How to manage imported video files

Hello
I have now imported 7-8 hours worth of digital video to my internal HD on my new iMac (320 GB HD I believe)and have used 1/2 of its capacity up, causing my computer to slow down I believe..
What do I do with the massive amounts of HD space video's will take up?
I have been ruthlessly editing the material, but will soon want to punt even that stuff out to an external HD I imagine...
Is an external HD the answer?
If so, do I have to re-import it if I want to use it again in iMovie 08 in the future?
OR will iMovie work from a source outside the internal HD?
Thanks, I'm very curious about this...what do the pro's do..
Stinkball

Stinkball wrote:
... Is an external HD the answer?
yes
... If so, do I have to re-import it if I want to use it again in iMovie 08 in the future?
no: in iM08, you'll notice your new, firewire connected, MacOsExtended formatted (=do thate BEFORE usage...) in the lower left of the window.. drag your Events from old to new place..
http://karsten.schluter.googlepages.com/im08tricks
(Project Library (and Events) on External Harddrive)
OR will iMovie work from a source outside the internal HD?
it will work with any compatible (=MacOsExtended formatted) HDD, internal or external.. even usb2 connected drives do work ...

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IMovie 08 Galleries: How It Manages Your Video Files

Good Afternoon,
When you post any size video to your iMovie08 web gallery, it creates a file called an .M4V file. This file type is similar to a straight MPEG-4 except that it is a container that contains either or both audio and video and has instructions for specific players to work with it. That is to say, when you play a .M4V file containing video on just an audio iPod, the audio will only be extracted.
This container file allows then a single format type to be used across portable devices. However, it is not an easy chore to change the compression with .M4V files (you'll now notice that you have just a few choices. Apple TV, iPhone, iPod, etc.) And you can't change the video parameters of these exports with iMovie.
This is the file type that gets exported when you produce an iMovie08 web gallery. Both the upload and download files available to that site would be in the .M4V format which limits your bandwidth and compression flexibility. However, for the most part, it works well. Take a look at my newest video here on-line at my web gallery:
http://gallery.mac.com/northwestphotos#100009
If you want more flexibility in creating a higher bandwidth for your uploaded videos, consider using iWeb instead. iWeb doesn't care whether your file is .MP4 or .M4V. The beauty of .MP4 is that is allows you to specify all parameters of your video. Export to Quicktime from iMovie08, custom set the parameters and save to your desktop to drop it inside your iWeb movie page project.
Clint

Wow, thanks for the info. I use the HV20 as well, so I will have to play around. I knew the previous version didn't support Canons 24P, however the shots that you took with it I can tell that they were different.
I guess I will have to play around a little more and post some footage.
Again, great technique and well shot.
"D"

I shot video on a Panasonic P2 and I'm trying to import the MXF files to Final Cut Pro but when I try to import, the only thing that imports is a blurry image of each clip. There's no audio and no video...how can I import MXF files into Final Cut Pro?

I shot video on a Panasonic P2 and I'm trying to import the MXF files to Final Cut Pro but when I try to import, the only thing that imports is a blurry image of each clip. There's no audio and no video...how can I import MXF files into Final Cut Pro?

at the end, you say "import preferences", which program are you describing?
So im safer using footage that is remotely being pulled from iphoto...
vs
using footage that is imported into FCP from imovie?
Is there anything i can do in fcp to make this footage more reliable or safer or more stable as i pull remotely from iphoto?
All the footage, and all the libraries to all programs, or on a new pegasus 12tb raid 5 setup fyi.

Import and Management of Video Files by Date Still Broken

It really is very disappointing that after 3 versions, and 110 bug fixes, basic things like importing or managing a video file by date is still completely broken.
Even more troubling, is that for someone who uses LR3 this is a very obvious problem, and should be very easy to fix.
When you import a file on a wide range of cameras the date that is used for the video file as far as LR3 is concerned is the date you are importing it, not the date it was taken. This makes any management of the file, especially when managed next to pictures, very difficult.
The problem, as far as I can tell, is that in Windows, a file has both a 'Date Created' and a 'Date Modified'. 'Date Created' is whenever the file was created on the PC. If you bought a new computer and transferred a bunch of files over on 30/12/2010, all of your files will have a 'Date Created' that is 30/12/2010 regardless of when the photos or videos were taken. Or if you take a video on September 1st and import it onto your computer September 15th, it will have a 'Date Created' of September 15th.
'Date Modified' however lists the date that the file was last changed. For video files, that most likely was the date the video was shot.
Every program I have ever used for video files has always organized them by Date Modified (when organizing them by date). For example, its the default in Windows 7 Explorer when showing video files, all the video files listed by the date you have taken them. Date Created really doesnt have any useful information.
Its inexplicable to me why LR3 uses Date Created instead of Date Modified. It is a glaring error, that should be easily fixed. Microsoft can manage to do it right, as a byproduct in its OS, Im not sure why an imaging company in a $400 piece of specialist software cannot.
And just in case this is overlooked as a minor problem, it certainly is not. It happens to the following cameras:
D90 (first camera to shoot video)
D3s (thought by many to be the best low light camera)
D7000 (likely to be Nikon's most important DSLR)
D3100 (likely to be Nikon's most purchased DSLR)
Canon S95 (one of 2 most popular P+S for DSLR owners)
Fuji 31fd (Ill never forget you!)
And those are just the cameras I have on my desk, Im sure it happens to many others.
Also, when importing these files by date, LR3 will import them into a folder 1 date later then the date that LR3 is using for the file. So, just to be clear, you could take a video on May 1st, import it into LR3 on May 2nd and LR3 would say it was taken May 2nd, and it would be placed in the folder for May 3rd.
Im really not sure why something so basic has not been addressed in so long, and it makes any sort of managment of video files by date in LR3 useless.
Very disappointing.

I agree that the wrong file system date is being used. But I scanned all my Lightroom files (manually) tagged with 'video'. When the file contains suitable metadata with a capture time that is used. When that's missing, the (wrong) file system date is used.
Interestingly I even found one camera where the dates were originally right (in 2009), then disappeared for a while (probably due to a firmware upgrade!) and then came back again. Summary of what I found:
Very old (Philips) webcam / format AVI / no metadata visible / wrong date
Canon Powershot A80 / format AVI / metadata visible / right date
Nokia N73 cellphone / format MP4 / no metadata / wrong date
Canon EOS 5D Mark II around 2009 / format MOV / metadata visible / right date
Canon EOS 5D Mark II around 2010 / format MOV / no metadata / wrong date
Canon EOS 5D Mark II around 2011 / format MOV / metadata visible / right date
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In my case, the dates changed when I copied all my data from one disk (old NAS) to a new one (new NAS). It is disconcerting that you get the copying date despite comparison tools declaring the files to be identical (Beyond Compare 3 also keeps an eye on date differences).
Hope this helps, Peter

Premiere CS6 won't import mov files, the message: "file has no video or audio streams" shows up instead. How can I import the files?

Premiere CS6 won't import mov files, the message: "file has no video or audio streams" shows up instead. How can I import the files?

MOV is a wrapper that can contain many different codecs. The message you get is indicative of a distribution codec inside the MOV wrapper. You may need to convert the material to an editable codec before importing.

HT1349 how do you import video to Aperture from a dvd with a unix executable file

how do you import video to Aperture or imovie from a dvd with a unix executable file?

Allan's suggestion of using the iDisk will work but will fill up the iDisk unless you do housecleaning occasionally. Another, non Apple way would be to upload them to an account on Twango.com. It sort of like MyTube but for photos and videos and is more personal in nature. It's free (monthly uploads are limited to 250MB/mo) and others can easily pop into your public channel (individual sections of a person's account are called channels) and download whatever size you want. You can select the size of your uploads from full sized to 1600, 1024 or 640 pixels max. What I like about the site is that you can email photos to your account. Makes it rather easy. You can also add slideshows and a ticker tape type of display from Twango to web pages (they create the code to use for the channel you select) like this. It's not an Apple thing but I've found it's quick. May or may not be what you're looking for.
Do you Twango?
G5 Dual Core 2GHz, 2G RAM, 250G HD; G4 Dual 1Ghz, 1.5G RAM, 80G HD, Mac OS X (10.4.7) 22 LCD Display, 200G & 160G FW HDs, Canon S400, i850 & LIDE 50, Epson R200

How to import video files from external hard drive?

I receive an error "You're trying to import a file from a DVD or Removable Media. Please use Video Importer for importing Videos..." however when I try this I still cannot import video files. This is extremely frustrating as we have 32 copies of this software and this is sarting to become a common issue. Please help and many thanks.
Attached is a screenshot...

jasonkmtr
Premiere Elements 12 Mac
A few more questions for now.
Taking your particular .avi files out of the equation, can you import any other format from Add Media/Files and Folders pointed to this external hard drive? What is the format of the external hard drive? NTFS or FAT32?
It is my recollection that AVCHD.avi has always been reported as highly problematic. Yet you seem to be saying that you have no problem importing them in to the project from the desktop with the program's Add Media/Files and Folders/Project Assets to Expert workspace Timeline.
Did you purchase your Premiere Elements 12 from the Mac App Store or from Adobe? If Mac Store, what do you have Adobe Premiere Elements Editor or Adobe Premiere Elements Quick Editor or some variation thereof?
You wrote
A number of users are experiencing this issue - they connect their hard drive, load Elements, start a new project and go to add media (from the ext hard drive) using the files and folders option.
Could you supply more information on this via link(s) which have reported this issue.
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ATR

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I had some 8 mm film put onto DVD by yesdvd and now want to import the 3 hours of video into iMovie to edit and create a short story.
I have created a dmg file on my desktop from the DVD but am at a loss as to what's next. There are a bunch of files on the dmg file, including one that says video, which has a bunch of files in it that are video. I assume I need to convert them to a format which iMovie likes. Which one should I use, and which program should I get to do it?
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You need to convert the VOB files in the TS-Folder of the DVD back to DV which iMovie is designed to handle. For that you need mpegStreamclip:
http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html
which is free, but you must also have the Apple mpeg2 plugin :
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/
(unless you are running Lion in which case see below))
which is a mere $20.
Another possibility is to use DVDxDV:
http://www.dvdxdv.com/NewFolderLookSite/Products/DVDxDV.overview.htm
which costs $25.
For the benefit of others who may read this thread:
Obviously the foregoing only applies to DVDs you have made yourself, or other home-made DVDs that have been given to you. It will NOT work on copy-protected commercial DVDs, which in any case would be illegal.
And from the TOU of these forums:
Keep within the Law
No material may be submitted that is intended to promote or commit an illegal act.
Do not submit software or descriptions of processes that break or otherwise ‘work around’ digital rights management software or hardware. This includes conversations about ‘ripping’ DVDs or working around FairPlay software used on the iTunes Store.
If you are running Lion:
From the MPEG Streamclip homepage
The installer of the MPEG-2 Playback Component may refuse to install the component in Lion. Apple states the component is unnecessary in Lion, however MPEG Streamclip still needs it.
To install the component in Lion, please download MPEG Streamclip 1.9.3b7 beta above; inside the disk image you will find the Utility MPEG2 Component Lion: use it to install the MPEG-2 Playback Component in Lion. The original installer's disk image (QuickTimeMPEG2.dmg) is required.
The current versions of MPEG Streamclip cannot take advantage of the built-in MPEG-2 functionality of Lion. For MPEG-2 files you still need to install the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component, which is not preinstalled in Lion. You don't have to install QuickTime 7.

Why can't I import video files from an external hard drive?

I am using Adobe Premiere Elements 12 on Mac OSX 10.7.5 trying to import video files from a Lacie Rugged External Hard Drive using both firewire and usb, neither with any luck. The error message I receive is:
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We can't import through the video importer either because the hard drive doesn't show up. We can, however, drag the videos to the desktop and do it that way but we'd like to avoid doing that if possible.
Thanks
By the way, the external hard drive is formatted FAT32 if that matters

Tacomedia
http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-set-up-an-external-hard-drive-for-use-with-os-x/
Please check out the above with regard to your external hard drive FAT32 and Mac computer question
By the way, the external hard drive is formatted FAT32 if that matters
SG has already commented on this in his initial reply to you. I thought that the above might blend in to supplement what he has said.
I will watch for further developments in your troubleshooting with SG.
ATR

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First decide which editing program you intend to use; iMovie, FCE, FCP, Adobe Premier, etc. Read the user's manual or Help files for your chosen application to determine the steps needed: the procedure will vary somewhat from application to application.
Next, with the camera and the computer off, connect the Firewire cable to both units, then power up. Set the camera to VTR (play) mode. Open your editing program and follow the instructions provided in the Help files for capturing DV footage from tape.
Do NOT expect the camera to mount on your desktop as if it were a hard drive or optical disc.
-DH
Message was edited by: David Harbsmeier
Message was edited by: David Harbsmeier

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How can I import HDV-Files from a CF-Card (recorded with the Sony HVR Z 7E) to Final cut Pro Version 5.1.4 – is this possible at all?
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http://www.divergentmedia.com/clipwrap
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Magic Bullet Grinder
http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/
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In most cases when people merely copy video files from a camcorder's memory stick or hard drive (usually AVCHD video) to the Mac desktop or a folder, they don't copy the full directory structure on the card, which is essential. Is that what you did when you 'archived' the video? Can you provide more specific info?

How do I import video from a Sony DSC-HX100V Camera into iPhoto

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If you're shooting AVCHD then you'll need to upgrade to iPhoto 11v9.3 to import this material.
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Download MediaInfo and post a screenshot of the properties of one of the videos:
MediaInfo
Also, what about:
Where are they coming from?
How are you importing them?
What is your operating system and computer specs?

How to manage imported video files

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