Importing m2t into iMovie with only one conversion

Question

Ok, so m2t files have been beaten to death in these forums, but I'm still puzzled. Here's my situation. I have a Canon HV20 and only replay the tape once to avoid wear and save time (really?). So I capture to m2ts. Fine. Now I'd like to be able to use these in iMovie with only one conversion. I can convert the stream to a framed (QT) format like AIC. But I'd like to do this just once. Meaning, when I convert clip.m2t to clip.mov I'd like to drag this to iMovie and have iMovie just "copy" an not import/convert. Can I convert to a format where I can just drag to the media folder in the given iMovie project?
For those watching. My toolchain is
1. rewind the tape
2. capture with HDVsplit (win), DVHScap (mac), or whatever
3. split/clip the m2t files with HDVsplit (win) or MPEGstremclip (mac/win), or HDVxDV (mac) and leave as m2t
4. convert the m2t clips I want in my movie to QT+AIC
5. import these QT+AIC .mov clips into iMovie
6. edit
I'd like to optimize 4 and 5. (And by the way, someone should port HDVsplit to mac.)
Thanks,
WL

Answer 1

Matti Haveri wrote:
MPEG Streamclip allows you to export as QuickTime with Apple Intermediate Codec (also QT Player can do this but I prefer MPEG Streamclip for these tasks). I think you should set the resolution to 1440x1080 because that's what iMovie uses internally for 1080i.
I did a quick test and iMovie seems to accept such AIC-encoded .mov files directly to its Media folder. But run some tests through your complete workflow before trusting this will work!
Ok this was helpful. If I take 1440x1080 QT/AIC output from MPEGstreamclip, I can efficiently copy the file in the project. Works like a charm and looks great in iMovie. (I can also now take the 1920x1080 QT/AIC output from streamclip and do the same; not sure what change there. I did a test on a 1:24 length mpeg-2 stream. The 1440x1080 with and without deinterlacing were 700MB and 600MB respectively, while the 1920x1080 is at 800MB. So it makes sense to do 1440x1080 since iMovie handles it fine.)
In summary (hope this helps someone), here's what I do:
0a. Macbook with iMovie HD
0b. LaCie macos formated external drive drive (hfs+)
0c. Canon HV20 filmed at 1080i (not sure what do with the 24p cinemode)
1. use DVHScap (mac) to capture the stream from the HV20. This gives file.m2t, for example. This can be viewed with VLC, for example. (on windows use HDVsplit to capture). Copy the m2t file to the external drive.
2. now use MPEGstreamclip to disect the m2t file. use the 'i' and 'o' to mark inputs and outputs and then "save as". Save this as file_clip.ts for example. The .ts is the same as an .m2t file, so save it as either.
3. now you should have 1 or more file_clip.ts depending on how many times you do step 1 and 2.
4. use MPEGstreamclip in batch mode to take the file_clip.ts or m2t files and "export to Quicktime". Select Apple Intermediate Codec as the type compression type. Yank the quality up to 100%. Select 1400x1080 (4:3) as the frame size and click "deinterlace video" (my opinion on the deinterlacing). Save the movie on the external drive as file_clip.mov.
5. now start a new iMovie HD project and save the project to the external drive. Quit iMovie. open-apple-click on the myproject.iMovieProject to "show package contents". After this you can move your file_clip.mov files to the media directory under this package. A move is best since copy does an actual copy. Move just moves a pointer.
6. start up iMovie and view the trash can when prompted ("Some stray files were found in the project...."). Now drag the trash files to the clips area in iMovie.
7. now edit.
This is a nice approach for a couple of reasons. The .m2t files are great storage formats. The conversion from mpeg-2 stream (m2t) to a framed format like QT+AIC (mov) is done +only once+. And the quality is maintained. Also, I can do this all to an external harddrive, which is nice since I'm limited on my macbook.
I don't have HD gear. Currently I archive SD DV to tape and to big harddisks. In the future I would like to continue to archive HD content in its native compressed (non-AIC) form. Obviously this works via DVHScap, right?
Yes. The m2t files are a great archival format. The 1:25 long clip above was only 275MB while the framed formats were 3 times that. The stream saves differences so it's a lot more efficient (but you don't have frames for editing). VLC is also quick as quick for viewing these. DVHScap never drops any packets (mpeg-2) when capture (for me at least). HDVsplit is also great, but only for windows. HDVxDX also worked like a charm.
Well anyway, thanks for the chatter.
Nate