matthewfox1972 wrote:
OK - getting there slowly :-)
I can record at 1080p, 1080i or 720p. Additionally I appear to have the ability to choose between 50i or 50p - although the latter will not import into iMovie anyway. Are these settings the equivalent of what you're stating as FPS - i.e. 50i would equal 25fps?
Assuming that the Apple TV technology improves, should I just be shooting at the highest quality level available to me and then re-publishing the movie as and when my Apple TV can cope with the higher definition?
Tricky to know which format to shoot when you have options!
Personally - because you can never go back and shoot it again - I take photos and record video at the best resolution possible. However that can place demands on storage, hardware and software - especially if software can't handle the format.
If you know you want 720p video for AppleTV it'd be tempting to shoot 720p from the off if imovie can handle an import - but you can't get true 1080p in the future from that footage if you want to.
Presumably this is a solid state camcorder - mine is still video based.
Th problem using Share from iMovie is that it won't offer above 960x540 for AppleTV1 from memory (unless perhaps footage was 24 fps, but it will handle 25fps anecdotally). For 720p you'd need to custom export.
The i and p refer to interlacing or progressive scan mode.
The 50i setting sounds like 50 fields per sec but as it is interlaced only half the vertical data is captured per frame, so in theory you'd be getting 25fps of full frame data. I would expect the 50p mode to be 50 frames pers sec but check your manual.
My camcorder is older and doesn't sport 50p modes. I don't think iMovie handles 50p at all, I may be wrong.
One bad thing with iMovie is that it did at one point start discarding alternate fields ofinterlaced material as a shortcut instead of properly deinterlacing - I'm not sure if that's still true.
Winston is the video expert here, hopefully he'll chime in.
I know what the units support and roughly how to get there but Winston does a lot of video regularly.
Also ask on the iMovie forum directly for advice on the shooting modes and compatibility.
AC