The Mac-Forums Community Guidelines (linked at the top of every forum) are very clear, we respect US law and court precedence when it comes to legality of activity.
Therefore to clarify:
You may not discuss breaking DVD or BluRay encryption, copying, or "ripping" commercial, copy-protected DVDs.
This includes DVDs or BluRays you own. Even if you own the DVD or BluRay, it is still technically illegal under the DMCA to break the encryption. While some may argue otherwise, until the law is rewritten or the US Supreme Court strikes it down, we will adhere to the current intent of the law.
You may discuss ripping or copying unprotected movies or homemade DVDs.
You may discuss ripping or copying tools in the context that they are used for legal purposes as outlined in this post.
Should be the same. Both are QuickTime based, using the same QT engines. There are some tricks you can use in FCP to maintain quality, but there's much more to learn to get to that level in FCP, compared to iMovie. But basically, in a very straight forward, simple workflow, you should have the same in both. More important question is, what is your final output going to be?
You will not see a difference in image quality in the import from the camcorder. It records in AVCHD format, so therefore, as long as your originating footage is 1920x1080, the import will not differ. Just remember that depending on bitrate for your original footage, it may take longer to import (at higher bitrates). It will be faster and easier to import in iMovie 08/09, as a general rule. Of course, if you want a deeper repertoire of transitions and effects, then import to iMovie 08/09, then select it all for a project (don't edit), and then export as XML (for FCE/FCP). Then when you get it into FCP, you have tons of versatility for your editing, creativity, and mastering.
Apple has messed up interlaced DV in iMove 08 & 09. See this Apple discussion. The point being that you can't rely that Apple is using those common tools in the same way.
Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.