> This is an AfterEffect project. No DV footage used. The "none" or > uncompressed version looks great, the "DV codec" compressed version > looked soft. The DV version will look "soft" on your computer, but will look excellent when output to video -- that's what it's designed for -- full-motion playback on your computer screen (though not full-res), and full-motion/full-res output to video. Using the "None" codec or any other QuickTime codec should yield appropriate results on your computer screen, but will still need to be converted to whatever codec your final output device supports (again, DV for FCP or iMovie through FireWire). > The none version stuttered on my machine and I was wondering if that > was a function of the computer and whether that limitation would be > overcome by the compression applied when making a DVD. I think everyone's kind of confused by this... When you make a DVD, it makes essentially no difference what format the source video is in (other than quality difference) -- the video is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT when it comes out -- a metamorphosis of sorts. The main factor of DVD quality is going to be what level of compression you use to compress the DVD video. iDVD uses a fairly high bit-rate MPEG-2 compression to yield the best results on the final output. However, when using another DVD compression tool like DVD Studio pro (the MPEG-2 export QuickTime component) or Cleaner, you can manually set the bit rate higher to achieve a much better looking DVD (less MPEG-2 motion artifacts), or a lower bit rate to fit more on a DVD-R, but at a lower quality as well. The end-product quality difference of creating a DVD with iDVD from a DV vs. "None" codec source will be extremely small -- almost non-existent -- they will look the same when viewed on a TV -- don't worry about it... Matthew, going back to your old issue of playback performance on your computer, if you just want to get a motion preview of your AE project, then you should probably use a computer playback-friendly codec like MJPEG-A or Photo-JPEG at 1/4 screen size (320x240), then when you're sure it's good, make a DV version at 720x480 for output to video (via DVD or otherwise). Yes, it will look "soft" on your computer screen, but will play back fine. I have yet to use a computer that can playback uncompressed video (that's what the "None" codec is) without the assistance of an uncompressed video editing card... > >> I not sure I understand the "run not as good", though. Are you saying >> that >> if the original DV-compressed shoot is rendered without a codec and >> then >> burned to a DVD, it will have problems running on a standalone player? >> jb To clarify -- a DVD video player will only play a properly formatted DVD *video* disc created with iDVD or DVD Studio Pro using MPEG-2 video. It is possible to back up the video *DATA* to a DVD-R disc, but think of it as creating a 4.7 GB data CD-R (absolutely no DVD video player playback capability -- for data storage only)... Hope all that helps some... - Mark