importing and exporting mp3 files

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Level 1

19 points

importing and exporting mp3 files

I'm able to import mp3 files into iMovie and edit them but when I want to "share" this edited mp3 by exporting out of iMovie, it makes me save it with an .mov tag. I can't keep it as an mp3. This is a problem for me because when I play .mov files on my web site, it shows an entire black video screen instead of the little audio scroll bar I want with .mp3's. Any advice? Thanks

Posted on Jun 22, 2005 6:06 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 22, 2005 7:22 PM in response to Colin Nissan

Colin,

mp3's must be converted to AIFF format before they can be edited. So iMovie imports and converts the mp3 to AIFF. You then need to go to File>Share and choose Quicktime>Expert Settings and click the Share button. Then in the next dialog box choose Export>Sound to AIFF. Then to convert the file to mp3 import it into iTunes with MP3 set to your importing preference(iTunes>Preferences>Importing>MP3 encoder.

Grant

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Answer 2

Colin Nissan Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 22, 2005 8:06 PM in response to Grant Greene

Grant, thank you so much. You got me 95% of the way there, but for some reason when I try to import the aiff to into itunes as an mp3, it won't let me. I changed the preferences to mp3 encoder just like you said, but it won't recognize the aiff as something it will import - it's all grayed out. Any thoughts? And thanks again

colin

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Answer 3

Jun 22, 2005 8:16 PM in response to Colin Nissan

Sorry Colin,

Use 'Add To Library' under the File menu in iTunes.

Grant

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Answer 4

Colin Nissan Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 22, 2005 8:19 PM in response to Grant Greene

You're a God! Thanks again.

Colin

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Answer 5

Colin Nissan Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 22, 2005 8:30 PM in response to Grant Greene

sorry grant, one more thing - when I pull the file out of itunes now, it's still reading it as an aiff file which is causing problems with my web site. Anything? I promise I'll stop bugging you after this?

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Answer 6

Jun 22, 2005 8:35 PM in response to Colin Nissan

O.K. Then once the file is in iTunes, select it in your Library and under the Advanced Menu select "Convert Selection to MP3". I apologize for missing that step.

Grant

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Answer 7

Colin Nissan Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 22, 2005 9:25 PM in response to Grant Greene

Bingo, that did it - thanks again

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Answer 8

cogito2

Level 1

43 points

Sep 14, 2005 3:53 PM in response to Grant Greene

According to Grant

mp3's must be converted to AIFF format before they can be edited. So iMovie imports and converts the mp3 to AIFF. You then need to go to File>Share and choose Quicktime>Expert Settings and click the Share button. Then in the next dialog box choose Export>Sound to AIFF. Then to convert the file to mp3 import it into iTunes with MP3 set to your importing preference(iTunes>Preferences>Importing>MP3 encoder.

I'm trying to convert a movie into mobile phone format so I can display it on my mobile. My version of iMovie has the mobile 3G format to save to, but seems not to allow mp3 as an option for the audio, so the mobile, which requires mp3 for audio, shows the video and not the audio. Grant's trick above converts the audio OK, but leaves out the video. What can one do? Will upgrading to QuickTime Pro help? Is this another useful thing Apple have not bothered to do, just as they don't bother to include file transfer to mobiles (available for PCs in Mobile Phone Tools) in iSync?

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Answer 9

Sep 25, 2005 4:53 PM in response to Grant Greene

Grant,

When I go to iTunes to convert a file to mp3 (from AAC), the Advanced menu only allows me to convert 'to AAC'..it doesn't give me the option to convert to mp3. What's up with that?

Mike

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Answer 10

cogito2

Level 1

43 points

Sep 26, 2005 3:49 PM in response to MICHAEL CORSO

Michael Corso asked:

When I go to iTunes to convert a file to mp3 (from AAC), the Advanced menu only allows me to convert 'to AAC'..it doesn't give me the option to convert to mp3. What's up with that?

The answer is that the option you get is the same as that set up in Advanced Preferences > Import. Change that to mp3 temporarily and iTunes will let you convert to mp3. In an ideal world selecting Convert would give you a choice of formats to convert to, but we have to make do with what Apple has provided us.

I've now solved my own problem (see following post) as to how to export a movie for transfer to a mobile phone. It seems that mobiles typically use AMR (adaptive multi-rate) audio format, and that is available with iMovie. Maximum rate is 12kbps, so not exactly hi-fi, but audio uses bytes fast! Similarly, for the file format you should choose 3GPP (Mobile MP4).

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