why does iMovie take so long to import Quicktime?

christopher rigby1 wrote:
.. How can it possibly take so long for one Apple movie format to be imported to another Apple movie format?

common misunderstanding: .mov is no 'format', just a container, some say 'wrapper'; and: iM is no all-purpose-all-formats app..

you've posted in the iMHD section of this board, which means vers5 .. this supports ONLY dv-streams or, via camcorder import mp2/AIC ..

if you .mov contain other codecs, the underlying QTengine has to convert your stuff into something usefull for iM = time.. and depending, how 'far away' your codecs are, a lot of computation..

I too am experiencing the same problem. I recently converted a 32 minute DVD into a MP4 file with the use of handbrake. I went to drag the file into iM and I'm now on hour number6, and the file is still importing. In addition I still need to convert 3 more Half-hour long DVD's (which I will then convert into a 30 second clip). Is there any way at all to speed up this process???

larget2 wrote:
.. I recently converted a 32 minute DVD into a MP4 file with the use of XX. .. Is there any way at all to speed up this process???

wrong tool, wrong conversion, wrong settings..
(aside, you want to rip a DRM protected DVD .. but that is no issue on this board, read §2.8.2. ToU) ..

I prefer the combo of Mpeg Streamclip (free) and the mp2-playback component (apple.com, 20$)
illustrated advice on my site:
http://karsten.schluter.googlepages.com/convertdvdstodvs

christopher rigby1 wrote:
.. There seems to be one rule for music and another for video.

exactly, spend a few months reading&understanding about video compression.. and you understand, why playback codecs are of no use in edit apps..

aside: you've posted in the iMoveHD aka vers5 of this board... iM5 supports only 'dv-stream' and 'AIC' as video-codecs ..

If anyone has some practical advice that's not full of condescending remarks (afterall, shouldn't we be experts on editing formats, since we're using iMovie HD?) I would appreciate it.

I too am having this problem. I ripped an .mp4 of a DVD containing footage I shot. This is footage I no longer have the source tapes of. I know that's the more ideal situation.

It's about 40 minutes of footage. I used the "Quicktime" settings in Handbrake and they left me with a file that's approximately 600 mb.

After ten minutes, iMovie finally gave me an estimation that it would take about 820 minutes to finish importing my file.

Here is what I am asking:

What is a file format to rip to that is more native to iMovie? Something that will preserve a good mix of quality and reasonable size? Is Handbrake the wrong choice for this kind of thing?

I would really like to be able to extract this footage and then import it into imovie, preserving most of the quality, but in a much more manageable way.

Is this just a pipe dream? Will this, by nature, just take forever? I have a fairly new computer, this doesn't seem like it should be so difficult. If I am doing something really wrong here, I would very much appreciate being pushed in the right direction.

No offense, but I think this is a pretty straight-forward question.

I apologize if this is coming off as rude, but I don't understand why people have to turn these forums into lecture central, where so-called experts take the time to dress everyone else down before dispensing their invaluable advice. Or their links to their own websites, featuring screen caps in German.

Thanks pals!

hollywoodphony wrote:
.. What is a file format to rip to that is more native to iMovie? Something that will preserve a good mix of quality and reasonable size? Is Handbrake the wrong choice for this kind of thing?

read my last sentence (in plain English) just before your post.. iMHD supports TWO codecs..
HB is wrong for converting to iMHD, it doesn't support these 'edit' codecs, it is only good choice for ripping.. read ToU§2.8.2.

.. I apologize if this is coming off as rude, but .. so-called experts .. their links to their own websites, featuring screen caps in German.

that IS rude ..

So... no one?

As Karsten has already pointed out that iMovie is the wrong tool for your edits why not listen to him and apologize?
QuickTime Pro can edit your file in just a few minutes of work and save a new file in a few seconds.
Don't use iMovie to edit your "rips". The entire file must be converted and that's why it takes so long. Edit using QuickTime Pro and you would have been done by now.

QuickTimeKirk,

Thanks for your response. I believe you are the first to suggest using Quicktime Pro, which I will definitely do now. Thank you very much for your help,

Eric

OK, well I finally got Quicktime Pro. I took that original ripped file and exported it to dv stream in qt pro, but it says "12 hours" to convert it, which is around the same time iMovie said it would take.

So is there just no way to take a 650 mb mp4 file and drop it into imovie to be edited without having to leave my computer running overnight?

Are you saying I should just edit the file down in QT Pro? It doesn't seem to have the capabilities I am looking for, like changing around the running order and adding titles and stuff, but I'm probably wrong about that.

Message was edited by: hollywoodphony

I was having a similar problem to which I found the answer: I used my Miglia EvolutionTV device which generates MPEG-4 at various quality options. I recorded the same clip at various settings and then I created a new project in iMovie HD and told it that I wanted it to be MPEG-4 rather than the default DV.

But when I tried importing some MPEG-4 files took ages while others came in instantly. I contacted Miglia and they said that the reason was that the MPEG-4 files have to be 640 x 480 to be uesd natively by iMovie HD.

Sure enough this was the case.

I would point out that MPEG-4 covers a lot of different formats and the latest H.264 I don't think will come in straight to iMovie HD but I wouldn't swear to it.

I'm not at home right now so don't have access to the files that were imported instantly. If you're interested I'll post details when I get a chance...

Hope this helps!

I am having a similar problem to what others mentioned. For those of us who just want to piece clips together and add effects, but know very little about codecs and what all this crap means to begin with, most responses mean pretty much nothing. So far, I still haven't seen an answer, but thank you, Tim Fenton, for at least offering a straightforward response. However, my videos are 320x240, so unless the software can't handle smaller sizes, that isn't the problem.

Here's my situation. I have never used iMovie HD before because I had no interest in it. However, I'm becoming more interested in video editing. I have a pile of public domain videos I downloaded from archive.org in mp4 format. I would like to use this to piece various clips together, add effects, music, and generally just do pointless stuff so I can find out if I even want to do something more serious.

These are all mp4 videos. They range in size from 2.6 MB to 500+MB. The 2.6 MB file takes 7 minutes to import into iMovieHD. An 8MB file takes 15 minutes. I don't even want to know how long the 24MB, much less the 500MB files are going to take.

None of these videos have been altered since I downloaded them. Since they are in mp4 format, I foolishly thought it would be a simple matter of adding the clips to iMovieHD and start editing, especially since I was led to believe that mp4 was a native format to Macs. However, if the software cannot handle it for some murky, codec-based reason, just tell me now and I will stop trying to do any video editing from now on.

If it requires me to buy/use more software and take extra steps to do what should be easily done in the software that's supposedly made for the purpose I want to use it for, tell me now so I can cease any attempts at video editing.

If it requires a new version of iMovie, then just tell me. While I don't understand why the version I have will be unable to function for the purposes intended, I would like to at least know why. If this version of iMovie cannot handle mp4, please just tell me. And if that's the case, why does all the documentation and help files say it can handle mp4s?

I don't know anything about codecs other than I first saw them a few years ago when they made playing videos near impossible without extra downloads and I gave up even watching videos on my computer because it was too much hassle.

Thank you.

iMovie is the wrong tool (still) as 320X240 dimensions would convert to 640X480 and look very blocky and pixelated.
QuickTime Pro can open, edit, join together, add music tracks and even add texts tracks without altering the 320X240 dimension or doing any timely conversions.