Mpeg2 to Mac lowers the video quality?

[Ryuran333]

I own a JVC gz-mg330 and have been thinking of buying a newer one with better quality video because whenever I import into imovie '09, the picture is clearly less sharp and more grainy than if I just hook it up to my television. Recording off my television, however requires a lot more effort than simply hooking it up to a mac. Coulds anyone recommend any different video editing software for camcorders available on macs?

[edDV]

So you are viewing the end DVD result from a DVD player on the same TV or what?

Explain your method of monitoring and the process you use through iMovie and iDVD.

[Ryuran333]

I'm viewing the end dvd result on a regular television.
I plug in the usb, the window appears in imovie with all the clips and checkboxes. I choose which ones to import, i press import. When I'm finished editing i export in the large format and then import that into idvd. I don't export the movie directly into idvd, because when I've tried it previously, the video never appeared in idvd.

[edDV]

I rarely edit SD MPeg2 in iMovie. I only do DV and HDV/AVCHD on the Mac.

The problem with MPeg2 vs DV in most editors is MPeg2 must be decoded to RGB for editing or effects and then re-encoded to MPeg2 for DVD. This is a lossy process. DV records all frames so this isn't an issue.

Using third party software it is possible to cut losslessly on MPeg2 I frames with half second precision. This can then be imported into a DVD authoring program without loss.

On the PC there are so called "smart MPeg2" editors that allow editing inside the MPeg GOP to frame accuracy while only decoding and recoding the single half second GOP (see Womble.com). I'm not aware of such editors for the Mac. Maybe you could ask in the Mac forum on this site.