Proper iMovie HD output settings??!!

[sp8ce07]

Hello everyone!

I'm having an incredibly frustrating time finding the "right" settings to output all this wonderful footage I have obtained.

I've done more trial and error than I consider enjoyable and just need someone to help push me over the edge. I just want to correctly export video in the right Codec, the right size and option settings, etc.

I always seem to be selecting the wrong one. My film becomes grainy and small in size, to too large and still poor video quality.

I need to get help with each step of the export process. Quicktime .mov? Mpeg-4? Which to use!

Thank you in advance! I'm looking for someone who has had good success to reasonably give me the steps they use in outputting a good quality video and file size, resolution, codec, etc!

I'm on vacation right now love to put something quick together to share.

Thanks!

[sp8ce07]

Any other fellow iMovie HD users? I guess if the original question requires too much detail you can just help me out with what codec(s) I should be encoding with? TYIA

[sp8ce07]

Bump. I'm sitting around here in Hawaii hoping to avoid all this trial and error work.

[migmacmonk]

While in iMovie select the help menu and type in 16:9

select --"Sharing Full Quality HDV from iMovie HD does not export correct aspect ratio (1920 x 1080, 16:9)"

this will show the window pictures not included in below transcript... also you gotta have QuicktimePro.

Make sure the audio settings are corrected as well. And you have to make sure you deselect the "preserve aspect ratio" function.

All will work perfectly when you follow the steps below although I couldn't get it to work as 1440x1080. But it works in 1920X1080.

Good Luck - email me if you still can't figure it out and I'll try to help.



After completing your edit of an HDV 1080i widescreen project in iMovie HD 6, you can export a QuickTime movie by choosing Share > QuickTime. You can also choose File > Export and then click the QuickTime icon.

If you choose the Full Quality option from the Compress movie for pop-up menu, you can export a full resolution QuickTime movie for use in iDVD or other applications.

When you import the resulting QuickTime movie into an iDVD project, the video will incorrectly be displayed with a 4:3 aspect ratio (instead of 16:9) when imported to iDVD 6 widescreen project.

Products affected

iDVD 6
iMovie HD 6
iLife ’06
Updating to iDVD iDVD 6.0.3 or later will allow iDVD 6 to import the video correctly. If you have another application you want to use the exported file with (or just want to view it with the 16:9 aspect ratio in QuickTime Player, then use one of the following workarounds.

Workarounds

There are two workarounds, one you can use if you have QuickTime Pro and one you can use in iMovie HD.

QuickTime Pro

In iMovie HD, export your movie using Share > QuickTime.
In the Compress movie for pop-up menu choose Full Quality and click Share. Type a name for the movie and click Save.
Open the your movie in QuickTime Player.
From the Window menu, choose Show Movie Properties.
In the Properties window, select the Video track.
Select the Visual Settings button. (If you do not see the Visual Settings button, try selecting the Audio track, then reselect the Video track to refresh the button display.)
Deselect the Preserve Aspect Ratio checkbox.
Set the Scaled Size settings to 1920 x 1080 pixels.

If your movie was not already at 1920 x 1080, you should see it change its shape slightly after entering the dimensions "1920" and "1080" in the Scaled Size fields. If your movie doesn't take the adjustment:
Press the Tab key on your keyboard to make sure that the numbers are registered after you typed them.
If your movie has tracks other than Audio and Video listed in the upper portion of the Properties Window (such as timecode tracks or hint tracks), disable them by unchecking the corresponding boxes for any tracks other than Audio, Video and Quartz Composer tracks.

Close the Properties window.
Save the movie (from the File menu, choose Save.
iMovie HD

In iMovie HDchoose Share > QuickTime.
In the Compress movie for pop-up menu choose Expert Settings.


Click Share button.
From the Export pop-up menu, choose Movie to QuickTime Movie.
In the "Save exported file as" dialog, click Options button.


In the Video section of the Movie Settings window, click Settings.


From the Compression Type pop-up menu, choose Apple Intermediate Codec.
Select the correct Compressor Preset (HDV 720p or HDV 1080i) and click OK.
In the Video section of the Movie Settings window, click Size.
In the Export Size Settings window select "Use custom size" and set the width to 1920 and the Height to 1080 and click OK.


In the Sound section of the Movie Settings window, click Settings.
From the Format pop-up menu, choose Linear PCM.
From the Channels pop-up menu, choose Stereo (L R).
From the Rate pop-up menu, choose 48.000 kHz and click OK.


Click OK in the Movie Settings window.
Choose a location and name for your movie and click Save.

[migmacmonk]

Please remember to deintelace - it will look better too.

--regards, ML

[rur]

I had a question for FCP. Do you use FCP? To get the maximum resolution on a dual layer DVD for a final project, what would you suggest the best exporting size/settings be on FCP when you go to export it for the final DVD project? I am using a HV20 recorded at 1080i, 24P mode.