DV video quality

Are you saying then that all I'd need to do then is delete the project files (events) I have now on iMovie and rejnport them all again from the miniDV tape with iMovie 09 since I upgraded and it would preserve the full quality of the .dv files this time?

Thanks.


PS: since iMovie converts everything to AIC on import, how can I preserve my AVCHD files (back them up)?
Funny, all this confusion and frustration is almost making me return re Canon HF11 I got yesterday and stick to my little Canon Optura 30 for a longer time until Apple figures out AVCHD... 😟

Or would buying the Canon HV40 be a better deal than the flash-based HF11 (for editing compatibility with iMovie HD 06 + easy storage = tapes)???

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=177&mo delid=17996

"...for a longer time until Apple figures out AVCHD"
I think Apple has AVCHD figured out just fine, and using your HF11 with imovie 09 will produce excellent results. The problem is that DV is not being supported to it's full extent by imovie 08/09, and likely won't be.
From what I've inferred from your posts you are looking to import,edit and insert your older DV clips along with your AVCHD clips onto DVD's. Get a copy of imovie 06 to import then export your DV clips. Export them at full quality to DV format. Use imovie 09 to import your AVCHD clips at 1920x1080. Imovie 09 will convert these AVCHD clips to AIC, which will de-compress them and they will be in your events folder. Import the clips you exported from imovie 06. They will also be in your events folder. From there the clips will be treated identically.
Your AVCHD files, which are compressed, can be dragged from your camera to your storage spot of choice using the finder. They can be imported again if you wish my imovie 09 at any time

Just my $.02 but I wouldn't be going back to tape. Get imovie 06 just to get your old DV videos into imovie 09 at full quality and from there use your HF11 and imovie 09. Mass storage is getting so inexpensive that saving your AVCHD files is acceptable. Hey if you do it quickly you could even resell imovie 06.

Thanks for the support, everyone!
🙂

I have iMovie HD6 here (downloaded it when Apple still had it available).

So, when I import the dv footage to iMovie 6 where does it save the files (so I can use them on iMovie 09)?

If imported with iMovie 6 in full quality, would I then just delete the .dv files from the iMovie 09 events and drag the .dv files from the iMovie 6 library (wherever it is) onto the iMovie 09 "events" folder? Can I expect the events on the ioMovie 09 interface to still contain the timestamp information as if I had "imported them" via the UI?

Thanks again. This is REALLY confusing... I should have just bought the HD camcorder to start with...

PS.: when saving the AVCHD footage raw to my hard drive, do I simply drag all files from the camcorder onto a local folder using Finder. Or do I have to create a dmg file using a process I saw described somewhere else here?

When you start a new project in 06 it will ask you where you want to store the file. Also at that point you set widescreen or 4:3 Put them wherever you want. It's only when you import them into 09 that they will show in the events folder.
Also, I've never tried dragging the .dv files into the events folder. I just import using file>import. Perhaps you want to keep the original timestamp?
I don't have an HF11 (I can only dream!!) but there may be software that came with it that will do the job. If not you can likely do this using the finder, as you camera should show up as a storage device there.

on DMG here: http://www.maccomm.tv/2008/08/19/mac-tip-of-the-day-backing-up-avchd-videos/
here: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=543612
and here: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1835140

Now, on the importing from iMovie 06 to iMovie 09 method:


After importing the DV footage into iMovie 06, what are the steps involved in IMPORTING to iMovie 09?

I choose "file > import" and point to where the .dv files are created from iMovie 06?

Won't this do the deleting of every other line of information all over again as iMovie 09 processes the footage?

I thought Mullen's method was about DRAGGING the .dv files from the iMovie 06 folder to iMovie 09 events (replacing the bad .dv files created previously by iMovie 09.

Also, after importing footage with iMovie 06, do I need to open "package contents" to see the .dv files for that "project"? Bc I sure can't see the files...

When you do import DV footage in IM09/08 or IMHD the quality will be the same no information lost.
Quality loss happened when you perform final render.

In compare with events library in IM09/08 IMHD keeps source DV inside of movie project file. You be able to get them by mouse right click and selecting "Show package content" than go to enclosed Media folder.

Serhij is 100% CORRECT, It makes no difference how you get DV into iM.

All these posts about 06 miss his point -- which is that there is NO WAY to export interlaced DV from iM09 (or 08). One field is always missing so quality is always lost.

Currently, for standard definition video (PAL/NTSC) iM09 will export full quality interlaced video ONLY if it is AIC. So you've got to convert DV to AIC. iM likes AIC. For example, AVCHD is always converted by iM to AIC.

Bottom line -- you must edit AIC because iM will not edit either DV or AVCHD.

The difference is that iM will automatically convert AVCHD during import. With DV you need to do it yourself. Of course, you need to do it correctly.

And, you must export it correctly. You cannot Share to iDVD. You must Share to QT.

So Steve,
This means that if you import, you're still OK. When you edit, you're still OK (right?). However, than you have to be careful doing the Export, yes?
I exported using the "Export Movie" option under "Share" in "Large" mode, and this created a m4v file, which played fine on my mediaplayer. Quality looked fine.

However I would like to export to DVD as well (friends, family, plus it has chapters), but than the issue kicks in according to you.

Probably the safest way hence is to convert to AIC right after the input. I hope nothing is lost (colour changes? Metadata still there?) in that process.

Can't wait to see your ebook. This thread and the deinterlaced one are too long. Time for a book or a wiki! I would have to dig through this to find back how to do the conversion, and which tools to use.

Lots of kudo's to you; major patience!

Wow.. what a mess...

it is useless for Apple to keep the share to iDVD functionality then... even AIC files created from AVCHD will lose quality when shared with iDVD?

How would I create a DVD then from the edited movie file exported to QT? Or is this a solution not for DVD at all?

1) You can import DV via FireWire into iM09. Then you must convert to AIC and re-import. When done correctly, your events will be retained.

2) Never export from iM09 with any option other than Share > QT. (Utube, ATV, and iPod may be fine, I don't know yet.)

3) You can import QT exports into iDVD. For Chapters, use GarageBand. (Also, covered in my book.)

Yes -- all the threads have become crazy long. Over the weekend, I'm going to re-test the DV flow from start to end to be absolutely certain each step is correct.

PS: not to drive folks crazy, but even when we get interlace DV working so we have max quality -- there is another potential issue. As those of us who edit 1080i know, Stabilization and Crop have been designed by Apple, to work best with progressive video. Which means, when you convert DV to AIC you may want to output progressive and not interlace video. NOT TO WORRY -- this will be very good looking progressive video -- not the single-field crap iM creates.

So a question for you guys -- do DV shooters need to use Stabilization?

Steve Mullen wrote:
So a question for you guys -- do DV shooters need to use Stabilization?

Certainly yes. Not for all scenes as there is visible difference in details at TV, but for some scenes it is a must.
There are bunch of stabilization programs at win platform. Google will advise you the names. Even freeware ones with very exiting results

What exactly does the image stabilization feature do to dv files?

Now I am not sure I ran it through some of my imported footage. (at least a few clips might have been "stabilized". I think "apply stabilization to analyzed clips" (or similar) was checked if I ever did perform that step.

😟

1) stabilization doesn't to anything to dv -- it does things to interlace video no matter its format.

2) analyzing clips doesn't do anything to the video -- the process generates an xml file than can, if you want, be used to stabilize a clip.

So you are fine.