I will check, but I remember switching to 16 all those months ago. Thanks, Glen.

Hi-8 to iMovie problems
 

I connect my Hi-8 camcorder (or Hi-8 player) through a SONY 950 digital camcorder and then firewire to iMovie. Small black bands appear at the edges, larger on the left edge. When transferring VHS video, the same bands appear but smaller. The same happens on another Mac. An Apple store rep says it happens because Hi-8 and VHS are not exactly 4:3 and so do not fit exactly into the iMovie frame. This doen't sound right - both tape types dislplay properly on a TV. Could Apple be right? Would it help to use a dedicated analog to digital converter instead of the 950?

I have successfully put Hi8 footage thru a Hi8 camera onto a Min DV tape using XL1s and then Firewired into FCP and I don't remember this problem. I think it worked fine.

I'm sure I didn't have to re-scale it when it was in the timeline.

It might be that the sensor/CCD chip on the hi8 doesn't have the pixels on the side. This is to save costs or something. the hi8 format is still 4:3 like DV.

I don't think an analog-digital converter would help. You should be fine since the black bands do not show up on TV (they fall in the overscan area- your TV crops stuff).

The same thing happens when I transfer VHS video except the bands are smaller.

You're right! The bands don't show when played on a TV.

On deck: iMovie 3.5?
 

ThinkSecret discusses a possible major upgrade to iMovie (3.5) as possibly being released soon. Reports have it as nearing or already being at gold master status. Speculation has the release as occurring during Macworld (?) in January.

Wonder if there might be updates to iPhoto and other iLife products at the same time.....

Video resolution in iMovie
 

This may be a dumb question...

When I capture video from my camcorder into my Mac, using a FireWire cable, am I saving the full resolution and all the data on the tape onto my hard drive?

I'll be getting FCE2 when it shows up in the local stores, but I want to make sure iMovie is a good transfer tool. I assume FCE2 will transfer all the resolution and data, right?

Thanks.

Cheers...

Um... kind of.

iMovie pretty much captures at full quality. However, it captures into a video format that Final Cut cannot play back without rendering. If you wish to use iMovie-captured clips then you must transcode them with batch export, re-capture in Final Cut, or render all the clips (every single time they move you have to render the clip to hear it).

iMovie also doesn't capture timecode and some other information, which you may or may not need. timecode information is useful for re-capturing specific clips.

Final Cut uses QuickTime files compressed with the DV codec as its native format, while iMovie uses DV Stream files. Glenn is correct, you will have to do some conversion so you might want to just wait to do your capturing until after you get FCE2. I believe that you can export your iMovie clips as Quicktime files (been awhile since I used iMovie) if you want to be ready in advance. You could then delete the iMovie files afterwards to free up space. But anyway you go there will be an extra step of file conversion or rendering.

Another approach to capturing during the interim might be to use a shareware program like BTV Pro which I believe will capture and save files in Quicktime format.

Whew! Thank you very much. I don't want to spend all that time capturing to my HD if it's in the wrong format. FCE2 should be in the stores any day now. I'll leave the video on tape for now.

iMovie....Sundance Film Festival
 

iMovie....Sundance Film Festival

Wrangler Note [JL]: Article removed. Please follow this link to read the original.

Great story! And it proves what they say about the art of filmmaking: it's not the equipment you use, it's the story you tell.

Indeed iMovie may not be, what people call, a "professional" NLE program but the truth is that working with limitations can bring out the best of one's creativity.

Thanks for posting this great story. It is a reminder to work with what you have and improvise. I can slip into thinking I can't make a "real film" until I have this or that equipment, or have access to SFX CDs, or acquire this or that software.

So I have set a goal for myself to do one really crappy short short a month. The crappier, the better. If I finish it and it sucks, I've succeeded. If I don't finish it, but the idea is still brilliant, I've failed.

I doubt if Cauette cared about what other people would think, or if he was using a cartoid vs an omni mic and so on. The irony is that it seems you really have to be passionate and oblivious to 'reality' to do something that gets this kind of critical attention...you can "decide" to be passionate and oblivious because that's how great work gets done...

"Great work" being, I guess, the opposite of what most of us do in this business, which is to make an actual living, in which case you might really want to know the difference between a cartoid and an omni, and you better worry about what someone else thinks, especially if she is your client...

And onward!

<<<--So I have set a goal for myself to do one really crappy short short a month. The crappier, the better. If I finish it and it sucks, I've succeeded. If I don't finish it, but the idea is still brilliant, I've failed.-->>>

Diane, I am with you 100%. Great attitude! Keep it up! I'd like to see one or more of your shorts.

>>Diane, I am with you 100%. Great attitude! Keep it up! I'd like to see one or more of your shorts.<<

SHOW them to OTHER people?
(I haven't advanced to that stage of enlightenment yet. :)

Actually, Stylianos, that's a great topic for discussion: showing your stuff to others, and how to get "tournament tough."

iMovie & FCE
 

Is there any discernible difference in the quality of the fianl out put (say to DVD) bewteen iMovie and FCE (assuming the same simple basic transitions and ignoring titles)? Or is the advantage of FCE more options and more flexibility.

Thanks, Grant McClintock

There shouldn't be a quality difference, unless you apply some filters that iMovie doesn't have (like color correction filters).

iMovie is great for short projects, but I've found iMovie2 to be catastrophic for large complicated projects (somehow people in my high school had half their media disappear).

Taking this thread a little off track to note that for iMovie it's really important not to empty iMovie trash while editing and to be sure you have enough disk space with which to work. iMovie does not fall into the "nondestructive" NLE category. iMovie upgrades all seem to end up being dubbed "the worst yet," but I've had almost no problems with it (in version 3.03) and there are lots of nice, relatively inexpensive plug-ins on the market .

imovie guestion
 

I am trying to make a a filmstrip in imovie. I am using photos from my iphoto library. When I drag a photo to the timeline, i create two photos in the time line.

Say I have the duration set for 5 seconds. I click on a picture of a bridge and drag it to the timeline I get two 5 second photos of the bridge. The two pictures are not linked, I can move them around the timeline. I just can't find out what is causing this.

Any thoughts would be a help.

Joe

I don't use iMovie or iPhoto much, but I've never seen it duplicating images unless copied and pasted etc. Have you tried installing iMovie again? Have you added any plugins etc. recently that might be causing a conflict?

No. I'm not on the net so I haven't installed any plug ins.

I haven't reinstalled it. It came installed and I'll have to check the manual to see how to reinstall if I want to go that route. I want to avoid that if I can.

I'll keep pokeing around. I must have done something to cause it.

Thanks
Joe

I use iMovie and iPhoto, but have never seen this issue discussed. One thing that everyone tells you to do when you run into unusual problems is to trash your preferences (in this case, for both iMovie and iPhoto) and repair permissions, then try again. Oops. Just remembered something. You say you are dragging the photo. The way I import a photo is to make sure the Ken Burns effect is turned off, set the duration, and then click on apply. That sends the photo to the end of the timeline. Possibly if you are dragging the photo as well, that is why you're getting a duplicate?

I bet your right, Kim. I'll check that.

Thanks

I aggree..
 

I did some intensive editing with Imovie 3 and found out that you should either do one of two things:

empty the trash regularly before it get's too big

or

don't empty it at all.

If it get's too large and you empty it, you will run the risk of corrupting
the entire file. It happened to me. Be careful.

Good luck,
Dan

iMovie 4 seems to be a big improvement in stability over previous versions. Last weekend I helped my son edit some stills, add effects, titles, music and burn with iDVD. I was very impressed, seems very stable for it's intended users. FCE is much closer to FCP 4 in terms of feature sets, configuration and output methods and quality. I do know some editors that capture with iMovie, cut it, then export it for import into FCP. iMovie runs well on lower powered computers, whereas FCP chokes with not enough ram etc.

Jeff,

I am under the impression that iMovie files can't be exchanged or imported into FCE. I'm curious how someone would do that?

:)
Dan

When you export from iMovie save it as a QuickTime format as then you will be able to use it in other applications.

:)

My understanding is that iMovie output imported into FCE will not retain chapter marks, transitions, etc. Things may have changed since updates to both have occurred since I first browsed through the manuals, but it may be worth checking on before going too far down the editing road in iMovie if you're planning to finish up in FCE.

Thanks for the advice.

I recently did a 50 minute video production. I edited 10 minute segments in Imovie, then exported all segments to mini-DV, then imported into FCE and did the final editing.

:) Dan

<<<-- Originally posted by Dan Depner : Thanks for the advice.

I recently did a 50 minute video production. I edited 10 minute segments in Imovie, then exported all segments to mini-DV, then imported into FCE and did the final editing.

:) Dan -->>>

That's a great solution if you're short of HD space. Another method that would work well is to export the 10 minute segments to QuickTime, self-contained movie, DV 48KHz. FCE should have no problem with using such files.

Hey! Now that's what I said....

By the way that is a good idea as you could use the QuickTime Movie in many different applications that are available now days.

iDVD, FCE, FCP, Toast, Avid, etc.

I upgraded from iMovie to FCE2. Way better, glad I did it, never looking, or going, back.

Not to mention the continuity with FCP, should I ever need that product.

PS, my wife is on the PTA, so I qualified for the educational discount and got it for 1/2 price. Sweet deal.

<<<-- Originally posted by Sharon Fraats : Hey! Now that's what I said....

By the way that is a good idea as you could use the QuickTime Movie in many different applications that are available now days.

iDVD, FCE, FCP, Toast, Avid, etc. -->>>

Sorry, I guess I was just (unintentionally) being a little pedantic, because there are dozens of different kinds of QuickTime movies. So I'll amend my first comment by saying I agree with Sharon. :)

iMovie to MPEG-2, How?
 

Best software to output MPEG-2 on an iMac with an external drive. Cheaper the better. Must be MPEG-2 though, that is all the server will recognize.

Thank you.

i normally use cleaner for that or compressor. I think most people use iDVD with iMovie so its all done there. I also think that Quicktime Pro has the ability to export into MPEG 2 but im not 100% sure of that one.

toast will also work fine. IDVD or DVD Studio Pro are also good..

We have Toast...
 

Confession time,
The company has a Mac, I have not used it. I am one of those PC types you have heard rumors of.

The Mac has iMovie and toast, but I know little else and even less on how to use it.

The server requires MPEG-2. Can I generate an MPEG-2 file from the timeline using iMovie/Toast, if so, how?

If not, what do I need?

Thank you

Mac user here. QT Pro does not export to MPEG 2. So far the best encoder I've used is BitVice http://www.innobits.se/.

It uses variable bit rate encoding so that band width is not wasted on frames that don't need it.

iMovie itself dsoes not encode. When you bring a movie into iDVD to author the DVD, the encoding is done there. DVD Studio Pro is an authoring environment as well. Quite a robust one, and uses Compressor as its encoder. BitVice is a stand alone encoder, not an authoring tool. The way my work flow goes, I cut and edit in Final Cut Express, export audio as AIFF then compress it in Sound Studio, add it back to the final cut of my movie, then export the project as a Final Cut Movie. From there I use BitVice to encode to .m2v file for video and .mp2 audio then mux the 2 for my MPEG 2 file. I then bring that into Capty DVD for DVD authoring.

Export your movie out Imovie, just open up Toast. Toast is very simple, there is a menu where you can burn dvd's. Just drag your movie to toast and thats all...Toast will ask for a dvd, you must have a dvd-writer in your mac.