Quickest way to import MP4?

I have imported video from my iPhone & a Sanyo HD Xacti (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, recorded on Ultra 16G SD cards) thru iPhoto & iMovie 08. I just got a new iMac and wanted to understand the options on importing video and which is the fastest/most efficient way to import them.
I have put the SD cards in my printer to import. The new iMac has the SD slot to import, which seems faster (I assume it is quicker because it is not thru a USB printer cable?).
I dragged some files into a folder that I wanted to put on a dvd to give to someone and I don't intend to edit them in iMovie. It seemed to go quickly. Other clips on the card I do want to edit in iMovie, so I imported them and it took a long time to "process the event", regardless of whether it was from the SD card or the folder on my mac. I'm assuming that they need to be "processed" into iMovie and that simply takes time? Then it generates the thumbnails? Approximately, how long should it take to import a 16G Ultra SD card from the iMac slot?
Sometimes my iPhoto opens and asks to import, then next time I open iMovie it needs to generate thumbnails that seems to take awhile. How do I move the videos that are in iPhoto to iMovie and will it take a long time?
I must confess that my iPhoto & iMovie libraries are a mess and I plan to spend some time cleaning them up since I have the new mac, then I need to back them up and store the back up. I plan to back them up to an internal drive in a dock and store it in a fireproof/waterproof safe.
I am posting another Q re:best configuration for external hard drives holding iMovie events.

Insert the disk then tell iTUnes to add the music to library. Depending on drive speed, system power, and format the disk is in; the import could take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.
I get 5x to 6x import speeds using my laptop when converting from audio CD to 128k AAC files. This slows down a little to 4x when using 256k AAC.

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Quickest way to import?

my music library is backed up over 20 discs so i simply added them to itunes while my ipod was synched up so the music went straight from the cd to ipod, without staying on the computer hard drive. now i want them all on my hard drive, but i can only import one at a time, which would take ages. at the moment all of these files have exclamation marks next to them and just copying and pasting the files into folders means i would have to locate each individual file through itunes. just wondering if there is a quick way i can import the songs and help itunes locate them all at once? thanks

Insert the disk then tell iTUnes to add the music to library. Depending on drive speed, system power, and format the disk is in; the import could take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.
I get 5x to 6x import speeds using my laptop when converting from audio CD to 128k AAC files. This slows down a little to 4x when using 256k AAC.

Poor quality export from imported mp4 screen capture

My video source is an mp4 file created from a screen capture of a unix app running on a PC. Quicktime plays the mp4 file fine (lots of detail, dark blacks, ...), but the resulting movie (Share > Export Movie > HD 720p) is faded. When shown on a large screen, the movie is pixelated and faded (grey blacks, etc.).
I imported the mp4 file into iMovie (File > Import > Movies) with Fit in Frame, Optimize video unchecked, Widescreen (16/9), and 30 fps NTSC.
I have tried various combinations of import and export settings and the above is the best I get.
I'm guessing the import is throwing half the information away (hence the faded appearance). Whatever the cause, is there a way to import mp4 files into iMovie and get the same quality on the export? I tried exporting the entire import and got a file about half the size.

Your description of the problem - a 'comb' effect - sounds as if the "fields" which make up the resultant picture have been put together in reverse.
(..You don't normally see 'interlaced' video in iMovie's playback window - you normally see just a single field of the two, to make the picture clearer and simpler to display..)
[..A video picture's generally made up of two "fields" which each comprise half the number of lines down the screen: one field comprises the odd-numbered lines, and the other the even-numbered ones. Your exported video should be encoded with the lower (2nd) field first ..as described in this Apple document ..and the problem's mentioned here as well..]
However ..you said in your first post that "..I am using a Sony HDR-HC1 and trying to export at the highest possible settings.."
This is an HDV camcorder, and you didn't say if the original footage which you shot was HDV or normal DV. (HDV is recorded differently from normal DV, as it's recorded in a more compressed format, and it has to be automatically 'unscrambled' by Apple's Intermediate Codec while you're importing it into iMovie HD.)
It seems as if somewhere along the chain of importing>editing>exporting, the fields are being reversed, so that you get this jumpiness on replay when QuickTime tries to deliver a "highest quality" interleaved replay of both fields:
Ah ..sudden thought: you mentioned that you exported thro' iDVD: "..I have used iDVD by dropping it into a DVD theme and it seems to work ok, although the playback is a little jumpy, not quite as good I would have expected.."
You may have left the iDVD settings at their default 'NTSC' instead of switching them to PAL.
Check your iDVD Preferences ..that may be the problem.

Importing MP4's - is there a preset or best practices?

Hi
I have some mp4 footage that I need to edit. (Yes, I know it's less than ideal editing quality, but I'm using the footage -- btw it's for the web)
When I import it into Premiere it is not the usual avi size image. It's 320 x 240, so I have to transform it larger to fit the full screen: 720 x 480.
The output will be mp4 or flv and it will be downsized back to 320 x 240 for output (as I said, it's for the web).
Rather than having to transform the footage, and then downsize it once I get it ready for the web, is there a better way to import it into Premiere? So I won't have to go through the transforming (making it larger).
In other words is there a Mp4 preset that is already 320 x 240?
Thanks
Rowby
http://www.rowby.com

My phone (nokia n93) produces mp4s and PP2 would not import (unsupported format) Just tried with CS3 and it imports clips but as audio only. Elements supports mp4 - although if i want to use footage from the phone I convert to DV first - which fortunately is quite rare.
Looks like you are getting your mp4 into CS3 OK? Whats the source? Guess it's a codec thing. Try a new custom project with matching dimensions in CS3 to avoid the scaling up and down.

Can't import MP4s into iMove '08

I recorded some videos on my Nokia N95 and wanted to put them into iMovie and export them onto YouTube after some editing, but iMovie won't import my MP4s! Are there any free and painless ways to convert MP4s into more compatible formats for use with iMovie '08?
Any help greatly appreciated!

Oh sorry!! It turns out that when you import movies into iPhoto '08, when you export them they come out as images, instead of movies; how strange!! :S You can view movies in iPhoto but you can't get them out of there, thanks for your help anyways , you can drag and drop movies from iPhoto into iMovie so I'm all sorted now.

I have a Sony DCR -SR32 which does not appear in the list of compatible cameras for imovie '11. Does anyone know if there is way to import files from this camera ?

I have a Sony DCR-SR32 HDD video camera which does not appear in the list of compatible cameras for imovie '11. Does anyone know if there is way of importing video from this camera to imovie ?
Thanks
Pheona

Greetings Pheona,
That appears to be a hard drive based camecorder. Usually these mount on the desktop of your computer as a little white hard drive icon. If you go inside you should be able to find the movie files the camera is saving. See what format they are (the last 3 letters at the end of the file name is a good place to start).
You can drag the movie files from the camera hard drive to the computer to copy them. Then convert them with a video file conversion program to a format iMovie can understand.
Try converting one of the files using a video file conversion program like Video Monkey: http://videomonkey.org/downloads/
In the "Convert to" drop down menu choose "DV" (Preferred), "Quicktime", or "MP4". Then import the resulting file into iMovie and see if that works any better.
If that program can't convert the files you can try another file conversion program:
http://www.southpolesoftware.com/iVI/iVI.php
http://shedworx.com/voltaichd
http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/Turbo264HD-software/product1.e n.html
Hope that helps.

Is there any way to import my OWN DVD movies into iTunes and my video iPod?

I just purchased the new 30 GB video iPod last week, and although I have already purchased a few movies from the iTunes store, I wanted to know if there was a way to import a DVD movie from my own DVD library like we can with our own music CDs?
Thanks,
Suzanne
 eMac, iBook G4 14", Indigo iMac G3, Indigo iBook Clamshell G3 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

"That's too bad, because these are movies (DVDs) that I own and have purchased legally myself. How is that different from importing your own purchased CDs into iTunes? Seems like a double standard to me."
About "legally owning" the DVDs - Yes, I understand, and I'm figuring that most folks who want to put their DVDs onto their iPod are owning the movies legally (or, at least, it appears so).
That's not really the issue here, though.
The problem is, there is an encryption that is written onto regular, copyrighted DVDs (i.e., movies). In order to get that onto your iPod, you will have to use software on your computer that breaks that encryption, and makes the file into some more "normal" format, like say, MP4.
This action can arguably be considered as illegal, in a sense, since you are removing the encryption that's on DVD, which is protecting it from being easily copied, and transferred around. (which would be illegal).
This is a bit different than CDs, since, although they are copyrighted too, the songs are usually not in a protected format.
If you have a song that you've purchased from the iTunes Store, and you want to break into that "protected" file format, that's the same kind of issue as the DVD ripping.
(Notice that the Hosts included that into the ADUA as well, right along with DVD ripping.)
...It's quite an interesting kind of subject, isn't it?
-Kylene

ITunes will not import mp4-files.

For some reason iTune will not import mp4-files into iTunes. The files only contain audio, no video. I know that mp4 is a format that combines the two.
The files were generated in an earlier version of iTunes, like in 2006 or something. They were imported from CD's. I can locate them just fine on my computer and they play without problem in Windows Media Player.
The problem is that when I try to import them the way that iTunes want me to import files its like they don't exist. ITunes locates the folders and sub-folders, but its like there's no content in the folders...
I've tried changing my import settings but nothing seems to help...
Have any of you encountered a similar problem, could you fix it and how?
I've contacted Apple-support but they were unable (incompetent) to assist me...
To me it seems like the only option left is to convert all the files, like 2 GB, from mp4 to mp3.
Thankful for any help I could get solving this ***** of an issue...
//Magnus

iTunes can handle just about any file format that works with QuickTime and will play any file purchased or downloaded from the iTunes Store. If you've got video files that end with a .mov, .m4v, or .mp4 file extension, you can import them to iTunes with ease. However, the video especially the MP4 video must meet the following specifications: it must be encoded as 540 kbit/s (minimum) MPEG-4 video (H.264) with an approximately 128 kbit/s AAC audio track or encoded as 1.5 Mbit/s (minimum) MPEG-4 video (H.264) with a minimum 128 kbit/s AAC audio track. If not, you will fail to import MP4 to iTunes.
Even if your MP4 files meet the above specifications and are added to iTunes successfully, it may still fail to sync to iOS devices. For iPhones, iPads, and video-capable iPods play videos in more specific video formats and codecs.
Here is a detailed guide to get iTunes unfriendly MP4 to iTunes
http://bigasoft.blogspot.com/2012/03/mp4-itunes-import-how-to-solve-cannot.html

Premiere Cs3 Importing mp4 at incorrect framerates, how do I fix this?

I'm using Open Broadcast Software to record mp4 videos. I'm using Premiere Cs3 to edit those videos.
I had made a few changes to the settings in OBS to make streaming to twitch better, but after reverting my settings to record rather than stream I'm running into a problem. When I import mp4 videos I made after this point, Premiere interprets the footage as if it was shot at 1,000 fps instead of the 60fps I shot it at. I know I can reinterpret the footage at 60 fps but this causes problems, like dropping the audio and looping/distorting random frames.
I wasn't having this problem before. I'm a bit of a novice, and this is all way over my head.

MP4 is a wrapper, what is inside YOUR wrapper - Exactly what is INSIDE the video you are editing?
Codec & Format information, with 2 links inside for you to read http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1270588
Report back with the codec details of your file, use the programs below... A screen shot works well to SHOW people what you are doing
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1070933 for screen shot instructions
Free programs to get file information for PC/Mac http://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download
Does your video use a VARIABLE Frame Rate or a Constant Frame Rate?

Rebuilding PC disk - quickest way to keep iTunes library?

I am going to rebuild the disk and system on my Windows XP PC today.
What's the quickest way to save & restore my iTunes library?
Can I just dump the folder "My Music" onto an external hard disk, then dump it back into the rebuilt PC ?
Thanks

The following Apple article tells you how to use your iPod to transfer your library to another PC, which your new installation effectively is. You could easily substitute an external drive for the iPod.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173
This method involves just copying the iTunes folder. If you keep music outside the iTunes Music folder, for example elsewhere in My Music and you don't want to condolidate, then copy My Music. It is probably simpler to copy the contents of My Music on the external drive back into My Music on the new installation rather than replacing the actual My Music folder on the new PC. You could upset the registry setting for the My Music folder if you delete it on the new installion prior to copying the version from the external drive.
One point if you do have music outside the iTunes Music folder it is important to set up your account with an identical name to the one you are currently using. This is becuase the library stores the full path to your music files and if it changes, iTunes won't find files that are not in the iTunes music folder.

IMovie: whats the fastest way to import and save all original media?

Good afternoon. Ok I need help please. Is there a way to simply take all the imported original media and just save it all in one fell swoop? Rather than having to import and then process/export clip by clip.
I thought I had a quicker way just grabbing all the original media from the imported camera (right clicking imovie library > show package contents > original media) untill I tried to play one of the original media files - no sound and it was mov file. I assume mp4 is better???
I have 2800 hours of video I need to import off my camera. I don't need to modify them at all, aside from the occasional combining of clips into one movie. So I need the fastest way. Importing and then exporting clip by clip will take me forever. I would prefer to just import and then just drag all 50 clips or so into my movies folder. But as stated above that does not seem to work as expected unless I'm missing a step.
Thank you!

ps Can I take the original media files (mov format) and batch convert them using handbrake or MPEG streamclip? And if so would the resulting videos then have sound? And which is the best format (container codec whatever) to export them to? Thanks!

Help! (please :) I have a 1GB iPod that's loaded with music for which my computer can no longer find the original files-due to external mass storage crash during recent move. Is there a way to import iPod music back into my iTunes library on computer???

Help! (please I have a 1GB iPod that's loaded with music for which my computer can no longer find the original files-due to external mass storage crash during recent move. Is there a way to import iPod music back into my iTunes library on computer???

Or If there is any purchased music then you can try to transfer purchases
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1848
If you're in the US you can reload purchased music
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519

I'm trying to find an easier way to import my music to iTunes. Even the most basic music player can scan your computer and import found music into your library. I don't want to move my MP3s into the iTunes folder, I don't want iTunes doing any conversion.

I'm trying to find an easy way to import my MP3 collection into iTunes without moving, copying or changing it.
I can't believe that iTunes doesn't have this feature, as even the most basic music players always have this.
I only use iTunes to sync my iPod, as I like Media Monkey to play my MP3s.
I have 137GB of MP3s, mainly from my ripping my CDs, LPs and downloading from Amazon. I've only purchased a handful of songs from iTunes,
Any ideas on how to do this easily?

DAReese13 wrote:
I can't believe that iTunes doesn't have this feature, as even the most basic music players always have this.
It does have that feature. Why would you assume that it doesn't?
DAReese13 wrote:
I'm trying to find an easy way to import my MP3 collection into iTunes without moving, copying or changing it.
Okay, no problem.
If the top bar menu is not displayed in top left of your iTunes Library, use the CTRL+B keys to turn it on:
On that menu, use File/Add Folder to Library and navigate to the folder you wish to add:
If you wish to add just one song, notice the File/Add File to Library command on that menu as well.
Alternatively, you can drag-and-drop from the file's location into your iTunes Library.
That's all there is to it.
By the way, it is possible to have Amazon MP3s downloaded to your computer and then automatically added to the iTunes Library by the Amazon downloader. I do it all the time.
Message was edited by: the fiend

Hi, Please help. I accidentally deleted my entire Iphoto Library. I used Stellar Phoenix 4.1 and I do believe that I recovered all. I recovered to "My Passport" for Mac External HD. Files are all mixed up, best way to import back?

Hi, a couple days ago, I was orgainizing my Iphoto libray. Then, I thought that I was emptying my trash on Iphoto. (the ones I deleted when orgainizing) after hitting are you sure button, I realized that it was 209 files with 18,000+ photos. So I frantically stopped iphoto from "saving critical information" thinking If I left it open I could copy all my files over to (I beleive somewhere in finder under pictures?) I thought, but it most have been under the applications folder. Well this is where I really messed up. So after saving every file to that section, and everything was normal again on iphoto, I decided to make space and delete them from where I put them. So instead of selecting each file indivually, I used the select ALL button. Only to find that it deleted EVERYTHING. Iphoto (the file) was apparently at the bottom of the page along with Nikon Transfer, Lightroom 2 and god knows what else. That is when I found a data recovery software program (Stellar Phoenix 4.1mac) 17 hours later it found 159GB. I read enough to know that I HAD to go and buy an external HD. (even though I already own Time Capsule, but I never hooked it up ) was confused about if I could actually use that for this matter so, I just went and bought My Passport an external HD for Mac. Plugged it in, and recovered what looks like all my files (hopefully) did also read enough that I knew NOT to use my computer after this occured.
Now that you all know how I got into this mess, I would like to know the best way to import the files back? Ok I know this sounds easy, but all the files are scattered everywhere on the HD. Is there a way to put them back on my Mac Book Pro that would possibly put them in some kind of order? Date? Image file number? Anything? 18,000 photos to reorgainze is going to be brutal. I can reinstall Lightroom 2, if i can locate where I put the disk. And I also have CS5. Also wondering if the quality of the photo was affected? I did get them back, so I am not complaining but any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
Will be turning on Time Machine and hooking up Time Capsule as well. Should I also use my new HD along with capsule? Any advice on that matter would also be greatly appreciated as well!!!!!
Thanks, Michelle

There is an iPhoto community forum if you are at all interested:
https://discussions.apple.com/community/ilife/iphoto

What is the best way to import and edit a large amount of footage?

Hello Apple world,
As a newbie to Final Cut 10 I have a question regarding best ways to import footage. I'll give you a quick run down.
I have a 150 gig of gopro footage that I just hit 'import' to recently (from my external HD), it took around 10 hours to process it all.
Its all under one event, but then somewhat organised into dates etc. But it is very slow. I imported it all at once because it was all footage from the last 6 months of my Whistler/states/fiji trip and want to make a movie out of it, using clips from all over the time, not just in chronological order.
I have the latest mac book pro, 4 gig ram,2.4 GHz i7, 750 hard drive, with nothing else on the computer.
Ive read about creating proxy media, after ive imported, but am still somewhat confused as to the benefit. Does it create duplicates? that will fill up my pretty large HD as it is!
Can you suggest any ways that might make my laptop run a bit faster? Should i delete and work directly from external HD etc etc?
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance
Harlee

ascreenwriter wrote:
Hello,
I've just finished shooting what I am considering to be my directorial masterpiece. Shot it on the Canon 5D (1080p, 24fps), and the footage looks amazing. Now I am ready to start editing and have been using premiere lately, but I have yet to figure out the proper pipeline. I want to know the best way to retain resolution before I delve into this project.
My questions:
1) What is the best way to start a new project and import the footage without having to render whilst editing, so as to retain all resolution and originality of the source footage?
2) What is the best way/ codec/ format to export this same footage once editing is complete so as to retain that crisp 1080p for which the 5D is so recognized?
3) What is the best way/ codec/ format to import and export/ render between premiere and after effects? I am speaking mostly of vfx and color correction. I also have some 30fps footage that I intend to slow down in AE and then import into premiere.
I know this is pretty broad, but as a solo filmmaker I really need someone's guidance. I rarely ever finish my films with the same, crisp look as the footage. I need pipeline help, and really appreciate it!
1. Follow the advice above. Also use the Media Browser to import the footage in case you have spanned media files. Import files with the Media Browser.
2. It largely depends on what you wish to ouput to: Blu-ray, web, etc. This FAQ gives the best answer: What are the best export settings?
3. Use the Replace with Adobe After Effects Composition function.

Quickest way to import MP4?

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