How import from camcorder to iMovie as one clip?

When I import from my mini-dv camcorder (Canon) into iMovie '09, iMovie splits into many clips. The problem is, it gets confused and about 10% of the clips are like 0.1 sec and named something not related to date/time like the rest of the clips. As a result, they appear in the event library out of order, creating a mess. I just want to import as one clip to avoid this misordering. My objective is archive video from tape to hard drive. As background, I suspect the timecodes may be wacky on the mini-dv tape because it is a copy from an 8mm tape.
I have many of these mini-dv tapes so an answer to this problem will save me many hours. I can achieve a 1-clip import using Vidi, but it won't automatically stop recording so I can't start one importing when I go to bed.
Thanks

I have the same problem. The video was created with a sony hcr-dc96 using the "smth int rec" mode. The would be a "time lapse video" in English. I suspect every frame looks like a new scene to the importer.
It imports and creates an even, but if I click on the event I get the beach ball and unresponsiveness, and eventual crash. Looking at the even library I can see there are 3249 files in the folder corresponding to that event.
Is there any way to recover using imovie? Do I need to import using some other means?

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Can't import from camcorder with iMove '08

I'm no longer able to import my movies from my Sony camcorder. I was able to do so in July so I'm assuming there's a problem with the latest software. The camcorder is connected via USB (it show its connected) but iMovie does not come up with the import prompt it used to, nor can I select from Import (it only shows the built-in camera). I have more then enough space, I've tried multiple USB cables, even disconnected everything else, re-booted, powered down the camcorder--everything. Please help, this is very frustrating!

You don't say which camcorder you're using.
Many Canon camcorders will NOT work properly with anything else, e.g; an external disc, on the FireWire circuit. Sorry. For those, you'd need to import to the internal disc and then copy to the external, and continue editing with the external drive.
"..Could it be my firewire drive is too slow to record the video?.." No: all modern external FW drives are perfectly fast enough, and a 320gb is certainly a modern drive.
"..formatted Mac OS extended (journaled).." ..are you absolutely CERTAIN..? ..It needs to be, otherwise it'll do just as you describe. And even discs bought for Macs or from Mac stores generally come formatted as "PC Exchange", i.e; MS-DOS formatted. Check it again by right-clicking or Ctrl-clicking it and use 'Get Info'. If it really says "Mac OS Extended" you're OK. If not, you'll need to use Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility, select the name of the disc and click the 'Erase' tab (after you've moved off the disc anything which you might want to keep) and then select 'Mac OS Extended'. CAUTION: be sure that you've selected the external drive: don't accidentally reformat and wipe your internal drive!
"..Are there any settings I can adjust or other things to try?.." No. However..
Some camcorders are not properly recognised by iMovie at first. It pays to open a project which already has some footage in it, play that and then attach the camcorder and try importing. Playing back some existing DV footage often - in my experience, anyway - 'kick starts' the program into accepting more footage from the attached device.
But that only works if (a) the drive DEFINITELY is formatted as Mac OS Extended, and (b) you're NOT using a Canon with an external disc..

Cannot import from Camcorder in iMovie 06

I have a Sony DCR-TRV 70 camcorder. I can import video with no problems on my iBook G4 using iMovie 05. However, my iMac G5 running iMovie 06 (I upgraded on it) will not recognize the camera when I plug it in. The cable is good - it works on the iBook. I follow the same protocol. I've tried starting the Camcorder first ... tried starting iMovie first ... nothing works. Any ideas?
This is the first time I've tried importing video to the iMac. The firewire ports could be bad, I suppose.

Problem solved. I just restarted the computer and everything works fine. I should have tried that first. Sorry.

All clips missing after import from camcorder!

All clips are missing after import from camcorder - Canon ZR20. For some tapes all clips are there, for others there are none. All the files are there in the finder, but I don't know how to have them show up in Final Cut Pro X.
Any suggestions?

Ok - this is frustrating. I have been importing my old miniDV tapes again into FCPX as I wasn't able to transfer all of these projects from iMovie - don't get me started... After importing about 7 of the tapes the first 3 came in fine, but the last 4 didn't have any clips as I said in my original posting. Now after restarting FCPX a couple of times all of a sudden the clips are all coming in! Strange! Guess I'm OK now.

I am using a jvc video camera and i am trying to upload the videos to iMovie. when i click "upload on pc" on the camera,nothing shows up on iMovie. I clicked on "Import from camera" on iMovie but nothing came up. Just my webcam.

i am using a jvc video camera and i am trying to upload the videos to iMovie. when i click "upload on pc" on the camera,nothing shows up on iMovie. I clicked on "Import from camera" on iMovie but nothing came up. Just my webcam.

I would say that odds are high that you have a bad cable. Maybe that is why they returned it.
I would suggest trying a different firewire cable.
You can find Firewire cables inexpensively at monoprice.com. You need a 4 pin to 9 pin firewire cable.
Here is a link.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10301
Other things to check:
Is your camera plugged in to wall power (not to batteries only). Must be hooked to an AC power source to import.

Why did IMovie 9 start crashing when trying to import from camcorder

I have Imovie 8.0.6 and a Panasonic HDC-SD60 camcorder. I have been importing from this camera for a long time, with no problems but now, IMovie crashes whenever I push the import button. I checked and when nothing is connected, the internal camera comes up when I push the import button. I connect the Panasonic first & see it on the desktop & then open Imovie. ANy idea why it keeps crashing?

Yes, 20 GB is very little - when you import you produce AIC files which are much larger than the original clips. Unless you can clear a lot more space (tens of GB) you need an external hard drive to put your iMovie media on.
This is the AVCHD file structure you should see from the Finder when you connect your camera like an external drive:
First copy the clips you want to use from the STREAM folder to another folder on your hard disk.
Next, you need to convert them from .mts to .mov format using the free program Media Converter. You can also do batch conversions by dropping multiple .mts files onto its window. You need to instal the Re-wrap AVCHD for Quicktime - uncompressed Audioplugin. It is fast since it is not transcoding but simply changing the video wrapper. The website is:
http://media-converter.sourceforge.net/
The resulting .mov clips will import into iMovie (this works for iMovie 9 - I'm assuming it will also work with iMovie 8.)
Geoff.

Import from iPhoto to iMovie comes in sideways - how to rotate?

When importing video clips shot on my iPhone 4 from iPhoto to iMovie, they come in sideways and I can't figure out how to rotate them. They are correct in iPhoto, iMovie flips them 90 degrees.

This is in the previous HD version of iMovie. I just tried it and they come in okay in the new iMovie.

Import from camcorder stops after few seconds. Never used to! Ideas?

Hi you wonderful experts and enthusiast out there.
Been using iMovie HD 5 successfully for a couple of years, but all of a sudden I can't import from my camcorder. I have a long, unbroken, recorded sequence on the camcorder, but when I go to import iMovie imports just a few seconds before stopping. And if I hit import again it does the same, but the "bits" don't match exactly so I cant even splice them together. Which leaves my with no idea how to proceed.
I did wonder if the movie was already too full (unlikely, but the same happened on a brand new movie) and also whether the DV tape was just too old (but the same is happening with a brand new tape).
It's a Canon MV960, if that helps.
ANd if I can't use iMovie to import it - is there another way? (Like I can use image capture in place of iPhoto if I so desire.)
Message was edited by: Trevor C

Hi
My list of what to try:
Test another FW-Cable.
The GarasgeBand trick. Start GB save a fake project close it. Now try iMovie again.
Test Your Camera on another Mac so that DV-in still works OK
Toogle in iMovie pref: Play-back via Camera (on<->off some times)
Other ways to import Your miniDV tape:
Use another Camera. There where tape play-back stations from SONY
but they costed about 2-4 times a normal miniDV Camera.
If Your Camera works on another Mac. Make an iMovie movie project here and move it
over to Your Mac via an external hard disk.
(HAS TO BE Mac OS Exchange formatted - USB/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange WILL NOT DO)
(Should be a FireWire one - USB/USB2 performs badly)
FireWire - Sure not using the accompany USB-Cable but bought a 4-pin to 6-pin FW one ?
Using WHAT ? :
• Mac OS - X.5.4 ?
• QuickTime version ? (This is the heart in both iMovie and FinalCut)
• iMovie 8 (7.1.?) ?
• iMovie HD 6 (6.0.4/3) ?
Free space on internal (start-up) hard disk ? (Others don't count)
Does Your Camera work on another Mac ?
Sorry to say it is to easy to turn the 6-pin end of the FW-cable 180 deg wrong.
This is lethal to the A/D-chip in the Camera = needs an expensive repair.
(Hard to find out - else than import/export to another Mac ceased to work
everything else is OK eg recording and playback to TV)
Delete iMovie pref file may help sometimes. I rather start a new account, log into
this and have a re-try.
from LKN 1935:
Hi Bengt W, I tried it all, but nothing worked. Your answer has been helpfull insofar as all the different trials led to the conclusion that there was something wrong with my iMovie software. I therefore threw everything away and reinstalled iMovie from the HD. After that the exportation of DV videos (there has not been any problem with HDV videos) to my Sony camcorders worked properly as it did before. Thank you. LKN 1935
from Karsten:
in addition to Bengt's excellent '9 yards of advice' ..
camera set to 'Play' , not rec/computer/etc.?
camera not on battery, but power-line?
did your Mac 'recognize' this camera before...?
a technical check:
connect camera, on, playback, fw-connected...
click on the Blue Apple, upper left of your screen ..
choose 'About../More..
under Firewire.. what do you read..?
Yours Bengt W

Import from Camcorder that's not on 'supported' list

I've been trying to import from my camcorder, Canon Legria HF S20. Tried several times, won't save in iMovie, says 'Missing Camera' in iMovie file after it's finished supposedly importing. I've been trying to import using a usb cable, hitting all the right buttons on the camera. Importing from 2 SD cards on the camera, as well as the Hard Drive.
This camcorder is on the list of 'supported' cameras for the last version, i.e. iMovie 11, but not the latest.
Anyone?

To use a camera with FCE, it needs to be DV and have a FireWire connection. Your TRV250 does both. Digital8 is a Sony thing, but under the covers it is a DV codec recording on a Digital8 cassette. There are some technical differences in the tape transport speed and how the magnetic recording is made on the tape compared to miniDV tapes, but the codec itself is DV, and the output via the FireWire connection is also DV. So, it should work with FCE, and iMovie too.
The only way to know for sure is to give it a try. Find your local Apple store and take your camera there & try it. That's the same advice we'd give anyone, regarding any camera.
Oh, and by the way, I noticed that your profile says you are running 10.0.x - for FCE-HD you need at least 10.4.6 and QT 7.0.4 - check the full specs here.

Import from EyeTV Into iMovie

I have been trying to import tv programs recorded off the air in HD into iMovie. When I watch the program on the EyeTv software - they look great - crisp and clear. I have tried exporting under various formats out of the EyeTv software but once it gets into iMove, the quality is poorer than the original.
Any advice on how to get it into iMovie at the same image quality as the original will be greatly appreciated.

There are several ways to do this. The simplest way is to export from EyeTV in the Apple TV preset. This gives a high quality h.264 file that can be edited.
With a little more work, you can get an even better result.
First you will need MPEG Streamclip (which is free) and the Apple QuickTime MPEG2 Playback Component (about $20, from Apple's online store.)
From your EyeTV recordings page, you should be able to right-click on one of your recordings and select "Reveal in Finder". This should bring up a Finder window of the EyeTV archive folder where you can see your recording with a .eyetv extension. It turns out that the .eyeTV file is really a container. Right-click on it and select "Show Package Contents." A finder window will open with the package contents. You will see a file with the extension .mpg. This is the MPEG2 file.
You can drag this MPEG2 file into MPEG Streamclip and export it into any editable format. I would recommend the Apple Intermediate Codec, with deinterlacing, at current dimensions, but you can experiment with the settings that work best for your purpose.
You can create a folder in your Movies/iMovie Events folder with the name for this Program or episode. Use this folder as your target location when exporting from MPEG Streamclip.
The next time you open iMovie, it will automatically generate thumbnails.

Photos imported from iPhoto to iMovie turn a bright red hue.

When I attempt to import photos directly from iPhoto into iMovie, both with and without the Ken Burns effect, the photos all wind up washed out and tinted red. I've looked for some sort of setting I could change to avoid this, but haven't been able to find it, and I've installed all the most recent updates. Has anyone encountered a similar problem? Better still, does anyone know how to fix it?

Thanks for your interest.
I had scanned in monstrous TIFF images -- these were the ones that would turn to red tint when I applied Ken Burns effect.
I created an action in Photoshop to flatten layers and save to JPEG, then ran an automated batch on all the TIFF images to create JPEGs.
I imported the JPEGs into the iPhoto library, then into my old iMovie. These new JPEGs don't turn red with the KB effect. I then emptied the iMovie trash to reduce the size of the movie, and then could no longer apply the KB effect to any of the clips in the timeline (only on clips not yet moved into the timeline). I tried restarting iMovie, but that did not help.
So I created a new movie from scratch and that seems to be working just fine. I feel like iMovie is such a waste of my time. I spent about 10 hours on my movie up to this point where I can be productive.
I notice some of the images have scratches I'd like to fix in Photoshop. What's the recommended way to do that? Can I keep effects or transitions and just re-apply them to an edited photo?
MacBook Pro 2.16GHz Mac OS X (10.4.3) 2GB RAM

Low quality when importing from camcorder

Hello,
I have an older camcorder (Sony TRV260, Digital8), and I noticed that when I import the footage into iMovie the quality is lower than when I watch it on my TV directly from the camera.
Initially I thought that it's because the resolution of my iMac is higher, but even when I burn it on DVD it looks bad, almost pixelated.
Are there any settings that I need to adjust?
Any help is much appreciated. I have a whole bunch of tapes that I kept hoping that, once I get my iMac I will be able to edit and put them on DVD. Now I am really-really frustrated.
What needs to be done?
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Laurentiu

I got iMovie 06 but, when I tried to install it said that I should have iLife 08 installed.
That's because you have iMovie 6.0.4 you want 6.0 > 6.0.3 ONLY 6.0.4 looks for iLife '08.
You can get iMovie 06 in a number of ways. You cannot download it FROM APPLE any longer (it was free for a time). You can also find iMovie 06 on the iLife 06 install disc. You can buy iLife 06 on Amazon or eBay. WELL WORTH EVERY PENNY!
iMovie 6.0.4 requires that iLife 08 is already installed. iMovie 6.0 thru iMovie 6.0.3 has no such requirement. There are no known functional differences between 6.0.3 and 6.0.4. If you install iMovie 06 from the iLife 06 disk it will probably be version 6.0 or 6.01. However you can update the software to 6.0.3 from Apple's Web site.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/application_updates/imoviehd602combo .html
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/application_updates/imoviehd603.html
If you want to have both iMovie 06 and iLife 09 (and most do) just install iMovie 06 first, then iLife 09. You are now UN-STOPPABLE!
Also when you install iLife 08 or 09, iMovie 06 is not removed from the computer. Previous editions of iMovie were always un-installed when "upgrading" in the past. Apple leaves iMovie 06 on your system, because they want you to have it. iMovie 06 works great with iDVD 09.

Can no longer import from VHS to iMovie HD via Sony TRV-340E

For the last few weeks I have been successfully importing alot of my old home videos into iMovie 4.01.
The set up is a typical AV pass-through arrangement:
VHS (via component cables) to:
Sony TRV-340E (no tape inserted) (via 6-4 pin Firewire) to:
iMac G5
Then yesterday I upgraded to iMovie HD and updated straight away to 5.02.
Now when I play the tape in the VHS, it will show up on my cameras LCD screen but not on the G5.
I know this is an iMovie problem because:
If I play the VHS, and then put a tape in to the camera, then click import in iMovie, I can see that iMovie grabs a split second of video from the VHS before starting to import from the DV tape.
I hope Apple can fix this soon because I have to return both the camera and iMac soon!

Yes, some analog to DV converters don't work in iMovie HD 5.0.2 like they do in iMovie 4.0.1.
I'm not holding my breath for a fix since this has been a known issue for eight months:
http://www.sjoki.uta.fi/~shmhav/iMovieHD_bugs.html#analogDV
You can send feedback to Apple at:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/imovie.html

PE 9 lockup after HD import from camcorder

Hi folks, I've been using PE for many years. Currently have PE9 installed, all the updates, drivers, QuickTime, etc. up to date. No problems at all, I've produced many videos. But all of a sudden on the last few times I imported from the camcorder (Canon HV20), it imports fine but when it's done, PE9 locks up. It has the video on the timeline, but doesn't show it in the video display window. I have to Ctrl/Alt/Del, which then brings up the "PE9 stopped unexpectedly" Windows error.
When I start it back up, the video is there and saved and everything works fine. So I can work around this, but not sure why all of a sudden it's hanging after I import video, the same way I've been doing it for years? And like I said, no problems doing this with PE9 until recently. No other changes to the computer, so I'm not sure what's up, any suggestions? (I searched around in the forum but didn't find anything).
Thanks.

There are quite a few things to check, and many are included in this ARTICLE and in its links. For driver updates, do not trust Windows, or any update utility. Go to the mfgr's. Web site, plug in your audio, or video card make/model, plus your OS, then download and install the latest driver.
Next, if the situation does not improve, please post the full details of your system. See this ARTICLE. Pay special attention to the I/O sub-system. This ARTICLE will give you background and tips.
Good luck, and please report back,
Hunt

Loss of quality of photos when importing from iphoto to imovie

A question... When I import high resolution photos from iphoto and look at the preview on imovie HD, the quality is the same great quality that I can see on iphoto. Once I import the photo clip onto imovie, however, the quality is very poor on the imovie playback. This drop in quality is regardless of whether Ken Burns effect is used or not.
I already checked the quality on imovie preferences and it is already selected as the highest quality (default setting)
Any clues as to why the photo image quality should drop to such a poor image when importing a photo from iphoto to imovie?

Hi L
There are a great difference on photos shown on a Mac with eg. iPhoto or
PhotoShop and what's going to video.
a. Different resolution. Just the number of lines as the selected type of project
eg: PAL 4x3 = 625 lines ≈ same in pixles (But square not elongated or visa versa)
b. iMovie "Viewer" is just an approximation. I connected my miniDV Camera
to FW and analog to a TV. Select in pref - Play back via Camera. Now I see
the final quality on my TV. Usally much better.
Yours Bengt W

How import from camcorder to iMovie as one clip?

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