Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Converting old family films, what is best format to request for archive and iMovie?

I am having a professional service scan my old family 8mm films, and also convert some old Hi-8 videotapes. As part of the service, they prepare a DVD, and also video files on a hard drive which I supply.


But they're asking what format I want the files in for the hard drive. Their default offering is AVI, but they say I can get what I want. (I always thought AVI was too Windows-centric.)


So, what *DO* I want to ask them for? MP4? Or what? What should I tell them?


My goals are:

1) preserve the video on the hard drive in a format that will preserve the highest quality, and also will be readable for a good while into the future.

2) be importable into iMovie (or FCP), verhaps via a utily like MPEG Streamclip, so I can do some editing.


Thank you!

Posted on Sep 20, 2013 7:04 AM

Reply
2 replies

Sep 20, 2013 7:13 AM in response to KevinKillion

More info on the above question:


The service describes their options on thjis interesting table:

https://www.pixcel.com/techtalks/video-editing-software


Their default output format is AVI, using either "Blackmagic" or "Cineform" codecs.


In the table's "Mac" section, we see they offer:

MOV - Cineform

MOV - Pro-res HQ

MOV - Apple Intermediate Codec

MOV - Uncompressed

MOV - MP4

MPG - MPG2


Oh, gosh, this is getting confusing!!


Again, the goal is to pick an output format that ...

1) Preserves high quality in a format that will be readable for years to come

2) Can be imported into iMovie, perhaps with the help of utilities like MPEG Streamclip


THANK YOU!

Sep 20, 2013 8:00 AM in response to KevinKillion

Of those choices, I would use Apple Intermediate Codec. Apple Intermediate Codec is the native format for iMovie.


If you think you may use Final Cut Pro X in the future, then ProRes HQ is another option, but is probably overkill.



I have used a company called MyMovieTransfer.com to capture some 8mm film in HD. With them I used the motion JPEG format and it worked well with iMovie.


Film captures well in high definition. For Hi8 tape, the best you will do is standard definition. Apple Intermediate Codec is fine for this. An alternative would be DV.


Here are some links to some 8mm film that I captured via mymovietransfer and edited in iMovie. They are 1080P. Watch in full screen for best results.


http://youtu.be/u9h8InMb0Ys


http://youtu.be/KcLMl0oqL-g

Converting old family films, what is best format to request for archive and iMovie?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.