Help with workflow steps

[dubstar]

I am new to video and HD at the same time. I have a Canon HF S20 and and iMac. I plan on getting FCE soon, but for now using iMovie 08.

I need some help with the best workflow to use.

First off what frame rate should I be using? 60i, 30p?

What do I need to do to preserve the quality of the videos from start to finish? playing edited footage back on my HDTV....

What about using Toast 10 or the ShedWorx products to burn AVCHD discs?

Are the ShedWorx products worth it? to Store/Archive/Convert the MTS files?

 

[mBox]

I am new to video and HD at the same time. I have a Canon HF S20 and and iMac. I plan on getting FCE soon, but for now using iMovie 08.

I need some help with the best workflow to use.

First off what frame rate should I be using? 60i, 30p?

What do I need to do to preserve the quality of the videos from start to finish? playing edited footage back on my HDTV....

What about using Toast 10 or the ShedWorx products to burn AVCHD discs?

Are the ShedWorx products worth it? to Store/Archive/Convert the MTS files?

I dont work with iMovie but Ill do my best to help.
I work with HD mostly and if your footage is HD but shoots to 60i, then use that.
However if your heading to a lower SD format such as DVD, then 30p is fine.
60i and 30p are somewhat the same (I know its not but Im dumbing it down).
However it all depends on your final output.
What is the final and actual resolution in your workflow?

 

[KeithPratt]

For your frame rate you need to consider two things: what frame rate you shot at and what frame rate is appropriate for your destination medium. With the former your camcorder may give you options or it may not. If it does, make that decision based on your destination medium — if it's for YouTube, you want 30p or 24p; if it's to be played out on a TV somehow, you want 60i.

However if your heading to a lower SD format such as DVD, then 30p is fine.
60i and 30p are somewhat the same (I know its not but Im dumbing it down).

To put it bluntly, that's completely false. You have twice the temporal resolution of 30p with 60i and it looks totally different. They only look the same when it's 30PsF, which is 30p recorded over two fields, as 60i.

 

[mBox]

..To put it bluntly, that's completely false. You have twice the temporal resolution of 30p with 60i and it looks totally different. They only look the same when it's 30PsF, which is 30p recorded over two fields, as 60i.

Yea thats why I added the disclaimer. I couldn't reply the way you just did so I went for the simple way out
Ive been out of the loop with NTSC for a long time and even when Im dealing with it at various levels, I still try and close it out
I havent had to worry about interlacing for a long time now since all Ive been working with is 1080p (disk-based playback system for Digital Signage).
The odd 1080i sneaks in but only when its supplied by an external source.
All my After Effects/Maya renders go straight to 1080p.

 

[dubstar]

Thanks for the responses.

My destination(as of now) will be to playback the edited video on my HDTV somehow.

My camera shoots in 1920x1080i, with frame rate options of 60i, 30p, 24p.

Anything I have imported and then re-exported through iMovie looks worse than just playing back the .mov file that iMovie creates.