Importing MPEG and MOV

Question

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?

Answer 1

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.