Need to use my iMovie on a projector, but unable to take my mac. Need exporting advice on quality.

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Level 1

16 points

Need to use my iMovie on a projector, but unable to take my mac. Need exporting advice on quality.

I'm not too advanced with all technology, but know enough. My friend is getting married on Saturday, and i've done a 6 minute music video for him. We will need to use a projector so everyone people can see it, the catch is that i will be unable to take my mac.

What is the best way to export the movie (dvd or usb)? and what is the best setting so i don't lose quality?

The DJ at the wedding has an Apple laptop, so will use that to connect to the projector. All i need is to know what I should use to keep the quality of the movie, so it will look decent on the projector.

Hope this all makes sense?

Thanks for any help

Tom

iMovie '11

Posted on Jul 30, 2013 3:50 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

AppleMan1958

Level 7

27,492 points

Jul 30, 2013 9:20 PM in response to Tomaldo

It is impossible to say without knowing what kind of projector. So I would suggest you make three versions of your movie via SHARE.EXPORT MOVIE.

1) 1080P

2) Large (960x540)

3) Medium (640x480)

When you try the project, use the 1080P version, but if it does not work, try the other versions.

I would do all this on your Mac's hard drive. Then use the Finder to drag the finished movies to a USB stick so you can take to the DJ's computer.

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Answer 2

Tomaldo Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 30, 2013 11:34 PM in response to AppleMan1958

Ok then, thank you very much.

I've read a lot about sharing through QuickTime but that confused me. So as long as the quality stays, your way sounds a lot more straight forward.

A USB will have more quality than a DVD too? Or are they the same?

The projector I'm using is a NEC NP200, if that means anything to you!!

Tom

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Answer 3

Jul 31, 2013 12:12 AM in response to Tomaldo

Tomaldo wrote:

… A USB will have more quality than a DVD too? Or are they the same?

The projector I'm using is a NEC NP200, …

much better than a DVD.

that projector doesn't offer what's known as 'fullHD', but… to keep things simple:

follow AppleMan's advice - export from within iMovie a 'HD' version of your project
in Finder drag that file onto a stick
connect stick to DJ's Mac - and COPY THE FILE TO HIS LOCAL HARDDRIVE
make a test BEFORE the ceremony … 😉

I'm connecting my MacBook to all kind of projectors - in the System Preferences/Monitors, I search for connected devices, and MacOS in its wisdom shows me, what resolutions are supported. So, I don't care for the projectors specs, I let my Mac do the 'conversions'.- Or, in other words: if my file is 1920x1080, a 800x600 projector will show it anyhow! (or, in your case 1024x768) …

I highlighted to COPY the file, due to: most sticks are a bit 'lame', could cause stutter etc when playback straight from stick. Playback from drive usually is 'flawless'.-

enjoy the party! 😁

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Answer 4

Tomaldo Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 31, 2013 12:25 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

Thank you both for your help. Really appreciate it!!

Sure it can't go wrong now :)

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