Poor Quality Import - Sony DCR PC350 - iMovie 08

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adamshaw1977 Author

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Poor Quality Import - Sony DCR PC350 - iMovie 08

Hi,

I have a Sony Handycam DCR PC350 Mini DV and I have recently bought a new iMac to replace my ageing PC. I have connected the Camera to the iMac via Firewire connection and everything seems fine with the Mac and iMovie recognizing the camera. As I am importing the footage looks good also, just as I would expect. Then, after the import is complete and I playback in iMovie there is a serious decrease in picture quality. This has been driving me nuts for the past 3 weeks. I tried importing onto my sister in law's iMovie on her Mac but with the same poor quality after import.

I am therefore guessing that my Mac does not like my Camera or there may be an issue with the firewire lead (although it worked flawlessly with my PC before).

Can anyone provide me with any wisdom on this subject? Are there extra import settings in iMovie that I have missed? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PS. I have tried importing into Final Cut Express and Premiere Pro with marginally better results but still not up to the standard I was getting on my old PC.

Thanks,

Adam

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.4)

Posted on Sep 12, 2008 4:17 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 12, 2008 5:00 PM in response to adamshaw1977

I'm not sure if this is the cause, but there is a difference in the way iMovie 08 handles the video after import, as compared to iMovie HD6, the older, better version. Something to do with the interlacing? or something, but I'm not sure. Some people here think HD6 produces a better quality image than 08.

Oftentimes too, the image you see on your monitor will not be the same as you see on the final DVD product.

Anyway, you are entitled to a free download of iMovie HD6 from the Downloads page of this Apple website. Maybe get that and see if the picture is better.

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