Loss of photo quality in imovie

I have been using imovie to create a slide show of sorts. The photos I am using are tiff files. When I try to save it so I can then send it to idvd to make a dvd it reduces all the files to jpegs and thus reduces the quality of the photos. Can I stop this happening? Also is there a way of creating a dvd in imovie rather than sending it to another program? I'm new to all this so it's a bit confusing. I just don't want to compromise the quality of the images.
mini mac   Mac OS X (10.4)  

Hi stu:
Welcome to discussions!
All of this and much more is answered in this discussion-be sure to read what Karl has written!
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1235214&#1235214
Sue

Similar Messages

  • Photo quality in Imovie

    I have Imovie HD 6 and Final Cut Express. I am creating the typical slideshow with photos from a digital camera and adding transitions and music, blah, blah.
    When I export in each application I get the same quicktime export screen. No matter what I do I get crappy photo quality in the imovie export and amazing photo quality in the FCE export. Are they not both using the same quicktime export? Why is there such a difference in quality?
    I did notice that if I render the imovie video as "uncompressed" ir in HD I get ALMOST the same quality as the FCE render on a typical MP4 export.
    Just wondering why this is since they seem to both just be using Quicktime to create the compression.

    I don't own FPE (or have any "video" camera) but you're mixing apples and oranges when using image formats in "video" apps.
    iMovie is a DV editing app and converts your single image into 30 similar files per second (.dv). The same is probably true with FCE but it may be set for "high quality" which may appear better. And the newer option to use MPEG-4 does make a bit of difference.
    Neither is appropriate for using still image files because of this conversion.
    First rule would be to use the appropriate dimensions for your destination. Standard definition video would be 640X480 and not your multi megabyte source files.
    I would add (scaled) the 640X480 sized image to a few seconds of audio (you decide the duration), extract the new video track and then export that as DV Stream (.dv) using QuickTime Pro.
    Same as if it came from a DV camera.

  • Maintaining Photo Quality In iMovie

    Question for one of you brilliant guys using iMovie.
    I have my movie for the veterans almost finished, but I have a question on maintaining photo quality when publishing or finalizing the movie.
    I did a test and exported my movie to hard drive, but the photos have piilation in shaded areas like the photos were taken with a Dollar Store throw away camera. The original photos are good quality. I exported as 720 HD. How can I get the best quality if I want to put the movie on DVD?
    Thanks so much.

    Sorry for the Typo, I meant "Pixilation, Spottines" generally poor quality

  • Significant loss of picture quality in iMovie, what are my other options???

    Hello All,
    I am new to the Mac world moving over from windows.
    Hooking up my dv camcorder (non high-def) to my TV gives a pretty good picture.
    If I use iMovie to import from my camcorder and then iDvd to burn a dvd and play the DVD the picture quality is significantly reduced (looks worse than VHS!).
    I am reading that this is uncorrectable through any settings available in iMovie or iDVD. This to me is unfathomable!
    Being a newbie in the Mac world I don't know what my other options are.
    I read about iMovie HD and Final Cut Express but don't know how they position and can I achieve better picture quality preservation.
    I want my camcorder picture quality better preserved. I’ve certainly gotten much better results on windows with various packages (but have little experience).
    I came into the Mac world believing that this sort of thing is what Mac was great for so a bit surprised.
    How do you folks get around such a significant picture quality loss???
    My home movies through iMovie and iDVD look embarassing for circa 2009!

    I convert my imported dv files to AIC at 1080p before editing.
    There is a small quality drop using this approach, I find it acceptable but some others don't.
    I have added an original dv movie clip, two exports in different formats of the same clip as prepared in imovie 09 and another of the same clip exported to back to dv as prepared in imovie 6, to a disc image of a DVD created in iDVD.
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    Source Comparisons (580 MB)

  • Poor photo quality in iMovie

    When I import a still picture into iMovie from either the desktop or from the media library and use it in a movie, the quality of the photo suddenly becomes terrible in both the iMovie preview screen immediately upon import and later in the actual exported movie. 
    Here's an example which dramatically illustrates this problem:
    Here is a JPEG photo I took at sunset with a Nikon D7000.
    The picture is intentially underexposed as it is one of the final shots in a time lapse sunset movie.
    Now, here's the photo exported into a 1080p iMovie!
    The photo is now horrible!  Gag me!
    I've tried various settings in "Export using QuickTime" and the quality does not improve.  From my research, it appears this has been a persistent issue.
    Has anyone found a good work around?, or alternate workflow?

    Jim
    No one asked the ? of the sizes of the pictures
    that you are putting into iMovie?
    When I do a slide show I use from 1 to 2.5mg.
    I go from Photoshop E / iPhoto to a folder on my DT then drag to iMovie without going to iPhoto.
    iPhoto is an easy import. I do use it from time to time.
    I do not crop, I use iMovie. I find that a better way.
    I do not use KB to import. I then change some to KB.
    Special effects no more then every 5th frame.I do break that one too.
    I also use Toast.It works for me.
    Karl-I like that thread- I put that in my iMovie folder.
    Woodie
    iMac 20 G5 BT AP Rev A / iMac G3 / in the closet Performa 6115CD / ll SE Mac OS X (10.4.4)

  • Photo Quality in iMovie HD

    I'm importing photos into iMovie . . . all of them look GREAT when viewed in photo or graphic applications, but when bringing them into iMovie they look distorted and blurry. When they were originally created I saved them at a high resolution to hopefully avoid problems like this. Any idea what the problem is? Thanks

    I'm having a similar problem with this and I wonder if you've gotten anywhere? I've used Keynote to create builds with my text & image content for an intro to a presentation that I'm putting together in iMovie.
    The resolution quality when I export from Keynote (at high quality 1280x1920) to Quicktime is variable depending on what format I set the Quicktime view at when I open the file in Quicktime. At actual size, it looks perfect. When I switch it to full screen mode, it's horrible. So perhaps my problem starts in this phase from Keynote to Quicktime?
    Just to check to see, I then drag the Quicktime movie into iMovie to incorporate it into the presentation. Here, the graphics retain their quality, but the text content stays horrible.
    From here, when I "share" to quicktime with all settings at highest quality, the quality is indeed the worst when opened and viewed in quicktime.
    Has anybody found a remedy for this? It seems to be a common problem where there are so many places one can go wrong....

  • "Still" photo quality in iMovie & iDVD

    I work with still photographs only. Trying to produce a slideshow DVD that maintains the original quality of the photo. After reading some postings on iMovie & this problem, I took the advice of several photographers & now use FotoMagico. Photo qulaity is execellent as images are not coverted to video as they are in iMovie. Program also allows the transitions & Ken Burns effects available in iMovie. To produce DVD, you must export to iDVD or Roxio Toast to burn DVD. After export to iDVD the images degraded - both on the screen & on the burned DVD & hen played on screen or HD TV. I don't have Roxio Toast. Does Roxio maintain the photo file or covert to video image? Can someone tell me what it will take to produce a DVD from Still photographs that will maintain image quality & offer transitions & title slides?

    There is a > Discussion > iMovie > iMovie HD6 going on into which I entered. I posted the following earlier today. I am the entrant with trhe Japanese doll in red, can't miss it.
    Have you a set prescription that you use when beginning the Burn to Disc from iDVD. That's where my problem is.
    Please read the following and send help soon . . . potis
    "My rendering is from iPhoto to FotoMagico. There the album is assembled with all of FoMo's attributes. I find it very user friendly. The blurring of a photo in iPhoto with the Blur adjustment does blur alright and it my instances I get a perceptible lightening of the image. Useable, but not the original. —Cut to the finish. Beautiful rendering in FoMo, so sent to iDVD the 130 photos and music. Beautiful in iMac playback in iDVD. Cannot complain a wink. Burn disc. Play disc, and there are the jaggies on the two buildings, one a church with lots of green and white marble on the facade, the other the Ponte Vechicco shimmering as in a desert as the zoom moves out. The jaggies appear on any horizontal or vertical shape, especially buildings (as noted elsewhere in this forum).
    My logic says that if the project plays very well in iDVD and wavers in a DVD burnt from iDVD, that the wavies are introduced in the burn process. I tried recording at Slideshow settings of HD 720p as suggested. No help there.
    Another suggestion has been that the digital cameras are ahead of the iMac Dual Core capabilities. I don't know about that. My Pentax SLR does load them in.
    For the moment I am eliminating the two dramatic zooms because they are distracting and waiting for a solution which will have to take form outside of my meager experience.
    Thanks muchas for your reply.
    potis
    iMac Mac OS X (10.4.7) "

  • Poor still photo quality in iMovie 10

    Does anyone know how to improve the quality of still photos imported from iphoto to imovie 10.  They are fine in iphoto but
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    There is a > Discussion > iMovie > iMovie HD6 going on into which I entered. I posted the following earlier today. I am the entrant with trhe Japanese doll in red, can't miss it.
    Have you a set prescription that you use when beginning the Burn to Disc from iDVD. That's where my problem is.
    Please read the following and send help soon . . . potis
    "My rendering is from iPhoto to FotoMagico. There the album is assembled with all of FoMo's attributes. I find it very user friendly. The blurring of a photo in iPhoto with the Blur adjustment does blur alright and it my instances I get a perceptible lightening of the image. Useable, but not the original. —Cut to the finish. Beautiful rendering in FoMo, so sent to iDVD the 130 photos and music. Beautiful in iMac playback in iDVD. Cannot complain a wink. Burn disc. Play disc, and there are the jaggies on the two buildings, one a church with lots of green and white marble on the facade, the other the Ponte Vechicco shimmering as in a desert as the zoom moves out. The jaggies appear on any horizontal or vertical shape, especially buildings (as noted elsewhere in this forum).
    My logic says that if the project plays very well in iDVD and wavers in a DVD burnt from iDVD, that the wavies are introduced in the burn process. I tried recording at Slideshow settings of HD 720p as suggested. No help there.
    Another suggestion has been that the digital cameras are ahead of the iMac Dual Core capabilities. I don't know about that. My Pentax SLR does load them in.
    For the moment I am eliminating the two dramatic zooms because they are distracting and waiting for a solution which will have to take form outside of my meager experience.
    Thanks muchas for your reply.
    potis
    iMac Mac OS X (10.4.7) "

  • Crappy photo quality when inserting images, how to improve?

    I work extremely hard on the quality of my images and when I use iDVD they don't look to bad, but when I insert images in between video clips in iMovie the quality of the images is degraded something terrible and my professional images look like they were taken on a cheap camera phone. Exporting the videos at the highest quality helps a little, but it seems to be the import quality which is reducing them down - least that is what it appears to me.
    How can I improve the photo quality in iMovie?

    Hi,
    Defcom has listed the main fix.
    You could also try the Bandwidth setting in iChat > Preferences > Video section > Bandwidth Limit drop down.
    We would suggest 500kbps for some ISPs
    Using Little Snitch does show that Bonjour Video chats do use the Internet
    It is probably done so that the SNATMAP Server that helps connect Video and Audio Only chats knows you are busy.
    9:34 PM Tuesday; July 28, 2009
    Please, if posting Logs, do not post any Log info after the line "Binary Images for iChat"

  • Help with photo import quality in iMovie!

    The resolution of the iPhoto (5.0.2) pics once dragged into iMovie (5.0.4) severly deteriorates on my iMovie project. The photos are 21 inches widecrystal clear JPEGS in iPhoto, Preview and Photoshop, except once dragged onto iMovie they look blurry and pixely. My digital camera is a Sony 7.2 (shot pixs at 5M)
    Playing project footage on full screen in iMovie looks this way as well. So it is not just the import still shot on the clipboard that looks bad.
    How do I fix this problem to get clear quality ?

    Create your iMovie project in a high quality format (choose the highest one possible) and then the pics you import will be imported in a high quality. iMovie automatically adjusts the quality of your pics and movies based on the quality of the iMovie project you are creating.
    I'm not sure what you mean by "a high quality format", hlokty. Are you referring to the iMovie Playback preference, which lets you pick one of three playback settings?
    If so, note that preference does NOT affect the quality of the imported image. It has no affect on the quality of project clips like video, photos, or anything else. The preference only affects playback in iMovie itself. Low quality improves the playback smoothness. High quality improves the playback image.
    If should be noted that iMovie NEVER shows us all the quality that's there, for either video or photos. That must be kept in mind when viewing photos imported to iMovie. It's important to not judge quality by what you see in iMovie. iMovie is a video editor, not a video player.
    There are many Topics here discussing photo quality. To find them, search for words like "blurry" and "jaggies".
    Here's one:
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2105598&#2105598
    Karl

  • Poor photo quality when importing to iMovie

    I imported some photos to make a slide show with added soundtrack. When I select a photo and click the "Show photo settings" it looks crisp and clear, just as it was shot. As soon as I deselect the "Show photo settings" button it looks blurred, pixeled and fuzzy, just an ultra low quality photo. The end result of the video slide show it's just a low end work.
    I just want to burn some DVD's to show my photographic work, but such a poor photo quality it's not going to help me achieve what I had intended.
    Any clues anyone???

    I'd like to follow up on your answer re: resolving poor photo quality. It seems the mere act of bringing photos into iMovie degrades the quality. You look at the photo in the preview window and it looks crisp. But then when you "ADD" it to the timeline, it becomes almost fuzzy. Isn't iMovie rendering the photos then and there as you bring them into the timeline? I cannot seem to make the photos look sharper and it doesn't seem to help doing the slideshow first in iPhoto, which I'd rather not do anyway.
    Any suggestions?

  • Photo Quality in iDVD

    I work with still photos only. Want a slideshow that maintains photo image quality. iMovie coverts to video file & degrades the quality. Changed to FotoMagico. Maintains photo quality in slideshow & offers transitions, KB effect & title slides. It exports to iDVD or Roxio Toast to burn DVD. After the burn in iDVD, the images are distorted and the transition movements are very choppy. Is iDVD coverting this to video images, thereby degrading the photo quality? Is there a way to use iDVD and maintain quality? Would Toast be better? My goal is to produce a photographic quality "still photo" slideshow using transitions, KB, etc. I am selecting NTSC 4:3, best quality in both programs. Getting very frustrated trying to output the quality I can see on my display in a DVD...any suggestion?

    Hi,
    I feel like I am back at school...
    1. I have the BETA version because when I tried to export or burn a DVD neither worked. They knew that was a problem & sent me the BETA fix. Now I can burn or export.
    2. My problem is whatever I do with the burn results in loss of image quality. I have been corresponding with Werner at FotoMagico who has been very helpful. He says image quality from still photos which have been authored & burned can not maintain image quality the technology just doesn't exist unless I go to a pro DVD lab and have them work with compressions per frame. He specifically said it is due to limitations with the MPEG-2 stream, which is standard in DVD playback. The little I have read on this is over my head.
    3. Right now I will forgo the idea of playback on a TV. Let's just deal with computer. When I burn to DVD as my option and it opens in iDVD it results in degraded images. I don't know what to select in iDVD and or FotoMagico to change this result or if it is even possible. I run a G5 with a 23" monitor, most current software on ALL prgrams. Picture files are digital froma Nikon D200 and a mix of negative and slides scanned in with a Nikon CoolScan 5000 and moved into iPhoto via the scanner or a transfer from Adobe. I am having the problem with all these types. What do you mean by resolution in iPhoto?
    4. I transfer from FotoMagico to iDVD by selecting 'Burn DVD' and it opens to 'iDVD'. I have left all settings on FotoMagico and iDVD at default settings and Werner said that should be okay. FYI - I have tried changing slideshow setting from display reolution to 23" monitor to NTSC. Nothing seems to change image quality.
    5. I would like at this point to be able to maintain image quality for transer in Quick time, upload to .MAC web account, etc. Help me there I am lost.
    6. Someone on this discussion also suggested burning to iDVD using the data portion only of the DVD using disk utility. I need help there. Also will that reproduce sound or only the photos. I understand that TV's and DVD players will not accept this mode and that is okay until someone figures out a way to maintain image quality for TV w/o an expensive lab.
    7. Werner said this is possible but they suggest copying the entire package (document as well as images and audio) and move it to iDVD or Toast. On the target devise install a FOtoMagico demo version & run it there. or if the target machine is not a Mac & FotoMagico can 't be nstalled there, you can export manually to a QuickTime movie by selecting 'export' frpm the File menu. Use 'HD preset or 'QuicltTime' & burn the resulting file to a DVD. My husband & I will work on this (with a tech if nec) and maybe you have some thoughts as well.
    At the end of this I think I will know more about video and FPS and MPEg's than I ever intended. Oh well, a little knowledge never hurt anyone!
    One last thing, what is a BETA for NTSC. I hate to bug Werner again without knowing what this is!

  • The SOLUTION to bad iDVD Photo Quality

    I have been a fairly silent member of this forum for a long time now, and have seen many supposed "solutions" with the known issue of how iDVD compresses, and ultimately destroys, image quality in DVDs. Granted, much of this compression is normal, considering a full-quality photo from iPhoto looks quite different after being smashed into the standard NTSC 720x480 format of a DVD and compressed to a variation of MPEG-2. That being said, this workaround has been well-tested, and will give you a very high quality slideshow that you can play on your TV. (take note that low quality TV will come into play in making the final product look bad, not the slideshow itself!)
    NOTE: I only tested this in iPhoto 6/iDVD 6 on a 10.4.8 PowerMac G5. I would love to get confirmation it works on Intel Macs and other machines.
    1. Select an album or group of pictures in iPhoto
    2. Go to File > Export and click the Quicktime tab
    3. You will have several options...
    - Width/Height: Defaults to 640x480 (4x6 image). This will result in about 100kb per image file, which gives you over 90 pictures for a 10 MB slideshow that you can e-mail to your friends.
    - Display image for: Obviously controls how long each image is displayed in the slideshow.
    - Background: Can be an image or a color. This is what you will see as a border if the slideshow image is smaller than the window.
    - Music: This is actually kinda complicated. What is the "currently selected music?" When you select an album and press the "Play" button to do a quick slideshow, there is a tab for Music. Whatever is selected here will be added to the slideshow when you export it.
    4. Click 'Export', choose the filename and location, and then save it.
    The resulting Quicktime file will be quite small, while still retaining the quality of your images. It uses a default crossdissolve transition that can't be changed. It keeps this quality when you drag the Quicktime file into iDVD and burn a disk/save a disk image.
    Downsides...
    - no ken burns
    - can't use different transitions
    - no other advanced slideshow options
    But it gets the job done! If you're wondering why this works while other methods don't, it's all in the .Mov container that's created. If you open the file in Quicktime and got to Window > Show Movie Info, you will see that it lists each JPEG within the package, along with a transition component. It doesn't compress the images into a video file, but rather references the original images within the .Mov package! Cool huh?
    Let me know if this works for you guys. I've offered this advice to many people with good results, which is why I'm posting it here.
    smi1ey =)

    Smiley,
    What you suggest isn't really a SOLUTION to bad iDVD photo quality, because you aren't creating a DVD that can be played back with a DVD player.
    You are simply suggesting an alternate approach for distributing slideshows which requires the receiver have a computer. iPhoto/iMovie give you several options on prepairing slideshows/movie for various methods of distribution (CD, email, etc).
    Some DVD players will also play jpg files from a CD or DVD and that avoids the mpg-2 compression quality loss, but a TV set image is still a TV set image.
    which gives you over 90 pictures for a 10 MB slideshow
    A lot of email programs aren't happy with a file that size, and of course, since you have created a QuickTime movie, your PC friends will also need to install QuickTime. The Flip4Mac Studio application will let you convert your QuickTime movie to a WMV movie for those with PCs.
    I'm glad you found an approach that you are happy with.
    If you open the file in Quicktime and got to Window > Show Movie Info, you will see that it lists each JPEG within the package, along with a transition component. It doesn't compress the images into a video file, but rather references the original images within the .Mov package
    BTW, there are several different CODECs that can be used in the .MOV file container - Photo JPEG is just one.
    QuickTime Pro offers more saving options than the standard version, so I recommend you invest in QuickTime Pro. You will be able to create your slideshow directly in QuickTime Pro.
    F Shippey

  • Photo quality--why so bad?

    I'm so disappointed with the quality of my photos--never had this problem before! I've got a 28mg image that looks awful--blurry, loss of color quality, etc.
    What happened? No tips on apple help.

    but the translation is more a no-brainer...
    Unfortunately, it's not easy for a third-generation Danish-American, born in Denmark, Wisconsin!
    Talespinner, iMovie isn't helped at all by using high-resolution images. In fact, it tends to make the jaggies problem worse. Using large images offer us increased flexibility for cropping the image, but it doesn't improve quality. In fact, it worsens it from everything I've seen.
    I suggest you try reducing the size of the images. If they reside in iPhoto, use iPhoto to export the images to files 720x540. Import THOSE to iMovie. (Or after cropping an image in iPhoto, export the cropped image to 720x540.)
    It's crucial to avoid the iMovie bug that adds lots of jaggies when you Share the project to iDVD. If there are UNrendered images — images imported with the Ken Burns checkbox OFF or other unrendered clips — iMovie will ask permission to render those clips. Do NOT grant permission or iMovie will add lots of jaggies. Let iDVD render them.
    If that bug has already damaged some images, re-import those images. The damaged clips cannot be fixed.
    Please let us know whether resizing helps.
    Karl

  • Image quality in iMovie

    Hi guys,
    I am trying to use iMovie to put together a slide show (I am a wildlife photographer) and it seems great for the job
    There are a couple of bugs within iMovie itself but mostly no big deal, except for one that is bugging me.
    The images I have generated are perfect quality when viewed in Adobe Lightroom, iPhoto or any other app, but in iMovie there appear to be far fewer colours so that (for example) the sky in an image is heavily pixelated. I can only guess there are fewer colours in the image.
    I am confused because in one of the articles I read it claimed that iMovie was directly accessing the file on disk.
    I simply dragged and dropped the hi-res images (they are all between 5 and 15 meg size) into iMovie.
    Has anyone else come across this? How can I make the images in iMovie look proper so that I can export the

    Are our events all co-mingled? Since ownership is ignored I assume we can see each other's video clips? This seems pretty messy to me and prevents any sort of privacy. In fact this basically breaks the whole user model.
    Since still images are not stored as an event in iMovie '08, adding an image from iPhoto, your desktop, etc. adds a copy of the file to you project to serve as the "source" for later export of your project. In addition, since there is a maximum size associated with your project, this "stored" image may be scaled if the original height is greater than 1080 pixels. Therefore, my recommendation was to actually look at the "stored, scaled" file in your project so as to compare it with your original files to see there there was any loss in image quality. You can manually open the project "package" using the "contextual" menu option "Show Package Contents" at the Finder level.
    I opened it in iMovie but can't see that option nor an option for setting colours to millions (which would probably solve my problem).
    The ideal here is to open the file stored in your project and look at it in the QT Player for comparison with the original file. When I said "color depth should be millions," I was referring to the color depth you should find in the inspector window when you open the files in the QT player. Both should normally read "millions" unless you saved them otherwise.

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