iMovie into Adobe Premiere - best export option?

[eatokyo]

Hi, I'm a longtime MacRumors reader, but new to digital video. I've spent most of a day reading up on my question before posting this.

I've imported several hours of footage from my Sony HDR-HC7 into iMovie '08. A friend is going to edit that footage using Adobe Premiere on Windows 7. We're not in the same country, so I hope to give him the footage via FTP or by shipping a HDD, rather than shipping the original MiniDV tapes.

I understand that the .mov files in my iMovie Events folder are Apple Intermediate Codec, and that AP will never be able to read those, correct? So what are the best settings or the best workflow for providing him with the best possible quality for editing?

I've tried exporting using Quicktime from iMovie using a bunch of different settings, and they all look about the same in MPEG Streamclip - not bad, but slightly lower quality than the original iMovie Event. I'm worried that any degradation now will be amplified later. Best of the bunch was probably using DVCPRO50 - NTSC, with Quality set as "Best".

This discussion very nearly mirrors my own, and the final poster seems to know what he's talking about:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/774966

The only hitch is that my version of MPEG Streamclip doesn't offer the "Avid DNxHD Codec" he recommends.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[simsaladimbamba]

As the footage you have imported into iMovie from your Sony HDR-HC7 HDV camcorder is in HD, using the DVCPro50 NTSC codec is not the best option, as that DVCPro50 codec is meant for SD (Standard Definition) and not HD.

The Avid DNxHD codec comes with installing Avid Media Composer or similar, thus you could download the 30-day trial of Avid Media Composer and install it and have that codec available in MPEG Streamclip for proper export options.

Or you could download the FCP X trial and import the AIC encoded files into it and transcode the footage to ProRes 422 (selectable in the import dialog of FCP X) and give the ProRes .mov files to your friend. Your friend then can use the ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Windows to play those files in Premiere Pro or transcode them again.

 

[Kevin Monahan]

Your friend then can use the ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Windows to play those files in Premiere Pro or transcode them again.

FYI: That decoder is no longer necessary, as long as you install QuickTime.

 

[eatokyo]

Thanks!

Thanks for the replies. I'll get the Avid DNxHD codec and take it from there.