Mpeg2 to MP4 via Handbrake to iMovie Question

M

machjuan

Registered
Hi!

I have Mpeg2 videos that I shot with a Sony Handycam and stored on disk. After converting to iMac from Windows, I can't get the videos into iMovie. Came close with making them into MP4 using Handbrake so now I can view and hear 'em in iTunes, but I can't get them into iMovie to edit. The file names show up in gray but that's it. What's missing?

Thanks.
 
Hi. My problem was that I shot a ton of video when I had windows, stored it on a USB drive, then migrated to iMac. The stuff doesn't work. The Sony shoots to MPEG2 format. SO:
1. New stuff I shoot can be dumped into the iMovie on the Mac just fine as long as I finalize the disk in the camera before sending it over. Then everything works great.
2 Stuff previously shot and stored in MPEG2 format has to be converted to MP4. I am doing that now with the default settings in Handbrake. The results work fine in iTunes but the file names only show up in gray in iMovie and the files still do not play. They work in Quicktime. I tried Streamclip to convert them to DV format and they work but they lost a lot of resolution. You CANNOT make up in nanoseconds what you lose in days.
 
Machjuan,

Indeed, video conversion is heavy time consuming work for a computer. But my experience is that iSquint is quite faster than Handbrake. Did you try it? Besides, you can let your Mac work when you don't use it: just drop some movies into the batch list before going to bed and let the Mac chew on it.

Jonathan
 
machjuan,

Im sorry to hear about your issue, and hope you figure something out.

My issue is that I have a Sony Handycam with a bunch of finalized DVDs that I will want to import into iMovie. I dont have a mac yet... its in the mail! So, you got this to work? What version of iMovie are you using? Ill be using 09.

Thanks!
 
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