[pruneduke]

I'm trying to make movies in iMovie that will play with qood quality on PCs. So, I got Toast Titanium, exported in VCD mode, burned a CD -- it works on my PC with QuickTime Pro, until I go into full screen mode, and all of a sudden, the sound track is about a second behind the pictures and the film is unusable. Anyone had anything like that happen? Solutions? Thanks.

[lucylawless]

I think the only advantage of VCD is that it plays in a standalone DVD player. If you're only going to be playing this on computers, you should probably burn the MPEG on a data CD

[pruneduke]

Ah, Thank you.

However, the VCD format has one other advantage: very small files and very high quality image. Of the different options available for exporting from iMovie, that seems to have given me the best quality/file size ratio. That's why I was interested in this. In particular, the titles were clear and crisp, whereas they often look like they have been smeared with an eraser when I compress in other formats.

Here's the basic question I really have: how do I make a small file of good quality (that will play in QT on PCs and Macs) exporting from iMovie? (I'm sure this question has been discussed 200 times on these forums, but I'm new here. Thanks for your patience.)

[lucylawless]

you're on the right track. VCD is just an MPEG with specific resolution, framerate, datarate, etc. The toast export plugin will give you the same MPEG file, just don't burn a VCD of it; burn a data CD instead.

As for MPEG as a standard, you're half right. It's compression ratio (and encoding speed) are not very good when compared with more modern codecs (for example 3ivx, VP3, DivX and to a lesser extent Sorenson since you basically have to get the pro version to get good results). The advantage of MPEG is compatability. With the more modern codecs, your audience will have to go out on the web and download that codec, and probably Quicktime. 99% of systems out there can play MPEG as is. Also the hardware requirements of MPEG are easier than most of the other choices. In my experience, also, MPEG scales better during playback. It tends to smooth things out more, which is good unless you really want to keep the detail of the rough edges...

[ 03-18-2002: Message edited by: lucylawless ]

[pruneduke]

Thanks. Okay, I tried that, saving as VCD, but burning as just a CD. Didn't work on PCs with WMP.

Since you have been nice enough to share your experience here, let's forget what I have done that hasn't worked, and just cut to these two questions:

what is the best way to save films from imovie on CD, so they will work with PCs with WMP?

and,

what is the best way to save films from imovie on CD, so they will work with PCs with QT installed?

Again, I know that this question must have been asked and answered many times, but I can't find the answers!

Thanks.

[jtc]

Originally posted by pruneduke:
<STRONG>Thanks. Okay, I tried that, saving as VCD, but burning as just a CD. Didn't work on PCs with WMP.</STRONG>

Rename the file from whatever.mov to whatever.mpg and WMP will be able to play it.

what is the best way to save films from imovie on CD, so they will work with PCs with WMP? what is the best way to save films from imovie on CD, so they will work with PCs with QT installed?

VCDs for both answers. They will play on computers and in stand-alone DVD players. WMP is sort of a pain to play VCDs since you have to open WMP, choose open file, and locate the .dat file on the VCD. There are better player out there. I use winDVD - there's also powerDVD, cinematograph (or something like that). And quicktime sucks for windows - I avoid that at all costs.

[ 03-21-2002: Message edited by: jtc ]

[pruneduke]

Thank you! That worked.

I wonder why such apparently basic information isn't available from the help menu or anywhere else when you use iMovie? Or is it?

Anyway, thanks.