Import film from Archos 705 wifi to imovie 8

Question

After filming with my Archos705 + bullet camera, I would like to export those film in Imovie 7.
Avi format is not compatible with Imovie 7 !
Somebody can give me the format I have to use to be able to read the film in Imovie WITHOUT pixelisation ! Because I tried with quicktime pro to save the film under several format , but imported images (mpeg4 or m4v...) are of very poor quality .
Hoping to get help.
Tks in advance
Bst rgds

Answer 1

I'm not able anymore to change the data rate !
This depends on the application and preset being used. If you use the "Movie to TV" conversion, then the video data rate is set "contextually," dependent on the frame size. If you use the "Movie to QuickTime Movie" option and select the H.264 codec, then you can manually limit the video data rate or allow it to use as high a video data rate as it thinks it needs. (E.g., for a average DV/AIFF file of 28.5 Mbps, it usually needs a video data rate in the 18.0-20.0 Mbps rage to retain most of the visual quality. You are probably somewhere in the range of 2.5-3.5 Mbps.)
Is 640x380 not enough to obtain a good quality ?
That depends on you definition of "good quality." There are some on these forums who consider anything less than 720p (1280x720) to be unacceptable quality. (Of course they are starting with 1080i or 1080p (1920x1080) video and are viewing their content on a "top-of-the-line" 1080p rated plasma monitors and generally regard anyone watching SD TV with a touch of disdain.) In any case, my library covers 7 decades of theatrical serials, TV, and theatrical movies, so my standards might be considered somewhat "liberal" when it comes to quality.
Why Imovie 7 doesn't accept AVI and Imovie 6 well ? Can we import imovie 6 film into imovie 7 ? Without loosing quality ?
It does. Unfortunately, you seem to think that AVI is a codec -- but it isn't. It is a file container. I have a cousin with a Casio camera that stores it 320x240 clips as M-JPEG video with Unsigned Integer compressed audio. These files import directly into iMovie '08 in their original AVI file container. Thus, it is how the audio and video data is compressed that determines if a file cam be imported or not.
In the case of iMovie HD, a file need only be "conversion" compatible to be imported. If you open your iMovie HD project package, you will find that your AVI files were converted to an editing format as they were imported to the application. iMovie '08 does not automatically convert movies as the are imported by the Finder since it assumes you will only attempt to import files in the compression format in which you want them to be edited. Thus, iMovie '08 will only import files which are "edit" compatible at the QT frame level. As to not losing quality, remember that when iMovie HD import/converts your file from AVI to DV, it is also increasing the date rate on the order of 500% to 800% with similar increases in your file size. In the case of your AVI to H.264/AAC TV conversion, you are likely either dropping the data rate by as much as 40-50% or else keeping it at roughly the same level at best.
Do you know if it is possible to extract audio from image in imvie 7 ?
Not sure what you mean by "image" here. If a clip shows up in the "Event" window in iMovie '08, then you can extract the audio using the "Command-Shift" key combination to drag just the audio from the clip in the "Event" window (whether an iMovie Event or an iPhoto Event) and pin it to a clip in the "Project" window. Note that you cannot use the extracted audio as "background" audio here. (Alternatively, you can "extract" an audio track using QT Pro and store it in iTunes for access in iMovie '07 as you can any other audio file in iTunes.)