[MacDV] QuickTime, iMovie, iPhoto questions? (part 1)

[Mark M. Florida]

I'm breaking my LONG reply into two parts so the list server doesn't 
bounce it again (10K limit? sheesh!)

--- Part 1 ---

I outlined the steps in a previous thread on how to successfully go 
from iPhoto to iMovie for output to tape or as a DVD video file (not a 
DVD slideshow which is different):

Frank, a couple of notes about your situation:

- when you're working in iMovie the video does not look very good on 
your computer, but if you hook up a FireWire camcorder to your 
computer, and the video from the camcorder to a TV/video monitor, it 
will look GREAT.  iMovie intentionally only shows a "low-res" version 
of the clip so it can use it's processor time to let you edit faster.  
The same is true when viewing a DV clip in QuickTime Player -- but if 
you open the movie properties (cmd-J) in QuickTime Player (Pro) you can 
enable the "High Quality" option for the Video track -- it may be 
choppy when it plays back, but the image will be sharp (this does not 
affect the actual video file, just how QuickTime Player displays it).

- if you only have a few photos, just bringing them into iMovie will be 
the easiest way to make a video "slideshow" for output to video tape or 
DVD, but if you have *A LOT* of photos, exporting a slide show from 
iPhoto then converting it to edit in iMovie will probably be easier in 
the end (as long as you have enough drive space).

Note:  to do the edits described below, you will need to upgrade to 
QuickTime "Pro" if you have not done so already.

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Here's how to go from an iPhoto slideshow to iMovie (for output to 
video):

1.  Export the QT slideshow from iPhoto WITHOUT audio at 640x480
2.  Open the slideshow .mov file in QuickTime player (you will need the 
"Pro" version to do these steps)
3.  Open the audio track you wish to add in QuickTime player also
4.  Copy the audio track and "Add" (under "Edit -> Add" in the menu bar)
5.  Trim the movie at the last black frame (shortening the slideshow 
and cutting the music - read below for alternate method)
6.  Export from QuickTime Player (Pro) to a QuickTime Movie using the 
DV codec at 29.97 fps (NTSC) at a custom size of 720x480 with audio as 
16 bit 48k stereo (no compressor)
7.  Add *THAT* to iDVD and see how it works. (should work great)
(this is for NTSC output -- for PAL, adjust settings accordingly)

Notes:

- *DO NOT* initially convert the slideshow from iPhoto to "DV Stream" 
format from QuickTime Player (Pro) -- this doesn't render the 
transitions properly for some reason when exporting, but using the 
"QuickTime Movie" format with the DV codec works fine, and you can open 
those files with no problems in FCP or Premiere, but... (read next note)

- if you want to export this to tape through *iMovie*, you will need to 
convert it (yet AGAIN) to a DV Stream file (ugh) -- but you can delete 
the QuickTime "interim" DV-codec file afterwards if desired (it will 
not recompress the DV information, so no quality will be lost during 
this conversion)

- if you want the slideshow to *fit* the music, you should add the 
video to the audio (rather than audio to video as listed above), and 
when doing this, choose "Add Scaled" when adding the slideshow video to 
the audio track -- keep in mind that this will lengthen or shorten the 
duration of the images and transitions to fit the music, but it should 
not pose a problem technically

- when originally exporting from iPhoto, use a 4:3 frame size like 
640x480 or 720x540, so that it will stay proportional and provide 
sufficient file size for final export to 720x480 (this final output 
will look distorted on-screen but look fine when output to video -- 
this is normal for DV-format clips)

Got all that?  Test tomorrow!  (hehe)  ;-)

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--- End Part 1 ---