Want the best quality imovie/idvd project

Hi all
Just imported a video from my Sony digital8 cam using imovie. I'm having a little troubele deciding from idvd or imovie, which is the right direction? Can someone share a good home video back up system? I'm trying to import my home videos from my Sony digital8 camcorder

+I'm having a little troubele deciding from idvd or imovie, which is the right direction?+
It depends on what you want as an end result.
iMovie is an editing program so that you can crop your movies, add titles, effects, transitions, add still photos and audio files.
iDVD is an authoring program so that you can create a burned DVD disk of your videos, photos, etc. You create your movies in iMovie and then drop the finished movie into an iDVD project to burn it to a DVD disk so that you/others can view it on a TV from a set-top DVD player. iDVD has to compress data when it is burned, so you don't want to be burning DVDs to preserve your home videos if you want to edit them later in iMovie.
If you just want to burn them to back them up and you don't want/need to do any editing, you might want to look into just using a stand-alone DVD recorder. You could connect your dig8 camcorder and record to DVD disk directly.
You can also use iDVD to create slideshows and burn them.
You should go to Apple's support site for iLife and watch the tutorial videos for both iDVD and iMovie 6:
http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#idvd
http://www.apple.com/support/ilife/tutorials/idvd/index.html
http://www.apple.com/support/ilife/tutorials/imovie/
+Can someone share a good home video back up system?+
Again, it depends on what end result you want. Some people think that they want to import all their video footage into iMovies, and save all of it on their computers. However, that requires HUGE amounts of drive space. Each of my iMovies runs from 25-60 GB. It is better to import the footage for each movie at a time, as you work on your iMovie.
A large external drive just for doing movies is a great idea. Get as large a drive as you can afford! Be sure to format it for macs first before importing anything. Keep the iMovie and iDVD apps on your main drive.
I. Save your original raw digital 8 tapes. Data is already in digital format. Be sure to keep your camcorder so you can reimport if you want. If you really want a back up for these original tapes, you can connect your dig 8 camcorder to a miniDV camcorder and record to miniDV tapes. I did this for my VHS tapes as they were getting too old and I was concerned about further degradation. I like having a digital format of my original video VHS and Hi 8 tapes. This may not be necessary for you since all your tapes are already digital.
2. Import videos into iMovie, doing just one movie at a time to save drive space, edit, then export the movie to miniDV tapes with a miniDV camcorder. This process gives you tape(s) of your EDITED iMovie. I use these tapes as a backup for my iMovies, since I delete my iMovies after exporting them and after I have burned my DVD of that movie. (See next).
3. Create iDVD projects from edited iMovies, do 'save as disk image' for each one so that you have an image file of all your projects. Since disk images are self-contained, you can safely delete the original iMovie and iDVD projects without losing the ability to burn DVDs in the future. It also saves drive space. Use the disk image file for the actual burning of the DVD disk, using Disk Utility.
Now you have a set of raw original tapes, a set of edited mini DV tapes, a burned DVD and the disk image file of each project. You should copy all the disk images to another external drive as a backup.
I don't worry about backing up the DV tapes, as I can always reimport them. The tapes are small and store easily. It is recommended for longer life of the tapes that you get them out once a year and rewind them, but I have not been doing that.
Yes, you can take one of your burned DVD disks and create a disk image from it, and use it to burn more disks, but that means that your future burns depend on that disk staying in good shape until you want it. DVD disks can crack, break, melt, etc depending on who uses them. I prefer to know that my disk images are saved and backed up for when I need them.

Similar Messages

How do I burn the best quality iMovie project to a DVD for TV & Computer?

I have created a 7 minute long iMovie slideshow project in iMovie '08 that I want to burn in the best quality possible to a DVD so I can play it on a PC and and on a regular DVD player connected to a TV. How can I do that? I tried exporting it in iMovie under SHARE > EXPORT MOVIE, then burnt that to a disk, but the quality of the pictures was very poor on the disk playback. How can I keep or get as close as I can to the original quality when creating a DVD? Thank you.

Use Share/Export to Media Browser/Large.
Then in iDVD, you should find your movie in the Media Browser there.
Keep in mind that DVD is standard definition 640x480 so it will never look as good as an HD or a many megapixel camera.

HOW DO I GET THE BEST QUALITY RESULT!?!!?

I have a canon GL2 and when I plug it in directly to the TV and watch my footage the quality is great, I then upload it to Final Cut and the quality is somewhat there, but when I go to export it I can never achieve the quality that it gets when I hook up the camera directly to the TV, and roll the tape. How do I export using compressor or not, to get the best quality, I dont care how big the file size I just need the quality!!! Thank you in advance for the help!

It depends on what format you want to output to.
If you just want the best quality, then output to 10-bit Uncompressed quicktime - the files will be huge though.
Do you need to output back to tape, DVD or something else?
Also, make sure that you have the right settings in your sequences, so you don't loose any quality there.

IMovie '08 option to make the best quality video on a DVD using iDVD '08

Which iMovie '08 option will make the best quality video on a DVD using iDVD '08?
1. Share-Media Browser-Large-Publish
2. Share-Export Using Quicktime
3. Or can you use an unpublished iMove in iDVD?
(Of course I'll have to first get iDVD to open without crashing...)

Which iMovie '08 option will make the best quality video on a DVD using iDVD '08?
1. Share-Media Browser-Large-Publish
2. Share-Export Using Quicktime
3. Or can you use an unpublished iMove in iDVD?
As always, this depends on a number of factors which you failed to cover in your original question.
1) If you source files are SD, other than an increased loss of time in converting you gain nothing in scaling the files up in iMovie '08 only to scale them back down in iDVD. On the other hand, if your source files are HD, then you will likely see a marginal increase in quality which may or may not be worth the price of increased processing time. In this latter case, you are allowing the MPEG-2 compressor to get the most it can out of your file at the P- and B-frame level.
2) Export using QT allows you to customize your output with regard to both compression format and settings. For instance, you can use a codec with extremely high data rate (e.g., VGA dimensions with DV at 28.5-57.0 Mpbs, AIC at 18.0-22.0 Mbps, or even unlimited H.264/AAC at 16.0-20.0 Mbps). High video data rates generally translate to less lost quality during the re-compression process. Thus, if the intermediate file produced by iMovie '08 and passed on to iDVD retains more of its original quality, the MPEG-2 compressor can get more quality out of the final conversion as stated above.
3) Since no physical file actually exists until the project (simply a set of instructions detailing how the final file will be created) is published, there is nothing to be physically sent to iDVD. basically you must create a physical file from the project in order to do anything at all whether sending it to a gallery, iTunes, YouTube, iDVD, etc.

I import in HD and Export in HD 1280x720 and Use the IDVD burner How do I get the best quality? It seems to be a generation down on quality.

Need help with getting best quality for DVD's.

The best quality you can get is to first understand that the biggest frame you can play back using a DVD player is 720x480. So no matter how big the image is going into iDVD it is throwing away some information to get it all to fit 720x480. Your best option then is go to Share Menu > Media Browser... Then choose the Large size.
Open iDVD and find your video project by clicking on the Media button in the iDVD lower right hand corner. Then above that there's the media browser window with the Movies button on the right hand side. Click Movies button and browse for your project under the iMovie star icon.
Drag that project into a clip and burn the project to a DVD-R.

How do i export a video made in imovie to youtube in the best quality possible?

how do i export a video made in imovie to youtube in the best quality possible?

You can only export in the same resolution that you imported.
That is if you shot in 720p you cannot export in 1080p.
Share > YouTube and select the highest resolution available.
Z.

Exporting iMovie/iDVD project for PC friend to edit

I recently posted a question about how to take an iMovie/iDVD project and export the files so that a PC user could take the project and edit on his PC using a video editor. It was suggested that I share the iMovie project to QuickTime and then burn on to a CD. This sounded good at first but then I did some research and saw that sharing to QuickTime means that the quality will be lost (saving to CD setting) and will only be something like 320 x 240. Plus, it takes forever. Even longer if I set it to full quality but by that point, the file wouldn't fit on a CD anyway.
I did see that I could save the movie back to a mini DV tape and then give that to the PC person so that they could just bring it into their computer via their camcorder. But what if that person doesn't have a digital camcorder?
For the project in question, I've been asked to take some VHS tapes and convert them to digital. I've done so using a digital converter. They want a DVD of what was on the tapes, which I've done, but they also want the files so that they can later edit to their tastes on their own time on their PC and then later create a DVD. Given the above, what would be the best way to do this? Isn't there something in the movie project files that I can dump to disk?

a) consider the usage of an ext. harddrive...
b) in iM's "share" dialog, you find the option "selected clips only"; so, select a few clips you like to export, check that box, done... you can "split" your clips at any point to create segments of approbiate size by hitting apple-t at any position in timeline..
c) share/Quicktime/expert options/click "share"/ offers you a dropdown menu, where you can choose the "avi" container...
(your User Interface is for sure english!)
you can click options, and choose the dv codec (which is your project's native video codec)... no loss of quality, and probably compatible for your friend..
d) a dataDVD-r fits ~20min of dv video... 4 disks?
e) using Disk Utility, make sure, you use a PC-compatible disk format....
f) Plan B) export your project back to tape, give your friend the miniDV...

Please suggest a method and some settings to get the best quality DVD

I’m trying to find the correct settings to use to make the best quality DVD of an iMovie project. It includes still photos (a couple use the Ken Burns effect), movie clips, titles, maps, transitions, and audio. The project is 33 minutes long. So far, I have burned it by using 3 different methods and the results vary, but not one of the three is optimal for everything. Is it possible to make a DVD that has the best quality of everything or do you have to sacrifice one thing to get the best of another? Here’s the workflow for each method.
#1 iMovie09 ->share to media (960x540) ->burned with iDVD (best). Everything is acceptable except for the movie clips which have low quality with smeared details.
#2 iMovie09 ->export to Quicktime (Apple intermediate codec, current frame rate, data rate-auto, compressor native, 1440x1080) ->burned with
Toast 9. Compared to the first method, the titles are pixelated, the animated map arrows show jaggies, one Ken Burns zoom shimmers a lot, the quality of the photos is slightly less, but the movie clips are a lot better and are acceptable.
#3 Quicktime .mov file from #2 ->MPEGStreamClip (deinterlace, all other settings auto or default ->burned with Toast 9. Movie clips are the best of the 3 methods, photo quality is better than #2, but not as good as #1. Titles and other effects are just a little better than #2, but not as good as #1.
Can anyone suggest some settings using any combination of the programs mentioned above to produce a DVD that has the best photo, effects quality, and movie clip quality all on one DVD?
Rick

from a prior post, I find this worked quite well, but i think you already thought it was not that good for you, i did not get the 'smeared details" or so I thought:
"In iMovie, do not "Share to iDVD", it makes a pretty bad product. Instead,
"Share to Media Browser" and choose the "HD" version if you can, this will take your iMovie project and export it (Can take an hour or 2) into a 720p movie (that looks close to your original iMovie project). That 720p .mov file will be hidden in the iMovie's Project's file; access it if you want by right clicking on the project, show contents, movies (but you dont need to look at it as it is directly accessible through iDVD). SO after the movie has exported, you then open iDVD and click on the MEdia button in the lower R corner, then Choose MOvies, then choose iMovie and you should be able to see that 720p movie that iMovie made. Drag that movie version into iDVD's window (after setting up your theme, background music etc) and then burn. It should look pretty good. Remember, all DVDs are compressed to standard definition (SD) so you will lose definition from the 720p to the 480 resolution of a DVD, but hopefully it will be fine.

How to export the best quality file from FCE?

Hi people. I was wondering which is the option that I have to choose to get the best quality on an exported file from FCE4. The best quality I get is from the "Export - Quicktime movie..." option, but there is a huge compression as I see. The final product isn't as good as it should. Obviously, it won't be the same as the original material, but I was wondering if there was another way of getting a movie with much more quality, like when you use "Compressor" from the Final Cut Studio. Thanks in advance.

I imported the material through firewire (it was recorded on a miniDV tape). I respected the format of the source and the files I got are top notch. The final movie looks great on the computer, the differences come when burning it to a DVD. I'm using IDVD, and the .mov file exported through the option I mentioned.
I want to burn that .mov file to a DVD, which means there will be another compression to MPEG2 once I burn it through the DVD authoring app, but the product has some kind of "shaking" in the dark areas. It's not so bad, but I would like to get the best quality, like the ones I've got from Compressor. Is it possible using the Export - Quicktime movie option?

Best performance vs. Best quality in iDVD Prefs!?

What is the difference? i have selected "best quality" and see no difference in picture, but one can fit more onto a dvd with best quality vs. performance. what is the difference!? thanks!

A quick, simple explanation is given in David Pogue's little iLife '04 manual. I will pare it down a little:
"Given that a blank DVD contains a limited amount of space, how much picture-quality data can it afford to devote to each frame of video?
The Best Perfomance option in iDVD 4 ....allots a fixed, predetermined amount of data to each frame of video--enough to make it look great--no matter how many minutes of video is included. A lot of the DVD might wind up being empty if the project contains less than an hour of video. But, the burning process will go quickly and the video will look really great.
The Best Quality option uses every micron of space on the blank DVD, analyzes the amount of video included and divides it into the amount of space available on the DVD. The amount of information used to describe an indiviual frame of video will vary from project to project, and it will take a lot longer to burn the DVD because of so much analysis. But it will give two hours of great-looking video per disc."

Is an iPhone app the best choice for our project?

Dear All,
We are developing a travel tour idea for different locations within the US. Tour content can include video, audio, images and text, as well as maps and locations. We want to make our tours "in-depth" so that people can spend good quality time traveling a short distance and exploring "in-depth" rather than travelling long distances and giving only casual interest to what they see.
I'm new to developing apps for the iPhone and am using Dreamweaver CS5.5 soon to be updated to CS6.
I'm wondering if an app for iPhone and other related media like Android is really the way to go because of the limited content and screen size available. I can envision our tours being utilized in many other formats, including iPad, Interactive PDF, as travel e-books or through an interactive website. Our goal is to sell our apps, not give our material away for free. PDF would be my preferred format, but I know that PDF is easily transferred for free among users and would probably not give us much profit.
Any thoughts out there on what the best format for our project might be, or should it include ALL of the above formats? App creation for the iPhone is a rather complicated process, so that's why I'm wondering if after all of the work that you have to put in to create an iPhone app, if that is ultimately my best choice.
I would appreciate any thoughts or advice, or any questions you might have. I'm working on a Mac Pro with CS5.5 Master Collection soon to be updated to CS6
Small Town Gal

hi,
It depends on your requirement. Base on my experience, VM or website all could meet your requirement. From your description, You could use azure website to host your php website (http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/documentation/articles/web-sites-php-configure/).
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Hope it helps.
Regards,
Will
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I'm going to save my old Hi8 tapes on a hard disk using final cut pro x, to save it for the future. But how shall I export it, and in what will be the best quality to save it in?

I'm going to save my old Hi8 tapes on a hard disk using final cut pro x, to save it for the future. But how shall I export it, and in what will be the best quality to save it in?

Hi Carsten...good luck with your project.. I had just about as many Video8 & Hi8 tapes as
you that I digitized and eventually brought into FCPX..took me many months not weeks
to do so,BTW, as each tape was 60-90 minutes in lenght...and many hundreds of
gigab ytes of storage ( uncompressed AVI files)..it's tedious work unless you plan to farm
it out to a processing house...also regarding eventual storage format...remember
Hi8 is 400 lines or about 540X480 in todays resoultion metrics..you can't make hi-def out
of source that starts out as 400 lines...in my case I rewrapped the avi files into .mov
containers and imported the mov files into FCPX where I got rid of the hundreds of
minutes of Colorado mountain landscapes to get to that one minute shot of the kids
on horseback ( late 80's for most of my archives)..so its a job..scouring thru 30X90 min
of source to not miss those precious memories takes diligence and hard work but its worth
it; eventually I encode the uncompressed video I want to save in H.264 format Staandard
Def not HiDef

FCProp 6: Which setting for the best quality encoding (capture)?

Hi everybody,
i am producing contents from HDV cam (Sony Z1) and i just saw one of my colleagues (journalist too) working on Adobe Premiere having a really better final report than my one (using the same tape).
i just wonder if someone could explain what would be the best workflow to get the best quality on a standard DVD (not the next generation)?
our reports are based on Fashion, so we are using some filters for some of the images. i heared about the RS422 or something like that wich is the new aple encoder ? am i right ? is this what should be used for the capture and rendering files ?
what about the export encoding setting? movies are all under 10min duration
Thank you very much for your hightlights
Sam

I use FCPX/iDVD regularly to make DVDs. Workflow is to edit 1080i project in FCPX, add chapter markers, and export video using Share -> Master File (default) with no changes.
The resulting .mov file is then imported to iDVD with various themes, etc. and "Save as Disk Image" is used to create a burnable file for creating DVDs with Disk Utility.
Be aware that the titling of chapter markers is flaky and you may have to retitle them in iDVD as the name from FCPX is not always saved. No big deal.
I also use MPEG Streamc;ip to create a 128//720 mp4 file which goes readily into iTunes and then i synced to my iPad for portable show and tell. Have to confess that I have Compressor too, but have never used it and from following the forums get the impression that it's not easy to use. MS works fine for my limited purposes

Need serious help about understanding settings on photoshop for the best quality- please reply is you know a lot about this.

Ideally I'd like to speak to someone from the UK as I feel I can't write out everything I want to say because it's too confusing and it isn't just one question.
I need help with setting photoshop so the images are the best quality on screen and for websites and printing and how I can change that etc I've heard different things and I just need some clarification and advice.
Obviously I'm sure some of you wont want to give personal details out that's fine but I'm generally just in need of some advice, let me know if you can help:)

I don't change any settings. For 1X web images I always use Save for Web. PS remembers which web settings you used the last time. This doesn't effect other files or formats.
Image optimization — Web Fundamentals
Improving Images for Hi-Res Retina Displays
A guide for creating a better retina web - Ivo Mynttinen / User Interface Designer
Serving Hi-Res images only to High Density Displays with PHP
Retina Images
Seriously, you can drive yourself crazy with all this Retina display stuff. I don't see much upside to it except for very special situations.
Nancy O.

NEED THE BEST QUALITY QUICKTIME MOVIE FOR DVD! THANKS FOR ANY ADVICE.

I just finished a three minute piece that will be shown on DVD and projected to a sixteen foot screen. I usually just output a self-contained quicktime movie with current settings and then compress with bitvice. While I'm happy with those results, because of the size of this screening, I'm curious whether there might be better options for output to quicktime, such as uncompressed, etc?
I've also heard that I could output as a Jpeg, or a PNG file, but I'd love some advice on what works best and the workflow, as I need to get this done fast and can't really afford the time to experiment.
Any advice would be HUGELY appreciated. THANKS1

I usually just output a self-contained quicktime movie with current settings and then compress with bitvice.
That will provide the best quality ... the quality won't improve over what you had in FCP. Depending on your source media type(s), you may have had a better quality export IF you had edited and rendered with another setting.
-DH

Want the best quality imovie/idvd project

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