[drissa]

Hi Folks - I've been researching, but need some clarification...

I run an arts project and need to compile the student's video work to be shown at an exhibition. There will be an LCD TV and, ideally, the footage would loop continuously - a kind of video installation.

There are two or three iMovie projects and one 15 minute play which is already on DVD/VHS. We don't have a superdrive, but could buy an external DVD-R drive if needed. We will have a VCR/DVD player.

We also have Final Cut Express.

1. I guess I'll need to compile the work into one project (in FCE?). I'm assuming I can import .mov files of the iMovie projects, but what about the DVD footage? Is there a way of bringing this in?

If I save the iMovie work as full-quality DV, I'm guessing I can simply import this into FCE with no loss of quality?

2. An alternative to DVD (and, therefore, buying a DVD-R drive) would be VCD, which, I gather, would play on most DVD players. Can this be done straight from the FCE/iMovie export settings? I'm not sure which formats correspond with the VCD format.

Will the quality be seriously impaired? The footage is DV and will be shown on a 20" screen (640 x 480).

Assuming I manage to get everthing in a nice, neat package, is there a way for the VCD/DVD to loop continuously during playback?

*********

Sorry for all the questions. I could just stick everthing on a 4 hour VHS tape, but it seems silly not to take advantage of the digital options. My priority is to compile everything into one, smooth presentation (perhaps adding some titles between pieces) and have it looping. A solution that hit the visual quality a bit would be OK.

Many thanks

[alligator]

I'm not sure about importing DVD footage - you may have to rip it first using some other software.

You can import iMovie footage - I do it all the time, with no loss in quality. In fact, I play all my footage into iMovie to get the scene breaks and then import it into FCE. Exporting is easy too - and then you could burn it to a DVD and set the DVD player to repeat the disc for a continuous loop. My home DVD player allows repating like a CD player would.

I wouldn't use Video CD, the quality I've seen is awful and you can't store much on a Video CD like you can on a DVD.

Worst case, you can export it back to a digital camcorder and then take it to another shop which can copy it onto a DVD for you for very low cost ($20?)

[drissa]

Thanks for the feedback - this is really helpful.

One more question: Would I need to compile all the footage before exporting to DVD? Is it possible to simply burn a series of files, which would then play sequentially from the DVD with no gaps?

[MountainMac]

1)If you can get the original footage of the 15-minute play that's on DVD, either as an iMovie project or on a DV tape, that would preserve the best quality. DVD footage is compressed and you'll have to render it when you bring it into FCE (which may not be able to even do that b/c, IIRC, FCE only supports the DV format). You can import it using analog->digital conversion into FCE using a DV camera or deck if you can't get your hands on the original DV project, but it will be lossy.

2)I think you can just import the .mov file that's in each iMovie project folder directly into FCE, and it won't have to render. Then you can create a sequence (e.g., Sequence1) with all of the projects, and loop Sequence1 in a second sequence (e.g., Sequence2) as many times as you need to fill up one hour, which is the limit of how much iDVD can fit onto a video DVD before it starts to compress so much that it loses quality. I'm assuming you don't have DVD Studio Pro, but if you can get your hands on a copy, DVDSP will allow you to set the video DVD to autoplay and to loop once it gets back to the beginning so that, ideally, you could put one copy of each project on the DVD and then have it loop back to the beginning once it's finished playing through. Not sure if iDVD has this functionality or not.

3)You could loop Sequence1 into a two-hour Sequence2, then output that Sequence2 to two different VHS tapes, and just have somebody standing by to pop the second VHS tape in when the first one finishes (and then rewind the first tape while the second is playing). Low-tech, but it'll work if you don't have DVDSP or if iDVD doesn't allow loops.

Edit: I guess I should've read what alligator wrote. You can probably set the DVD player to run the loop all on its own.

MM

[drissa]

Thanks for the advice. I may be able to get the play on an original DV tape.

[k_munic]

Originally posted by drissa:
Hi Folks …

There are two or three iMovie projects and one 15 minute play which is already on DVD/VHS. We don't have a superdrive, but could buy an external DVD-R drive if needed. We will have a VCR/DVD player.

We also have Final Cut Express.

1. I guess I'll need to compile the work into one project (in FCE?). I'm assuming I can import .mov files of the iMovie projects, but what about the DVD footage? Is there a way of bringing this in?

If I save the iMovie work as full-quality DV, I'm guessing I can simply import this into FCE with no loss of quality?

2. An alternative to DVD (and, therefore, buying a DVD-R drive) would be VCD, which, I gather, would play on most DVD players. Can this be done straight from the FCE/iMovie export settings? I'm not sure which formats correspond with the VCD format.

Will the quality be seriously impaired? The footage is DV and will be shown on a 20" screen (640 x 480).

Assuming I manage to get everthing in a nice, neat package, is there a way for the VCD/DVD to loop continuously during playback?…

using an external DVD-R drive makes it impossible to use iDVD - this works only with internal (to the internal IDE connected) drives...

quality: an in-between would be s-vcr, which has a better solution... there are free tools as "sizzle" which make it possible to create files which can be burned with other free tools... all very tricky, not simple to use (my p.o.v.).... BUT: sizzle would be able to produce a loop! iDVD no, DVDpro - very expansive

what i would do:
invest in buying Toast 6 (99$?)- it accepts external dvd-r drives, it masters from dv>>dvd, it's easy to use...
create all your files as dv (best quality); concerning your dvd: to import dvd in any kind of digital form, you need to demuxx them... not a beginners process (free tools as bbdemux necessairy), probs with getting audio + video sync etc.pp..
as mentioned above: get the orginals or, plan B) use a dvdplayer and import them via a converter box (formac whatever) or a camcorder with analog in feature...
with iMovie or FCE you can make all files into one
use Toast for burning a dvd, the loop should be done with the standalone player feature(mentioned above)

good luck with your project!