What is the best DVD video quality

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Level 1

5 points

What is the best DVD video quality

I have Imovie 6.0.3 and Imovie 8.0.6. I am told that IM8 drops every 2nd line when you go from event to a project but that IM6 gets 100% interlaced video. I take that to mean that I will get a better video quality by using IM6 to make a DVD. However, when I import my event from IM8 to IM6, there is a significant difference in the quality of the picture. IM6 looks much fuzzier with duller colors. I imagine the DVD won't look much better. So is the best quality video an imported event from IM8 (since IM6 won't import video from a SDHC card) or a project on IM8?

Posted on Jan 11, 2013 1:38 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 11, 2013 2:33 PM in response to lubrom

You don't really lose every other line in iMovie 08. Your footage will be 640x480 either way. iMovie 08 achieves deinterlacing by temporal compression. This has been exagerated by partisans of iMovie 06 to be "half the data" which is a distortion. I suggest you try it both ways to see which you prefer.

Try this. In iMovie 08, SHARE/TO MEDIA BROWSER in Large size. Then in iDVD, drag in your movie from the Media Browser and burn your disk. If that is sufficient quality, you are done.

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Answer 2

Ziatron

Level 5

4,186 points

Jan 11, 2013 6:13 PM in response to lubrom

I did a compare one day using the same clip burned to DVD from iMovie 06 and from iMovie 09 and iMovie 11.

The iMovie 06 clip looked like it came from the camera directly and the iMovie 09/11 clip was "OK" but not as good as the iMovie 06 clip looked.

I have spent many hours trying (and re-trying) all the iMovie 09/11 quality "work arounds" but my DVDs never look as good as when I use iMovie 06 with iDVD 11. With iMovie 06 you don't have to "work around" anything, you always get a lossless result, with very little effort.

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Answer 3

Klaus1

Level 9

52,749 points

Jan 12, 2013 2:07 AM in response to lubrom

I agree with Ziatron. I have continued to use iMovie 6 (with iDVD 7) to this day.

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Answer 4

lubrom Author

Level 1

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Jan 12, 2013 2:35 PM in response to AppleMan1958

AppleMan,

I use the Media Browser for a project in IM8 already but I import into IDVD. Where do I find the Media Browser to locate the project to be able to drag into IDVD?

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Answer 5

Jan 12, 2013 4:21 PM in response to lubrom

OK

Open iDVD. At the bottom right of the iDVD Window, you should see a button labeled Media. Click it.

Now on the right pane of iDVD you should see three buttons. Audio, Photos, and Movies. Click Movies. Now you can navigate to your iMovie Project and drag it in from there.

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Answer 6

lubrom Author

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5 points

Jan 13, 2013 3:03 PM in response to AppleMan1958

AppleMan,

Thanks again. I'm creating a dvd to see how it looks & will compare it to clips i import to IM6. Do you know whether I can change the IM8 event from 960 x 540, which is what gets imported to IM6. It's looks like widescreen in IM6 vs my IM8 project that is standard?

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Answer 7

Jan 13, 2013 3:20 PM in response to lubrom

Are your original clips 4:3 or 16:9?

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Answer 8

lubrom Author

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5 points

Jan 13, 2013 7:58 PM in response to AppleMan1958

The project is set for 4:3 but there are times in the past when I notice that the the setting somehow is on 16:9 & I have to switch back. This project shows 4:3

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Answer 9

Jan 13, 2013 8:11 PM in response to lubrom

If you export as Large from a 4:3 project, it should be 720x540. (Assuming the original media was 4:3.)

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Answer 10

lubrom Author

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Jan 13, 2013 8:20 PM in response to AppleMan1958

So I assume if it shows 960x540 in the movie folder, that's the event not the project, so it was imported that way? I can't import just one clip of the project so I'm importing the event clip from IM8 to IM6 so how can I change it to 720x540?

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Answer 11

Jan 13, 2013 8:27 PM in response to lubrom

If the Event clip shows 960x540, then you have a 16:9 project, and you should edit it that way.

(Unless I am missing something?

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Answer 12

lubrom Author

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Jan 13, 2013 8:38 PM in response to AppleMan1958

The Event clip shows 960x540. Does that mean that I imported it from the camcorder that way? Is there some way to change it?

The project that I created from that Event shows 4:3 & when I share it to Media Browser, it runs as in a standard format and lets me determine the size of the clips I want. But if I want to import from IM8 to IM6, I can only use individual clips from Events. Can I change the size of clips in Events?

I hope that's more clear

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Answer 13

Jan 13, 2013 8:49 PM in response to lubrom

What kind of camera do you have?

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Answer 14

lubrom Author

Level 1

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Jan 13, 2013 8:53 PM in response to AppleMan1958

Panasonic HDC-SD60

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Answer 15

Jan 13, 2013 9:14 PM in response to lubrom

Your camera shoots 16:9. So your projects in both iMovie 8.0.6 and in iMovie 6 should be 16:9.

The only reason to consider 4:3 is if your only television set is one of those old 4:3 models. (Not that there's anything wrong with that. I still have one.) I suppose it could also be an artistic choice to do 4:3, but you either have to crop off several lines of pixels or use letterboxing to have 16:9 reduced to 4:3.

In your iMovie 9 project, you should go to project properties and set it to 16:9.

For each clip, you should use the Rotate, Crop, Ken Burns Tool and choose FIT. (Actually, if you are using 16:9 clips in a 16:9 project, FIT and CROP should both give the same result.)

Then when you import event clips into iMovie 6, they should be 16:9 also.

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