Bad quality when burning with IDVD ..checked all settings

[rasharod]

I am trying to burn my reel onto a DVD using IDVD. my 4 minute reel is already set to 720X486 and it is a QT file. i have the setting set to best quality in the preferences yet i am still getting a pretty pixelated image. if i were to view this on QT directly it looks fine it is only after I have burned it that i see the bad quality..so it seems like this is something IDVD is doing. the file was orginially built in Shake then i added sound in QT.The codec of QT is set to animation so it's pretty good

help... please

 

[GodBless]

I am trying to burn my reel onto a DVD using IDVD. my 4 minute reel is already set to 720X486 and it is a QT file. i have the setting set to best quality in the preferences yet i am still getting a pretty pixelated image. if i were to view this on QT directly it looks fine it is only after I have burned it that i see the bad quality..so it seems like this is something IDVD is doing. the file was orginially built in Shake then i added sound in QT.The codec of QT is set to animation so it's pretty good

help... please

I had a similar experience. Perhaps the new iLife (coming in about a month according to what I've read from various sources) will improve iMovie options (so it can be exported to things other than iDVD (and be burnt with the software)) and iDVD's quality and features.

 

[crap freakboy]

I wish I could give you some good news but I found myself in a similar position last year after editing together a 70th birthday DVD for a friends mother. The quality of photos, movies and text were pathetic compared to the original material. I searched high and low for a solution but unfortunately found nothing that would improve quality.
The only option would be DVDStudioPro, which isn't available as a standalone app anymore, only with FinalCut. Damn shame Apple have crippled iDvd in terms of output quality. I'm still a tad angry that I couldn't find a solution besides spending a fortune on FinalCut.
Hopefully someone does know of a less expensive solution. Good luck.

 

[huntercr]

When you say it is "low quality" what do you mean? Is it blurry? Low color fidelity? Audio issues? Al of the above?

Some basics:
Make sure you enable "High Quality" and "deinterlace" on your quicktime file before you import it into iDVD. ( Clover-J then select the video track, checkboxes in lower right )

In iDVD make sure the "Best Quality" setting is enabled in
Preferences ->Projects ( this is not an issue if your clip really is only 4 minutes long )

If you can it is vitally important that you reexport your final movie out of shake as DV. Call it voodoo, but unless you want issues to pop up, leave it in DV throughout your entire process.

Also, if you have Shake then why on earth aren't you using Soundtrack Pro for your sound, or the builtin sound tracker/editor for Final Cut pro ( or express for that matter ). Quicktime doesn't set levels at all for audio. You will be much happier in one of these apps.
I won't make any assumptions on what software you have already, but save yourself some major headaches and buy final cut express HD at least!

Hope this helps!

Charles

There is also a great intro article to iDVD that you might want to look at, though it doesn't deal with any quality issues:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/idvd_5_stone.html

 

[theBB]

I don't know much about Final Cut Express, but I don't export from iMovie before burning a DVD through iDVD. I just add the iMovie project onto iDVD. This probably saves one or two conversions and improve quality. (I guess that is equivalent to keeping things in dv.)

If the original material you are comparing to is a digital picture, you can never get the same quality, as the resolution is reduced to 480p to get into a TV. This is equivalent to a 0.3MP camera output.

 

[rasharod]

Bad quality when burning with IDVD ..checked all settings

Ok so here is an interesting fact . When i run my movie on my cheap DVD player it looks fine it only looks like crap when running on the computer.
there was another thread on this frorum that apparently had the same problem and never reached a solution either yikes. Well 1299 for Final Cut pro is more then i want to spend. Any cheaper aletrnatives. Does toast work better?

 

[huntercr]

Ok so here is an interesting fact . When i run my movie on my cheap DVD player it looks fine it only looks like crap when running on the computer.
there was another thread on this frorum that apparently had the same problem and never reached a solution either yikes. Well 1299 for Final Cut pro is more then i want to spend. Any cheaper aletrnatives. Does toast work better?

What about Final Cut Express? $399
You can get version 2 off of ebay for cheaper, and it is more than you need.

I am convinced you can do this fine with iMovie and iDVD, but you really ought to re-export your file as DV video before dropping it into iDVD and see where that gets you.

Can you show us a sample of your video?