Forum archive - Canon XL1s and iMove = Crap

Forum Archive Home -> Camcorders (DV/HDV/AVCHD) -> Canon XL1s and iMove = Crap

Canon XL1s and iMove = Crap

DavidMaitland posted 2009 Nov 06 17:25

Hi, i have been a Mac user for a very long time and also an iMove user. My dad owns a Canon XL1s 3CCD camera which i am using for doing a short film. I have done some test which i played back on my HD TV and the footage looks amazing. But when i import on my MacBook using firewire 400 in to iMove HD the video quality is worse than my mobile phone. I have tried many different import settings which all give the same bad result, would i still have this problem if i brought Final Cut Express? Also two effects i need to be able to do is color grading and masks. The color grading for obvious reasons but the masking to make someone fade away, i know how to do this, but what software would be best? FCE? FXHome? Thanks for your help.

edDV posted 2009 Nov 06 17:44

DavidMaitland : Hi, i have been a Mac user for a very long time and also an iMove user. My dad owns a Canon XL1s 3CCD camera which i am using for doing a short film. I have done some test which i played back on my HD TV and the footage looks amazing. You mean when the camcorder plays directly to the TV over S-Video? DavidMaitland : But when i import on my MacBook using firewire 400 in to iMove HD the video quality is worse than my mobile phone. I have tried many different import settings which all give the same bad result, would i still have this problem if i brought Final Cut Express? How are you judging video quality? By the Mac screen? What are these many settings? DV is DV. If you want a true test, transfer DV back to the camcorder and play from there. It should look the same as the original.

DavidMaitland posted 2009 Nov 06 17:53

What i mean by direct to the TV is by playing out of the composite out. The many settings is the import options such as PAL, PAL Wide, 25fps, 30fps, 24.7fps. I am judging the quality by watching it on my Mac in iMove on the preview screen, it is worse than video from my iPhone on the same screen. Do you know of any other programs that import DV of FireWire than iMove or FC that might be free?

edDV posted 2009 Nov 06 18:03

DavidMaitland : What i mean by direct to the TV is by playing out of the composite out. The many settings is the import options such as PAL, PAL Wide, 25fps, 30fps, 24.7fps. I am judging the quality by watching it on my Mac in iMove on the preview screen, it is worse than video from my iPhone on the same screen. Do you know of any other programs that import DV of FireWire than iMove or FC that might be free? Those settings are for project? DV has no import options once the project is set. If you are in the UK, 25fps should be correct. The monitor is a representation of the video content, not representative of quality. I'm a couple of hours from my nearest Mac. Be back later.

DavidMaitland posted 2009 Nov 06 18:07

Ok thank you.

edDV posted 2009 Nov 07 01:37

Back to home Mac. Yes the iMovieHD preview window quality does suck. Here's a tip: Under "Preferences" and "Playback" check "Play DV project through to DV camera" then connect the camcorder S-Video to a good TV monitor. You will see preview video in full quality. imoviehd1.png

DavidMaitland posted 2009 Nov 07 07:34

yes, when i output back to the tv the quality of the image is 100 times worse. here is a screen shot of some exported video in the best setting possible, as you can see the quality is awful compared to my TV from the composite out which looks very very close to HD screen%20shot%202009-11-07%20at%2013.31.44.png

DavidMaitland posted 2009 Nov 07 07:39

I cant believe that after import you get such bad quality images, the camera is still used in TV especially for documentaries because of the interchangeable lenses. To buy a second hand one you would be paying £1,050.00 of amazon. Where you could buy a £20 mobile phone with a better camera. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-DM-XL1s-Professional-Mini-Camcorder/dp/B00005QF76

jagabo posted 2009 Nov 07 10:04

What you're missing is that the problem has to do with the way the video is being displayed and processed by the software. There's nothing wrong with the DV video data from the camera.

edDV posted 2009 Nov 07 12:17

DavidMaitland : yes, when i output back to the tv the quality of the image is 100 times worse. here is a screen shot of some exported video in the best setting possible, as you can see the quality is awful compared to my TV from the composite out which looks very very close to HD screen%20shot%202009-11-07%20at%2013.31.44.png If things are working correctly, the DV format return to the camcorder should look identical to the original tape playback. You are still working in first generation. If you add effects, filter or encode you will see some loss. This is true for all NLEs. What sucks is the way iMovieHD displays the interlace DV video on the computer progressive display. It is not representative of the actual video quality. This is why advanced users monitor true image quality on a TV attached to the camcorder. CRT TVs show the true interlace. Progressive LCD/plasma monitors add their own deinterlace distortions. I monitor my DV projects on a Sony pro PVM series CRT monitor. TV Monitor <--S-Video--<Camcorder<---Firewire(bi-directional)-->MAC

edDV posted 2009 Nov 07 13:01

By the way, Final Cut does a much better job displaying DV. This is the same clip. finalcut.png

lordsmurf posted 2009 Nov 07 13:04

iMovie = crap Canon XL1s is fine. Try Final Cut Pro instead.

DavidMaitland posted 2009 Nov 07 13:10

p.s. i just realised that in the topic title i spelt iMovie wrong :)

DavidMaitland posted 2009 Nov 07 13:12

Ok, screw iMovie im buying FinalCut. Thanks for your help!

edDV posted 2009 Nov 07 13:31

lordsmurf : iMovie = crap Canon XL1s is fine. Try Final Cut Pro instead. Or Final Cut Express. Much less $$$ and features are enough for most.

edDV posted 2009 Nov 07 16:40

Yo Moderator! Please move this thread to Mac.

Login/Register to our forum to be able to post here.