[kaiser]

Hey guys,

Have done a quick search and am pretty much overwhelmed and confused on what I need to do to achieve the following:

I have made a slideshow in iMovie '09 comprised of photos and HD (720p) video clips from my Nikon D90. I have left the video clips at "full" quality when importing them.

I want to maintain the maximum possible quality to play this slideshow on HDTVs.

So a few questions:
1. The best way to export from iMovie to DVD maintaining maximum quality? Do I export using the H.264 codec?
2. Is iDVD then the best program for getting it into DVD format?
3. The Nikon D90 records 720p video @ 24fps - I'd like to keep it at this framerate instead of upscaling it. Does iMovie automatically upscale the frame rate?
4. Would it be easier (and is it possible) to put the iMovie project straight back onto an SDHC card, back into the camera - and play it on the TV via a Mini-HDMI cable. The Nikon saves its video as .avi format if that helps at all.

Sorry for all the questions- I'm a complete newbie at this and didn't realise it would turn out to be so complicated. Any help would be much appreciated

cheers.

[mmulhern]

Using iDVD to burn out your iMovie project will result in the resolution being downsized, even if you create it as a "wide screen project".

The way I play my iMovie projects is to export them (fullsize as H.264) to the HDD of my MBP that I connect to the Bravia and playback using FrontRow.

[Japester]

Originally Posted by kaiser

Hey guys,

Have done a quick search and am pretty much overwhelmed and confused on what I need to do to achieve the following:

I have made a slideshow in iMovie '09 comprised of photos and HD (720p) video clips from my Nikon D90. I have left the video clips at "full" quality when importing them.

I want to maintain the maximum possible quality to play this slideshow on HDTVs....

You can now output 720 H.264 video from iMovie. Click the project, then select Export Movie... from the Share menu. You will see a number of options, including 720. This is only new to iMovie 09 (8.0.3).

[kaiser]

Originally Posted by mmulhern

Using iDVD to burn out your iMovie project will result in the resolution being downsized, even if you create it as a "wide screen project".

The way I play my iMovie projects is to export them (fullsize as H.264) to the HDD of my MBP that I connect to the Bravia and playback using FrontRow.

Thanks for the tip. I only have the unibody MB - not sure if it will handle the 720p video playback - when I imported it reccommended switching to the large (960x540) format to avoid degrading video quality?

Also I'd need the Mini Display port to DVI and DVI to HDMI and audio cables to connect to HDTV, correct?

So which do I choose? Keep the videos in their original 1080/720p or downsize to the reccommended 960x540?

Am I right in saying that there is no way to export via iDVD without a substantial loss of quality?

[Japester]

Originally Posted by kaiser

Thanks for the tip. I only have the unibody MB - not sure if it will handle the 720p video playback - when I imported it reccommended switching to the large (960x540) format to avoid degrading video quality?

Also I'd need the Mini Display port to DVI and DVI to HDMI and audio cables to connect to HDTV, correct?

So which do I choose? Keep the videos in their original 1080/720p or downsize to the recommended 960x540?

Am I right in saying that there is no way to export via iDVD without a substantial loss of quality?

Your MacBook is more than a match for 720 video!

iMovie is warning you about the amount of storage full HD will take and the processing power involved. It doesn't mean you can't. As you've got 720, import as 1080. It won't upsize it.

As for cables, not sure. There probably is a Mini-DP to HDMI cable you could use.

Exporting to DVD will reduce quality. Firstly, it has to transcode to another codec (actually, any export will involve this), but the big kicker is that DVD cannot be greater than 576 lines (vertical resolution, PAL). Right there it means downsizing your video. You should only output to DVD if you really want a DVD. Best to keep video on the computer if possible.

[kaiser]

Cheers mate and thanks

[kaiser]

In update to this thread I am now trying to export my iMovie project so I can play it on my PS3 - either streaming via ethernet connection from my MacBook or Downloaded to the PS3 hdd.

When exporting in mp4 / H.264 format I have the following settings:

File Format: MP4
Video format: H.264
Size: 1280 x 720 HD
Data rate: 1372kbs/sec - optimized for streaming
Preserve aspect ratio = Letterbox method
Key frames every 150 frames.

Streaming: enabled
Packet size: 1450 bytes / 100ms duration.

So two questions:

Have I chosen the optimal settings for best quality playback? I chose 1280 x 720 HD as this was the native resolution of the video footage. The project is a mixture of photos and video. I realise choosing full HD (1920x1080 HD) would make the photos look better but would that upscale the video or would it make it look crap?

; and do I need the "Streaming" options selected if I'll be sending this MacBook>PS3 via Gigabit ethernet connection and/or played straight from a HDD?

Many thanks for all the help so far

[Cybix]

the mp4 output from your mac will be no good for the PS3 (likely). you might need to import your encoded clips into MPEG streamclip or handbrake and use the PS3 preset....

[~Coxy]

The video should still look OK if you encode as full HD.
Turning off streaming will probably increase the quality slightly as well. You shouldn't need to use streaming optimisations on such a fast network.

I would encode a small section of video with a few different settings as a test and choose the best results.

[kaiser]

Cheers. I found this:

PS3™ | Types of files that can be played

which lists:

• MP4 file format
• - H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile (AAC LC)

Ill just try converting a small video and see if it plays

OK - PS3 will play mp4/MPEG 4 format - yay
It looks way blockier when I tried to upscale to full HD so I left it at 720p and it looks fine

[kaiser]

Finally managed to do it! Streamed the final h.264 MPEG4 to my PS3 using NullRiver Media Link and it looks fantastic on my Samsung 1080p HDTV!
Ah, gotta love technology.

Thanks for all the help everyone