What is the best export setting from QuickTime Pro 7 for standard DVD

Question

I have several AVI movies I took and want to import them into iMovie, so I can create a DVD that will play in any DVD player or computer. (Along with a bunch of pictures.)
Should I convert them with QuickTime Pro 7 (QTP7) to another format, and if so, what is the best export setting.
I have export them using *_QuickTime 10_* and QTP7 to *MOV, MP4, & M4V* and the output is *+bad bad bad+*.
I have tried both export and save-as. Neither has done a good job.
The internal information of the AVI movies are: (as reported by QT)
Format: Apple OpenDML JPEG, 640 x 480, Millions, 8-bit Unsigned Integer, Mono, 11.024 kHz
I have used several settings with not much luck including:
AAC, Stereo (L R), 44.100 kHz, MPEG-4 (Perian), 640 x 480, Millions
MPEG-4 Video, H.264
Should I be using a better application then QuickTime?
Is there a way to just use iDVD with the original AVI movies?
These are wedding movies and pictures that people are waiting for.

Answer 1

Should I convert them with QuickTime Pro 7 (QTP7) to another format, and if so, what is the best export setting.
That depends on your specific work flow and the codec(s) involved. Generally speaking, if the file plays in the QT Player and is "conversion" compatible, then the file can be added directly to iDVD (i.e., unlike iMovie '08/'09/'11 which requires the file to be "edit" compatible with QT).
I have export them using QuickTime 10 and QTP7 to MOV, MP4, & M4V and the output is bad bad bad.
The quality of your output file will depend on a number of things: primarily the quality of your source file, the efficiency of the target codec, and the specific settings used. (About which you did not elaborate.) The rule of thumb here is that your output will never be better than your input and each re-comprssion of the data has the potential to degrade the quality to some degree.
I have tried both export and save-as. Neither has done a good job.
The "Export" option re-compresses the data while the "Save As..." option only places the original data in an MOV file container. So if this output is "bad, bad, bad," then I suspect your source file(s) are not of high quality to begin with. (This seems to be confirmed by the very low audio sampling rate which implies the video data rate was probably also low to conserve file storage space.)
The internal information of the AVI movies are: (as reported by QT)... Format: Apple OpenDML JPEG, 640 x 480, Millions, 8-bit Unsigned Integer, Mono, 11.024 kHz
The basic codecs here appear to be both playback and conversion compatitible with QT (other than the very low sampling rate which some QT apps may not like). Thus, if your work flow is to simply burn DVDs that can be played on commercial players, the AVI could most likely be dropped to iDVD for authoring. On the other hand, if you are editing in a recent version of iMovie, then that app may not like the AVI file container. In this case, the best quality you can likely expect would be to use the "Save As..." option to place the data in an MOV file container and import to iMovie.
Unfortunately, editing in iMovie '08/'09/'11 is done "by reference" which means your output file will be created by exporting the impoted source data to another compression format. The default would be H.264/AAC which is a highly compressed format which in turn would be re-compressed again by iDVD to multiplexed MPEG2/PCM content further reducing quality by using a less efficient video codec. My recommendation for export from iMovie in this case would be AIC/Linear PCM. (I.e., to export your edits to the Apple intermediat video codec using the original file size and frame rate with just a bit of "sharpening" and using 16-bit/48 kHz Linear PCM audio (which is what will be used to create the DVD).
Should I be using a better application then QuickTime?
How much are you willing to spend?
Is there a way to just use iDVD with the original AVI movies?
Yes. Simply create a new SD project, select your theme, drop the compatible AVI content to the appropriate "drop" area(s), add photos as desired, preview the results, and author the DVD if/when satisfied.