iMovie '11 Optimize on Import

I found a workaround using ffmpeg to copy the video from the camera into a mov container this is quick since the video and audio streams are just copied into a new container format. Unlike mp4 or avi, the mov is then accepted by iMovie 11 for import without recode.

Here is how I did it:

1. Download Miro video converter and install it into you applications folder.
2. open a terminal and type (withour the quotes): "cd /Applications/Miro\ Video\ Converter.app/Contents/Resources"
3. type (without the double quotes but with the single quotes. tip: you can get the path of your source video by selecting it in the finder, pressing cmd c and then cmd v in the terminal): "./ffmpeg -i '/Path to your source video' -strict experimental -f mov -vcodec copy -acodec copy '/Path to your target video.mov'"
4. open iMovie, select import->movie, choose the new .mov file and make sure the optimize checkbox is turned off. Voila you have a small file in your library without long waits during import but with slower processing by iMovie.
5. In principle this can be easily written into a bash script that does batch conversion.

one disadvantage is that the new files have the date when you did the conversion and not the date when the original clip was taken. this can be worked around using touch.

in a terminal type (again without double but with single quotes): "touch -r '/Path to your source video' '/Path to your target video.mov'"

enjoy

I had been using ffmpeg to convert my recorders 1080p60 content to 720p60 for use in iMovie 09. It worked very well, but now, like most others, I am pretty upset that I upgraded to iMovie 11 and it now takes EXPONETIALLY longer to import videos. I did not mind the export / encode delay, and I did not mind the "dogishly slow" performance due to working with the content in h.264 long gop. Why must iMovie 11 do this??? Unlike thawn1, my convert (with or without scaling) results in insanely long iMovie 11 imports. I find this complete unacceptable. Common Apple, don't DOWNGRADE the features in a new release!

Another problem that I'm having that led me to find this forum: there's no way to cancel the optimizing once it has started. I made the mistake of importing three mp4 files at once, and now I can't stop it (short of killing the process in activity monitor, which i don't want to do for fear of corrupting the files).

EDIT

Aaaauuuugggghhh! Now it's generating thumbnails. Make it stop!

Hi all, not sure if it helps but my 2 cents is the generating thumbnails bit is not that horrible, just let it run. Also, try without using MPEG Streamclip. Import full size into iMovie '11 then right click the clips and then select "Optimize Video (Full)". I was going crazy wondering why my iPhone 4S 1080p video was stuttering despite having a 7200rpm drive.

Simple fix, right click, Optimize Video. Let it do it's thing with Optimize and Thumbnails, it will make editing much smoother and easier, from what I find.

On my Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz MacBook Pro mid-2010 13" the optimisation is around realtime, ie. 2 minutes to optimise a 2 minute clip.

On the 2011 Core i5 and Core i7s it should be half of that, so, let it do its thing.

Optimize as in Optimize Video (Full) option.

DaKaZ wrote:

I had been using ffmpeg to convert my recorders 1080p60 content to 720p60 for use in iMovie 09. It worked very well, but now, like most others, I am pretty upset that I upgraded to iMovie 11 and it now takes EXPONETIALLY longer to import videos. I did not mind the export / encode delay, and I did not mind the "dogishly slow" performance due to working with the content in h.264 long gop. Why must iMovie 11 do this??? Unlike thawn1, my convert (with or without scaling) results in insanely long iMovie 11 imports. I find this complete unacceptable. Common Apple, don't DOWNGRADE the features in a new release!

Try to Import directly to iMovie '11 as full size (don't transcode with anything else), then in iMovie '11 right click and Optimize (Full Size) clips. I'm now using iPhone 4S 1080p video and the Optimize in iMovie '11 makes things silky smooth in one click (just have to wait for the Optimization, it can be anywhere from 30fps to 100+fps to Optimize depending on your Mac)

Optimize as in Optimize Video (Full Size) option.

Just wanted to say thanks for the suggestion about using MPEG Streamclip to convert to Apple Intermediate Codec prior to importing to iMovie. It's so, so much faster than trying to import an MP4 file straight to iMovie and waiting for it to go through the painfully long optimization process.

Drop your file onto the middle of the MPEG Streamclip window and then select the File menu and then Export to Quicktime. Set the compression type to Apple Intermediate Codec, leave the quality at 50% and sound at uncompressed, stereo, auto. Select the frame size if needed. If the source was interlaced, check the box next to Interlaced Scaling. If the source was originally 720p then you can uncheck this box. That should be it. Click Make Movie and then import the file it makes to iMovie.

The issue is that you are still transcoding your footage, albeit outside of iMove. Which is a great approach (compared to letting iMovie transcode for you) if you wanted to edit in intraframe. However, if I want to edit in h.264 there still doesn't seem to be a good solution. Does anyone out there know what ClipWrap does to QT containers to make them iMovie friendly and avoid forced iMovie transcoding (http://www.divergentmedia.com/blog/fullpost/clipwrap_248_imovie_secrets)? Is there a way to replicate it with any available tools (e.g. ffmpeg)?