Working with Mac Programs and HDV

[George Wallace]

Hey I have very scattered problems, hope someone can sort this out or at least point me in the right direction.

I am using an HVR-Z7U Sonny HD Camcorder. I shot my project in 24p. I then uploaded it using iMovie (my first mistake). The clips became quicktime movie files (.mov). No, I no longer have the raw footage (second mistake).

Now I have Final Cut Pro 6. However, I can't get Compressor to work: when I go to "submit" there is an error that comes up and tells me to restart my computer to check if my version was installed properly. So I am still just working with iMovie, exporting with Quicktime and burning with iDVD. As opposed to Final Cut, Compressor, and Studio Pro.

Through experimentation I have discovered that the motion of footage looks better when it is exported using quicktime as 30p. I have been exporting as a mov. file in HDV 1080p30, HD 1920x1080 16:9. The final goal of this to put the project on a DVD and blow it up onto a big screen with a projector system. However, when I have done this at a small local cinema, the picture quality decreases immensely compared to when the project is on my computer or playing on my TV screen at home. In these instances the picture looks fantastic HD quality. On the big screen the picture looks fuzzy and pixelated.

Any suggestions or common errors that I am committing?

Thank you for your time,
George

[Baldrick]

Moving you to our mac section.

Are you make a DVD-Video using iDVD? Then are you limited to max 720x480 video resolution and that wont look that good a big screen.

And search and ask in http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=939 also.

[rumplestiltskin]

The moment you go to DVD, you give up HD. However, if all you're talking about is using a DVD for the storage media and you're just burning the HD video to that disc (as a file, not as an authored DVD) then there's a possibility of this working.

Try to export it as full-quality from FCP and, if Compressor is giving you issues, try MPEG Streamclip and save it as H264 with the same frame size.

edit: ...and make sure the bitrate is kept high but not too high or your computer might choke trying to deliver it all to the screen (or projector). Experiment but I'll guess that 3000-4000kbps would be sufficient.

[George Wallace]

Thanks for the iDVD tip Baldrick! That in itself will save me a lot of time.

Rumplestiltskin- I am trying to burn it as an authored DVD because I want it to just play on a lot of different devices as soon as it is inserted. I will definitely try MPEG Streamclip.

thanks for the tips guys!

-George

[rumplestiltskin]

For authored DVD, iDVD will work fine. Check your project settings, however, to verify that you've set it to the "best" quality. That will limit the length of your video but it will use the higher bitrate settings for the best quality.

[George Wallace]

What about "Professional Quality"?

[edDV]

What about "Professional Quality"?

DVD Studio Pro

[rumplestiltskin]

iDVD's "best" quality should produce a level of image quality equal to DVDSP. DVDSP just gives you more authoring options.

[edDV]

True if he encodes in FCP Compressor which he should anyway. Then import the encoded video as an asset.