Converting Home Movies

OK all, I have some video files (not DVD) on my PC. They range from avi, to mpeg to various other file types. Apart from VideoLan's VLC, what would you recommend I use to convert them to H264(MKV) or MP4?
I also tried Handbrake, but I realised that that is only for DVD structed movies.
Thanks!
Message was edited by: PlaneHazza

The Complete Guide to Converting Video to iPod Format (Mac)
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/the-complete-guide-to-convert ing-video-to-ipod-format-mac/
See other tutorial articles over at iLounge...
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/tutorials/
Patrick

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Best way to convert home movie VHS tapes so they can be edited in iMovie HD

Please help! I'm sorry this question is going to be long, but I'm a novice at this.
My goal is to get my VHS home movies (I have about 30 of them) into iMovie so I can do two things.
First I want to burn DVD's so I'll have a copy of the VHS tapes before they go bad.
Secondly, I want to be able to extract small clips from all of the tapes and combine them in a new iMovie project.
Here's what I've done so far:
I purchased a Canopus ADVC110 and got someof my VHS tapes converted digitally but the file sizes were HUGE and eating up my hard drive space. I was down to 6 GB of space left on my hard drive and almost crashed my Mac.
I deleted all these huge files and got my Mac back up to having 111 gigs of space left. Whew!
This week I purchased a Pinnacle converter and started all over. I took a VHS tape, and it was compressed into a nice small Mpeg-4 file and went to iTunes.
Then I tried to drag and drop it from itunes to imovie. That didn't work. I then dragged the movie to my desktop and then dragged it to imovie..... looks like this was going to take a long time to get into imovie. I'm thinking this is too many steps.
Now I am importing the file into iMovie by importing directly from itunes. The file size is 1.04 GB and it is 1 hour and 54 minutes long. It is taking a loooong time to import this movie....like 100 minutes.
I am afraid I am doing this the hard way.
Plus, after reading all the discussion boards and all the problems people are having... I don't even know if I'll be able to successfully edit this movie once it's imported. Plus, after I've edited it (if I can) will I be able to transfer the clips to another iMovie project?
I'm happy with the file size that the Pinnacle converter is giving me. I'm happy with the way the movie appears in itunes.
Because I have **so many VHS tapes** to convert, I'm asking you all if there is an easier way for me to complete this task!
Thanks in advance for any advise. Keep in mind that I'm not tech-sophisticated..... just a middle aged Grandma trying to preserve memories of my family!

_Share" the highlight as suggested_
Thanks Lennart..... I'm not sure I know what you meant by the above.
Do you mean that I share the little clips I want to use in the 'best of project'?
I read the MacWorld article.... it's great thanks!
I want to keep all these converted movies on my hard drive because down the road I want to extract other clips from them so I can make a 'best of' movie for my other family members. I may want to do that next year.... or whatever..... so I want to have the imovies available for me when that time comes.
In order to do this am I going to have to buy a lot..... and I mean ALOT of extra hard drive space? That darn Canopus was really making files for me that were like 60-80GB's per one half hour movie!!
Hey, I really appreciate all the time you are spending with me on this topic. Making these imovie memories are so very important to me.

Converting home movies to apple tv format

One more question, please.
I converted my 1280 x 720 home movies to Apple TV format in iTunes and they were "downrezzed" to 960 x 540.
Why? And can I avoid this somehow?

I wouldn't worry about it. many people are concerned about the resolution without giving a thought to datarate. Your tv is limited to the bitrate it can play, at a fixed bitrate a 1280 x 720 movie will have less info per pixel (macroblock-technically) than a 960 x 540 so whilst there are more pixels in 1280 x 720 those in the 960 x 540 movie are higher quality and there is little difference, indeed my tests generally show 960 x 540 to be slightly better.
You could reduce the frame rate of 1280 x 720 to allow it to play on the tv, but this will likely introduce jittery motion.

Converting Home Movies to IPOD

Why is it that I can upload a home movie from my digital camera to my computer with sound and get it just that way into the Library but when I convert it into the IPOD there is no sound? The orginal file with the sound in the library reads MPG movie file (Quicktime, although plays in media player) and when it converts reads movie file. It is enfuriating!

Thanks Brian, I hadn't realized the only way to get them to play correctly was to upgrade & buy Quicktime Pro. This also helps with MySpace and posting home movies on there as well. So thanks again for the information.

Software to convert home movie format to DV format

I want to import home movies on DVD (which I transferred from VHS and Hi8 to DVD) into Imovie. I was told by applecare that I need software to convert the format. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Hello Susan,
in order to be recognized by iMovie you have to convert your footage into DV format.
check out Matti Haveri's website: How can I edit MPEG or convert DVD or MPEG to DV
http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/%7Eshmhav/SVCDon_a_Macintosh.html#edit_convertMPEG
Helpful Tools:
MPEG Streamclip (freeware): can convert/demux mpeg2 and VOB files into DV. It can also be used to edit/trim and multiplex/de-multiplex mpeg files
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/mpegstreamclip.html
Apple MPEG2 PlayBack ($20):
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/
DVDxDV: ($25) can convert DVD-disks, VIDEO_TS folders and .VOB files to DV-encoded .mov files.
http://www.dvdxdv.com/
FFmpegX ($15): can also convert .VOB or .mpg to .dv.
http://homepage.mac.com/major4/
DropDV ($40): can convert MPEG1 and MPEG2 streams to .dv.
http://www.dropdv.com/
DIVA (freeware): is a fast and powerful converter/encoder
http://diva.3ivx.com/
hope this helps
mish

Converted home movies play in iphone without sound?

I have converted several home movies that will play the video portion but no sound. any suggestions?

Try using Videora or MPEG Streamclip to convert the videos; more information on this issue is available in this article.
(24506)

No sound after "Converting home movie to play on AppleTv

I take short movie clips with my digital camera. After getting them into iTunes and converting them to play on the ATV, the sound is gone? What am I missing? The sound is fine playing in iTunes prior to the conversion. A search on this forum shows this question asked a couple times with no resolution...

I just tested it. I used mpeg streamclip to convert an mpg movie to mp4 format. It does take a little bit of time to do but you can batch the bunch and then eat lunch or something. I dragged the mp4 movie into itunes movie folder and it not only put it there but also immediately began syncing it to my apple tv. I have also been able to move .mov files into itunes...have not yet loaded any into apple tv but I think itunes can convert it, as can quicktime.
Another thing...you will find the same problem with mpg files and imovie 8 or final cut express. The little movies need to be converted to .mov or some other format to be imported. I just made a folder for the mpgs and use batch for all of them then can import into iphoto or whatever the resulting files (usually .mov is what I use but I think mp4 is better for apple tv?

Converting a movie

I have a video I just recently downloading on Divx movie player. I also use DVD Video Soft as a converter. But when I try and convert the movie, it will finish but wont play as a mp4, and an error message appears. Need help

I'm assuming this is a legally downloaded video, but I would suggest using [Videora iPod Classic Video Converter|http://www.videora.com]. I use it to convert home movies and movies I make myself for my iPod and those of my friends and family. Videora can also convert for other models of iPod as well.

Can Apple TV 2 stream purchased videos / home movies converted to MP4 and in my iTunes library?

Okay, so we currently own a 1st Gen ATV and love it, however 99% of it's use is streaming purchased content and/or home movies etc. that I've used visualhub/handbrake to convert and imported into my iTunes library. All in all, once I gave up and surrendered my video content to iTunes and started streaming to my 1st Gen ATV I've grown hooked, I love sorting stuff however I want (I have about 250 movies, entire seasons of X-Files etc. that I've ripped from my own (LEGAL) media and put in iTunes, so when it's sorted properly it's very clean, when it's all alpha, it's a nightmare.
I've tried a few media servers for the PS3, however they just pile all the movies into one big alpha sorted mess, music isn't sorted by genre, no genius, TV shows are not tagged by watched, won't resume properly etc. Boxee / XBMC are a little better, but then again I run those on my ATV as well, and still Boxee doesn't really seem to sort stuff quite as well or play playlists properly.
We're getting another TV for our den and have been looking into other media streaming options, what I love about the Apple TV is the way I can sort all our movies, shows etc. by genre, so the kids can just go to the stuff I've tagged as Kids Movies or I can make video playlists for them and mix up some Planet Earth and Dora the Explorer for our babysitter and movies /shows are tagged as watched/unwatched, if you stop one it will ask if you want to resume, etc.
Looking into the ATV2 it seems like it's just geared for rentals, If that's the case I really am not interested. I like the Netflix option, but then again most newer internet connected TVs do that as well as my PS3, not sure how viable an option the WD TV Live plus or Boxee box is, I'd like to get some newer hardware, but I'm just not sure what route to go.
Does the ATV2 stream media in iTunes TV Shows/Podcasts/Movies folders? It doesn't sync right? So it it all Airplay now?
Is my best bet just to get another 1st Gen? Are there any other media servers that are able to sort stuff by played/genre/etc.
Ug, I'm at a loss! I really love the features of my old Apple TV, and would love to get a new one, but I'm just not sure if it will do everything I'm used to, or if any of the other standalone boxes are better options?
I know this is a bit of a ramble, hopefully someone can make enough sense out of where I'm going and help me out! Thanks!

Welcome to the Apple Community.
The Apple TV 2 will play all the content in your iTunes library that your Apple TV 1 does. It can no longer sync any of it but can stream it all just as the older model did. Airplay is a different feature that lets you stream from an iPad/iPhone, the Apple TV 2 has Airplay the first didn't.
You can still sort and search content by genre, it still marks content watched and unwatched and mainly still lets you organise much as the Apple TV 1 did, with one exception. It doesn't do nested folders, so the ability to tag a movie as a show (ie James Bond) and have all the associated movies in a James bond folder has gone and it lists all these movies individually.
It has a similar situation with TV shows. It will put all TV shows in a series in a folder as the older one did, but the new one lists each series separately whereas the older model would put all the series in one folder.
Not nesting folders is a bit of a pain with large libraries and whilst I don't like it, it's more or less the only compromise I have to make and of course I get additional features too.

How can I convert a home movie on dvd(vob file) to edit on imovie?

I had home movies converted to a dvd- the files are vob. Now I want to edit the movies in imovie.
I am having a difficult time converting from vob straight to mov files.
I purchased Quick Time Pro thinking that could do it, but I haven't been able to.
Also, it just says QuickTime Player Version 7.6.4 (518.35) on my computer.
Is it supposed to say QuickTIme Pro?
Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

The "Pro" option just unlocks a lot of features in QuickTime Player. If you look at the registration info, it will show if you have Pro installed.
For converting DVD's you have two options; hardware or software.
The hardware option involves connecting a DVD player's analog outputs to a qualified "DV device" (DV camcorder, VTR or converter) then connecting the DV device's Firewire port to your Mac to capture the footage.
The software option involves using an application like DVDxDV or MPEG Streamclip to convert the DVD's VOB files into an editable format that works natively with your chosen NLE.
-DH

I need to know the best, safest way to convert video for Mac. I just had home movies converted to a DVD format a realize now that I need another step to burn them to my computer.

I just had home movies converted to a DVD format a realize now that I need another step to burn them to my computer. This is for a Christmas present! Help.

I don't think you need to use a ripper program to read a home movie DVD. Those are primarily for copy-protected commercial DVDs, right?
I think you just need to transcode the DVD files using a utility like Handbrake, which is free and fast.
http://handbrake.fr/details.php

How does a user take an iTunes home movie and convert it back to iPhoto(slideshow) for editing and emailing?

How does an user take an iTunes home movie and convert it back to iPhoto(slideshow) for editing and emailing?

iOS: Importing personal photos and videos from iOS devices to your computer
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Converting analog home movies to Digital

Hopeing to find someone else who has already solved this problem...After slacking off for twenty years or so, I'm, finally converting my ancient, stone-tablet home movies to DVD. I have a Sony DCR-TRV460 Camcorder doing the heavy lifting. It's supposed to convert Analog tapes to digital signals on the fly. I have a stack of old 8 mm tapes, that a Sony DCR TRV130 recorded for me from even older VCR video tapes. Unfortunately, the TRV130 is frozen and inoperative, maybe I'll have to have it repaired....All the tapes play fine on the TRV460's screen, but Imovie only recognizes the newest ones, actually recorded on the 460, the ones "converted" from the 130 just show a blue screen, probably some analog-to-digiital error. I'm useing a Firewire cable, the usb cable apparently isnt fully supported. I remember reading long ago that the 460 doesent fully support on-the-fly conversion. anyone been able to make this work? do I need a differernt camcorder? Maybe I just have the av-DVsettings wrong? Any clues fom by Buddies out in the Ether will be appreciated! Useing a "Early 2008" Mac Pro Tower.
Jim

I did this a few years ago with a Sony TRV-230.
It was very fussy. Sometimes it would drop out and give me the blue screen and I would have to try several times before I got it all. It helps to fully fast forward and rewind the 8mm tapes so if they are sagging to one side of the cassette, they are back to the center so they don't drag on the sides of the cassette enclosure. I generally had to use the manual mode and watch it all the time.

Need Help Converting AVI Home Movies to Mpeg without audio and Video Delay.

I have lots of home movies of my new baby i want to take with me while in Navy training and need help. I have tried 7 movie conversion software programs and it have cost me a lot, but none of them work. Any suggestions please? I leave soon and would like to know as soon as possible please. Thank you so much
Converting AVI to MPEG on Windows XP OS

YOu need to learn how to use FCP. Sorry, no offense needed, and I know it sounds harsh. But from reading that I can tell you have no idea about how to properly import tapeless media into FCP...and don't know what formats FCP works with...nor know what formats the cameras record. This is all basic stuff you need to know before you edit. Editing isn't only creative, but lately highly technical as well...you need to know what your software is capable of doing, and how to get the footage into it properly.
You cannot do what you did...directly drag from the cameras into FCP. No...it needs to be imported, typically with LOG AND TRANSFER...and converted from the shooting format, which typically isn't natively editable in FCP (want native, use Adobe Premiere...). It needs to be converted to ProRes. And yes, the file sizes of ProRes are a LOT bigger than the camera originals. 4-5 times larger. That's how FCP works.
Here's a quick tutorial to get you started. But then I suggest getting to know the editing system better.
http://library.creativecow.net/ross_shane/tapeless-workflow_fcp-7/1

How do I convert my DVD home movies (NTSC format) to mpeg 4 format??

3 yrs ago I had my home movies (super 8) onto DVDS (NTSC format.
I would like to convert to mpeg4 so that I can import into imovie and Quicktime player 10
I just installed Snow Leopard 10.6

I would recommend that you convert the DVDs to Apple Intermediate Codec, then edit your movies, then share the final movie in mpeg4 (h.264). This will preserve the most quality. However, the method I will describe will also work to convert your DVD directly into MPEG4.
1) Download and install the Apple MPEG2 QuickTime Component ($20) - available online from Apple.
2) Download and install MPEG Streamclip from Squared 5 (free).
3) Start MPEG Streamclip
4) Insert your DVD into your Mac. If DVD Player or Front Row starts automatically quit those.
5) Open a Finder window. Navigate to your DVD to the Video_TS folder.
6) Drag the .VOB files from the Video_TS folder and drop then into MPEG Streamclip.
7) If MPEG Streamclip offers to fix timecode breaks, say yes.
8) Use FILE/EXPORT USING QUICKTIME to convert the files to Apple Intermediate Codec (or h.264 if you prefer)
9a) Optional: You can deinterlace your footage in this step, if you like
9b) optional: If you know the date and or time of the footage, name your file
clip-yyyy-mm-dd hh;mm;ss
(let mpeg streamclip provide the extension). This will provide metadata that iMovie will use to put the event in the right year and month.
9c) Optional: If you don't want to make one huge clip out of your DVD, you can make smaller clips by using MPEG Streamclip. Move the cursor to the "in" point of the clip, and press i. Move the cursor to the "Out" point of the clip, and press o. Then do steps 8 through 10 and repeat until you have done this for all clips you want.
10) Save the resulting file in a place where you can find it, like your Desktop.
11) Open iMovie.
12) In iMovie, choose FILE/IMPORT/From File and choose the file you saved in steps 8, 9, 10.
13) iMovie will generate thumbnails and you can edit.

Converting Home Movies

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