Importing Stills - iMovie 4

I am nearly done with a graduation movie, but suddenly I'm having trouble importing stills through iphoto. When I select the picture through the photos tab, it looks fine, until I drag it to the timeline. Then it becomes mostly a black still with just a tiny part of the original photo showing. I did recently repair & verify permissions on the hard drive, but other than that, I can't think of anything I've changed. Can you tell me what to try next?

Check out how to center the image here:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=2271982
Karl

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Still photos imported to imovie change to solid green

i'm using all the newest versions of iLife and Aperture (as of 11/13/13)... i use iMovie to make slideshows from my photography because i like the controls better than in Aperture or iPhoto... however, since upgrading to Mavericks and all of the new iWorks, iLife, Aperture on my Fall 2011 MBA, when i import still photos into iMovie to make a slideshow, they have a propensity to be rendered, at least in previews, as solid green images (think green screen)... i'm using jpeg images that have been exported to a separate file from my Aperture library, all using RGB color... there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which ones render incorrectly and which do not... sometimes the thumbnail image appears as the solid green, most of the time, though, it will appear as a standard thumbnail image, but show up green on the preview screen. I have not tried actually exporting the project as a quicktime movie to see what happens. I have tried closing and reopening imove after import, but that seems to make no difference. if i delete the files and reimport, sometimes they will import correctly, but often they do not.
My iMovie files, as well as the exported jpg's are all located on my internal SSD. Is anyone else having this kind of thing happen?

I have been having the same problem with iMovie and the iPhoto library, where the imported pictures turn to solid green.
What I tried was to convert the photos to a video fileand import into iMovie - this is what I did:
- I opened up iPhoto and created a slideshow with the picture (or pictures) to be added to the iMovie project.
- Then I exported the slideshow to the desktop (or wherever you want) which creates a video file. I noticed it is mpeg-4 format, and I do not see anywhere to change this format.
- Back in iMovie, I imported the new video into the project either by Import Media or dragging it in, I guess either way works.
This seems to work for me so far, even though I'm still experimenting. But I am still disappointed in this, since it only happened since the upgrade to Mavericks and iMovie 10.

Can't Import Into iMovie (still)

I've tried all of the following things:
1) Using Roxio's Easy VHS to DVD to convert my old home videos (they save as .mpg files)
2) Using my Nikon CoolPix to shoot videos (they save as .avi files)
3) Using my iPhone 3GS to shoot videos (they save as .mov files)
None of these will import into iMovie. I've tried the drag and drop method as well as the file>import method. And in the Roxio program they have an "export to iMovie" button. I get an error message every time. In the case of the .avi files it says error -43, in the export form Roxio it says error -5000. The .mov files don't produce an error message, but when I attempt to import, nothing happens (if I import from the file menu the status bar pops up and immediately disappears with no progress). Any ideas?
Message was edited by: JamesLJ

1) I downloaded MPEG Streamclip for this function, but it says I need to purchase the MPEG-2 converter for $20, which I don't want to do since it seems that the Roxio software has this function (converting to Apple Intermediate).
2 & 3) I Don't see an iPhoto event in iMovie. I'm using iMovie '09, to clarify. Is this one of the features they got rid of in the switch to '09?
I used MPEG Streamclip to convert an AVI file (recorded with my Coolpix) to Apple Intermediate Codec. It converted, but I still got the same error message when I tried to import it to iMovie. I went to file-import, and selected the movie. The status bar popped up as if it was importing, but after it finished, the error message "Could not copy file [file path and name] (-43)" And that's also the reason I don't want to buy the Streamclip add-on. This seems to be an issue in iMovie.

Importing from iMovie 09

I have iMovie 09 and I just bought Final Cut Express. I created a simple movie in iMovie 09. I exported it as Final Cut XML. I imported the file in Final Cut Express. All as described in the Final Cut Express video tutorial.
However, I just get a "Media Offline" message... the import doesn't seem to work. I have tried this multiple times.
I have tried reconnecting the files, but it doesn't seem to let me select the right file...
Very confused... Is there anything I can do to get this working? (Preferably without having to attempt to reconnect the files)
Thanks!

Thanks Tom.
In the video tutorial it appears as if you do not need to reconnect the files. I assumed that this would only be necessary if the files had been moved, but I didn't move them. I thought that the XML files would include directions to where the video clips are stored. Do you have to manually point to the files every time that you import from iMovie?
My iMovie project is a screen recording. It consists of several .mov files. I have tried removing all the titles / fades / transitions but it still cannot see the video clips when I import them to FCE.
The movie's about 8 minutes long. It's in widescreen. I haven't changed any settings.

How do i import my iMovie event library to FCPX when the iMovie library is NOT in the home folder.

my situation:
my MBP is running two drives: a 160gb SSD that has my home folder, OS and all apps, and a 500gb HDD for data and non-essential software.
the HDD used to be my OS and home folder, so I used to run iMovie off it. but after installing the SSD, i am now running Lion off it, and it is now my new home folder.
so my iMovie events are now marooned on my ex-home folder, on what is now my HDD data drive.
I can import iMovie events no problem, as FCPX prompts for where the project files are. but FCPX doesn't prompt for the location of the iMovie events library, so how do i get those old iMovie events in?
i suppose i could copy all the events over to my SSD, then do the import, and then delete them. but that would take up a lot of space, and id rather not be copying and deleting so much data on the SSD.
is there any other way?

It is definitely to your advantage to use the FCP command to Import your iMovie Events all at once. The reason is you will not double up on space. FCP will create a hard lingk to your events so you can access them in FCP without altering the iMovie Event in any way, but without doubling the space.
So there are several ways you could approach this.
1) If you are not using iMovie anymore, you could simply move them to the iMovie Event folder at the top level of either your old drive, or any attached drive that is formatted correctly (Mac OS Extended (journaled). This would likely break any iMovie Projects that you currently have, so it is not recommended if you will continue to use iMovie.
2) If iMovie is still working, you can use iMovie to move the Events to a proper drive. Click VIEW/EVENTS BY DISK in iMovie, and Command-Drag in iMovie to Movie Events to the drive you want while maintaining your project links. This option is probably only available to you if you have set up your old drive as your official Home directory.
3) As long as you set your "old" drive to be your Home Folder in OSX, you can just leave them where they are. OSX lets you have the Home folder on a different drive than your startup drive. This is not ususally recommended, but it is useful when you have an SSD. When I got my current Mac with an SSD, I moved my home folder to the internal hard drive but OSX and my Apps are on the SSD.
To do this, I followed the advice of longtime poster Pondini, who has a great website that walks you through this.
Here is a link.
Link to Pondini's site. http://pondini.org/OSX/Home.html
Link to Pondini's post on your topic. http://pondini.org/OSX/SetupOther.html

No capture...no import from imovie hd

I've just installed FCE HD. Since the add on apple.com said it worked with most of the recent camecorders, I did'nt checked the "official" qualified list .
Of course, my SONY DCR-PC330E pal is not listed though rather recent and it seems that only a few out of the numerous SONY models are in fact on this list . So, FCE doesn't recognize it .
Anyway, I still have iMovie HD - and my camera works perfectly with it - and I tried to import some iMovie projects in FCE .
It does'nt work either : each time I get an error message, st like "this file can't be opened ".
So, up to now, the only files I can import are pictures files .
And by the way, is there a possibility in FCE to animate these pictures like with the K.B. effect of iMovie ?
thanks for all help to come...!
iMac g5 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Maybe I lied. Does this camera actually record in DV?
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Productinformation/SonyHandycam_DCR_PC330E_5601033
This seems to show the camera as a stills camera with MPEG-1 video recording. Unless it's actually shooting in the DV format you will not be able to capture the material or bring it into FCE.

Can I import movies originating from video's that were put on a DVD import in IMovie?, Can I import movies originating from video's that were put on a DVD import in IMovie?

Can I import movies originating from video's that were put on a DVD import into IMovie?

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://store.apple.com/us/product/D2187Z/A/quicktime-mpeg-2-playback-component-f or-mac-os-x
(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. See this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3381
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.

QT import let iMovie hang on create event

Hi all !
While exploring iMovie I wanted to import a quicktime movie file around approx 5 minutes. When iMovie gives the messagebox creating event for that mov it says less than a minute, but nothing happens. After a while the spinning wheel of death displays...
Tried several times with the same result (had to force quit every time and delete the event folder in ordeer to use iMovie again) Anybody else experienced this?
Thanks for your time!

Well I have a work around.
Lucky for me iLife'08 didn't delete iMovie HD. So, I import my Quartz Composer movie into iMovie HD, then I save it as a mpeg4 movie and this I can import in iMovie.
Guess that Apple still has a lot of work to do with iMovie!

Camtasia import to iMovie losses quality

I'm creating a number of screen capture videos and looking for high quality/best practice settings for Camtasia and iMovie. For camtasia I've been using 30 fps and recording in 1280 x 720.
I've exported to both mp4 and .mov for import to iMovie but the end result is a loss of quality when the files are imported. I just upgraded to camtasia 2.2 and still have the same problems.
I'm not sure what I'm missing. Are there any iMovie import settings or file management actions I should take after importing?
Any help would be appreciated.
-Bill

Yes, I realize this , I have made many movies but the finished product (a burned dvd using iDVD still presents the photos in a lower resolution. I am thinking it must be a bug in the computer. Someone suggested turning off the Ken Burns effect in preferences to improve the situation. It never happened on my non intel iMac 20in. This iMac (intel 20inch with 2 gigs of ram even) seems to be quirker than any other mac I have owned.
Joe McGarry

Is an 8.7GB file too big to import into iMovie 9?

Is an 8.7GB file too big to import into iMovie 9? I am using iMovie 8.0.6 on a Macbook Pro running OS 10.6.8 on 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 2 GB Memory. I can't get my movie file to import into iMovie...any advice would be much appreciated!

When you import into iMovie, your video is converted into DV format. This uses 13 GB per hour of video. So the first thing you have to do is make sure you have 26 GB free on your hard drive, plus another 10GB free for OSX to perform, plus 10GB free if you plan on burning a DVD.
iMovie has non-destructive editing. If you have used any part of a clip and discard the rest, that entire clip is still saved in your project - unused but eating up disc space. If you use no part of a clip and discard the clip, then the clip can go in the trash and you get back disc space. So...
If you import 2 hours of video (26GB) as one clip, and only use 2 minutes, your 2-minute segment retains its 2-hr source in memory. 2 min = 26 GB.
One thing you can do is set the iMovie preferences to automatically create new clips every 3 minutes. (2 hours of 3-min clips = 40 clips.) This allows you to find the 2-minute segment you want and delete all of the unused clips. Say your 2-minute segment comes from 2 of these 3-min clips, so you keep 6 minutes of source footage and delete the rest. Clips that are entirely unused will be completely deleted and give you back disc space. At .65 GB per clip, your 6-minute project is now only 1.3 GB, and you've just regained 24.7 GB of disc space.

Screen Capture Video Loses Quality When Imported Into iMovie - WHY?

I am using screen capture software to make a video of my screen at 1024x768. The video is for a tutorial. I want to use iMove to get things like transitions and such into the movie, and to add text and audio. The problem is that, although the video looks great in QuickTime, it loses quality significanly when I import into iMove. The text on the screen is blurry, and the quality of everything else is terrible as well.
Is this s limitation of iMove? Can screen capture video be imported? Does it only work with DV?
Also, I tried to convert the file to many other formats, from QuickTime to MPEG-4, so it's not the file type.
If anyone can help me out, I've be very grateful.
Thanks!
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Your dimensions are getting in the way. iMovie converts your 1024X768 to a DV Stream file that is 720X480.
One workaround would be to set your display resolution smaller. Try 800X600 (if your windows fit that size).
If you're using Snapz Pro you should set your window capture to 640X480. This size will import nicely into iMovie.
An even better way would be to do all of the work using QuickTime Pro. Again a 1024X768 QT.mov file would not fit on the most common display settings used. When you add the QT Player window the controller would be below the screen and not accessible for most users.
800X600 would make a better file (smaller, too). It would still be 4:3 aspect and would also import into iMovie.

How do I import an iMove file into Toast 7?

How do I import an iMovie file into Toast 7? I have tried
the image file copy and the horizontal
aliasing still is there.

I am not quite sure what you are trying to do since you mention copying an image file. Let's start with an iMovie project and you now want to encode it. You have a choice of programs to do the encoding, Toast being one of them. If the video is less than 2 hours, iDVD offers more options and does a great job encoding the movie too. I use both programs. If this is the process you are trying to follow, then Toast 7 allows you to drag the iMovie project file directly into the Toast window (after selecting the Video tab)and it will locate the right file to encode. Set the various options for menus, etc. and then go. Usually, it is best to Save As Disc Image, and then burn the DVDs later from the image file again with Toast using the Copy tab (copy image file selection). If I create the image file with iDVD, I still use Toast to burn the DVDs. Toast 7 works great with iMovie 5, but I have not used it with iMovie 6. There could be some incompatibilities.

Importing AVCHD: iMovie vs. Voltaic HD

I'm going to use a new HDD-based camcorder (those who read my previous topics will know why I - or rather someone else - chose HDD over tape). I've narrowed down my choice between a "basic" standard definition model, and a choice of more expensive high-def. models which feature optical image stabilization and take nice still pictures. Since they're HDD-based, they record in AVCHD.
I've been recently given a 10 s. sample of AVCHD video which I converted using Voltaic HD, but it took about 2 minutes (and I can consistently reproduce this time when converting it again) on my 2.2 GHz MBP. This is far from what I've read here when importing with iMovie '08 (which seems to take about twice as long as the actual footage length, and not ten times).
For those who own and use an AVCHD camcorder with iMovie '08 (and possibly Voltaic as well), how long does it usually take you to import footage with iMovie? With Voltaic?
Do you think (or know from personal experience), importing with Voltaic would be faster when importing larger clips, or do I really have to expect it taking ten times as long as the footage to import AVCHD?

I used "Voltaic" to test a short sequence recorded with a Panasonic AVCHD SD5 camcorder - to see what the quality was like before buying the camera, and before buying an Intel Mac to go with it.
Like Appleman's ..that camcorder shoots on SD (..or SDHC..) memory chips, not a hard disc.
Actually, that's what my sample came from (an SD5, or possibly an SD9).
I was disappointed with the results - though that might have been because I didn't choose some settings correctly - because although normal zooms and pans and static material looked OK, fast-moving material (..e.g; a train passing by..) seemed to have its fields reversed or overlaid, with an annoyingly imprecise location of vertical edges, and strong "comb" effects on moving edges ..as if the interlaced fields had been de-interlaced and then doubled to make Voltaic's frames (..this was using PAL video at 'full' 1920x1080i).
I'm not sure I understand all of that, but I was also disappointed with Voltaic's results on fast-moving objects (there wre two in the sample clip). Overall quality was very good though, and once the footage was converted from AIC to DV, the problem was less noticeable.
P.S: ..You say "..it took about 2 minutes (and I can consistently reproduce this time when converting it again) on my 2.2 GHz MBP.."
On Voltaic's website FAQs (..scroll down about halfway..) they show:
"How long does the conversion take?
This depends on your machine, but as a guide, on a 2.0 GHz MacBookPro with 2Gb of RAM, a 10 second AVCHD clip takes about 2 minutes to convert. In other words, it takes about 12 times as long as the original footage to convert the clip."
Thanks. That settles it. 12x is way to slow, and while iMovie can apparently import the footage faster, I want to keep the ability to transfer the footage from the camcorder's HDD to my drive and convert it later. So, AVCHD is not for me yet.

Why won't my video won't import into iMovie. There is a red ERROR message underneath clip.

I just imported 40 out of 43 clips of HD video from my JVC HD Everio camera into iMovie '11. It's my first time using either equipment for editing. I selected import all but only 40 of the clips successfully imported. 3 of the clips were not able to be imported but I can still play the clips fine from the import window. The clips all have red error messages underneath them. This is an issue that I've seen posted other places online but it doesn't seem to be resolved. It's very frustrating for me, I've been researching online to try to fix this for hours now. The closest I have come to a solution involved deleting extra 3rd party plugins from my quicktime folder however I don't have a folder named "Quicktime" in my Library. So I don't know what to do. Please help!

The error message appears under video clips already imported into iMovie. Like in this screenshot http://km.support.apple.com/resources/sites/APPLE/content/live/VIDEOS/0/VI57/en_ US/imovie-start-poster.jpg on my mac out of the 6 clips shown per row, only 5 of them have the word "imported" underneath them in white letters and then one of the clips has the word "error" underneath it.
I don't think it's a corrupted file because yeah I can play the three clips just fine. The page that I read that had that fix in it (deleted plugins) was here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1893021?start=0&tstart=0 The correct answer is near the bottom of the page and was posted by iphonejunky. Maybe the fix would be that simple but like I said, I can't find a folder named quicktime in my library. I don't know if I'm just stupid or what.
I don't think I have Flip4Mac installed because I never consciously installed it. I use VLC for playing most video. The clips imported are all .mov

Trouble opening mpeg movie files and importing into iMovie 08

Hi, I'd be most grateful if anyone could provide any solutions to the following problem...
A friend has emailed me two .mpeg movie files which are parts 1&2 of a home movie which I want to edit in iMovie and burn to DVD. The footage was shot on a miniHDV camcorder (not sure which brand).
Opening in QT 7.6 gives the following warning dialogue: "The movie could not be opened. The file is not a movie file."
The files will however play fine in VLC Media Player, but not in mpeg Streamclip (the file appears to play but the viewer is blank with no audio/video). Trying to import into iMovie is unsuccessful. The iMovie browser won't let me choose the files or drag/drop.
Any ideas. I read somewhere that iMovie 08 can't import mpeg-1 files. Do I need to convert the files, and if so how?
Thanks in advance, and apologies - this is my first experience of video editing.

I have QT Player but it hasn't "kicked in" when I try to import my videos.
Something called PIXE VRF Browser is supposed to help in the conversion. The QT MPEG-2 thingy won't install until I buy QT Pro, according to what I get on the screen.
Sounds like you have too many applications trying to do the same thing. Either use the Pixela Pixe VRF Browser or use the Mac applications (Mac OS Finder, Apple QT MPEG-2 Playback Component w/MPEG Streamclip) but not both to do the same job. The Apple Finder should be able to copy multiplexed VOB/MPEG-2 files from either your PC burned DVD or directly from your camcorder DVD to your MAC hard drive where MPEG Streamclip/QT MPEG-2 component can convert them for use in iMovie '08. Frankly, I don't understand your work work flow or why you want to import your files to a GOP editor in the first place if your goal is to do frame level editing in iMovie '08.
As for Jon's suggestion, I am on dial-up and cannot download big files at 3-4 Kbps snail pace.
What does this have to do with importing your camcorder files to your PC and re-burning them to DVD for use on your Mac? If I were to make a recommendation here, it would have been to use an external hard drive here rather than DVDs for transporting files between platforms and then only if you want the files available to both. If your goal is only to edit them in iMovie '08 or iMovie HD on your Mac, then why not cut out the "middleman" platform?
I wish I could purchase these updates on DVDs but the genies couldn't even tell me if there's such a service.
Totally confused here. Are you saying your DVR-D300 files were commercial produced or that you are dealing with torrent downloads of copy-written material? These are two separate issues with facets beyond the scope of this forum.
As for "platform", I have iMovie08. iMac does not read the mini RAM disks when I connect the camera to a USB port.
Are you saying the Finder doesn't read them or that iMovie '08 doesn't read them? Do you "finalize" your DVDs before trying to read them via USB as the manual states may be necessary as indicated on page 150 of your manual?
How can I find out that iMovie09 will let me import and edit my Panasonic videos?
You could try going to the Apple site and checking the the tapeless camcorder compatibility chart. The Panasonic DVR-D300 is specifically listed along with a hot link for additional information. However, this still won't help you you don't finalize the content.

Importing Stills - iMovie 4

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