HD...]
The limit of Youtube I think is 10 minutes, for years I have made sports highlight movie montanges of entire kids season that last 30-50 minutes (Yikes) , and I dont think YouTube will accept those, but my iDisk will and I can send friends (trying not to alienate them) the link for that to watch.
But the point is that in the old days you would burn a DVD (that by definition, no pun intended) lost definition from compression. But most things you make a DVD for to share, nobody looks at more than once or twice anyway. SO upload it , let people watch, AND back up back up back up your iMovie events and projects and iPhoto and iTunes so that your project will always be there and maybe even KEEP THAT final product HIGH QUALITY MOVIE THAT MEDIA BROWSER MADE somewhere else as a computer file. That is like storing it as a DVD, just as a pre-compressed better quality.
Sorry, to opine endlessly, rereading your original post you know what you are doing, but try the other workflow, it it isnt a better DVD I'll retry it in iLife 11 too. blank DVDs are cheap, it just takes time to make and burn them.
I read in a recent post from Appleman (the man) on this and he made an excellent analogy , some people spend $10,000 for a audio speaker and have amps with tubes and solid state electronics and $5000 turntables and vinyl (I am adding to his statement a bit a bit) and others just listen on $150 iPods with highly compressed versions of the songs, and are 100% happy. He is so right. We are not MGM studios. We are looking at memories to enrich our lives. Check this one out, super 8 tape from the early 60s, converted to digital files by a company we sent away to (we have hours of this stuff), and the source is awful, dark, grainy, silent (I added the sound as a side effect), it looks awful, but to see this rebirths me, the quality is irrelevant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG7wmBEb6YQ
Finally I do have FCP, but I really dont want to go there to learn it and use it for possible improved quality, iMOvie is so easy to make real slick projects. I waste enough time, I'd be divorced if I started FCP. Again it gets back to just how important is it to look perfect as opposed to Real good, for personal stuff.
This iMovie 6 v 11 (read other threads in the last week of this forum, egads) argument is tiresome to me, lots written these days. I believe what they say that earleir version of imovie import a better version from your camera, but iMovie 6 has almost none of the slick things you can do with iMovie 11. I was even going to experiment as i still all the old iMovie versions, but iMovie 6 wont import from my camera, kinda funny really.
no more, sry
roger
Message was edited by: rrodby
Message was edited by: rrodby
Message was edited by: rrodby

HT4864 I must install Snow Leopard to use iCloud fully. Is IMovie 6 and iDVD vs 7/0/4 compatible with Snow Leopard?

I must install Snow Leopard to use iCloud fully. Is IMovie 6 and iDVD vs 7.0/4 compatible with Snow Leopard?

You were misinformed. iCloud requires 10.7.2 or later. Snow Leopard is required to upgrade to either Lion or Mountain Lion. See the following for the upgrade path and information to determine if your computer can be upgraded.
Upgrade Paths to Snow Leopard, Lion, and/or Mountain Lion
You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99. To access the App Store you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later installed.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You must purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements.
     Snow Leopard General Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
       2. 1GB of memory
       3. 5GB of available disk space
       4. DVD drive for installation
       5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;
           fees may apply.
       6. Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and
           terms apply.
Upgrading to Lion
If your computer does not meet the requirements to install Mountain Lion, it may still meet the requirements to install Lion.
You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service - this includes international calling numbers. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.
     Lion System Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7,
           or Xeon processor
       2. 2GB of memory
       3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
       4. 7GB of available space
       5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
Upgrading to Mountain Lion
To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.
     OS X Mountain Lion - System Requirements
       Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
         1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer)
         2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)
         3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer)
         4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer)
         5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer)
         6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer)
         7. Xserve (Early 2009)
     Are my applications compatible?
         See App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps.
     For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion.

Imovie 4 and IDVD 6 it's killing me

I record my video in Imovie 4 and I used to use iDVD 4 and it all worked. Then I upgraded to Tiger and that killed iDVD 4. (I was told that it was uncompatable) So I upgraded my iDVD to 6. My computer is old and would not take imovie 6.
Everything works well on iDVD6 until the encoding hits the audio and it just freezes.
I import the imovie to iDVD and do all the stuff that is recommended.
I have heard that there may be some compatibility issues with im 4 and dvd 6. Any thoughts or advice.
Don't tell me that I don't have enough hard drive room because I do. I also repair the permissions.
If you tell me that they are not compatable, then what do I do? I can't upgrade because I have a slower computer, and I can't go back to Panther, (or can I) I am kind of screwed.

Hi
As Rich839 writes
EVEN if You use "Panic Halt" or Activity Monitor - they will answer
iDVD doesn't respond
THIS IS A LYE !
Just wait it out.
Things that gives extream long processing times
• G4 CPU - (G4 600MHz - one hour movie >> 12 hours encoding time)
• low amount of free space on internal boot hard disk
NEVER under 25Gb free space on mine.
less than 5Gb and times get redicolous PLUS RESULTING DVD MOST probably useless
free space on other external hard disks - not interesting due to that Mac OS and iDVD
only can address the start-up one for it's scratch and temp files.
Yours Bengt W

Imovie 08 and mpeg-4

someone please set me straight
i use to have imovie 06 with a hard drive panasonic using mpeg-4
i had to edit in panasonic, open in mpeg streamclip, export to dv, save to desktop, drag into imovie
so i buy iLife 08 from the apple store whose associate says imovie 08 is mpeg-4 compatible
i cannot open my files in imovie. so do i have to continue changing my movie format to import???????
i just wasted 80 bucks huh
Message was edited by: blindrummer

I can also state that a mpeg-4 exported from IMovie 08 and a mpeg-4 exported from IMovie HD6 with exactly the same settings are not identical. IMovie HD6 produces a higher quality video but also a much larger file. I would think that they should be identical or very close.
File size is directly proportional to the total combined data data rate of your target settings, Therefore, either your settings are different or the files are approximately the same size. You can't have it both ways. And, since generally speaking, the higher the data rate, the better the quality, it stands to reason that the "larger" file might have better quality using the same codec.
I cant find the right combination of settings to create a mpeg-4 file equal in quality to mpeg-2 files. My video clips were imported into Imovie 08 from a Sony DCR-SR100 camcorder. They are originally MPEG-2, 16:9, 29.97fps, approx 8.4MBps, 720x480 clips.
MPEG4/AAC files are roughly on the same order of efficiency as MPEG2/AC3 while H.264/AAC files are roughly 2.5 times as efficient (and may take 2.5 times as long to convert). Therefore, if you really plan to convert your files to MPEG4 video, would recommend a video data rate of about 7.5 Mbps or a video data rate between 2.5 and 3.0 Mbps if you are attempting to retain as much of the original quality as possible. Other specifics may depend on personal choice and/or your target display options.

Switching from imovie to FCE.4 - advice

FCE users
I currently use imovie 06 and am ready for the next phase. With every call to Apple sales, tech support and Apple Store visit, I learn something new. In the past, my husband and I have multiple sports team video and life celebration projects. We are looking to expand our talents into a home based business. We have outgrown the G4 and looking to upgrade. I have also purchased a Canon X1AH to use with video production. My question is will I be happy with my IMac purchase and FCE to create professional type dvds? Any advice is greatly appreciated, especially from semi-professionals and professionals who use FCE and have transitioned from the imovie software in which importing video, pictures, and music is so easy.
Thank you for helping a fledgling FCE user.

hey there sdciemnt & welcome to Discussions,
get an iMac & add another GB or more of RAM(have @ least 2GB) & maybe consider a 2nd 17-19" widescreen LCD display for the future-Canvas playback window is only 5" diagonal on my 20" Cinema Display, can get tiring trying to see everything in the frame. also get a 500-750 GB FW HDD to hold your project media assets as a start. i used FCE 1 to 3.5 & the skills i learned there have helped me transition to FCS2. so FCE's an excellent learning upgrade path should you decide to go that way. i don't shoot as much HDV as i do widescreen DV, but HDV>AIC will quadruple your projects storage requirements.
FCE has a bit of a learning curve, so i recommend Tom Wolsky's book for it's tutorials & keep it handy for reference. don't try to do a major, paying project right out of the gate. though it's not as expensive & doesn't have all the apps of FCS, FCE along w/ LiveType are still pro styled apps & can deliver great results if you take the time to learn them. & don't toss iLife totally aside iPhoto, iDVD & Garageband, even iMovie(i sometimes use it to make a quick movie of photos for DVD menus) can still have a place.
good luck.
Message was edited by: Donna Jones1

IMovie09/iMovie HD and Xacti HD - setup help please

I am not a video expert so be gentle with me!
I have a Xacti HD camera. After reading some bulletin boards I have now set this to record at HD-SHQ (1280x720 30fps), but I have lots of video shot previously at Full-HD (1920x1080 60field/s). I have copied all this 1080 video from the camera's card onto an external drive. I want to import it into iMovie09 or iMovieHD to edit and produce movies.
I have MPEG Streamclip and have set it up as advised in the useful YouTube video on importing Xacti footage. I open the mp4 clips in MPEG Streamclip and export to Quicktime using Apple Intermediate Codec 1280x720 (HDTV720p), which works fine.
iMovie09 can see and import the resulting .mov file - but the footage viewed in iMovie09 has noticeable lines, which I think is something to do with interlacing. I have tried the export process with the 'Deinterlace video' box checked and unchecked but it doesn't seem to make any difference.
I also have iMoveHD, which does seem to import the files without these lines, but it doesn't generate any thumbnails. It's hard to edit when the clips are just black (though they show very well in the main window).
I would be so grateful if someone could advise me in simple terms as to the best setup to get my Xacti footage into one of these two apps so that I can have fun making movies instead of spending hours trying to understand the world of codecs!
Hopefully this advice will help all those out there with Xactis and Macs, which must be many hundreds if not thousands by now.
Thanks in advance.

Well, I have an Xacti camera as well, but mine only shoots in 720p, so I don't know anything about the interlacing stuff. But I was wondering, why are you using another program to convert your files? Both iMovie '09 and iMovie HD can import .mp4 files, and iMovie '09 just plays the video as is (i.e. without converting it or anything).
Although I have heard that iMovie '09 is having a problem with interlaced video, but I'm not sure on the details on that.

I want to create a movie in iMovie 10 and watch in on Apple TV. What is the best work flow to save hard drive space?

I want to create a movie in iMovie 10 and watch in on Apple TV. What is the best work flow to save hard drive space?

Jim,
Thanks for the advice. I have avoided iMovie Theater because that would soon use all of my free iCloud allowance (although that could be an option). I have been sharing to iTunes at 720p thinking that my picture using Apple TV would be better than Large. I see now that I could use about 30% less hard drive space by using Large instead. Do you think I will experience an annoying difference in picture quality?

IMovie 6 and general advice

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