Help! Quality problem importing QT into iMovie

[rebhaf]

I’ve got a .mov file (1GB) that looks fabulous when I watch it in the Quicktime player. But when I drag it into iMovie, the quality is terrible.

At first I figured this was just because iMovie displays lower quality for editing and that the original quality would be preserved when I bring it back into Quicktime. But the quality is just as bad after compression.

No matter what I do, the final Quicktime video is atrocious. When I compress it from iMovie, I’m choosing the highest quality setting to bring it into .dv format. In .dv format, the file is still very heavy, but it looks terrible. If iMovie preserved the quality (whether we see it or not), shouldn’t it be visible in .dv?

I also tried exporting the .dv into mpg-4 and plenty other formats (thinking .dv may still be ‘hiding’ the true quality) but that doesn’t work either.

Can anyone help?


For the record, I’m still on an iBook G4 (PowerPC) running Mac OS X v10.4.11 and QuickTime Pro v7.4.5.

Thanks in advance!


PS – I searched my best for this in the forums but didn’t find it addressed.

 

[DoFoT9]

you could be using a "quality setting" on iMovie that is bad, or reducing the quality.

open a new imovie project and choose the highest setting possible from the drop down menu. (720p i believe)

 

[rebhaf]

you could be using a "quality setting" on iMovie that is bad, or reducing the quality.

open a new imovie project and choose the highest setting possible from the drop down menu. (720p i believe)

Thanks for responding.

Do you mean when I'm importing the Quicktime into iMovie?

As far as compressing and exporting goes (from iMovie back to .dv), I definitely am selecting the highest quality and I've tried it many times.

However, if you're talking about bringing the Quicktime into iMovie, I haven't touched any settings -- I always just drag it into the application assuming iMovie keeps the original quality. Isn't this the case?

 

[DoFoT9]

Thanks for responding.

Do you mean when I'm importing the Quicktime into iMovie?

As far as compressing and exporting goes (from iMovie back to .dv), I definitely am selecting the highest quality and I've tried it many times.

However, if you're talking about bringing the Quicktime into iMovie, I haven't touched any settings -- I always just drag it into the application assuming iMovie keeps the original quality. Isn't this the case?

i mean, you already have your project created - but it might be set to a crappy quality. importing a movie into iMovie will "convert down" the movie to suit the settings.

follow the images i have provided and try again

tell us how you go, goodluck

 

[rebhaf]

i mean, you already have your project created - but it might be set to a crappy quality. importing a movie into iMovie will "convert down" the movie to suit the settings.

follow the images i have provided and try again

tell us how you go, goodluck

Wow, I never even noticed that setting before. Thanks! I just launched a new project and chose the HD format you suggested. I'm importing the Quicktime now. I'll be back in 30 and let you know how it went.

 

[rebhaf]

Wow, I never even noticed that setting before. Thanks! I just launched a new project and chose the HD format you suggested. I'm importing the Quicktime now. I'll be back in 30 and let you know how it went.

It's billiant. Thanks so much! You saved my life. Since I always import from a video camera, I never had any issues with quality and didn't even know that setting existed. Now I do!

Cheers.

 

[DoFoT9]

It's billiant. Thanks so much! You saved my life. Since I always import from a video camera, I never had any issues with quality and didn't even know that setting existed. Now I do!

Cheers.

thats great to hear!! im glad i could be of some help i did make a mistake however, notice there is the "1080i" setting? that will produce much mcuh better movies then the 720p, but its only good if you are actually capturing it at that quality. file sizes start to go crazy

catchya round

 

[tivoboy]

imovie hd

Why do some imovie versions say imovie HD?

 

[DoFoT9]

Why do some imovie versions say imovie HD?

that was the name of iMovie6