Imported MPEG-4 clips to iMovie08 arrive without audio

I've recently shot a number of video clips with my Sony Cyber-shot digital camera and imported the stills and video clips to iPhoto. I've just upgraded to iLive08 and have attempted to import the MPEG-4 clips from iPhoto into iMovie. The clips arrive in iMovie without audio. When I open the clips in iPhoto, the audio is working. When I open them in iMovie, their is no audio. How do I get MPEG-4 clips from iPhoto, into an iMovie project with both video and audio?

Can you give me a few tips about using this kind of software?
iSquint is probably the easiest to use of those mentioned but is limited to MPEG4/AAC (default) or H.264/AAC output. Both are compatible with iMovie '08. If you have several files to convert, simply drop them to "Batch" window and press start to begin conversion to MPEG4/AAC files. This codec is very fast but requires 2.0-2.5 times the data rate of a H.264/AAC file for the same level of quaity. Use the MPEG4/AAC option if conversion speed is more important than creating smaller files. Checking the H.264 box switches to the H.264/AAC mode. Use the "Optimize for TV" option for VGA (640x480) files for iMovie '08 SD editing.
When you become more accustomed to the application you may wish to try customizing your settings using the "Advanced" window option. Increasing the video data rate may improve the video quality. (Actually, what you are doing here is preventing the loss of addition detail during conversions.) You may also wish to adjust the "Quality" Factor slider along with increases in the video data rate. It is probably best to leave the audio settings in their default setting.

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Is there a size limit on importing Mpeg 4 clips?

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Is there a max on the length of clip I can import, not capture but rather import?
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I am trying to import a movie to FCE and wonder which format should be set in the Easy Setup. Thx
Used MPEG Streamclip to check the info:
Video Tracks:
Generic MPEG-4, 640 × 480, 29.97 fps, 997 kbps
Audio Tracks:
MPEG Layer-3 Audio stereo, 48 kHz, 64 kbps
Used QuickTime Player Inspecter to check the info:
DivX 6.0, 640x480, Unknown
MPEG Layer3, Stereo, 48.000 kHz

You'd better first convert the movie (using MPEG Streamclip you already have) to the standard NTSC format: open your file in MPEG Streamclip, then Export to QuickTime (cmd-E - NOT Export to DV!) with Compression: Apple DV-DVCPRO/NTSC, Quality: 100%, fps: 29,97, Audio: uncompressed, Stereo, 48 KHz.
Then in FCE select the DV-NTSC Easy Setup before creating the sequence you'll use for editing.
Finally import the converted .mov file into FCE and drag it into the new sequence in the timeline.
That should do it, and the resulting .mov will not require video nor audio rendering.
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How to make a DVD from MPEG-2 clips without re-encoding?

I have many standard DVDs (in MPEG-2 unfortunately) with unedited video footage. I want to extract the best parts of those DVDs and compile them to a new DVD without re-encoding (no fancy scene transitions needed).
I have a program called Cinematize 2, that lets me rip the parts I want as "Main Video Stream" (QT), Elementary streams or MPEG2- Program streams. I can save audio and video as one or two separate files. Which ones works best with DVDSP? I would prefer to save as MPEG-2 Program Stream (one file), as these files can also be played back on the computer with the VLC player.
If I have many different MPEG-2 clips, if I make a DVD with DVDSP, can those clips be played back to back like a movie?
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Don
You do need to use separate video and audio files, and Streamclip can do it right (I never used Cinematize!).
And can it work with AC3 as well as WAV and AIFF
You can use AIFF (uncompressed) audio and/or Dolby AC3. If you can try using AC3 audio in your DVD-R projects because first, it takes less space that AIFF (using AC3 you can fit 120 min of high quality video in a 4.7 disc) and second, because it has a lower bitrate. Using AIFF is a very common cause of formatting errors and playback problems, because highbitrate errors.
I have yet not used DVDSP, so I'm not familiar with the process.
You can visit [Drew13's site|http://www.dvdstepbystep.com> for some good tutorials.
Hope that helps !
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Importing MPEG-2 problems

I am trying transfer a VHS tape onto a DVD. I have a clip from my WinXP PVR in MPEG-2 format that I am able to open with Quicktime (after buying the separate codec grrr) but it will not import into iMovie. iMovie briefly flashes the "Importing" screen but then it goes away and nothing happens.
Back on my PC I converted the MPEG-2 to an MPEG-1 clip and then iMovie imported it but without sound.
What needs to be done to get iMovie to import my MPEG-2 clips?
Edit: nevermind, I found a post that showed the solution. Ignore this post.

In fact I have found a solution: Firstly on conneting the camera via USB you get the usual icon in the finder for an external storage device. I simply drag the folders which are contained within the SD_VIDEO and EXTMOVIE folders of the camera to the computer. The user manual tells one to do this but I am not sure that all the files contained therein are needed.
Then using the software that came with the camera ("Capty mpeg edit ex") I open one or more of the .mod format files and arrange the order if needed while the seperate file names are still visible, and save. The software gives a choice of 4 format possibilities; mpeg (system stream), mpeg (elementary stream), or DV stream, or quicktime movie. Select DV stream; the first 2 aren't recognised by iMovie and QT movie gives very poor quality. The software gives the file a name in the sequence MOVxxx.dv where x is the sequence number. Note where you have chosen to save this file.
Once the file is saved in .dv format you can open it in iMovie. From there on I can forget the stuff that came with the camera.
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Importing MPEG and MOV

i have been trying to import MPEG and MOV files to iMovie 08 without any success.
the movies i have already previously copied to my HD, or have been copied for me, so I am not copying them from any camera.
The funny thing is ... when i look into my iPhoto library from iMovie he does recognise the videos i have copied directly from my digital photo camera, but i can't just copy any MPEG or MOV files from any other location, previously copied, to my iMovie library.
Does anybody here have the same problem as me?

Does anybody here have the same problem as me?
Everyone will have this problem. It is the way iMovie '08 is currently programmed. The basic problem is that most users fail to realize that there are three distinct levels of support in QT based applications:
1) Playback Support - This simply means a particular compresion format can be played in a QT application. E.g., MPEG2 video is not normally supported without the QT MPEG-2 component while MPEG1 and H.264/AAC files are both playback compatible as they are.
2) Conversion Support - This means a file can be "properly" converted to another compression format. In this case, "muxed" formats like MPEG1 and MPEG2 (even with the QT MPEG2 component) cannot be converted to another compression format by QT applications and retain their audio content while H.264/AAC files can.
3) Edit Support - This means that certain operations can be performed on the audio and/or video content at the frame level. QT applications can, for instance, segment the audio and video content of an H.264/AAC file at any frame but since "muxed" files like MPEG1 and MPEG2 files consist of "blocks" of audio data interspersed with "blocks" of video data in a single stream, segmenting a file at any point other than one where a "group" of such "blocks" ends/begins would mean the loss of many "frames worth" of either audio or video data. AVI has a similar problem. Since the "instances" of audio and video data mesh like the cogs of two wheels, segmenting an AVI always leaves a 1 frame deficit between the number audio frames and the number of video frames. (Ever wonder why you end up with that one "white" frame at the end of youe file?)
Now we come to the various types of QT based applications. Many, like iPhoto and iTunes don't really look at the files when they import them, so they are more than happy to import anything they can read and recognize. If a file can be played in the QT player, it can be played in both iPhoto and iTunes. On the other hand, some applications are a bit "picky" about what they will export. iTunes, for instance, will not export/sync a file it has imported if the target device cannot play it. iMovie '06 is also different, in that it will import anything it can convert even if it can't convert it properly -- i.e., an MPEG1 file will be converted to DV video but lose any audio that may have been contained in the file. iMovie '08 takes things to a new level. Since imported files are simply moved/copied to "Events" folders in their original compression format, iMovie '08 first checks to see if the files contain both audio and video data that can be edited at the frame level. If both cannot be edited at the frame level, then iMovie '08 will not allow you to import it. Camcorder devices, however, are handled differently. Since most content on tapeless models are not stored in a QT edit supported format, these files, as well as HDV, are converted to an intermediate codec (which can be edited) as part of the import process.
As to digital cameras, many manufacturers store their video clips in generic file containers. Just because a Kodak digital camera stores its data in an MOV file container, it does not mean bothe audio and video compressions formats can be edited in iMovie '08. Many Kodak models, for instance, store their video clips as MPEG4/µ-Law 2:1 files. Unfortunately, while the iMovie will accept the MPEG4 video, it doesn't like the µ-Law compressed audio. Same holds true for many Casio digital cameras which use Motion JPEG/DVI ADPCM comressed formats. Once again, iMovie has no problem with the Motion JPEG video content but refuses to accept the DVI ADPCM audio. Luckily, users have two options here. They can either convert both the audio and video to an iMovie '08 edit compatible compression format or simply convert the audio content and "re-merge" it with the original video for maximum quality. And, of course, MPEG1/2 "muxed" files or M2V files with unsupported audio compression formats must be converted for the reasons already mentioned above.

No sound after importing mpeg from imovie

Hello, i'm new to IMovie and i have the problem that all my video files made with my photocamera loose the sound when i import them into Imovie. the FAQ's tell me it is because they are in mpef-muxed structure. Can anybody help me with the solution on HOW to get my movies with sound into Imovie ???

I have exactly the same problem and took your advice, downloading MPEG stream clip. But it is not clear to me how to do this.
Previously I dragged the MPEG clips from iPhoto ( which played fine in QT with sound) into my iMovie and there was no sound ( as the OP describes).
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Unable to import a vid clip of 267 MB from iphoto (6.0.6) to imovie (6.0.3)

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is your converted file playable with Quicktime Player?
rename your converted file in Finder .. avoid any 'special' characters as  ☜ ©, blanks, 'signs' | \ …= dots ] ... just letters...
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Importing MPEG-TS

Hello,
Would like to kindly ask if there is an alternate method to import MPEG-TS(.MTS) files to PPro CC?
Currently, the import process creates an environment where the video quality is not viewable. The colors are completely off.
Hopefully you can help out!
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yli

Seems all OK.
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http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/
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Import MPEG 4

I tried to import screen caputured video in the form of MPEG 4 into an Imovie project. It worked sortof. I was able to edit the movie but when I went to import it to I DVD none of the MPEG 4 clips came to IDVD. It was like they were never there. Has anbody else had this problem? I used SNAPZ Pro to capture the video.

Elli1 wrote:
... Has anbody else had this problem? I used SNAPZ Pro to capture the video.
welcome Elli to the  boards ..
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A low level exception occured in: Importer MPEG (Importer)

Okay, first some system specs:
Macbook Pro
2.2 GHz Intel Core i7
8 GB RAM
Radeon HD 6750
OSX Lion 10.7.5
Premiere Pro CS6 (updated to lastest available version)
--I remember installing updates a few days ago (maybe last week), but don't remember if any of them were for Premiere and could possibly be the problem.
The trouble I'm having is with one .MTS clip. I have a timeline about 20 minutes in length. I edited the whole thing and had no problems the whole time, with any clip. All clips originally imported correctly, played back fine, etc.
I exported a copy for client review (from Media Encoder CS6) the other day. One clip (the .MTS clip in question) showed as "Media Offline". It is not offline, I did not move the clip, etc. I unlinked the clip in the project, relinked it, and it did show up in the project and was able to be played back.
Exported another copy, found the same error occured with just this one clip. Now I'm noticing that when I open the project, I receive the error in the topic title (A low level exception occured in: Importer MPEG (Importer). The clip will not play back and shows up as "Media Pending", as if it's not coming in correctly. Unlinking and relinking doesn't fix the issue.
I have many other .MTS clips in my timeline. All of them work correctly, play back correctly, and export correctly. There doesn't seem to be any inherent problem with the clip itself; it plays back smoothly in VLC, and I've transcoded it to a .mov to try and just bring that in and get around this stupid issue. This didn't work either; I unlink the clip, then relink to the transcoded .mov -- it actually will play back in the preview monitor, but will not display when trying to view it on my timeline. I have also created a copy of the project, tried this inside of the copy, as well as created a new sequence and pasted over the information; none of that worked either. There are also other sequences this clip is on, and it will not play back in any of them either, but as I mentioned, plays back in the preview.
I did find one other topic with a similar issue; they recommend deactivating Premiere, restarting the computer, and activating it again. I did do a restart initially to try and diagnose the problem, but to no avail. I tried deactivating the program, but the Adobe Application Manager doesn't load; it has almost never loaded for me whenever I try to use it, which is frustrating in and of itself.
I tried creating an entirely new project and importing the other project. When I did this Premiere just froze; I'm assuming it can't handle all the pieces (it's a fairly complex project with hundreds of clips) and they are also coming off an external drive through a USB 3.0 cable.
I've temporarily "fixed" this by bringing in the transcoded clip, resyncing it to to the spot I need it in, and cutting it as necessary. I typed this post as I went and tried various things, and while I've found my way around the problem, it doesn't really solve it. I opened another old project that was very similar to this one and also encountered the same error message. I didn't stick around to find out if there was just one clip causing the issue; the fact that it was there was enough for me.
So, what do I need to be doing here? I'm guessing the stock answer is to uninstall Premiere and reinstall it, which I don't want to do unless I have to since it's a pain in the ***. I'm kind of through the problem for this project, but want to be able to deal with it for the future. Hoping someone with knowledge can chime in and tell me whether it's the update from the other day causing this.
If the answer is to uninstall and reinstall Premiere, do I need to run some cleaner tool? I vaguely remember hearing about that before in regards to uninstalling and reinstalling.

I'm having the same issue here.
Error: A low level exception occurred in: Importer MPEG (Importer)
Anyone here who can help with this?
Some Specs:
MBP Retina, NVIDIA Gforce GT 750M, 16GB Ram, i7, G-RAID Thunderbolt (external media storage)
Premiere CC 2014
I'm working in a 1080p25 Timeline with Canon C300 footage (.MXF), normally it runs properly.

Audio stops playing after a few seconds when importing a HD clip

I have CS4 running on Enterprise version of Windows 7 64 bit on the following hardware:
Processor: Intel i7-970 Hex core Gulftown
Motherboard: Asus P6X58 Premium
RAM: 24GB Kingston DDR3 1065
Video card: Nvidia Geforce9800GT
Four hard drives, system disk is stand alone and the other three are split in groups of RAID0
When I import a HD clip from file (EXCAM EX 720p60p) the audio will play in the source window or the timeline for a few seconds and then quit. If I edit the clip in Soundbooth, from the timeline, the waveform quits at the point that the audio stopped in the timeline.
This behavior is very sporatic; sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. Closing the program and restarting sometimes solves a certain clips audio problem, sometimes it doesn't. Yesterday I worked all day without it happening but today it is happening every few clips. Some I can fix by restarting Premiere, some I can't.
If I import the clip from Bridge to Soundbooth the audio waveform is just fine.
I have seen this problem discussed several years ago but never resolved in that discussion. Any ideas?

Yes! I imported the entire BPAV in a file on my scratch drive under the specific project folder. From there I am using the media browser in CS4 to either preview the clip or import it into the project. The audio drops out whether it is previewed or imported. And as I have said, this behavior is not consistant. I have yet to find a repeatable cure.
Also as I have said if I import the offending clip, from the same folder, into Soundbooth using Bridge the waveform is fine. If I import the same clip into Soundbooth from the Premiere timeline the waveform goes flat where the audio stopped in Premiere.
Thanks for the quick replies.
I am readingthe article that was suggested soon.

Imported MPEG-4 clips to iMovie08 arrive without audio

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