Digicam MiniDV files size too big

[dublin6th]

Ok So i imported my films from my Sony TRV14 into iMovie, no problem ... but its huge! can only fit about 30minutes of footage on a single layer DVD. Any suggestions on how i can reduce the size and not lose any quality?

Dublin6th

[pixeljammedia]

Use Apple's pixlet codec.

Also DVDs that play on set-top boxes use the much smaller mpeg2 and not DV. Once you are done with editing, send it out to iDVD, burn the DVD and trash the iMovie project. You can always recapture and rebuild the project later as long as you do not erase the tapes.

[dublin6th]

Apple's pixlet codec?
am a bit of a newbie, all i know is the basics ... i cant even walk and chew at the same time!

[pixeljammedia]

Ok So i imported my films from my Sony TRV14 into iMovie, no problem ... but its huge! can only fit about 30minutes of footage on a single layer DVD. Any suggestions on how i can reduce the size and not lose any quality?

Dublin6th

From Apple's Quicktime 6 site:
High-end Video Codec
Pixlet is the first studio-grade codec for filmmakers. Pixlet provides 20-25:1 compression, allowing a 75MB/sec series of frames to be delivered in a 3MB/sec movie, similar to DV data rates. Or a series of frames that are over 6GB in size can be contained within a 250MB movie. Pixlet lets high-end digital film frames play in real time with any 1GHz G4 or faster Panther Mac, without investing in costly, proprietary hardware.

You asked for "no loss in quality" so this is what I offered, but I still think you do not understand that DV, an uncompressed format is used for editing, while MPEG2 is used for DVDs. When you tell me "all I know is the basics" what does that mean?

[tgpo]

Why are you wanting to save the data files onto a DVD? Is it for transport or what?

[MacDSL]

The only way to reduce the size is to lose quality. as to where the size/quality tradeoff becomes an issue is up to the individual...Video is just like pictures, there's just a hell of a lot more of them..so, smaller size=lower quality.. No way around it..

DV is a compressed format; it's about 5:1 I think.
MPEG2 is a DVD format and if you want to get more onto an iDVD check the settings. it looks like you have it set to "High Quality" where only 90 min. will fit on a DVD.

If you can only fit 30Min onto a DVD what are you using to burn the DVD? What you are using to burn the DVD should compress the footage to fit onto the DVD.

[tgpo]

The only way to reduce the size is to lose quality. as to where the size/quality tradeoff becomes an issue is up to the individual...Video is just like pictures, there's just a hell of a lot more of them..so, smaller size=lower quality.. No way around it..

DV is a compressed format; it's about 5:1 I think.
MPEG2 is a DVD format and if you want to get more onto an iDVD check the settings. it looks like you have it set to "High Quality" where only 90 min. will fit on a DVD.

If you can only fit 30Min onto a DVD what are you using to burn the DVD? What you are using to burn the DVD should compress the footage to fit onto the DVD.

He's not authoring a DVD, he's burning dv files on a DVD in a Data format, not a video format.

[MacDSL]

Oh, man I gotta lay off the Jack Daniel's and eggnog... My bad. The easiest way I would guess then is to record the data back to a tape for archiving.. Just Print to Tape then? DVD's scratch too easily. and you can get an hour's worth of video onto tape easily....

[whizdog]

Let me say first, that I'm a total amateur, so if I mess up on the lingo....my apologies.

I read this thread, and had never heard about the pixlet codec. So I read up on it a little, and gave it a shot. I was hoping it would work miracles for me!

I'm moving home movies from video tape --> iMovie --> iDVD --> blank DVD-Rs. Everything has worked out fine for me. But, I also was hoping to save a Quicktime file as well, onto a data DVD. Pixlet sounded like the answer.
However, after messing around with it for a few days, it doesn't seem to work for my situation. My iMovie project is about 25GB, and after using "Least" quality for the pixlet codec, the file size comes out at just over 5GB (still too small to fit on a blank DVD). But the video is very pixellated. (Of course, what could I expect? I selected "Least" quality.)

My video is just regular DV. Sooooo.....my real question is: Is it then true that pixlet really only shines with high def. video?

[MacDSL]

For Wizdog's question....If you want to shrink your iMovie file. In iMovie go to "share" and export to Quicktime using custom settings. in there chose a codec you like and wit for it to encode the file.. I don't know the best settings, but there are other threads to search for that may avhe the answer....

[pixeljammedia]

Whizdog, the best way to archive these movies is just to keep your mini-dv tapes safely stored. This will result in no loss and allow you to re-import them into iMovie to edit whenever you wish. Changing their format out of DV (which the tapes already are) into something smaller to burn onto a DVD will result in loss, though it is usually imperceptible. Try something in the mpeg4 family. Dixx, 3ivx, Xvid, or mp4 if you must turn it into something you can re-import into iMovie. I would simply suggest, however, finishing your esiting, burning in iDVD, then trashing your iMovie media folder. You will then have the movies archived on tape and a DVD version for your tv.

[whizdog]

Thanks, pixeljammedia. I guess I should have made it clear why I want to keep a Quicktime file around.......to have just one more copy around in one more format. These are my "priceless" home movies. (Yawn!) And, yes, I'm being very anal about it. The originals are on 8mm video tape. I have since re-dubbed them onto digital8 tapes (which I am keeping). And, as described earlier, copied them over to DVD. Therefore, I have two different types of copies, other than the original...DVD and digital8 tape. So, I was looking for yet another way to copy it.....just because I can. Blank DVDs are cheap now.
I guess I'll have to tinker with the other "sharing" options to come up with the right size/quality tradeoff to fit it onto a single disc.

[pixeljammedia]

Okay, so here it is, you are keeping the tapes stored in a clean dry place, stored on their edge rather than flat and they will last about 20 years. You need them on DVD as data to help back that up, so you can reuse them later. To do tthat fire up Toast, or Disk Utility and create a data DVD. All you need to do is take the iMovie project's media folder and archive that. The files inside the are a little less than 2GB each so you can drag 2 files at a time to a DVD for burning. A typical DV tape has 60 min, so expect about 3 DVDs per tape. All you have to do when you want the files back is to create a new iMovie project and drag the files from the DVDs into the media folder and fire up iMovie. If you are using some other program, they are all dv streams, so rename their extensions to .dv or .mov and they will open in Quicktime.

[whizdog]

You know, pixeljammedia, I didn't want to accept your answer. I messed around with different codecs, and never did get one that made me happy.
So, I've finally started doing what you suggest....splitting the iMovie project up into multiple data DVDs. (The original source of my projects is a two-hour 8mm tape, so backing up a single project takes six discs.)
But, thanks for putting me back onto a sane track!
I kept hoping to fit it all on one disc. (I need to keep chanting...discs are cheap.)