Making video clips from videotape

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Making video clips from videotape

Hi,

I am wondering what is the best way to make a small video clip from home video tapes. I have converted the old Hi-Res video tape to digital DVDs, and these files are huge (a 2 hour tape is about 5 GB). When I load this on my Macbook Pro, I wish to make a small 5 minute clip. What is the best way to do that? I tried a round about way, but the file was about half a GB. Is there a way to compress movie files?

Thanks,

Joe

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), First Mac:Centris 650,25MHz,40MB

Posted on Aug 20, 2016 10:29 AM

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Answer 1

alex_oz

Community Specialist

Aug 21, 2016 11:43 AM in response to Country Joe

Hello Country Joe,

It looks like you are attempting to edit movies from a DVD. Creating smaller files is a great way to be able to share these movies.

The best way to do this would be from within iMovie. You can find complete instructions on how to use iMovie here:

iMovie Help

You will want to follow the instructions on how to import the media into iMovie. This section will help with that:

Import media from your Mac

Next you will want to select the part of the clip you want to use:

Select part of a clip

Finally, export the new movie. Select the instructions to either email the new movie, or export it other ways. Those instructions can be found under the Share video clips and projects section here:

iMovie Help

There is a lot more you can do once the footage is in iMovie. Have fun creating those smaller clips!

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