How to play back .MOD video files?

I think the only way to bring them in is direct from the camera. You can't just import files sitting on your hard drive...yet another reason iMovie 08 is the first and worst piece of SW Apple has ever put out. I would imagine that future releases would allow this, as well as, many of the other "basics" that you could do in iMovie HD. As far as the quality of movies, there's another thread here:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=5165094#5165094

Though it isn't resolved.

in fact, vlc won't play them either. they arent corrupted or anything, just a compatibility issue. Any other suggestions?

Did you try changing the extension as mentioned previously in your other topic. Can't test this myself since I don't have access to a sample MOD file. You can try VOB, MPG, and/or MPEG. If one or more works any of the player/converters (e.g., VLC, MPEG Streamclip, FFmpegX, QT Player w/MPEG2 component, etc.), how about posting back and letting us know. Alternatively, you could upload a sample file for analysis by others.

I have a JVC Everio HD 7 Cam and also have the new iMovie '08 running on a Mac OSX 10.4.10. I am able to transfer the files from my Cam, but in a file called "MOVO23.TOD" for example. Now, I CAN open these files with my QT 7.2.0 Pro, however they are very "stuttery" and the sound is equally horrid.
What I CAN NOT DO is drag the clips into iMovie, it's just can't happen.
Question is, surely there MUST be a way of doing it , does anybody have any clues, as in KISS (keep it simple stupid) clues?
All I want to do is take Video shots, edit them, save them and/or maybe upload them to youtube etc etc

This thread, and others like it, have been more concerned with the .MOD files created by the non Hi-Def JVC Everio cameras. I haven't seen much in the way of solutions for the Hi-Def .TOD file format that your camera is creating. I'm pretty sure that MPEG Stremaclip doesn't support Hi-Def file conversion yet, but given them a while and I'm sure they'll get there. That software is great and I would continue using it if iMovie hadn't have given us native .MOD file support in 08.

Good luck with your quest.

Ok , this is the latest..1) I changed the TOD bit at the end to MOV. Then EXPORTED the MOV file to MOVIES. from Movies I dragged it into iMovies 08. So far so good. The file has been dramatically reduced in size from 76 mgb to 26 mgb in the process, but the sound is ok and the jitters have vanished The resolution has gone down too from a high 1980 down to 960 Ugghhh but, I am having a win, albeit under duress and at Apple's terms

Bwaah, nope didn't work..so now, opened the TOD file with QT. Then " exported" the file to MOVIES, oddly enuff it then became a QT format picture, hugely reduced in size, though it did stop "jittering" as mentioned before. TEN dragged the file to iMovie.

In General, and whilst acknowledging that I am a novice at all of this, why on earth would Apple, promote it's new iLife 08 implying that it would work with a HD camera, when clearly, it does work, BUT with several steps one has to take BEFORE even getting close. One of the issues is that quality of the otherwise HIGH DEFINITION Video is greatly compromised. One could similarly ask, why does APPLE, "appear" to go out of it's way to make things "difficult" rather than apply the KISS principle. I'm sure many folk would love MACs and APPLE in particular if this were the case.

Equally, folk would not think, as they would appear to often do, Mac's are just to hard to "understand is is their software". I was told this by several punters the other day at the JB HiFi Store in Myaree, West Australia, when they were looking at laptops to buy. I, in passing, suggested the look at buying a Mac as I liked mine so much. The response was an unequivocal "NO WAY" for the reasons mentioned. in both cased they opted for Microsoft based laptops and desk tops.

Swaza,

Just thought I would jump in and share some experiences with .tod and .mod files.

I too have the JVC GZ-HD7 camera and I can confirm that the new version of the MPEG-SC 1.93beta will open and convert .tod to .mov for use with iMovieHD. I am not sure that the files can be used with iMovie08 since I have not tried, but it will work in iMovieHD just like any other qt or .mov file import.

Also, you can use the QTpro plugin that came with the camera (should be on the CD as the only MAC software available.) This will allow you to open the files in QT and convert them to any other format needed. This plugin unfortunately does not allow QTpro to open the older .mod files of previous JVC cameras. For that you can still use MPEG-SC.

In my experiences over the last few weeks, having mistakenly dumped all of my footage onto my hdd as I used to do with my older JVC cameras, I am now stuck with 3 hours of footage on my HDD as .tod files. I have been struggling to find the right blend of codec type, compression amount, fps, and quality to convert these files in an acceptable resolution (1920x1080 full - another mistake since iMovie08 will not import this quality but will import the 1440 CBR mode.) Converting these files is a nightmare and has become a stain on my otherwise wonderfu lexperience with this new camera (It is an awesome camera despite what negative stuff the "Canon fanboys" are saying!) It takes an unbelievably long time to convert. And you will find that when viewing these files in QT either as .tod or even after converting to .mov, they will be jerky and stutter. I believe this is more to the fact that the files are just really huge. Playback inside of iMovie06HD was perfect for me though.

Hope this helps out and I hope others may offer solutions as to what codecs they are using and what settings they are using to keep the quality as high as possible when converting these files.

Thanks so much for your input. Yes, I agree vis a vis the stutter and all that..I do however, really love the quality of the JVC and when played back on our Plasma, the picture is just superb.
I guess there will be a time when someone somewhere will come up with a REAL solution and that is to take the footage> download it without loss of quality to a Mac or Pc> edit the footage again without loss of quality and at the same resolution.
One can only hope. I certainly won't be holding my breath though. We can fly to the moon, wage wars in Iraq and elsewhere but not have an acceptable medium with which to download HD footage to a Mac or PC, the mind boggles. while I'm on the subject, iMovie08 is just awful in my view as is the new iPhoto.

Thanks again all

Your files are MPEG-2 format.
iMovie 7.0.1 should be able to read and import them by connecting your camera.
If you only wish to view those files try the free VLC Player.

I was able to play back .mod files by changing the extension to .mpg and using QT Pro 7.2

-John

I've been using MPEG Streamclip for my mod files. It is free:

http://www.squared5.com/

MPEG Streamclip seconded.

Thanks Ranum and other, yes I can confirm Streamclip does NOT work with TOD files ARGHHHHH

Thanks for your response. As I write I am have changed the TOD to MOV and am trying to EXPORT to iMovie, will let you know.