I am finally getting my home movies off of DV tape and into the computer.
I can get them into iMove, but the iMovie library is not really suited for long term storage and easy retrieval.
I think the best way to do it is to create a separate Photos library with these moves split up into scenes and dated and titled appropriately.
Any, back to the question, what format should I save them in? DV is getting harder and harder to use.
iMac 24″, macOS 11.4
The format you choose depends upon some factors: How much available space you have, whether you intend to do extensive editing, compatibility with devices, and whether you want the footage primarily for viewing. Depending upon your intended usage, I would store your clips in the Mp4/H.264 format because, being more compressed, it takes up less space and is an excellent, high quality, and almost universally compatible viewing format that is versatile in its uses. While not regarded as an editing format for professionals, for consumer use I find it very satisfactory for editing.
If you intend to do some finite editing of the clips on a professional basis, then you could consider sticking with DV. Or maybe Pro Res 22. They are very uncompressed so will take up lots of space. Because of the space issues, they are not suitable if you intend to transfer the clips to other people or post on the internet. Those formats in my opinion are primarily for professional editing, and not necessary for consumer uses. But that would be your call, of course.
-- Rich
The format you choose depends upon some factors: How much available space you have, whether you intend to do extensive editing, compatibility with devices, and whether you want the footage primarily for viewing. Depending upon your intended usage, I would store your clips in the Mp4/H.264 format because, being more compressed, it takes up less space and is an excellent, high quality, and almost universally compatible viewing format that is versatile in its uses. While not regarded as an editing format for professionals, for consumer use I find it very satisfactory for editing.
If you intend to do some finite editing of the clips on a professional basis, then you could consider sticking with DV. Or maybe Pro Res 22. They are very uncompressed so will take up lots of space. Because of the space issues, they are not suitable if you intend to transfer the clips to other people or post on the internet. Those formats in my opinion are primarily for professional editing, and not necessary for consumer uses. But that would be your call, of course.
-- Rich
As a further note, when you say you want to create a separate Photos library, I assume that you mean a photo library that you create in a folder in the Finder -- not the Photos app. I definitely would archive your clips in a finder folder for ease of retrieval. Generally, avoid storing archival clips in apps like iMovie or Photos. Apps can become corrupt or become obsolete so you don't want to have your raw footage tied up in an app. Best practice is to buy two external drives and store duplicates of your footage on both drives.
Here's an article that you might find of interest that discusses delivery formats versus editing formats:
I don't agree with the author that one should avoid Mp4 for editing, unless one is doing some very exacting professional editing. Mp4 is fine for consumer editing and is universally compatible. Mp4/AAC (AAC stands for Advanced Audio Editing) is fully supported in iMovie, as well.
-- Rich
I meant to say that AAC stands for advanced audio coding.
— Rich
Thanks, most of the editing will be splitting and joining clips, so pretty light duty editing.
Best format for archival storage in Photos
