Why doesn't iMovie import my mpg?

January 10, 2006 7:30 PM

iMovie question: I have not used iMovie much, but I'd like to play around. I have a Sony DSC-P100 digital point-and-shoot camera that records video, which I can save to my computer as mpg. However, I can't seem to use these files in iMovie. Does that sound right, or is there something wrong with my copy of iMovie, or what? I can find nothing in the iMovie help that describes what file formats may be imported.
posted by shaneflyer to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Which version of iMovie do you have? Only iMovie HD (aka iMovie 5) that came with iLife '05 supports editing anything but DV. You have to convert your video to DV if you have an older version.
posted by cillit bang at 7:45 PM on January 10, 2006

Best answer: The problem is that iMovie is a DV (or an HDV) application.

It imports true quicktime (not stuff that Quicktime plays) and then converts it to DV.

Same for stills when it hits your timeline.

So, freeware solution MPEG Streamclip, which has a so-so interface...will convert your MPEG into a DV file, which will work just fine.
posted by filmgeek at 7:48 PM on January 10, 2006

Response by poster: So, it doesn't "just work." Oh well, that app seems to do the trick. Thanks filmgeek.
posted by shaneflyer at 8:16 PM on January 10, 2006

If your Sony movie files play with the Quicktime Player, then you can purchase Quicktime Pro for $29 and it will transcode to a different format like DV.
posted by todbot at 8:24 PM on January 10, 2006