Tom85Paul
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Exporting iMovie to MP4

Hopefully just being stupid. I can't find a feed for how to exporting MP4 from i Movie. Is MPEG-4 the same as MP4?

 

Many thanks

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 10, 2015 1:37 PM

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Tom85Paul

Q: Exporting iMovie to MP4

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  • by pedro d,

    pedro d pedro d May 12, 2015 12:39 PM in response to Tom85Paul
    Community Specialists
    May 12, 2015 12:39 PM in response to Tom85Paul

    Hello there, Tom85Paul.

     

    Sounds like you're trying to export your project from iMovie (2013). The following link from the online iMovie Help guide shows the stepson how to do just that:

     

    Export a QuickTime file - iMovie Help

     

    Create a QuickTime file

    1. Select a movie, trailer, or clip in the browser.

    2. Click the Share button in the toolbar, and then click File.

      Share button in toolbar

    3. In the dialog that appears, do any of the following:

      File share dialog

      • Set the title of the shared movie: Click the name at the top, and type a new name.

      • Set the description of the shared movie: Click in the Description field, and type new text.

      • Set the output format of the shared movie: Click the Format pop-up menu and choose an option.

        You can choose to export video and audio, or just audio.

      • Set tags for the shared movie: Click in the Tags field, and type tag names separated by commas.

      • Set the resolution of the shared movie: Click the Resolution pop-up menu and choose an option.

        Unavailable resolutions appear dimmed.

        Tip: You can export a 4K clip in its native resolution by selecting a 4K clip in the browser.

      • Set the output quality of the shared movie: Click the Quality pop-up menu and choose an option.

        To manually set the output quality of the shared movie, click the Quality pop-up menu, choose Custom, and drag the slider to set the target bit rate.

        As you drag the slider, the estimated file size that appears below the preview thumbnail is updated.

      • Add your movie to the Theater: Select the Add to Theater checkbox.

    4. Click Next.

    5. In the dialog that appears, type a name in the Save As field, or leave the default name, which is the name of the movie, trailer, or clip.

    6. Navigate to the location where you want to save the file, and click Save.

      A progress indicator appears on the right side of the toolbar. Click the progress indicator to see details. The indicator disappears when the operation has finished.

      Progress indicator in toolbar

      After the share process is complete, the movie opens in QuickTime Player. A “Share Successful” notification also appears.

     

    The default QuickTime format it exports is MP4.

     

    Thanks for participating in Apple Support Communities.

     

    Cheers,

    Pedro.

  • by GeeD,

    GeeD GeeD May 12, 2015 3:26 PM in response to Tom85Paul
    Level 5 (7,730 points)
    Video
    May 12, 2015 3:26 PM in response to Tom85Paul

    Share to File will produce an .mp4 movie.  .mp4 is one of the MPEG-4 formats - its rather complicated - for gruesome details see:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4

     

    Geoff.

  • by deltatrader19,

    deltatrader19 deltatrader19 May 14, 2015 11:54 AM in response to pedro d
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 14, 2015 11:54 AM in response to pedro d

    Pedro, this is a great step-by-step and I think I've been following the steps correctly, but when I get to the end of what you said...

    --------------------

    "A progress indicator appears on the right side of the toolbar. Click the progress indicator to see details. The indicator disappears when the operation has finished.

    Progress indicator in toolbar

    After the share process is complete, the movie opens in QuickTime Player. A “Share Successful” notification also appears."

    -------------

    The progress indicator goes away and then comes back. Finally it goes away altogether, but there is no notification message and there is also no video in the destination folder.

    Do you have any ideas what might be causing this issue?

  • by manicmacman,

    manicmacman manicmacman Sep 29, 2015 10:18 AM in response to deltatrader19
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 29, 2015 10:18 AM in response to deltatrader19

    I have a very good idea why you are having trouble with the export progress wheel. It's because it is broken. If you click on it to bring up the status (time remaining) window and then close the status window, the progress wheel disappears off the face of the earth and your render is abandoned - taking all trace of your cherished rendering files with it. Given your post above, I assume there must be plenty of other ways to invoke this bug and I am now leaving my render well alone and not even breathing on the computer it is running on. I have around 60% left to render and I am using the time usefully by praying.

     

    In any event, this icon is minimalism gone haywire. Of *course* the user wants to know how the render is progressing so why force him to click on a (buggy) icon to find out? Just put the information right there in front of us.

     

    This is not the iMovie I knew years ago. That was a fine product. The latest version is really horrible and the most user-unfriendly Apple software I have used in over 25 years. I could write a long list of its faults but I need to keep that progress wheel sweet.

     

    Very disappointed in Apple. Don't ask me what I expect from free software. I expect it to be as good as it used to be.

     

    It really, really upsets me to see Apple losing its way. This is what happens when you sacrifice function to form. It isn't enough for it to look pretty.

  • by Feste Ainoriba,

    Feste Ainoriba Feste Ainoriba Jun 4, 2016 5:24 PM in response to manicmacman
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Safari
    Jun 4, 2016 5:24 PM in response to manicmacman

    manicmacman wrote:

     

    I have a very good idea why you are having trouble with the export progress wheel. It's because it is broken. If you click on it to bring up the status (time remaining) window and then close the status window, the progress wheel disappears off the face of the earth and your render is abandoned - taking all trace of your cherished rendering files with it...

    Don't click on the "X" in the right side of the status window- that is the symbol for the cancel function. Clicking on it will cancel the process, but it doesn't delete any of the clips from your library.   If you want to close the status window properly, simply click again on the status icon. That closes the status window, but leaves the encoding function running.