Maximise DVD quality from completed iMovie project

I recently completed an iMovie project of my son's wedding shot on my new JVC Everio video camera. All footage successfully downloaded in Full Quality into iMovie. I did all edits on iMovie. All seemed great ......and so very excitedly, I exported it straight to iDVD.
But then, I noticed that the movie size (right clicking the completed idvdproj /Show Package Contents/Resources/imovie) is now a measely 960 x 540.
Was there something else I should have clicked somewhere to stop the movie quality being the 960 x 540 - perhaps exporting it as a QuickTime at original quality 1280 x 720 or whatever it was from the camera. Is there a max that a DVD resolution dimension has to be? Or is the 960 x 540 as good as it gets for a DVD? Suggestions gratefully appreciated if I have missed a step somewhere along the way. Should I have exported it as HD720 or 1080 through QuickTime Export and not sending it through iDVD? But instead wait until the QT Export is done and then dump it into a new iDVD? All guesswork here. Im not sure so thought Id ask suggestions.
My son has an LCD LED television (1080p) and I would love to be able to present him his wedding dvd that looks as good as possible on his television (1080p).
Kind regards
Joe

Hi
Other things that degrade Quality when going to iDVD are
• Use of iMovie'08 or 09 or 11 - Use iMovie up to HD6 or FinalCut any version instead as they keep full interlaced picture (not discarding every second line)
• Never use "Share to iDVD" within iMovie (as iMovie renders badly) - BUT use "Share to Media Browser" and as Large (not HD) then in iDVD import from it's Media Browser.
Yours Bengt W

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In addition to John's suggestions this is what I was referring to. Use a template such as this one:
Select the button that's on the menu and delete it
Make a simple black graphic in any basic graphics application and fill it with black. Just drag the graphic into the menu to replace the background.
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Trying to share a completed iMovie project with iDVD. iMovie keeps quitting. Why?

I've been trying to share a completed iMovie project with iDVD. iMovie keeps quitting unexpectedly. Why does it keep crashing?

Click on the button near the top of the window where it says Project Library (it toggles between Library and edit Project).
Click just once on the name of the project, so that it highlights in blue.
Go to File Menu > Duplicate Project. There will now be a second project with the same name, but with a number added to the end of the name
Open that duplicated project by double-clicking it
Lastly, Check out this Discussion Thread from September
I movie quits unexpectedly during editing and publishing
from Jasonryan1. It relates to a corrupted item existing in his project. And in his attempt to troubleshoot it, he suspected it was a Title he placed in the Project itself. Once he deleted the corrupted Title he was able to successfully export it. As to which item is causing instability, that's a tricky process to narrow down. And I would agree it seems unlikely all your projects could have some corrupted element in them. But it might work to concentrate on the simplest project which is showing the symptoms you describe. Duplicate that project and start deleting pieces of it and trying to add a Title to it and see if iMovie crashes. And that's not to say it's a title, it could just as easily be a picture, a transtion or a music clip that's preventing that project from being exported.

Sending completed imovie project to idvd

Explain how imovie and idvd work together.
If I send my completed imovie project to idvd it prompts me to pick a theme.
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I just want to burn my completed imovie project to a dvd.
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Everyone should have a look at Ken Stone's site:
Authoring in iDVD 6
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/idvd_6stone.html
And all of the iDVD tutorials...
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iDVDAtAGlance.pdf
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iDVD5GettingStarted.pdf
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iDVDTutorial.pdf
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Hello
I want to import a clip from one iMovie project to another iMovie project.
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Jufke

Have you tried Copying the clip in Project A and Pasting it into Project B?
When you Copy and Paste clips, try to Copy and Paste all at the same time. More here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2356757&#2356757
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How achieve highest playback quality from shared iMovie HDV Project?

I have a Sony HDR-HC9 1080i HDV tape camcorder and I am able to play back HD video to either a Mac computer or to a Panasonic Full HD 1080p TV. Playback quality of unedited HD holiday video footage to TV using HDMI cable and to the computer via Firewire is superb. This excellent playback quality is also preserved in an edited iMovie Project in HDV format 57 minutes long and 48 GB in size which I made from the original 90 minutes holiday video footage.
The problems arose in trying to preserve this high quality when sharing the iMovie Project. Before I bought this HDV camcorder I had a Sony DV tape camcorder and I always used to make an archive tape from an edited DV Project by exporting the iMovie Project back to tape. However, when attempting to do the same with this latest HDV 48 GB Project the computer message informed me that it would take about 43 hours to do this. So that is out of the question!
Next I decided to make a Quicktime movie from the iMovie HDV Project using Full Quality compression via Apple Intermediate Codec (1440 x 1080). This took 12 hours to do! Computer viewing of the resultant 44 GB movie gave excellent image sharpness in still views, but for views of moving objects and also panned footage from the camera, closer viewing showed fine comb-outlining on most objects, but especially on narrow vertical objects. Is this what some of you call "jaggies" and is it an interlacing artifact? Whatever it is it was NOT in the iMovie Project but was introduced by the compression process Project->>Movie. Still worse was the jerky playback of the movie. The "IMovie Inspector" info confirmed that the movie had been made during the compression process at 25 frames per second whereas playback was in the range of only 3 to 10 fps! Previously made shorter Quicktime HD movies have not shown this jerky playback and played at 25 fps. Can anyone explain why this jerky playback occurred with the the longer 44GB movie?
Finally I made a DVD by dragging the uncompressed iMovie HD Project icon directly onto a DVD theme in iDVD and burning. The result was OK on both the computer and on TV but not great. Close viewing on the computer showed an effect which looked like a thin film of water rippling horizontally. This effect also showed in TV viewing of the DVD. Interestingly, this effect was almost eliminated when "Deinterlace" was UNCHECKED in the iDVD player viewing options.
My own conclusion is that the highest quality for archiving and playback is achieved by storing the large edited iMovie HDV PROJECT on an external hard drive and playing it back at full screen size on the Mac computer. In this way the iMovie editing functions such as the Timeline are hidden from view and cause no distraction when watching the superb HDV quality.
IS THERE A BETTER WAY?
Please comment and advise.
Vee Kay

I have a Sony HDR-HC9 1080i HDV tape camcorder and I am able to play back HD video to either a Mac computer or to a Panasonic Full HD 1080p TV. Playback quality of unedited HD holiday video footage to TV using HDMI cable and to the computer via Firewire is superb. This excellent playback quality is also preserved in an edited iMovie Project in HDV format 57 minutes long and 48 GB in size which I made from the original 90 minutes holiday video footage.
The problems arose in trying to preserve this high quality when sharing the iMovie Project. Before I bought this HDV camcorder I had a Sony DV tape camcorder and I always used to make an archive tape from an edited DV Project by exporting the iMovie Project back to tape. However, when attempting to do the same with this latest HDV 48 GB Project the computer message informed me that it would take about 43 hours to do this. So that is out of the question!
Next I decided to make a Quicktime movie from the iMovie HDV Project using Full Quality compression via Apple Intermediate Codec (1440 x 1080). This took 12 hours to do! Computer viewing of the resultant 44 GB movie gave excellent image sharpness in still views, but for views of moving objects and also panned footage from the camera, closer viewing showed fine comb-outlining on most objects, but especially on narrow vertical objects. Is this what some of you call "jaggies" and is it an interlacing artifact? Whatever it is it was NOT in the iMovie Project but was introduced by the compression process Project->>Movie. Still worse was the jerky playback of the movie. The "IMovie Inspector" info confirmed that the movie had been made during the compression process at 25 frames per second whereas playback was in the range of only 3 to 10 fps! Previously made shorter Quicktime HD movies have not shown this jerky playback and played at 25 fps. Can anyone explain why this jerky playback occurred with the the longer 44GB movie?
Finally I made a DVD by dragging the uncompressed iMovie HD Project icon directly onto a DVD theme in iDVD and burning. The result was OK on both the computer and on TV but not great. Close viewing on the computer showed an effect which looked like a thin film of water rippling horizontally. This effect also showed in TV viewing of the DVD. Interestingly, this effect was almost eliminated when "Deinterlace" was UNCHECKED in the iDVD player viewing options.
My own conclusion is that the highest quality for archiving and playback is achieved by storing the large edited iMovie HDV PROJECT on an external hard drive and playing it back at full screen size on the Mac computer. In this way the iMovie editing functions such as the Timeline are hidden from view and cause no distraction when watching the superb HDV quality.
IS THERE A BETTER WAY?
Please comment and advise.
Vee Kay

Recording standard dvd from completed FCP project thru DVD STUDIO PRO...

OH, kind geniuses...
it boils down to this...I'm very FCP friendly...production is done...I'm aware of "compressor" issue...one question tho
...is it easier to compress thru Quicktime movie or the
standard compressor functions when project is completed...
BOTTOM LINE...is it possible to crank out a standard DVD copy of a completed FCP project QUICKLY/ EASILY...thru
DVD STUDIO PRO? i've went thru the manuals for ALL, and am
affraid I'm reading T.M.I. into it... THE question..."is there a simple Wham-Bam-Thank You-Maam way to get a simple
DVD copy from a completed FCP project THRU, (the dreaded)
DVD STUDIO PRO??? I don't need to re-learn digital electronic theory...just crank out a gawl-dern DVD I can
present to a perspective employer that needs a FCP editor...
"much gnashing of teeth & lament",
thanks folks!
G. Tirebiter
mac G-5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) final cut studio

whoaohohohohohohoh nnnnnnneleeeee(a keith jacksonism)
silal..............
way too much info, amigo....I have one track (2min total...
including "live-type" graphics)....we don' have no marks....
we don' need no marks....we don' got to cho you any steenking marks!!!!! (Alfonso Bedoya from "treasure of Sierra Madre"..adaptation)...I love that guy/scene...back to the problem at hand...waaaay too involved it seems, my
friend....tho, I high 5 you for the extensive work & effort.
I'm lookin' for quick & dirty...did get a response that basically gives me that...still left out some "see spot run"
info that my "little grey cells" aren't absorbing...I'm
sure it's MY ignorance & comprehension skills that are in question here...I guess I wanna' get outa' th' gate & grab th' hole shot before I dial in my ride...like I said..."see spot run"....another try would be appreciated but not necessary...thanks for you're valuable time...
they're in.......everybody's eggs...
DOH!....
G. Tirebiter
mac G-5 Mac OS X (10.4.7) final cut studio

Making a single continuous movie in imovie 08 from 5 imovie projects

how can i do this. how can i take my 5 imovie projects and put them in a new project that will play them one after another and burn into dvd that will play as one continuous movie without going through menu. thanx

Could you please explain how I can merge the files sequentially into quicktime pro?
If the files are located on the desktop, they can be merged using either QUICKTIME PRO or MPEG STREAMCLIP. (Click appropriate name to see a "quickie" tutorial.)
Do I have to convert them from the project first?
If the individual clips are already in an iMovie '08 "Project" window, and already butted together, then any export would automatically merge the files together without further external processing. If you have four separate iMovie '08 projects you wish to merge together, then yes, they would each have to be "shared" or exported first and merged together externally. If you are referring to individual clips in the same or different "Event" windows, then no, these files can be merger together independently at the finder level without disturbing any iMovie '08 project underway if they are moved or their names changed in any way by the "Finder."
I would really appreciate step by step as I am a slow learner.
Had hoped that the prepared "visual" tutorials might more instructive than any written instructions.
Will this process degrade the quality in comparison to a the normal process of going once from imovie 08 Project to media shared to iDVD?
Not in the same way that "exporting" a file or collection of files might be degraded by decompressing and then re-compressing since the original audio and video content is merged together in a single container without any changes. However, there are other potential problems. Some compression formats use "Key" frames which contain all "picture information" following by frames that only contain "difference information" and it is possible to use this approach with such files. In this case, it is then it is possible to merge "difference" frames at the end of one clip with "difference" frames from the beginning of another clip which means the joint transition may not be as "smooth" as it could be if you were to join the "differences" frames from the first clip to a "key" frame beginning the added clip. (I.e., it is always best to "split" these clips so as all clips begin with a "key" frame. In addition, since this approach also allows you to join clips using different compression formats with widely varying data rates, a sharp change in data rate can cause the file to "hiccup" at his joint point. Luckily, re-compression as in converting a merged file to another format (as when converting to MPEG2) can usually remedy or at least reduce such problems. Files imported to iMovie '08 should already be all "I-frames," so I would not normally expect such problems -- especially where transitions are used which act as a kind of "buffer." But if you are joining files from several different sources, you should be aware of the potential for such problems.

IMovie 10 Can NOT Import Files from Older iMovie Projects

I have older iMovie projects on an external drive and want import/upgrade them to iMovie 10.
After choosing the old projects, iMovie 10 examines the old projects for a while and then gave me a list of files that it cannot import. The files I remember on the very long list are .plist and iMovie project files.
Should I be concerned? In other words, is iMovie 10 now using a new file format that makes these files superfluous? Will iMovie going to incorporate their information in the new architecture, or will some functionality be missing from the imported projects?
I'm running iMovie 10.0.2 on OSX 10.9.2 on a 27" iMac.
Thank you for your time and attention.

I'm going through my old iMovie projects and importing them one-at-a-time into iMove '11 (ver 9.0.9, build 1795)
I don't know the version of the projects that I'm importing but they have this directory structure and have file creation dates in 2007:
Unfortunately, when I import them, I lose most of the editiing that from the old project:
In case you can't read the area in red, it says:
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All transitions wll be replaced by Cross Dissolves.
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Isn't there a way to import older iMovie projects in their entirety and completely intact?
Thank you for your time and attention.
- nello

Is there quality difference between iMovie project and QT shared file?

I have several scenes that I want to piece together. Each scene was edited and saved as a separate iMovie project. I also "shared" each of the edited scenes to create full quality QuickTime files. I now want to compile the scenes to create a short film (actually an actor's demo reel). My reason for importing the QT files would be to have simpler uncut scenes as opposed to importing each of the iMovie projects, which would result in hundreds of tiny clips. It just seems like the fewer scenes/clips the easier it will be to make transitions, etc. But, will I lose quality (video or audio) by using the QuickTime files instead of the iMovie projects? Thanks.

it just looked lower quality in the QuickTime Player.
probably just my mind. thanks for the assurance.
Don't worry; your mind (and your eyes) are okay. What you see is normal.
By default, a Full Quality movie does not look beautiful. Playback quality is reduced, making it easier for your Mac to play the movie. But if you have QuickTime Pro you can adjust the movie's playback settings to see all the quality that's there. Even then it will appear to be "stretched". That's normal too.
Full Quality means it contains all the data of the source material with no loss of quality, not that it delivers great playback quality. A Full Quality movie is not intended for playing movies, and it's too large to share. Its sole purpose is to preserve the quality of the video/audio, letting you copy it from place to place with no loss of quality.
Actually, when you use QT Pro to adjust the playback settings of a Full Quality movie, it actually looks BETTER than iMovie's own display. iMovie never shows you all the quality that's there. (One of the benefits of having QuickTime Pro.)
Karl

I can't find a completed iMovie project

I completed an iMovie Project containing stills, vids and soundtrack. When attempting to convert it to an mp4 file via 'Share' menu, I was told I had insufficient memory to 'Share' and suggested I close iMovie and re-open it. When I did so, my completed Project no longer appears in my Project Library.
I note the icon for this Project still appears in my iMovie Projects Library folder on my hard drive but will no longer open in iMovie.
What to do?

Use the Devices and Printers to manually add the IIIP, make to to select the Windows Update in Add Printer set-up screen.
Please mark the post that solves your issue as "Accept as Solution".
If my answer was helpful click the “Thumbs Up" on the left to say “Thanks”!
I am not a HP employee.

Question about DVD quality from iDVD.....

I've just created my first DVD using iDVD (7.0.4), and I'm not happy with the quality of the photos. They look great in Aperture. They look great in iDVD when I play the project directly on my Mac. The problem is that I burned some DVD's of the project, and when I play the DVD on my Mac (or TV, for that matter) the quality of the photos aren't anywhere near what they are in Aperture or when I play the project directly on the computer. It's useable, but is it normal to have the photo quality fall off pretty noticeably when burning it to a DVD?
(FYI - I'm using the DVD burner that's built-in on my iMac, using Sony DVD+R DVD's, and I don't see any "quality" settings that I'd be able to change before burning.)
ANy help would be greatly appreciated, as - after burning about 20 DVD's - I'm unhappy enough with the quality that I don't even feel like giving them out now.)
Thanks,
Tim

Ah - That makes sense. Thanks.
As I said, I've never done anything with iDVD before. In fact, I've never done anything "digital" with photos before. I process them in Aperture, and then make prints and that's it. Which leads me to another question then.....
What I'm trying to do is get the 150 or so photos I've taken of my son's high school baseball games onto some type of media so that I can give one to each of the players. Not knowing anything about the degradation of the photo when turning them into a DVD, I put together a "project" in iDVD where I split the photos into two groups, added two songs, and made a presentation out of it. It sounds like if I want to do something like that Blue-Ray would be the only option to maintain the quality of the photos?
If that's the case, are there any other options? Can I just drag the photos onto a CD, or does a CD compress the photos as well? As I said, I've got about 150 photos that average between 9 - 13 MB's each. Will they fit onto one or two CD's? (I'm not sure how much a CD will hold.)
Any other options/ideas for getting these photos to the players?
Thanks in advance for any more help anyone could provide.....
Tim

Best DVD quality for 136 minute project

Hello!
I am putting together DVD's for a show from a local theatre. The runtime is around 136 minutes HD video shot with a Sony HDR-HC3.
I did a rough copy to give to the director and used the 120 minute DVD settings in compressor. The quality was terrible and definitely not what i want for the final project. The HD video looks really good, and i've seen HD to SD DVD's still look pretty darn good on a decent TV.
So what is probably by best option for exporting into DVD Studio? If you need any other details please let me know.
Thanks

what frame rate is your original material and what is the frame rate of your sequence? If your original material is 23.98 fps, make sure you maintain that frame rate thru your workflow. Adding compression markers in fcp around sections that have a lot of movement or are particularly complex may help. Just make sure you include compression markers when you export to compressor.
Also, deleting all renders and sending to compressor from within fcp may give you a bit more quality.
And using a dual layer dvd will allow you to compress at a higher quality. Unfortunately burned dual layer dvd's may not be as compatible as replicated dvds.

Trying to make a disc.img from an iMovie project get the mssage that some of the audio clips are not available. The clips still show as green bars in the project but do not play.

I successfully made a disc.img and then burned a DVD of the project but found an error in a title. Went back to the project, corrected the error, and tried to create a new disc.img but got the message that some of the audio tracks were unavailable. They still show as green bars in the project but do not play. Tried deleting and reinstalling them with no success. They do play in iTunes and in the iMovie editing pane
Thank you

inspired2apathy wrote:
... The goal is a ScrollPane that automatically wraps the text inside it. I've just about got it, but I have one thing that's not working. If I just put the JTextArea{s} in as the Editor, then you lose the any text that doesn't fit inside whatever the initial size was. Instead, I put the JTextAreas inside a JScrollPane which works fine, except that I still have to determine the size of the JScrollPane in advance. I would like to make each Editor/JScrollPane start out with just a single line of text and expand until it reaches a certain small number of lines.
... What am I missing?THE BASICS. See if this isn't what you are trying to do.
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JScrollPane;
import javax.swing.JTextArea;
public class Test
public static void main(String[] args) {
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    f.setBounds(0, 0, 400, 300);
    f.setDefaultCloseOperation(f.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
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}OP, your code was too long and complicated for me to compile and run. However, aren't you forgetting the two simple methods <tt>JTextArea.setLineWrap()</tt> and <tt>JTextArea.setWrapStyleWord()</tt>? Furthermore, I absolutely see no need for you to extend SWING components for demonstration this simple -- that is, if I understand your problem correctly.

Moving completed iMovie projects to an external harddrive

I have imported some of our home videos to iMovie and edited them to consolidate. I now have a roughly 2 hour project that I would like to move to an external harddrive to free up space. I am also deleting the "events" (the converted home movies that I loaded onto iMovie to create the project). I chose to "export movie" in Share on iMovie and am saving on the external harddrive. I noticed on several other posts here that I could just drag and drop the project, is that true? If I do that, will it only be readable on this Mac that created the project? Ideally, I would like to burn a new dvd with this edited movie. Exporting Movie is taking 4-6 hours so wanted to make sure that was the right thing to do or if there might be a faster way to do this.

If it doesn't recognize the drag, then there is something else awry. You should be able to force a move instead of a copy by holding down the cmd key. Can you just plain copy?
If the destination does not become highlighted, the OS doesn't think it can accept the item for some reason.

Maximise DVD quality from completed iMovie project

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