HELP! imovie photo quality problem

[pommydan]

Hey there

someone must be clever enough out there to help me out.

Started archiving all my old photos and creating dvds. started off using iphoto which is great for compiling a quick slideshow to a couple of music tracks. i then imported these to idvd and created my first dvd project which i was pretty pleased with for a first attempt. The only thing i found annoying was that i could not link all the slideshows together in idvd so that they played one after another, instead you had to come back to the menu and start the next one...so i thought i would import these slideshow movies into imovie and create a complete movie with chapters, titles etc...

but...when i did this i noticed that the quality of the slideshow in imovie was very noticeably worse...bummer

being new to mac i wasnt sure what was up so i thought about importing the photos directly into imovie and working with them there. but...once again the quality was really poor compared to the iphoto and idvd slideshows. after this i though maybe its just a preview problem and all will be well when i burn them to dvd and watch them on tv...so i burnt a dvd with one slideshow created in iphoto and imported into idvd and also put on a movie of the same slide show that id imported into imovie and back..

anyway long story short quality still better in slide show created in iphoto...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

please help otherwise i will go mad!!!! either to get better quality still photos in imovie. or to be able to link slideshows in idvd to play one after the other (this would be the easiest solution to my problem)

I wait in anticipation

Pommydan

[decksnap]

It's true... photo slideshows in iMovie look terrible. Perhaps you can export all your slideshows from iPhoto as Quicktimes, then find a simple program that splices quicktimes together to make one big quicktime. (Not that I know what that app would be off-hand).

[pommydan]

cheers bud

ill have a look around...not a bad idea, it might get around the problem...

ill let you know

pommydan

[MrSmith]

Originally Posted by decksnap

...a simple program that splices quicktimes together to make one big quicktime. (Not that I know what that app would be off-hand).

Not wanting to state the obvious, but Quicktime Pro perhaps?

[pommydan]

ah yes, i soon realised.

currently downloading QT pro, ill see how i get on....

still, does anyone know why the slideshows are poor in imovie?

pommydan

[cemorris]

Originally Posted by pommydan

ah yes, i soon realised.

currently downloading QT pro, ill see how i get on....

still, does anyone know why the slideshows are poor in imovie?

pommydan

Are you saying the finished DVD itself is of poor quality compared to iPhoto -> iDVD finished DVD? Or are you saying the preview within iMovie is poor?

If it is the preview, there are options in iMovie preferences to up the quality. I use a low quality when previewing so I can scrub around with little delay. I beleive by default it is "Medium" quality.

If it is the finished product, then there are options for that as well in iMovie. Look through the iMovie preferences to find these settings as I am not at my Mac right now.

[iriejedi]

Make a small show and render it to a DVD you will find the quality improved over the test show (ie your movie in iMovie)

iPhoto does a MUCH better job at on screen slide shows with music but does not do the effects or tezt etc of iMovie

Just my experience

Originally Posted by pommydan

Hey there

someone must be clever enough out there to help me out.

Started archiving all my old photos and creating dvds. started off using iphoto which is great for compiling a quick slideshow to a couple of music tracks. i then imported these to idvd and created my first dvd project which i was pretty pleased with for a first attempt. The only thing i found annoying was that i could not link all the slideshows together in idvd so that they played one after another, instead you had to come back to the menu and start the next one...so i thought i would import these slideshow movies into imovie and create a complete movie with chapters, titles etc...

but...when i did this i noticed that the quality of the slideshow in imovie was very noticeably worse...bummer

being new to mac i wasnt sure what was up so i thought about importing the photos directly into imovie and working with them there. but...once again the quality was really poor compared to the iphoto and idvd slideshows. after this i though maybe its just a preview problem and all will be well when i burn them to dvd and watch them on tv...so i burnt a dvd with one slideshow created in iphoto and imported into idvd and also put on a movie of the same slide show that id imported into imovie and back..

anyway long story short quality still better in slide show created in iphoto...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

please help otherwise i will go mad!!!! either to get better quality still photos in imovie. or to be able to link slideshows in idvd to play one after the other (this would be the easiest solution to my problem)

I wait in anticipation

Pommydan

[Applespider]

The Missing Manual for iPhoto & iDVD has some info on how to stop your pictures looking jaggy when you put them into iMovie.

Their suggestions are...

1. Resize the pictures to a size closer to iMovie's resolution. If your pics are from a 6MP camera, they'll be 2848x2136 pixels - if you use iMovie HD and set it to an HD project, you'll be able to keep a larger number of pixels than if you don't. I'm not sure how good iMovie's jpeg compression algorithm is when it comes to resizing images.

2. Even if you don't want to use the Ken Burns effect, import your images with it turned on. This means that iMovie will import and render the image as a movie rather than a still image (if you don't want Ken Burns effect, then just set the start/stop points to the same thing). David Pogue suggests that this will give clearer results when it comes to exporting to iDVD than leaving 'still photos' in there - something to do with the rendering process.

[ziwi]

So I would need to resize all of the pictures? Ouch. If I did an HD project, could it be burned to a DVD for viewing on a traditional TV?

[Undenk]

Solved the issue.
Using a new file setting "DV Widescreen" and exporting straight to idvd. I am getting perfect quality type and slideshows made from jpgs imported straight from iphoto.

[MalcW]

Been following this thread since I had the same problem. iPhoto quality is great but iMovie sound tracks are much better and transition options are much more varied.

Do I understand correctly Undenk that by choosing DV Widescreen and importing direct to iDVD you retain the photo quality of a slide show in iPhoto?

And how many photos have you managed to put into into a slide show so produced? Does it matter how big the original photos were?. My original photos are around 2.5 - 3.0 MB in size.

[SurfSpirit]

It's not you, nor your camera, it's Apple and iMovie, I don't know if they did to sell Final Cut or what, but after iMovie 6 HD, the video output quality is each version worse and worse, I even email apple with a video demo about some most serious problems: you can see it here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/420682/%20%2...%20Quality.mov

[Lomondbob]

I am having a similar problem. I have a 27inch iMac with Snow Leopard and iLife 11. I can create superb slideshows that play well on my Mac but when I burn to DVD and play on my HDTV the quality is appalling. When I play the individual photographs directly via the USB port on the TV quality is superb. I am told the quality drops when going from iPhoto to iDVD - something to do with 'single field processing'! Is there any way I can maintain picture resolution? Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Originally Posted by pommydan

Hey there

someone must be clever enough out there to help me out.

Started archiving all my old photos and creating dvds. started off using iphoto which is great for compiling a quick slideshow to a couple of music tracks. i then imported these to idvd and created my first dvd project which i was pretty pleased with for a first attempt. The only thing i found annoying was that i could not link all the slideshows together in idvd so that they played one after another, instead you had to come back to the menu and start the next one...so i thought i would import these slideshow movies into imovie and create a complete movie with chapters, titles etc...

but...when i did this i noticed that the quality of the slideshow in imovie was very noticeably worse...bummer

being new to mac i wasnt sure what was up so i thought about importing the photos directly into imovie and working with them there. but...once again the quality was really poor compared to the iphoto and idvd slideshows. after this i though maybe its just a preview problem and all will be well when i burn them to dvd and watch them on tv...so i burnt a dvd with one slideshow created in iphoto and imported into idvd and also put on a movie of the same slide show that id imported into imovie and back..

anyway long story short quality still better in slide show created in iphoto...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

please help otherwise i will go mad!!!! either to get better quality still photos in imovie. or to be able to link slideshows in idvd to play one after the other (this would be the easiest solution to my problem)

I wait in anticipation

Pommydan

[Dave Braine]

when I burn to DVD and play on my HDTV the quality is appalling.

The standard dvd resolution is only 720x576/480, so it will never look as good as it did on your Mac.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Video

When I play the individual photographs directly via the USB port on the TV quality is superb.

That's because you're viewing them at their full resolution.

Is there any way I can maintain picture resolution?

Not when burning to dvd using iDVD. You will need to use Roxio's Toast and an external BluRay/HD dvd burner for that.
http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/to.../overview.html