Photo quality loss???

I imported photos to make a slide show and added soundtrack. When I exported this video to iDVD, several of the photos had lost quality to the point that they looked grainy or out of focus. I realized that the ones that had lost quality were all the ones that I had added Ken Burns effect and taken it off in iMovie before exporting. To make matters worse, when I go back to iMovie to fix it, I can no longer activate (click on for access) those photos. The is an option in the media menu to "show photo settings" which still works for photos with Ken Burns effect but is not longer clickable on the ones that had Ken Burns and now do not. Lastly, if I click on properties for these photos...they are much smaller files than they used to be. Is there a way to fix this without scrapping the whole project? And, how do I prevent this in the future?
Thanks,
Nile.

It sounds like you might have exported to iDVD by using iMovie's Share function, and when the prompt came up asking whether you wanted iMovie to render the clips, you clicked yes. In the future, when that prompt comes up ignore it and click on "proceed anyway". That way, iDVD will render the clips and it does a better job of it than iMovie. iMovie's rendering of stills can be destructive, which might have been what happened since the clips that still had the Ken Burns effect applied were not affected, but only the stills were fuzzy. In that case, you will need to replace the affected stills, because the destruction is permanent. The better procedure to export to iDVD is to skip the Share function and drag the iMovie project icon (the one with the star on it) into the edge of the iDVD main menu window, being careful not to drop it into a drop zone.
But if you didn't use the Share function, possibly you have corrupted preferences which need to be deleted, and then a permissions repair done. Delete preferences by closing iMovie and trashing the file com.apple.iMovie.plist found in User (the House icon)/Library/Preferences. Then do a permissions repair using the Utilities/Disk Utility App on your Mac. Open the Disk Utilities window and select the Mac hard drive icon at the top of the side pane at the left. Then click on the Repair Permissions button. When you have repaired permissions and deleted preferences, restart your computer and launch iMovie. iMovie will replace the .plist file that you deleted. Be sure also that you have sufficient free disk space on your hard drive for iMovie to function correctly. 25GB often is recommended by users of this forum. After doing all of the above, relaunch iMovie and see if you still have the problem.
Hopefully others will have some suggestions as well.

Similar Messages

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

HELP! iPhoto 08 Quality loss after edits

HELP! iPhoto 08 Quality loss after edit!
Any edited version, no matter how minor, causes the file size to be cut in half!
Original 3872 x 2592 is 3.1mb at 300dpi .
Edit version 3870x2590 becomes 1.5Mb at 72dpi.
B&W conversion 3872x2592 becomes 1.6mb at 72dpi.
Seems like a major degradation! iPhoto 6 wasn't this bad.
DPI change is not a problem but the file size change sure is!
PLEASE! any ideas before I upgrade all my files to 08. Please - don't say Aperture, it's still too slow and cumbersome. Trying to avoid Lightroom and stay within Apple sphere.

It really isn't a big degradation. There is a jpg compression when you make any edit but you might be hard pressed to see the reduction unless you're enlarging/printing the file to very large sizes. The most critical part of an image file is the number of pixels in it.
The reduction in size depends on the image content of the photos. If there's a lot of the same color, i.e. like lots of blue sky or a same color wall, that type of image will see much more compression than a very intricate photo. Also when removing the color information for a B/W conversion reduces the file size considerably. Do a Google search for jpeg compression and you'll find some very informative descriptions on how the compression is performed and what part image detail plays in the resulting file size.
You would have to compress the file a number of additional times time before you'd see the change. And with iPhoto's Revert to Original capability, you can start a new edit fresh with the untouched digital negative.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Major Quality loss when editing in Iphoto 09

Hi,
I am a new user to Imac and Iphoto and I saw that when I edit an Image in Iphoto, I loose a lot of my original data.
I have found that I can return to the original picture, but I wish to edit (especially using the CROP function) then print the Image on 20x30 cm size and therefore I need all the quality I can get.
When I Crop either JPEG or .RAW formatted images (for example 10 MBytes in size) even if I select the COMPLETE image, I am left with only 4 or 5 Mbytes of data.
It gets much worse when I really Crop a part of the picture.
A 12 Mega pixel photo should supply sufficient data to cover a complete wall, but for some reason a lot of quality is lost when I use any of the editing features.
Am I doing something wrong ?
Should I change any of the settings ?
Thanks for your advice

Welcome to the Apple Discussions.
the only difference is that Iphoto took my quality !!
Are you basing the "quality" loss on visual appearance of the photo or on the resulting size of the jpeg file? If it's the latter that is really not an accurate method. True, some information is lost with a jpeg edit and save (only the first edit in iPhoto results in additional jpeg compression) but, in my experience, you would have to print a VERY large print before seeing any noticeable image degradation. I've compressed jpegs as high as 60%, i.e. a quality setting of 40, and for most all uses up to 5x7 prints haven't seen noticeable image degradation. However, I realize image quality is subjective and open to individual interpretation.
So unless you are visibly seeing image degradation I wouldn't worry about the file size reduction, especially in iPhoto as it's compressed only once no matter how many edits are made and saved. Apple uses a compression algorithm that gives the best image quality for the amount of compression it uses.
The following is from the Usernet FAQ site article "JPEG image compression FAQ, part 1/2':
Subject: [4] How well does JPEG compress images?
Very well indeed, when working with its intended type of image (photographs and suchlike). For full-color images, the uncompressed data is normally 24 bits/pixel. The best known lossless compression methods can compress such data about 2:1 on average. JPEG can typically achieve 10:1 to 20:1 compression without visible loss, bringing the effective storage requirement down to 1 to 2 bits/pixel. 30:1 to 50:1 compression is possible with small to moderate defects, while for very-low-quality purposes such as previews or archive indexes, 100:1 compression is quite feasible. An image compressed 100:1 with JPEG takes up the same space as a full-color one-tenth-scale thumbnail image, yet it retains much more detail than such a thumbnail.
Read more: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/jpeg-faq/part1/#ixzz0UKB59gND
Message was edited by: Old Toad

Scaling down & up in CS5 - quality loss?

I have a bunch of source videos in various formats and dimensions, all of which I'm scaling down to 480x360. Here's my dilemma:
Because the source resolutions vary (they're all larger than 480x360 though), I've found it easiest to use the Scale to Frame Size function in my sequence. However, occasionally after doing this there's dead space along the borders that I'd like to get rid of - in this case the easiest route is to then scale up the clip a percentage or two via the Motion effect.
What I'm wondering is, is this scaling up in Motion referencing from the "Scale to Frame Size" resolution (thereby resulting in a quality loss, as I'm essentially shrinking the source then blowing that smaller resolution up slightly), or does it remember the original source dimensions and adjust from there (in the final equation then just scaling down "not as much")? Does that make sense?
I can always not use Scale to Frame Size and scale down solely from the Motion effect, but this requires trial and error to figure out exactly how much each source needs to be scaled down. As I have many files to work with, the time spent doing that adds up quickly...

What I'm wondering is, is this scaling up in Motion referencing from the "Scale to Frame Size" resolution (thereby resulting in a quality loss, as I'm essentially shrinking the source then blowing that smaller resolution up slightly)
Correct. It's a scale down to fit before the Motion:Scale parameter, so adjusting that parameter above 100% will introduce quality loss.
I can always not use Scale to Frame Size and scale down solely from the Motion effect, but this requires trial and error to figure out exactly how much each source needs to be scaled down. As I have many files to work with, the time spent doing that adds up quickly...
That's your best bet. Scale to Frame Size is, in most cases (and in my opinion) almost totally worthless. It used to function "correctly" in that it would actually change the Motion:Scale parameter, but that changed a long time ago.
If your photos are of all radically different sizes, you're probably better off scaling in batches in Photoshop (Actions, for example). If you've got a smaller set of varying sizes, I'd just create some effect presets for the Motion effect that set the proper scale for each of the various dimensions. It shouldn't take too long to set up.

Display size query, + quality loss from iMovie originals

Learning to work the iDVD process, but what is the word on a foolproof sizing method, such that the thing will display OK on any TV? I don't see any way to restrict display size in iMovie, and what good is the TV Safe check, if you can't control the display size?? Also is quality loss inevitable? I'm compiling the DVD from separate files, less than 1 gb ea. I used "full quality" Quicktime compressed versions from the original iMovie file (which look fine in QT); then pulled those back in to iMovie, then shared to iDVD. One of the files looks fine encoded, but the other has weird sizzling-oil standing wave artifacts, even on still scenes from jpegs. Looking for help/comment/expressions of sympathy
Thanks,
John
Houston TX

Hi v
Quality of the DVD-disc depends on several things.
• Highes Quality isn't Top - better is Best Performances (up to 60 min movie)
confused naming - in iDVD'08 there is Pro Quality AND I like it.
• Media brand - I use Verbatim
• Type: DVD-R my choise no DVD+R or +/-RW
• I save a Disc-Image and burn this at an as SLOW speed as possibly (eg x1) with Toast™
(Disc Util tool can also do this)
• I DON'T USE the function Share/Export to iDVD from within iMovie - IT IS DESTRUCTIVE !!
Just drop the movie project icon (with a Star on it) into iDVD theme window - then iDVD do the
rendering and so much better. Especially if there is photos in the movie.
• Free space on internal (start-up) hard disc - should be about 25Gb when all material is imported
and structured. This for iDVD to work with - iDVD can't use an extern hard disc as scratch.
(less than 5Gb - result is most probably of no use at all)
This is what come's first to my mind.
Yours Bengt W

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.

Photo Quality horrible in iWeb....any ideas?

Hey everyone. I just finished making my website. Its very early, and Im just working out the kinks until worrying about making it a bit more appealing. Anyways, one of the issues Im having is photo quality. I am taking my photos on an 8mp camera. When I import them into iWeb they look compressed and horrible when viewed (once enlarged through slideshow or just clicking). If you want to check out the website to see what I mean, the adress is:
http://web.mac.com/jon_leibowitz/iWeb/Site/Home.html
go to gallery and click on any of them. The main aim of my website is my photography, so its crucial for the photos to look top notch. btw, Im using high resolution pictures, imported them into iPhoto, and then used the multimedia button to import them into iWeb. Thanks!

Hello Jonathan!
Really nice photos! You, no doubt, have a much better eye than I do for details and such and it's no wonder that various compression artifacts would be more noticeable to you! Your photos look very acceptable to me.
The downside to the iPhoto-to-iWeb one-click automatic process is that you the photographer lose control over two things... the quality of resolution scaling and the quality of jpg (re)compression. Preprocessing of your images in something like Photoshop would definitely give you more control over these variables and would most likely allow you to see more acceptable images as posted online.
For your information, the max resolution for the Apple enhanced slideshows is 800x600. If you import a photo at any higher resolution, iWeb will take over again and resize and recompress your photo. So my recommendation to you would be to preprocess your images to make them look good at 800x600 and prevent iWeb from doing anything else to your images.
I hope this helps.

Significant quality loss and jagged diagonal lines when exporting from FCP

I've been working on this problem for several days and I'm going insane! Every time I export my movie from Final Cut, there is a significant quality loss. It is most noticeable in two ways: diagonal lines become very jagged (looking somewhat like diagonal lines in an older video game -- more a diagonal sequence of blocks); also, in some areas such as faces, the colors get a little blurry and there seems to some "pooling" of colors around the edges of the face.
I'm pretty sure the problem's not in capture: the Quicktime clips that I captured from the camera are all pristine. When I play them in Quicktime, I can blow them up several times their original size, and they maintain their sharp lines. (I also Reverse Telecined them all with Cinema Tools, if that's relevant.) I also know the problem's not just my computer monitor; when I play these movies on my external monitor and TV, they look bad too. The clips look bad after I bring them into Final Cut, and while I'm editing, but at first I figured that was because Final Cut sometimes doesn't show full resolution in the timeline. Still, when I export, the quality of the original captures just isn't there.
Some details:
Captured from 24A progressive, Sony HVR V1U HDV.
Using Final Cut 6.0.1, Compressor 3.0.1, Quicktime 7.2.0, OS 10.4.10 (all the most recent versions I believe).
I've exported in many different ways: using Compressor (and have tried a number of different settings: the DVD Best Quality 90 Minutes default Setting, as well as using a variety of bit rates from 3.0-8.0, One pass CBR, Two pass CBR, Two pass VBR, Two pass VBR best; Video Formats NTSC, HD 1440x1080...I have tried many combinations. Regardless of the size of the m2v created, the files seem to have the same problem over and over. I've also tried exporting from Final Cut as a Quicktime Movie and with Quicktime Conversion. Same result. I also tried using different compressors with my Final Cut sequence: Apple Intermediate Codec (which I used when capturing -- you have to with the Sony HVR), HDV 1080p24, HDV 1080i60, Apple Pro Res 422, H.264...
What's happening? Why is Final Cut turning my nice pristine captures into jagged foulness? What can I try that I haven't yet?

Welcome to the forums!
Unfortunately, you seem to have tried everything I can think of, and I don't have the latest versions of FCP to know if it is a bug. However, in the off chance that you haven't given this a shot:
Take a problematic 10 second section of your timeline (set in and out points) and the Export -> Quicktime (not QT Conversion) and make sure that you have it on Quality settings that you captured, and select the "Make Self Contained" box.
Look at that in Quicktime and see if it's bad. If it's not problematic, use that video file in Compressor for your render.
Hope that helps!
~Luke

Crunmmy photo quality in Safari

I get poor quality photos quality using Safari in any site.No problem with Firefox.My daughter running e-Mac with same Mac system no problem with Safari. New to Mac and a bit disappointed,I thought Mac were the tops for graphics & photos.Any ideas please. Many thanks

Hi Tools,
Try turning off the accelerator, I'll bet that is the culprit.
The accelerators usually downsample the picture quality to reduce the filesize of the images at the expense of quality, but improving speed.
I think they usually work by directing requests to a proxy server - in firefox you normally have to set this manually which may be why it appears to work fine, but Safari doesn't.
Enjoy your sleep and catch you tomorrow...

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

Photo quality on IDVD

Photo quality is poor when IDVD is shown on TV,
What can I do to improve quality?
Photos look good on PowerBook.

Photo quality is poor when IDVD is shown on TV,
What can I do to improve quality?
Photos look good on PowerBook.
we have the same problem, however when we showed them on a friends High def TV -they looked great?
if you find out anymore info I too wuld like to know
IMac Mac OS X (10.4.6) G-4

Losing photo quality

I am creating a movie using both video and still photos. With a number of the photos that I'm importing to the movie (some are scanned jpegs, some are not), I'm losing a tremendous amount of photo quality. They look great in iPhoto, but in iMovie they look terrible. Any suggestions? Thanks.

You'll find lots of useful information in earlier threads discussing this topic. Try searching for "blurry", for example.
Here's one:
Winston Churchill, "iMovie- Pictures become blurry after import" #1, 08:49pm Apr 12, 2005 CDT
Karl

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"

Photo quality loss???

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for