VHS to YouTube. Edit with iMovie HD (not 11). Source could be VHS or DVD.

Hi,

I want to transfer 3 VHS tapes and after editing, import them to YouTube. I've done this hundreds of times before so I know how I *can* do it. I'm wondering in this case what the best way to do it would be.

Here's the setup.

I could capture them using EyeTV (vers 3.6 using a 350 box) or I could rip them from DVDs I have made of them using a DVD recorder. I will be editing them with iMovie HD (6.0.4) for these reasons: I will be exporting many clips to upload to YouTube. You can't do that with iMovie 11. I want to do frame-accurate editing. You can't do that with Toast or EyeTV.

One major consideration: I want the exported clips to be small or reasonably-sized. I could choose best quality to import and export things but I would end up with HUGE file sizes both as my source and exported files. In the past I have been happy with the results importing as QT.mov and exporting as such, using the CD-ROM export option of iMovie HD. It works out to be about 10mb per minute that way. I have recently explored exporting as for LAN/Internet, Broadband High, etc and other variations on similar options and have been pleases with the results both in terms of quality and file size.

So, do I rip from my DVDs or capture with EyeTV? (I also have professionally digitized captures of all of these movies. They are on DVD data discs. Trouble is, if I used them I'd have to be working with way too large files. I don't have the storage space on my computer or external drives to take that approach. They are all .mov or .dv files, about 6 GB per disc. I have about 15 discs.)

If I rip from DVD, I'll be using Toast. (I could also use handbrake or other similar software if anyone recommends that.) I can't do frame-accurate editing with Toast so I'll need to export that into iMovie. What would be the best format to export to? What would be the best setup for iMovie to set the project up as? I have tried exporting as MPEG and setting iMovie up as MPEG but I have not been pleased with the exported results. I don't remember all the details but I probably exported as MPEG too. The video looked terrible and was large file-size-wise. I have only had good results exporting from iMovie as QT.mov/.dv/etc. (Will probably choose H.264 as the codec.)

If I capture using EyeTV, what should I export it as? How should I set up iMovie? I usually export as QT.mov and setup iMovie as DV and export from iMovie as QT.mov. If it's better to export as MPEG and set up iMovie as MPEG and export from there as MPEG, I will IF I can keep the file sizes reasonable.

My exported clips will be anywhere from 5 minutes to 15-20 minutes long so I will be expecting larger file sizes than my usual 5-10 minute clips. i just don't want them to be more than a few hundred MB and certainly not in the GB range.

FYI: I never import to iMovie via the File menu. I always open up the newly-created iMovie package, and drop the files I want to use into the Media folder, restart iMovie and take them out of the trash and save things. Much faster that way. I don't know if iMovie skips a step in converting them but it always works.

Thanks for any help.

Cheers,

John L