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No MPEG2 export in default iMovie/QTPro
Authored by: TheTominator on Feb 06, '03 02:00:41PM

There was great information in this article but contrary to the author's assertion that

iMovie 3 is perfectly willing to let me export as MPEG2 from the application itself

I do not find that iMovie 3 has the option to export to MPEG-2 (or MPEG-1 for that matter). I suspect that the author has some QuickTime plugin to do the MPEG-2 export. Maybe this comes with iDVD?

I have a vanilla installation of iMovie3(free) and QuickTime Pro 6.1 ($30). iMovie 3 can export to MPEG4 using the Expert Quicktime Export feature described by the author. While MPEG4 is a convenient way to export a near VHS quality QuickTime readable file that fits onto a CD, it is not useful for a VCD or a SVCD.

Don't loose heart though. The fine program ffmpegX with its associated programs (mpeg2enc et al.) can do all of the work to make either a VCD or a SVCD directly from the .mov file that is in your iMovie3 project folder. As far as I know, you need Toast or a similar program to actually burn the VCD or SVCD format from the .bin/.cue or XA .img files created by ffmpegX. I would love to hear of a technique that uses DiskCopy to burn the image to CD-R.

So far I have only experience making VCDs. As I write this I am using ffmpegX to make my first SVCD (time estimate ~4hrs on my hardware).

My setup is a

  • Canopus ADVC-100
  • External Firewire HD
  • B&W upgraded to 500 MHz G4, OS X 10.2.3
  • OWC 3 port Firewire card (both ADVC and ext HD use this for best performance)


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Sorry, should have said: it is a QT Plug In
Authored by: Mitchell on Feb 06, '03 02:16:23PM
I exported to MPEG2 with the QuickTime Export Component (/System/Library/QuickTime/QTMPEGExport.component). This is a plug in that is installed when you buy DVD Studio Pro. Plan B, as you point out, would be to use ffMpegX to do the mpeg2 encoding. ffMpegX is slower than the apple plugin, but may produce better picture quality and gives more options. Also, it's getting pretty close to one-click functionality when you use the presets. Plan C is to use the BitVice encoder, which is a standalone MPEG2 encoder. This one's a commercial product, though.

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B&W Firewire Hub
Authored by: Anonymous on Feb 06, '03 04:34:52PM

Your setup is quite similar to mine:

G4 Powerbook
B&W G3 300MHz - 80 + 20GB Maxtor 7200 hard disks
OWC Firewire Card
Sony DV Camera

I was amazed to find out that I could do this today.
I connected the DV camera to my B&W and connected my Powerbook to the B&W as well. I have IP Over FireWire setup on both of my machines and set up the 80GB hard disk in the B&W to be shared on my Powerbook.
When I opened up iMovie 3 on the Powerbook I was able to control my DV camera even though it was connected to my B&W. I was also able to create a new project stored on the B&W's hard disk and when I imported video it was stored directly on the B&W!!
This workaround gives me a very cheap external hard drive for my Powerbook. I had always been annoyed that I couldn't put my B&W into FireWire target mode but IPOverFireWire has given me something even more useful.



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