There are many ways to export your video from iMovie. Using the Sharing menu, you can go directly to iTunes, iDVD, YouTube and more. But using the Export Movie and Export using QuickTime options give you greater control.
Video Transcript (Click to Expand)
Hi this is Gary with MacMost Now. Today’s episode, let’s look at iMovie export options. So I often get asked, what are the best settings for me to export my video from iMovie. Now there’s no one answer for this. It all depends on what you plan on using the video for, what the original quality of the video was, where you end up putting the video, all sorts of different things. So instead of addressing it from that viewpoint, let just look at all the different options and talk about them. So you can find all your export options under share in iMovie and there are a ton of them. The first part of this menu here gives you some very quick options like sharing directly to iTunes, to iDVD, the Media Browser which is a shared library between programs like iDVD, garage band and other things and right up to YouTube and right up to MobileMe Gallery. If we select iTunes we can see we are given some standard options here, we’re gonna see this repeated a lot in some of this menus here. Now I don’t actually recommend using most of these options. You see this are really good shortcuts. If you wanted just to post a casual video to YouTube just something very quick or something very quick to MobileMe Gallery, it’s just important maybe to share with some friends then these could be good options specially if you do this a lot. But otherwise I really recommend going to Export Movie or Export Using Quicktime below, and exporting the movie exactly where you want it, and then manually uploading it to YouTube of MobileMe using the regular interface specially for YouTube. You get a lot more control when you actually login to YouTube and actually go to your channel go to the upload page and upload from there. As for going to iDVD, I’ve heard of lots of reports that this quick function would just take the video from iDVD…
Hi this is Gary with MacMost Now. Today’s episode, let’s look at iMovie export options. So I often get asked, what are the best settings for me to export my video from iMovie. Now there’s no one answer for this. It all depends on what you plan on using the video for, what the original quality of the video was, where you end up putting the video, all sorts of different things. So instead of addressing it from that viewpoint, let just look at all the different options and talk about them. So you can find all your export options under share in iMovie and there are a ton of them. The first part of this menu here gives you some very quick options like sharing directly to iTunes, to iDVD, the Media Browser which is a shared library between programs like iDVD, garage band and other things and right up to YouTube and right up to MobileMe Gallery. If we select iTunes we can see we are given some standard options here, we’re gonna see this repeated a lot in some of this menus here. Now I don’t actually recommend using most of these options. You see this are really good shortcuts. If you wanted just to post a casual video to YouTube just something very quick or something very quick to MobileMe Gallery, it’s just important maybe to share with some friends then these could be good options specially if you do this a lot. But otherwise I really recommend going to Export Movie or Export Using Quicktime below, and exporting the movie exactly where you want it, and then manually uploading it to YouTube of MobileMe using the regular interface specially for YouTube. You get a lot more control when you actually login to YouTube and actually go to your channel go to the upload page and upload from there. As for going to iDVD, I’ve heard of lots of reports that this quick function would just take the video from iDVD…
Related: iMovie to Youtube 1080p video uploads, Can’t upload videos from imovie, Merging iMovie Projects (iMovie ’11), How to export in iMovie 09, how export video in imovie?.
98 Responses to “MacMost Now 374: iMovie Export Settings”
Leave a Comment Related to "MacMost Now 374: iMovie Export Settings"
Connect With MacMost
Subscribe at iTunes to the MacMost video podcast
Check out the free MacMost weekly email newsletter
Become a fan of MacMost on Facebook
Get Updates, News and Tips on Twitter
Get the Free MacMost App for the iPhone and iPod Touch
My principal iMovie use is to make DVDs for the family. Quality is important because they almost always contain some very old video and scanned photos. As a result of expansive comments (especially interlaced/de-interlaced debates that seem to never end) in Apple’s iMovie discussions, I export all my iMovie 09 work (which I use for almost all the editing) into iMovie HD via the QuickTime Movie format using the Intermediate codec. I then complete the music tracks and voice over, save the movie in iMovie HD, launch iDVD and import the movie file. I think this gives me as good a DVD as I can get out of iMovie and iDVD. Always open to suggestions, though.
very good lesson,but i’m trying to e mail my video to a friend from
my gallery as imovie also what’s missing?? he has a pc,my mistakes are what
thk you cb
Don’t try to email videos. Videos are usually much too large for email. Instead use a file sharing service (like Dropbox) or a video sharing service (YouTube).
Helpful. Thanks.
How do frames per second, frame size, and video formats relate together?
Any work around for Snapz to record a movie to an external drive?
What other software would you recommend for mac that would accomplish the goal the same for movie recording?
Not sure how to answer your first question — they are different things, but you can set each one.
Can’t you set Snapz to record to any location you want?
You can use a lot for screen recording — QuickTime X comes with Snow Leopard. You can also use ScreenFlow, Jing Project, Camtasia, and many more. Search around for Mac screen recording software.
What I use is:
Movie to MPEG-4
video format H.264
Data Rate 5000
Image size 1920×1080 HD
Frame rate-current
Key frame-auto
Audio stereo 192
I use this setting for home movies than burn to Verbatim digital DVD-R. The only reason why I use these settings because I record 1080i with my Sony AVCHD 60 GB camcorder.
Gary give me your thoughts. My TV’s are flat screen LCD’s Sony 32″ and Samsung 37″. From what I listed above do you think I can export at using image size 1080×720 and still get great results for the TV’s I have.
Yes I think so. Because the DVDs are only going to be 720×480 anyway, taking 720p source should be fine. Do a comparison if you can spare a few blank DVDs and some time.
Thanks for the great tutorial, Gary. I’m a new iMovie user, so I need all the help I can get!
Are there any export settings that cause YouTube videos to display better/worse, depending on the browser?
I’ve edited a couple videos in iMovie ’09 and uploaded them to YouTube, and I’ve found that when I watch them in Internet Explorer or Firefox, there’s an annoying horizontal wobble/pixelation that travels down the screen (top to bottom) about every 10 seconds or so. It’s really annoying, and no matter what export settings I use in iMovie, I can’t get rid of it. The weird thing is that the video looks fine — without this problem — when I use Safari to view it on YouTube. I’ve tried watching the YouTube video from other computers, all with the same results. My original export (before uploading to YouTube) looks fine, so I’m not sure where the problem is occurring.
Thanks in advance for your help.
P.S. You can find these videos at the “realtornickcurtis” YouTube channel. They’re both video tours of a house in Colchester, IL.
Export as high quality as you can, keeping in mind that too high might mean long upload times. YouTube converts them to its format anyway.
I’ve never seen a horizontal line like that. Do you see it happen for other videos (not yours) on YouTube?
Thanks, Gary. I’ll export as high quality as I can.
I’ve only seen the horizontal line problem on my own uploads — not for any other videos on YouTube.
Hi there Gary
I need to supply a video to someone in AVI format, but when I export the video to AVI, the audio adjustments I made are ignored (ie the original audio track is what is in the AVI.
The only adjustments I made were making one small section louder (which I learned from your other video)
Any ideas?
Export normally to a QuickTime movie. Then use MPEG Streamclip or some program like it to convert it to AVI.
Thanks Gary – Ill give that a try!
Ben
it worked! thanks Gary.
Gary, You are the most easy trainer on the web. Easy to listen to, to follow, you don’t have a lot of fluff or dead space. You go right to the point at an excellent pace. Thank you for giving such a top notch product to the public. I am learning so very much from you.
Thanks!
I have compiled a video of clips from youtube, phones, Mac’s photo booth etc. The quality as you would imagine is fuzzy but my client expects that. I now need to burn to DVD for a release to folks. Is there a setting that can make the best out of my original (poor quality) situation? I am currently exporting as Large using the Export Movie option. Thanks so much!
Export as large as you can. “Large” may be it. All DVDs are the same “quality” (pixels across and down) so it is just a matter of giving iDVD (or whatever you are using) the best quality to start with for its conversion down.
Hi Gary I came across a good video of yours on Youtube while trying to learn how to export.
New to imovie and learning on my husbands mac, I’m ultimately I need to put my imovie onto to a DVD. I’m exporting it into the Macnotebook, which then I will put onto my external and load onto my PC to burn the disk. Presume this is my best route?
I’m exporting the largest I possibly could in HD (don’t know if original video I edited is HD, does it matter) says it’ll take 5 hrs. But from what you said to another person am I waisting my time since the DVD will only support a certain quality anyways?
Last question, is there a way to import peoples youtube videos onto your own computer and save/edit into an imovie?
How long is the video if it takes 5 hours to render? Keep in mind that DVDs can only hold so much. But yes, rendering in SD (720×480) is all you need for DVDs. But why not burn the DVD on the Mac? Why switch to your PC to do that last step?
You can get third-party software to save out YouTube videos, but keep in mind that this usually violates the creator’s copyright.
I have a similar question. Used iMovie 09 to create a movie of still photos set to music. This will be played back in a conference room on a DVD player, displayed on a screen. I used the “Share>iDVD” option to burn it from iDVD and tested it on my home DVD player. It cut off the edges of the screen, although it looks great on my PC laptop and Mac desktop used to create it. How do I ensure the edges don’t get cut off?
Was the TV you were playing it on a 4:3 TV? DVDs are 720×480, which means they can be slightly wider than a 4:3 TV. But a widescreen projector will show it.
When creating your iMovie video, what did you set the project at? 4:3 or 16:9?
I set the project to 4:3 because I knew it would ultimately be playing off of a DVD player rather than a computer. I thought I had read somewhere that was the way to do it. This is my first ever iMovie project.
It is a new HD flat screen TV bought within the last two years…would that mean it is 16:9?
The problem is that I know at the conference I will be provided with a DVD player that will display the movie on a presentation screen. What settings should I use to make sure it looks right?
You’ll need to experiment. I can’t be sure which one would work best with that particular DVD player / projector setup. If you can’t experiment, it might be a good idea to produce a 4:3 and a 16:9 version and have them both ready to go. The projector itself will probably have settings that you can adjust.
Gary, I hope you can help me. I have searched the internet for answers, and they are so all over the place, my head is going to explode! My problem: I have imported different media (from old VHS, 8mm film, 16mm film, slides, etc.) into imovie 09, and created a new 40 minute imovie. When I try to export at a high quality .mov, (taking 17 hours to export) I lose all the sound that was on my original sources. Any music that I added from my itunes comes through fine. The only way I can get (old) sound to export is media browser at medium setting. I would like to be able to burn DVDs from my new imovie at the best possible quality. Can you help? If so, please be specific – I am technically challenged ;-)
Hard to say what might be happening. But it does work at Medium, eh? OK, then why not try some custom settings. Or try sending directly from iMovie to iDVD? With things like this it is best to experiment. And there are plenty of settings to experiment with.
Hi – I am trying to put a stop motion video I made in Imovie (all stills plus music) onto a DVD. I saved it as a .mov file and it plays great from my computer, but when I put it on a DVD it gets all broken up. When I save it through itunes the color gets flattened. What is the best (detailed directions please) settings to use to get from imovie to a dvd to show with a projector? Thanks!
Not sure what you mean by “broken up.” A DVD is never going to look as good as it did on the computer because a DVD is standard definition. But you could try the iMovie Share menu and just go directly from iMovie to iDVD.
Thanks I just tried that and it looks horrible – all faded, horizontal lines, fuzzy, ick. I’m supposed to show this at a club tomorrow night and wonder how you do this in a way that keeps the quality. Is the only way to have the 2 GB file on a thumb drive to transfer over?
What I meant by broken up is that the audio has gaps,and sometimes doesn’t play at all, and the video stutters too. Thanks,
lynne
It sounds like something isn’t right. So you have a mov file that looks good. Then you burn it to DVD and play the DVD and it looks bad? Have you tried the DVD in a DVD player, or just on the Mac?
I’d maybe have a video expert take a look at it. No substitute for first-hand help.
yes, I just dragged the .mov file to a dvd, burn and it “breaks up”. I tried two computers with different versions of the same file.
It looks good on youtube – any way to download that onto a disc with different results?
Thanks!
Wait, you are dragging a .mov to a DVD? That would create a data DVD that contains a digital video file. It wouldn’t be a proper video DVD. Perhaps what is happening is that you end up with this data DVD and the DVD player you are using is trying to interpret that data through some sort of slideshow function. Or, perhaps you are watching it on your Mac, but the speed at which data can be read from a DVD isn’t high enough to support from frame rate.
To make a proper DVD, you need to use iDVD. You can’t just drag to a DVD and burn it.
Well that would explain it. Is there a way to get a quality dvd out of idvd? When I exported it through the media browser that idvd directs you to, it was awful in quality. What would be the best quality dvd I can get?
I appreciate your help!
I would run iDVD. Use File, One Step DVD from Movie. That’s as simple as it gets. The quality should be as good as it can be given the quality of your original and the quality allowed by DVDs, which are standard definition. See episode 440: http://macmost.com/dvds-are-not-hd.html
I have made a wedding video that will be viewed on various DVD Players, Computers both MAC, Windows PC
I edited with IMOVIE 11. What would be the best settings for the above?
In the reading I’ve done I cant figure out if there is one format that both MAC and Window can play.
thx
Video formats are pretty platform independent. Just use the standard export formats and you should be fine. But if you want the video to be seen on DVD players, you have to build a DVD. See 514: http://macmost.com/quick-ways-to-build-dvds-with-idvd.html
Gary:
You said 640 x 360 is a good size for YOUTUBE
1280 x 720 is a good size for making a DVD
HOw about projecting a quicktime?
thx
Not sure what you mean by “projecting a quicktime.”
Gary, great informative clips, thanks. But please do help…
I have been editing a wedding video, adding music and stills in imovie (total movie length is 1:22mins) and I want to export it to idvd to then be able to complete the burn process to dvd to be played on a variety of tv/dvd set-ups. I am getting a message that says ‘project is too long’ when I try to do this. Firstly what is the maximum length a movie can be to import it into idvd? Secondly what is my best option to burn this imovie project to a dvd?
Cheers Renee
Using iDVD is the right idea. Are you saying that the video is 1 hour and 22 minutes long? That does sound too long. I’m not sure of the exact time limit — I think it depends on the DVD. Some have a little more room than others. Try using the open-step DVD options in iDVD to save on space used by menus and such. Maybe try exporting the video first, and then using that video in a open-step DVD in iDVD.
Hi Gary:
Thanks for the tutorial. But I still cant find the answer to my question. I shoot with a Panasonic GH1 and it is hacked with settings that allow me to shoot full anamorphic without a special lens. So the footage has that stretched look to it. Resizing to an anamorphic dimension should do it. IMovie 11 has an export option that allows you to change image size in Mpeg and Quicktime options. However it doesnt work. The image should be squeezed to the new dimensions but it is only cropped. Do you have any experience with this? I will be happy with any information you can give me. I really dont want to drop a grand to get software that can deal with image dimensions.
Thanks
Thirgy
I don’t think iMovie will be able to help you with this. A free option would be to export from iMovie as normal, and then see if you can use MPEG Streamclip to squeeze the video to a new size. Or, since you are using pro equipment, switch to a pro editor (Final Cut Pro X) which I assume will be able to do what you want (maybe with Compressor?) but I’m not 100% since I’ve never needed to do this.
I wanted to avoid having to purchase a high end editor if I could. In theory the Imovie 11 option to change the image size should do it. Have you tried these settings to see what happens with any of your footage? If the reshape image option in Share>Quicktime did what I think it is suppose to do it should solve my problem. If I am wrong about these options could you explain what the purpose might be?
And on a second question. Does Compressor work with Imovie 11?
Thanks again…I know this is an odd request.
I just don’t think that exporting from iMovie is going to get you anything other than properly-proportioned video, even if it means cropping. I don’t know what “reshape” option you mean. I can change the size, but not “reshape.”
Have you tried MPEG Streamclip like I suggested? That might be all you need.
Compressor is an extension to Final Cut Pro X. I don’t think it works independently, but I haven’t had the chance to use it yet.
Hi Gary!
Great info! I am trying to stream a video that is stored on Amazon S3. I have found that MP4 is working better than MOV because it saves a lot of space (my video is about 40 minutes long). Do have any suggestions on other formats that save space that also look pretty clear? Thanks for all your help!
There’s little different between mp4 and mov. It is what is INSIDE these files that is important. It is the settings (bitrate, dimensions, frame rate, audio, etc) that matters.
Thank you for your helpful instructions Gary.
What would be your ‘best-guess’ export options when burning to a blu-ray disk to be played on a PS3 or blu-ray player?
I have a PS3 and Sony BDP S1000 ( both play and /or reject the same files burned to my blu-ray disks).
Sometimes mp4, m4v, mov, and QT play on my PS3. Sometimes these same encodings do not play.
One video file I exported both as mov and m4v. The mov worked and the m4v did not. But other m4v files sometimes work. I can’t make heads or tails why sometimes a file plays and other times not.
I am using Toast11 on my MacPro OSX10.6.8 with iMovie11 to burn these files to an LG blu-ray burner . I’m not expecting 100% fool-proof results, but I’d like to improve the present 50% I’m getting.
FYI – Also when I try to burn to a disc image, Toast11 always hangs at 99% burn.
And is there any blu-ray player out there that is the most reliable when it comes to playing these different h.264 files?
Thanks very very much if you can provide any guidance.
Well, Blu-Ray is 1920×1080 (1080p) so if you could export as that, assuming your source was that high. But it probably depends on what hardwareyou are using to make the Blu-ray disc. I’d refer to the documentation for those to see what is best. What does the LG documentation say? How about the Toast 11 docs? They must have a recommendation. Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine — actually better since you have the LG burner and I don’t.
Thanks Gary,
Uh, what would I be looking for (spec wise) when I dig into the LG BPO6LU10 or into Toast11 ?
I was also wondering if the fact that this LG blu-ray burner works off USB power is a factor? Would a burner with its own AC power block be a more consistent performer?
Also you answered to the poster just prior to mine something about “It is what is INSIDE these files that is important. ”
How much of a factor is that when I cannot find some commonality among these encodings?
Thanks again.
Blurij
Not specs, but advice. I would think that a device like that may include some information about what works best. Some documentation. But maybe not.
I don’t know much about Blu-Ray burning, but if it is like DVD burning then it doesn’t really matter that much since your original video is re-encoded into thte exact format that Blu-ray players read. So Toast 11 is converting the video. Maybe check on their site for advice or support. I’m sure they must have a forum. Maybe Toast handles some video files better than others.
This would have nothing to do with where the drive gets its power.
As for “what is inside the files” — that is the same as format. For instance, you could have a .mp4 file with h264 video at 3000kpbs, or h264 at 2000kbps. Lots and lots of formats. I would think that Toast 11 would handle any of them.
Hi,
This may seem like a dumb question but I am trying to convert a simple 3 minute video to imbed directly into an email. It seems like every format I use is too large, even if I use the “iPhone” settings. Any suggestions on how to do this? I have iMovie 09, iMovie HD, MPEG Streamclip, Handbrake, and Miro. I would think this is a simple task yet I can’t seem to get it under 10 mbs without it looking like a postage stamp. Thanks
Laura
Sending video through email is a bad idea. As you can see, you will most likely hit message size limits even with a small video. And if you don’t hit a limit on your side, the other person might on their side.
Instead, consider uploading the video to a web site or service (YouTube, Vimeo, DropBox, iDisk etc). Then just send an email with the link in it.
Thanks for a very helpful video with clear instructions. I have made a short family movie in iMovie09 on my Macbook Pro from AVI clips taken by a small Casio camera. I want to export it in the best format for an iPad2. From the Share dropdown menu, should I choose iTunes, or Export Movie, and if the latter, Medium or Large?
Sorry if this is a duplicate comment. Thanks for the great video. I want to share a movie made in iMovie09 on my Macbook Pro in a form suitable for iPad2. Should I select iTunes from the Share dropdown menu, or Export – and, if so, what size – medium or large?
Not sure which will work best. Why not just try each of those and see?
P.S. The brief movie (family clips) was made from AVI clips taken with a small Casio camera.
Hello, I would like to burn a blu ray dvd after I convert my project out of imovie 09. I captured the video with my Sony Camcorder 1080i. Would like the best settings under Quick Time Conversion (Compression, interlaced/deinterlace etc.)
Response would be really appreciated.
How are you burning a Blu-Ray disc? Which special Blu-Ray disk burner do you have? And what Blu-Ray creation software are you using? I would consult the manuals for those products.
I am trying to figure out the largest dimensions in 4:3 aspect ratio to export in iMovie to a .mov file so it will look great when I project the video for many people to view. So far I’ve found that 1024 x 768 is the largest size I’ve found so far. Do you know of any other dimensions that may be larger since I want the best possible picture quality. Thank you!
Where are you projecting from? Your Mac? A DVD player? Something else?
1024×768 is probably the best. 1280×720 is “HD” quality, so 768 in height is actually a little better.
I purchased my MacBook Pro three years ago to make movies with iMovie. I initially had a lot of trouble with iDVD producing a good quality when I used share feature from iMovie. After many phone calls to Apple support and talking to many many people I finally learned that exported into QuickTime would be the better option. It’s too bad I had never seen your videos before. Thanks for all your complete and consise tutorial lessons. I check your videos daily. I’ve learned SO MUCH -and have recommended MacMost often. I’m thrilled to have your video 374 to refer to for settings. My videos are usually about 35 – 40 minutes long and a combo of stills and video. *** I’m wondering now if you have any suggestions for the fact that Apple is no longer going to sell and I would imagine support iDVD. I really liked that format for the title screens. I have the iDVD still and assume that it won’t be a problem with Lion. But what do others do that just now are purchasing an Apple?
PADDY
You should still be able to use iDVD for a while, since you already have it. Others would have to find an old iLife 11 disc for sale somewhere. But there are many DVD creators available in the Mac App store, so there are other options as well.
This is unbelievable …..video 374 is just the information I have needed for over 2 years. After many many hours of trying to figure out by reading and talking to Apple tech, your video told me what I needed in just minutes. You make tech things so much easier to understand. I’m a big fan who is spreading the news about MacMost!!! Keep ‘em coming.
Would still love to know the best (price, ease of use and quality) of the 3rd Party products for people that don’t have iDVD and can’t get it.
This has been such valuable information – thank you! Unfortunately, I’m still having trouble. I’ve been trying – for two weeks now – to export my movie file from iMovie 08, and every time, no matter what the setting, I get an “error 2125″ message and the file quits in the last moments of export. I’ve looked everywhere for a solution, and can’t seem to figure it out.
The movie is around 90 minutes in length, and has no iMovie fades, titles, or anything at all applied to it. It was just a straight dump from the camera, and I need to burn it as is.
I’ve got over 400 GB available on the target drive, so I think that should suffice.
My plan was to export as noted here in this thread, and then burn in HD using Toast Pro. However, I can’t even get to the stage of having a file that is “burnable.” And…my deadline is now fast approaching and I’m in need of a good ol’ Christmas miracle.
Can anyone help??
Been a while since I used iMovie 08. Suggestions:
Upgrade to iMovie 11.
Duplicate your project and then make it into two 45 minute videos. 90 is very long for iMovie.
Duplicate and try removing features like chapter markers.
Find a friend who has iMovie 11 and a bigger/faster Mac and have them help.
Thank you – I will try these suggestions. How do I remove chapter markers?
Select them in the project and delete them (assuming you have added any).
ah, ok – i’ve not added any. Thinking perhaps they were added automatically and would need to be removed. Thank you!
Gary – your suggestion worked! I was able to export the two halves of the program, and then bring them into Toast Pro for burning. The burn – according to the message upon completion – was successful, but then when I attempt to view the created DVD (in the Toast Roxio Video Player) it literally just plays for 3 seconds. The disc itself says it holds 4GB of content, but…i’m at a loss.
Any thoughts on this head scratcher?
No, sorry. Did you try it in the Mac DVD Player app? Or an actual DVD player?
I have several different aspect ratios in my iMovie project from different sources; 16:9 SD, 16:9 HD, and 4:3 SD. What would you suggest is the best way to export this and to ultimately use it on a DVD? I will be using both SD and HDTV to play the DVD on.
If you are going to DVD, then it doesn’t matter too much. DVD is only SD (720×480) and often displays at 640480 (4:3) depending on your TV. So don’t bother exporting as anything greater than 960×540 (Medium) as it won’t matter for DVD.
I am a student photographer with an interest to doing videos as well. Recently I took on the task of recording an African Church Service which was around an hour and 45 minutes long. I used my Canon 60D DSLR camera and recorded in 640 x 480 (SD). My project therefore is in the .mov format, within iMovie.
When completing the project, I went into Share, and Media Browser to process the video for publishing. After waiting some 3-4 hours later, I got the message that it was unable to process due to the video being too long.
So now I am stuck. How can I get this video burned onto a DVD? I have kept the file the same size throughout (640 x 480) because I didn’t want to increase its’ size and also reduce the quality. HD would be nice, but don’t know how to do that either!
Please can you help me with the steps I need to take to get this done , as I have people urgently waiting for their DVD!
Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I am panicking here now.
Thanks so much.
First, why do you need to take it into iMovie at all? If you just want to put it on a DVD, then go straight to the DVD software that you are using.
Second, 1:45 might be too long for a DVD. Depends on the DVD you are using, it will be close.
As for HD, you have recorded in 640×480 (Standard Def) so you can’t go “up” to HD because the source is SD. You can’t add quality that doesn’t exist in the source. Plus, DVDs are SD anyway, not HD.
I imported it into iMovie because there were 7 clips and I wanted to add a menu and transitions.
I have looked at it again and it is 1:35 mins long.
I figured that would be the case with HD. I’m happy to stick to SD for this one, as i don’t really have an option.
I am currently “sharing” the project to QuickTime and onto the desktop. It says it will take 5 hours. I used the following settings – MP4; H.264; 4000 kb/sec; SD 768 x 576; frame rate of 8 and 10 frames.
I found these settings gave me the best quality when I tried it with a short clip. However, quality is still a bit “noisy” in the shadows.
All help and advice right now would be appreciated, since I wanted to get this out by the weekend. AAahhh!
DVDs only have one format: the DVD format. So your export settings are pretty irrelevant when just going to DVD. No matter what you use, the DVD creation software will need to re-encode the video to DVD format. So don’t use that custom format (10 fps is odd anyway). Just export as “medium” in the standard iMovie choices. Try that.
I recently purchased the Cyberlink Power Director 10 software as well because I thought it would give me more of a professional quality, but to learn how to use it in such a short space of time is proving too difficult, so I will proceed with my project from imovie (hopefully with your help). I DO realise the quality of the video comes from the equipment and settings that were used during the take though. I can only move forward from here.
Thanks so much for your help.
Thanks so much Gary. I am Exporting the Movie in medium now. says it will take 3 hours. Praying this will work today!!
Hi Gary,
I am new to using a Mac and Imovie. 1st of all, how can I tell if my movie clips are HD or SD? Second, when I go to export movie, what are the major differences between large, HD720P and HD1080P. We have and 55″HDTV that I would like to play these on, but I would also like to send DVD’s to my grandmother who still has a standard TV. Any suggestions?
Thanks
You can open the clips up in QuickTime Player and then get info on the document to see its dimensions.
When you export from iMovie it shows you the dimensions right there in the dialog box. Large is 960×540, and the others are 1280×720 and 1920×1080.
Now DVDs are not HD at all. They are only 640×480 or 720×480. SO if you are burning a DVD, it doesn’t matter. Choose Large and then let your DVD creation software handle the conversion down to 720×480 for the DVD.
Gary, I use a canon hv20 camcorder and record in 1080 and export to imac, imovie 11 and then edit the video and export it to an external blu ray burner using Toast 11, with blu ray pulldown.I want to export the final hd movie to be played on a ps3. the exported project is an mov. file and ps3 does not recognize it. Do you have any suggestions. thanks s
It is just a matter of finding out what format the PS3 uses, and then exporting as that. Or, using a converter to convert to that format.
Gary, imovie 11 appears to allow you to export a movie file in mpeg 4, but the mpeg 4 is inside of the mov. file and therefore, the ps3 does not recognize it. If I am correct and you want to export the file to a usb flash drive, you must convert the file with some type of a conversion software. Dp you know of such a program and does it degrade the movie in the process? thanks for your help.
You can export from iMovie in all sorts of formats. Use Export Using Quicktime, then Movie as QuickTime. Then you can choose all sorts of things.
But first, did you simply try changing the file name extension to .mp4?
But a PS3 may require a specific exact mp4 format — mp4 is just a container and it can have any number of compression types inside it. So you may need to use something like MPEG Streamclip, Miro or Handbrake to convert to the exact thing that a PS3 requires.
Gary, to you know how to increase or decrease the compression of a file in iMovie 11? Further is it possible in iMovie 11 to export a video file without compressing the file so that you do not affect the quality of the video and send it in 1080? thanks sanford
Watch the video. It is all about changing export settings. Export settings are all about compression. All video you will deal with is compressed in some way. Just use highest that you like. You won’t notice too much of a difference between very high quality compression. Just try different settings to see what you like.
thanks sanford
Hello Gary, thanks for this tutorial. I have been trying to edit some gameplay videos I’ve made to upload to Youtube which I use Quicktime X to record the screen while I play (Playing Skyrim in case you were wodnering). However, when i render the project, the exported video always strips out the top inch and bottom inch of the movie like in a widescreen format even though I did not change the screen size setting. How do i change that? Also, I used the “Export Movie” option instead of “Export using Quicktime” option but I chose the HD squality, still the video quality degrades enough that small print on the original movie that can is readable now becomes unreadable. How can I fix that? Is it when I Import the movie originally, i chose the FULL quality option?
You must have set the clip to crop in that way in the project. Review it carefully and change the crop settings to “fit.”
For export settings you just have to experiment and keep in mind your original resolution vs the exported one. If you captured at 2560×1920, then you can’t expect it to look as good even at 1080p (1920×1080).
Hello Gary, great explanation of Imovie. In video format using export with quicktime is it ok to use Mpeg-4 Improved instead of h.264?
You can use whatever you want. But I can’t imagine that MPEG-4 Improved is better than h264. Try both and compare and decide for yourself though.
Hi Gary,
I have movie clips saved to a portable hard drive that are in MOD format. I can’t import them into IMovie because Mac will not read that format. Any suggestions on how to get all of these clips onto my Mac without converting all of them There is about 2 years worth of movies.
Also, would you suggest exporting my movies onto a Hard Drive to watch later or putting them on DVDs? Is there a big difference between 720 & 1080 when viewing?
Thanks
I would just convert them to something else (using MPEG Streamclip, Miro, or a similar tool). Don’t convert them to DVDs because: 1. optical media won’t last forever and 2. DVDs are standard definition (not even 720p, but 480p) so you will lose a lot of quality.
HI Gary….I have a recurring issue when exporting iMovie 9 & 11 ) using share QT pro. The file plays back just fine on the computer after exporting from iMovie. Then I burn it to DVD using Toast 10 Titanium and it also plays back fine on the computer. When I play it in different DVD players it hangs for 2 seconds in 2 different spots. This happens on almost evry project I export. I export H264 720×486 fps 29.97. I have tried shutting down all programs in background, disconnected externals, shut down program and computer and reburnt and it still does it. HELP!!! ( and thank you in advance!)
I doubt it has anything to do with iMovie since when you create a DVD the video is converted to DVD format. Have you considered the DVD media (the physical discs?) Maybe try a different brand or package of discs? Just a guess. Since Toast 10 is the program you are using, have you tried contacting them? Maybe upgrading to Toast 11?
Hello Gary,
First off I’m very beginner at editing videos. I edited a short clip in iMovie and exported it to a file on my desktop so I could manually put it on youtube as you described. The only editing I did to the video was rotate it because when I shot it I held my camera on its side. But when I preview it after I export it the video is not rotated. Also in my project library when I play the video in the little screen on the right it is the edited right side up version but when I play the project in full screen mode it is the not rotated unedited version that plays. Any help would be awesome, thanks
Hard to tell where you may be going wrong. Just try it again. Exactly what are you doing in iMovie to rotate the video?