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iMovie

JMB

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Since up to this point I have been mostly using iMovie 6, I thought I would share a couple of key tip for anyone else foolhardy enough to try this ;)

1) Learn Final Cut.

2) If you still insist on using iMovie, you will have to plan ahead, especially with your audio. There are only 2 tracks available within iMovie, and if you add lots of extra audio and/or fades iMovie very rapidly becomes sluggish and unresponsive. You might think about editing 30 minute chunks, then suture them all together when you are done. You can try using the Garageband interface to mix your audio, but it did not work all that well for me. You might have better luck than me of course. I certainly hope you do anyway. Worth trying anyway.

3) The keys to obtaining the highest quality picture in iMovie 6 are as follows: First, extract an uncompressed 8-bit QT from your DVD. It will probably be quite a large file. Batman Begins was something like 150 GB. I used Cinematize Pro for this. I selected the "No size Adjustment" option when extracting the video. Another important setting is the format. In the formats drop down menu in Cinematize's output tab choose "custom formats" and select "Quicktime Movie" (Don't use "Quicktime File" from the standard menu choices). This will produce a hi-res QT movie. When you watch it in QT player, it will not appear to be the correct aspect ratio. Don't worry.

Now here's the most important bit. Start a new WS iMovie project. (BTW this advice assumes you are editing WS. I haven't tested this with 4:3 footage.) Don't import any footage. Close iMovie. Find your iMovie project file icon. Control click on it. Select "Show package contents" this will open the iMovie package and show you the files inside. There will be a folder called "Media". Put your footage inside of it. Open iMovie again. iMovie will give you a message about stray files being found in the trash and ask if you want to view them. Select no. iMovie will open. Click on the trash icon. Your footage will be in the trash. Drag it out onto your clip bin or onto the timeline. You can see know that the footage will be the proper aspect ratio. Putting your footage in iMovie this way seems to bypass the processing iMovie does to the video when importing it normally- turning it into DV format and reducing the quality. The other benefit is the import is more or less instant, whereas importing it through the "front door" can take hours. AND, it probably will not be the correct aspect ratio either. iMovie has a lot of trouble handling WS footage for some reason. This method will alleviate that. When you are finished with your edit (or if you want to bounce the footage out at all for external processing), export it as Uncompressed 8-bit under custom settings. Selecting "Full Quality" will produce a DV. Fine it you a want a preview, but not for your finished edit.

iMovie 6 is not a bad program at all and can be used for achieving a good fanedit. It is extremely easy to use (mostly) and if your edit is fairly simple, you will probably be OK. There are even some pretty good plug-ins and effects available for it. I still recommend FC though.

And one more thing, this applies only to iMovie 6, the newer versions are COMPLETELY different, in almost every way. It has been totally dumbed down AND there is no plug-in support. This made a few people kind of upset. Apple claims it is to make it friendlier to iWeb and Youtube etc. This may be true, but you can bet a big reason is that they didn't want it encroaching on Final Cut's territory as well.

I like Apple because they make (mostly) great machines and software but they really are a bunch of jag-offs. One day I may tell you all the long and twisted tale of my experience with their customer service. It's almost as harrowing as the story of My Batman edit.
 

Type12point

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I only got a Mac after they aparently gelded iMovie, so it never occurred to me to use it for fan-editing. I know someone who does, though.

And thankfully I've never had to deal with Apple's customer service. Then again, every customer service I've ever tried has been a waste of time, so I wouldn't be expecting anything.

Really great post.
 

eldiablosuizo

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Thank you SO much, you've now saved me so much time on those lengthy imports.
 

JMB

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Glad to be of service! If it helped at least one person, I am happy.
 

Bingowings

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The bin trick is something I've never heard of before my lord it saves time.

I can't imagine using imovie to do serious editing but using this technique it's kind of handy for thrashing out rough ideas.

Thanks for that.

One day I will share with you the story of my experience with Apple Customer Service and you will realise you are not alone.
 
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