Batch importing tga still images into iMovie HD 6

I need to import a whole series of still images that are stored as *.tga files so I can edit them together, frame by frame, into a moving sequence. I have tried importing them into my iMove HD and I get a 5 second frame that is red.
My questions are this:
1) How do I batch import all the stills into iMovie
2) How do I ensure each still that is imported runs for only 1 frame as opposed to the default 5 seconds? (I can't seem to find how to change the duration of all stills that are imported anywhere and the idea of editing each of the hundreds of images I need to import to run only 1 frame doesn't seem like the easiest way of working
3) How do I ensure my iMove HD can play the still instead of showing the still covered in a red colour wash?
Thanks!
Chris

Hi, I realize this is a little late, but a few days ago I found this link.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304895
Basically, you just have to make sure your images are in either JPEG or TIFF format. I converted my BMP photos to JPEG and the problem was solved.
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Similar Messages

Error when dragging and dropping still image into imovie

I am trying to place some still images into iMovie but when doing so I get the following error message :
"Import Problem
The still image file "file name" couldn't be copied as a JPEG image. The clip has been imported, but you won't be able to apply Ken Burns effects to it."
I really want to be able to apply the ken Burns effect. Can someone help with a fix to get around this problem.
thanks

Hi
Is Your photos .jpeg photos ?
I would download/buy GraphicConverter™ and convert the photos to .pic and
then use them.
Google: GraphicConverter
Yours Bengt W

Keep transitions intact when importing mult. iPhoto images into iMovie HD?

Is it possible to import a completed iPhoto album show with hundreds of images with random transitions between each into iMovie while still keeping the random transitions between the iPhoto images intact?
If not, is there a way to select random transitions between the still images in iMovie once they get there rather than select and create each and every one of the transitions myself?
Thanks!

Because iMovie and iPhoto serve different purposes, each has features not found in the other. There is no way in iMovie to automatically add random transitions to slideshows, for example, while iPhoto offers that feature. (In iMovie, the assumption is the user wants absolute control over such features, wants to control each frame of the slideshow.)
That doesn't prevent you from having your cake and eating it too, however. Remember, many of the iLife apps allow you move stuff around between them.
For example, you can create a slideshow containing random transitions in iPhoto, export it to a QuickTime movie, import that movie to iMovie, add titles and songs, add some video from a video camera, add a voiceover narration, add some Chapter Markers, add an iMovie theme to introduce each chapter, then send the iMovie project off to iDVD to burn a DVD that plays on a TV.
So, check out the File > Export command in iPhoto. Set the exported movie to 640x480. The command will export your iPhoto slideshow to an MPEG-4 type QuickTime movie. Create a new MPEG-4 type iMovie project and import that movie to it. (Use the disclosure arrow towards the bottom of the window where you name the new iMovie project to select the MPEG-4 project type.)
Karl

Importing CMYK still images into PE12

I am very disappointed that Premiere Elements 12 does not import CMYK still images as it is time consuming to have to keep converting to RGB. Does Adobe propose to remedy this? Also, a 'generic failure' message is not exactly helpful. And it would also be helpful it the official Adobe list of acceptable files made it clear that CMYK coulod not be imported. I always thought that Adobe were experts when it came to file formats. How would we manage without Adobe Photoshop?

rogerinlymm wrote:
Ooops, sorry if I'm in the wrong forum after all that!! To be honest, I hadn't even realised there was a Photoshop Elements as I use the full Photoshop myself. But I'm even more surprised at the suggestion that Photoshop Elements will also not accept CMYK files as even hobbyists presumably often use Photoshop Elements for print for which CMYK is better.
You are wrong. Hobbyist very rarely use CMYK for excellent reasons. First, CMYK is the normal color model when you want to print on professionnal offets presses or similar. That's not a common output for hobbyists... whether they use home printers, local labs or web labs, RGB is required. If you send CMYK to those devices, they will convert to RGB before using their own color model which may be a variant of CMYK...
Since you are starting with RGB from your cameras, any conversion will lose information. CMYK is inferior in that case.
Presumably Abobe's view is that people who want CMYK should stop grumbling and buy for the 'full' programme, whether it is Photoshop Elements or Premiere Elements. Not very helpful!
There, I think you are right

Sharpness of still images into iMovie

Hi,
I have used iMovie for two years, thought I had encountered all the bugs. However, I am now having an issue with the sharpness of still images from iphoto to iMovie. I use a lot of still images in presentations and for some reason any current photos which are loaded into iMovie are blurry and not near the same clarity as viewed in iphoto. This has never happened before! Any assistance would be appreciated.. thank you

thank you for the reply
However, I have uploaded thousands of photos from iphoto to imovie in the last two years, all various megapixels. This is a new occurrence, clarity is blurred or not sharp when uploaded photos are viewed in the Photos screen in iMovie and then applied to the timeline. Once in the timeline, the resolution of the photo is not nearly as sharp. Hope this makes sense.....

Premiere Pro 7.0 won't import all still images into a sequence

I have Adobe Premiere Pro 7.0. I am attempting to use it for a stop motion film that me and a friend are making. The problem occurs when I try to Import the pictures as an animated sequence using the numbered still check box. For some reason it only imports about 1/4 of the pics or less. But, for other pictures, it imports them all just fine. I checked the file sizes and the pictures are all around the same size (1,000-1,500KB) Also, I tried just putting the pics in one by one and decreasing the speed to about 12 frames per second. After rendering the work area it worked at first but about halfway though, the sample monitor flashed green and went blank. If you can help me I will be very greatful. I REALLY don't want to have to use Windows Movie maker again. :/ Thanks.

I stopped using it some time ago, when I upgraded from Photoshop Elements, but yes, as I recall, it offers batch processing:
http://www.xnview.com/en/features.html

I am unable to import Raw still images from a Nikon D 80 into Premiere Pro cs 4. All jpeg images ok

I am unable to Import RAW still Images from a Nikon D 80 camera into
Premiere Pro. All jpeg images import Ok. A web search suggests I need "plug-ins" for RAW, but I can not find same. Any suggestions as to how to inport RAW files to PP CS 4 would be appreciated. I have just updated from Premiere Elements 4 which had no problem importing RAW still images.
Roygo

The way I see it (correct me if I'm wrong) but Raw is supposed to be where you have total editing control of the shot (as opposed to the camera). I believe the next step is to do the editing (i.e. color balance, exposure, etc) then make a regular image from that to use in whatever output you desire (print, web, etc.) Think of raw as the negative. Just being in raw doesn't in it self make it better.
Edit. This is from premiere help files....
Supported still‑image and sequence file formats
Adobe Premiere Pro supports 8-bit per-channel (4 bytes per pixel) and 16-bit per-channel (8 bytes per pixel) still-image files. It converts images with lower bit-depths to 8-bits per channel and images with higher bit-depths to 16-bits per channel on import. High bit-depth files are supported at one single-precision float per channel (16-bytes per pixel).
AI, EPS (Adobe Illustrator and Illustrator sequence)
BMP, DIB, RLE (Bitmap and Bitmap sequence)
EPS
GIF
ICO (Icon File) (Windows only)
JPEG and JPEG sequence (JPE, JPG, JFIF)
PICT and PICT sequence (PIC, PCT)
PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
PSD (Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop sequence)
PSQ (Adobe Premiere 6 Storyboard)
PTL, PRTL (Adobe Premiere title)
TGA, ICB, VDA, VST (Targa and Targa sequence)
TIF (TIFF and TIFF sequence)

Large Still Images into PE - One Workflow

Everyone wants the highest quality that they can obtain when doing their videos. It’s natural to want the best. Well, when dealing with still images, bigger is not necessarily better, for two reasons. First, overly large still images can really tax a system and second, one is limited to the frame size of the video, so these have to be resized somewhere - this resizing can be in the NLE (Non Linear Editor) program, or in an image processing program like PS (Photoshop), which does a better job anyway. Doing this in PS, or PSE, will result in better resized images, and they are easier for the NLE to work with. Quality is as high as your Project’s Preset will allow, and you are more efficient, with fewer crashes, slowdowns and hangs. It is a win-win situation.
Here is my normal workflow when dealing with still images. This workflow is for NTSC 4:3 720x480 with a PAR (Pixel Aspect Ratio) of 0.9. If your Project’s Presets are different, use those specs to resize to.
Since I shoot my still images in RAW, I Copy my files from the CF card to my system and catalog these images by location, subject and date (if necessary). I’ll do a quick conversion and Save_As Adobe DNG for backup. I then process these RAW images in PS with the ARC (Adobe Raw Converter), correcting them and then doing a Save_As PSD into a sub-folder. All of this is in my still photo library.
Normally, I will edit these PSD’s to find the images that I wish to use in a Video Project, and will Copy the selected images to another folder. You’ll see that I work with a lot of Copies, so my original files are always untouched and stored elsewhere. This guards against anything happening to them.
At this point, I’ll decide how I wish to use these selected images in my Video Project. Let’s just say that they are all horizontal images, and are still full-size from my camera. As stated, my Video Projects are DV-NTSC 4:3 720x480 PAR 0.9. [Remember, your Video Project may vary, so you will need to plug in the dimensions for YOUR Video Project in that case.] I also will have done my Cropping on each image individually, to get them to 4:3 Aspect Ratio. I do this my eye and by hand, rather than via an Action, because I want full aesthetic control.
In PS, I have a set of Actions for Video. An Action is like a Script, but less powerful and less involved in the writing. As I have already done all of my image enhancements and additional processing before I did my Copy to the selected folder, I only have to worry about my Action resizing these selected images for use in my Video Project. My Action here is to resize to 720x480 with a PAR of 0.9, and I normally use the Action that does this with a particular resizing algorithm, Bicubic-Smoother (though I also use Bicubic-Sharper on occasion).
For the next step, I go to my folder structure (remember, this folder contains copies of my selected still images in PSD format), and create a new sub-folder "[Project Name]_720x480." Back in PS, I choose File>Automate>Batch. Here I set my Source Folder, my Destination folder and the Action to perform. In my case, it’ll be the Destination Folder, that I just created, [Project Name]_720x480, and my Action will be my NTSC 4:3 720x480 Smooth. I check to have the Open command by-passed, because I do not need to see this take place on my monitor. When I hit OK, PS grabs all files in my Source Folder, runs the commands of my Action and does a Save_As for all files into my Destination Folder. I can process hundreds of large images down to a great 720x480 PAR 0.9 via Bicubic-Smoother interpolation, in moments. Now, I’m ready to go. Last, I Copy my Destination Folder to my Video Project’s folder hierarchy (usually on another HDD), and then Import these processed stills into my NLE.
What if I need to pan on one, or more of these images, while they are zoomed out completely? I don’t have enough pixels in my horizontal dimension to do this. I am just filling the frame with my still. Well, if I find that there are such images, I go back to my folder with the full sized images in my still images library, and select the ones that need to be larger. I run another Action on these, but it’s one that resizes to something larger than 720x480, say 1000x750. Now, I have another Destination Folder with the name [File Name]_1000x750. I’ll Copy this over to my Video Project, and Import these into the NLE. Here, I can go to Project Panel and remove the 720x480 versions if I so choose, but since a Premiere Project file (.PRPROJ or .PREL) is only an XML database, I may just leave them. It does not contain any media files, just links to where they are on the system and to what operations are performed on them.
By doing my resizing in PS, rather than in Premiere, I have accomplished two things:
1.) I have better quality resized images, using the algorithms in PS, plus have a choice of several interpolation methods to work with.
2.) I have lessened the processing load on my NLE and on my system, while doing the editing
I get higher quality and lower resource overhead - hence my reference to "win-win."
Now, back to my aesthetic control. I do not do any automatic zooming or panning. If one allows the NLE to do this, then they will want to probably process all of their images to 1000x750 (remember, this is for an NTSC 4:3 Project, so you will need to calculate what YOUR Project will require).
The two programs that I use are Photoshop and Premiere Pro, but Photoshop Elements can do the same things, though the exact commands might be different. Premiere Elements will handle the resized still images, just like Premiere Pro and the only difference will be the terminology used when one wishes to Import the still images.
I also keep all of my images in .PSD (the native format of PS), and do not convert to JPEG, or other. If one’s camera shoots only JPEG, I suggest writing the Action to do the Save_As to .PSD, as another JPEG compression will cost one quality. Yes, the JPEG’s will be smaller, but remember we are looking for the ultimate quality, so larger file sizes are just part of that equation.
One does not have to deal with all of the Copies, as I do. However, this allows me to go back to the originals, or to the processed full-sized .PSD’s at any step along the way. There is only one thing worse than not being able to go back to an intermediate version with full Layers and Adjustment Layers, plus any Alpha Channels, and that is finding out that you’ve lost your original RAW and DNG backups! That’s why I do a lot of Save_As and also work from Copies all along the way.
Hunt

Your workflow looks good. I do similar, but use PS, in lieu of LightRoom. I also do DNG's for my archives.
Provided that one chooses a JPEG compression algorithm setting that does not do too much compression, I doubt that anyone, but the most very critical, could tell the difference in Video. Most of my tests on PSD vs JPEG have been for print. There, one can more easily detect the differences. Video "hides" some of that.
To date, I have not had a Project where the Asset size differences between equally sized PSD's vs JPEG's caused any slowdown, or problem. There could be a resources savings with the smaller JPEG files, but there is a tiny bit of overhead dealing with the JPEG compression. I have never tested this, so can only guess that the smaller Asset size of the JPEG would trump that overhead - just a guess on my part.
For me, keeping the images in PSD does save a tiny bit of work in my Action (basically one less operation to perform), but I doubt that one could measure that time difference, even over the automation of hundreds of images. Besides, it's only one additional line in the Action. My feelings on JPEG vs PSD is firmly based in my print experience, and I am probably being too critical with images going to video. When I move up to HD and BD authoring, I need to apply a very critical eye, to see if I can tell the differences on an HD TV. So long as one does not apply too much JPEG compression, the differences should be very slight, at the worst, and maybe not even noticed, at best.
I do minimize the impact of many files on my Project by sizing to what I need. If I will not be doing any pans on zoomed-out images, I size to my Project. For pans on zoomed-out images, I calculate just what I will need for those pans, and might end up with several groups of sizes, to accommodate each. Still, the vast majority will be sized to exactly what I need for the Project - very few extra pixels.
In my case, and yours too, I have my RAW, my DNG, my working Layered PSD's, and then my sized output. I always keep all working PSD's, as I might change my mind, or my client might change theirs, and I do not want to have to go back and redo work, if I still have those working files. I also do as little destructive editing, as I can, using Dupe Layers, and Adjustment Layers, whenever possible. If I can, I never Flatten, or Merge Layers, so I can make any/all changes at any time, and only have to do the resizing via the same Actions. That is basically a "one-button" solution, once I have made the changes required.
Good luck,
Hunt

I cannot use still images in iMovie Trailers anymore

Hi all, I am hoping someone out there can help me.
I am using iMovie '11 Version 9.0.9 (1795)
I have a macbook prousing OS x Version 10.9.2
Processor 2.2 Ghz intel core i7
Last year I created a few "Trailers" using still images. All of a sudden I can no longer do this. I cannot click on the camera icon as it is 'greyed' out or unclickable. My photos stored in iPhoto.
I can no longer simply drag and drop my images into the 'Project' anymore.
You know when you go to drag an item on Mac and the little green plus ot appears to say essentially 'you can drag here'... well this appears when I try and drag into the 'Event Library', but then a warning/notification screen appears saying "The Files will not be imported. Photos cannot be imported to the Event Library. Try dragging directly to your Project" .... Well I would if it let me, but it doesn't.
Is anyone else having this problem or has experienced this and has a solution please.
This has wasted more hours than I care to give it, and is doing my head in.
Thank you
Panandine

I am bringing in 72dpi jpegs of some of my design work into iMovie
The dpi setting is of NO importance in iMovie/iDVD - only the actual image pixel size. See Preparing images for DVD slideshows at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iDVD/6.0/en/17.html for suggested sizes unless you plan on using a lot of Ken Burns Effect zooming.
When I am in iMovie and I drag a clip(still image) into the time line the image looks dull and blurry
The preview window in iMovie is just that - a preview window - for use in editing. It does NOT show the actual image quality of the clip.
Some of us like Photo to Movie or FotoMagico for turning still images into slideshow movies - both offer free trial modes - you might want to give one of them a try.
F Shippey

Importing iphoto 09 pictures into imovie 09 with ken burns movement!

Im making a video on imovie 09 using still images i took and imported to iphoto. Then i import those iphoto pictures into imovie, BUT all the pictures have moving "ken burns" crop effects on them after i import them to imovie!!! i know how to fix it, by going to the "crop tool" and "ken burns" adjusting the start and end effect of this movement but my question is....
how do i change this setting so I dont have to tediously use the cropping ken burns tool on every clip which will probably make all the images appear shaky??????

Go to FILE/PROJECT PROPERTIES and you can set the default behavior when importing photos to the project.

Still images in iMovie for slideshow problems

I am bringing in 72dpi jpegs of some of my design work into iMovie. I am trying to make a slideshow and have the images change by using the music as a cue, new sound—new image, etc... I then want to export it as quicktime movie.
When I am in iMovie and I drag a clip(still image) into the time line the image looks dull and blurry, but when I go to media>show photo settings, it all the sudden looks great. Once I click out of there it goes back to looking like crap.
Any ideas? Do i just need a diff program for doing this?

I am bringing in 72dpi jpegs of some of my design work into iMovie
The dpi setting is of NO importance in iMovie/iDVD - only the actual image pixel size. See Preparing images for DVD slideshows at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iDVD/6.0/en/17.html for suggested sizes unless you plan on using a lot of Ken Burns Effect zooming.
When I am in iMovie and I drag a clip(still image) into the time line the image looks dull and blurry
The preview window in iMovie is just that - a preview window - for use in editing. It does NOT show the actual image quality of the clip.
Some of us like Photo to Movie or FotoMagico for turning still images into slideshow movies - both offer free trial modes - you might want to give one of them a try.
F Shippey

Editing Still Images with iMovie and iPhoto

How do I turn "stills" created from imported film footage into jpegs? Basically I want to export still images from my videos into iphoto so I can edit and print the images - any ideas? When I drag the still images within iMovie 08 they won't drag to either the desktop or iphoto. HELP!

1) Position your cursor where you want to create the still.
2) Right-click (or control-click) and select "add still frame to project
3) Right-click on the still frame that has been added to your project and select "Reveal in Finder"
4) Right click on the jpeg file that has been revealed in the finder and select "copy"
5) Paste the jpeg file onto the desktop or within a folder.
6) Drag the jpeg file into iPhoto.

I imported videos from photo into iMovie when I set up iMovie (obvious mistake) and now iMovie doesn't work properly, nor can I move specific videos into a folder where I want them. How do I fix this?

I imported videos from photo into iMovie when I set up iMovie (obvious mistake) and now iMovie doesn't work properly, nor can I move specific videos into a folder where I want them. How do I fix this? I even tried deleting iMovie, bought a new copy and installed it, but the folder "iPhoto Videos" is still there and I can't get new clips loaded to iMovie, especially where I want them. Please help.

The iPhoto Videos do occasionally have problems. I've seen a lot of people write messages to this Discussion group describing similar problems. The only thing that seems to get around this problem is to pull the video clips out of iPhoto then import them directly into iMovie. Once the troubles with iPhoto Videos starts, I haven't yet seen anyone write back with something that they did to fix it.
The most difficult part of doing this is the movies in iPhoto might be a little difficult to track down. But you can create a smart alum that does that for you. Go to iPhoto > File Menu > New Smart Album:
Set the first pulldown menu to keyword, second to contains, then in the last box type Movie with a capital 'M'. Then click OK. This smart album more or less does as search of the whole iPhoto Library and only displays items that match your search tearm of "Movie" exactly. In that smart album then you can find the original Movies you want to move out of iPhoto and into iMovie, <CTRL> click on the Movie clip, then choose Reveal in Finder. That will jump you out of iPhoto temporarily and into the iPhoto Library folder. From there you can move that movie file to the desktop. Move all the clips you want, once they're all collected up go to iMovie and go to the File Menu > Import Files. Then point it to the desktop where you moved your video clips.
This will put all those videos into an Event folder in iMovie and bypass iPhoto Videos altogether.

Combine multiple still images into one clip PE 10

Is it possible to combine mulitple still images into a single clip? For example, I have 50 still images in a video track, each of which is a clip, and I want to combine them into single clip out of them so I can adjust the opacity without having to adjust each of the 50 clips individually. Any information is welcome. Thanks.

Mark,
I had done this but I was hoping there was an easier way to do it within PE, without having to export as a video file and then importing that video file.
One has to think about what PrE is doing with the Timeline, to understand why the Export/Share is necessary to get Stills/Clips to become one file. PrE is a non-destructive editor, in that it does not actually work with the Source Footage/Files, but only extracts data from them. What we see on the Timeline is really a proxy file, representing the edits that we are making. It is stored as XML language, with first links to the Source Files, and then a set of instructions on what we have done with that data. Since the Timeline is but a representation, of what we have done, there is no AV file - yet. That does not come about, until we Export/Share. At that point, PrE looks at the Project file (PREL), and notes exactly what data is required from the Source Files. The program then reads that information, and say gathers the data of Clip # 1 from 00;00;00;00 until 00;05;00;00, for use in the output file. It then moves to say Clip 2, and extracts the data needed there. Finally, the program processes that data, say adding Effects, and then Exports/Shares to a new file - creating that from the data, and the instructions. Still, the originals are not changed in any way - they are untouched, and only read from.
For instance, say we have a 20 min. Source Clip, and cut it into 30 tiny segments, "deleting" material between those. We have not really Cut that Source Clip, and we have not really deleted anything - only in our proxy file, and with the instructions in the PREL. It is the same with Still Images. We see them as separate Clips, with the Duration that we have set, and perhaps any animation that we have added via Keyframing the Fixed Effects>Motion>Scale (Zoom), and Motion>Position (Pan), but other than seeing those changes in the proxy file, used only for display of the Timeline and playback, nothing has been done yet. Then, upon Export/Share, when the output file is created, those changes are enacted on it.
Good luck,
Hunt

Still images into a project

Hello.
I am working on an SD NTSC-Anamorphic project and want to bring some still images into the project. The images were shot with a Canon 350D (Rebel XT) in Raw format and currently are in TIFF format as converted by Aperture. When I import the images I am finding a noticable degredation in quality when comparing the images in "Preview" to the Viewer to the Canvas. Once the images are in the timeline and I look at them on the canvas they look alot fuzzier.
Should I be using a different file format? Is there a setting I've overlooked somewhere?
Thanks for any and all suggestions...

Hi,
I have read the comments above and all are valid but they do not look to me to answer your core question.
I had been asking the same question on forums for a long time and had similar responses and finally fixed the issue by purchasing a Photoshop book called WOW.
One of the earlier comments really hits the nail on the head but does not seem to offer the fix (I'm not trying to be critical here because all information does help).
First of all you need to reduce the size of the file for video - this is, in my experience best done in Photoshop not FCP (Photoshop WOW book comes with DVD and automatic actions to do this).
I call this the 'resize' step and put all my photos through this stage first (it does help to have an action for landscape and one for portrait to ensure that they are kept separate for the next step).
Then you need to 'rescale' the image to the size of your project in FCP (I assume that you are using widescreen as I do). To do this you need to create a blank document in widescreen format and then drop or drag your resized photo into the widescreen format and it will take on the same format as the blank widescreen document. Get rid of any layers and save the document in TIFF or JPEG it is up to you - you can keep the layers if you want to but you need to be aware of the issues of layers being imported into FCP.
I felt like I had found my fountain of youth when I sorted this out properly (the stress was definitely make me age).
Some comments suggest that the latest FCP does a better job of compressing the photos than the older versions but I wouldn't know as I use FCP 4.5HD and this may be so. However, it is commonly accepted, I believe, that formating the photo in photoshop is the better option.
It fixed all my headaches at least because I wanted the flexibility of FCP with photos just as you do.
Good luck and no intention to dislocate any noses out there, the willingness of people helping to provide assistance out there is fantastic.
Lee

Batch importing tga still images into iMovie HD 6

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