Importing .MPG into iMovie '11

[IamZilog]

Hello Everyone,

Please excuse me if this has been discussed before.

Here are the specifics:

Camcorder
Sony Handycam DCR-SX85
16GB Internal Memory being used
Video - MPEG-2 PS (file extension is .mpg)

Mac
OS X Ver. 10.6.7
2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667Mhz DDR2 SDRam
1TB HHD w/675GB Free
iMovie '11
System fully patched and updated.

I can import the video directly from the camcorder into iMove '11. I start iMovie first. I create an "Event". I connect the camcorder to my Mac via USB. iMovie sees the camcorder and automatically starts importing the video (after confirming Event info, etc...) Video imports and all is well.

Sometimes though, I just need to copy the video from the camcorder to a folder on the Mac so I can work with it later. With iMovie NOT running, I connect the camcorder to the Mac via USB, drill down into the folder structure until I find the video files, and then copy them into the folder. When I do this, the files on the camcorder BEFORE copying over end with the ".mpg" extension, so I am not changing anything.

I open iMovie, create an Event, Right Click on the Event, and select "Import Movies". I then get a popup where I can navigate to the video files in the folder. The video files themselves are greyed out, but if I select the folder that they are in and complete the process, iMovie asks me to confirm that I want to import "x" number of Items located in "x" folder. So it sees the folder and the videos in the folder.

I then tell it to import the video and get a popup stating that the files are being imported and it shows a status bar with an estimated time.

The problem is that there is never an indication that files are being imported. The status bar shows no progress. There is no estimated time like 20 minutes or 20 hours. And I don't see the video appearing in my Event like it does when importing directly from the camcorder.

When I look at the list under "Force Quit Application" iMovie looks fine. It does not display the "unresponsive" you normally see when an application locks up.

So, why is it that I can import directly from the camcorder but not from a folder on the Mac?

What do I need to do to the files on the Mac to get them into iMovie?

Thanks in advance for your help.

-Z-

[jahala]

I had the same question a while ago. The solution is to copy the whole DCIM folder from the camera to your Mac. Keep the name DCIM. Then in iMovie choose File -> Import...-> Camera Archive... and navigate to your DCIM folder. Everything should import fine from there. If that does not work, maybe iMovie needs the .mpg files to be directly in the DCIM folder, so just move the .mpg from the subfolder to the DCIM folder and try again. I did it so long ago that I don't remember that particular detail.

Let me know if this is not clear and I will explain another way.

[IamZilog]

Thanks - I'll give it a shot tonight and will let you know how it goes.

-Z-

[IamZilog]

Jahala,

The directory structure for my camcorder is a little different and didn't have a DCIM folder, so I copied the top level folder which had a sud-folder with the video files in it to my desktop. I was able to successfully import to iMovie using the Camera Archive option you recommended below.

I then pulled the sub-folder out on its own with the video files in it and tried to import again and it wouldn't work, so it looks like I need the top level folder and everything in it for the process to work correctly.

Thanks for your help. I do appreciate it.

-Z-

[bettysauser]

I have a similar problem with my Sony Handcam DCR-SR45. Do I need to convert the movie files (.MPG) into another format before importing into iMovie?

[johannsmith]

Originally Posted by IamZilog

Hello Everyone,

Please excuse me if this has been discussed before.

Here are the specifics:

Camcorder
Sony Handycam DCR-SX85
16GB Internal Memory being used
Video - MPEG-2 PS (file extension is .mpg)

Mac
OS X Ver. 10.6.7
2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667Mhz DDR2 SDRam
1TB HHD w/675GB Free
iMovie '11
System fully patched and updated.

I can import the video directly from the camcorder into iMove '11. I start iMovie first. I create an "Event". I connect the camcorder to my Mac via USB. iMovie sees the camcorder and automatically starts importing the video (after confirming Event info, etc...) Video imports and all is well.

.
.
.
Thanks in advance for your help.

-Z-

I could not help but to get frustrated when I've copied years of footage and the iMovie app could not just natively use my footage and work away with it.

Reading most of the forums and why the need is there to first plug the camera in, then startup iMovie and then import all the files. Just didn't make sense if you took footage from 3 yrs ago.

So I finally found the answer.

I created the following file structure...

CamCorderMovies/MP_ROOT/101PNV01

Copied all my files into the 101PNV01 directory (1300 files of different sizes)

Opened up iMovie11 and then select File->Import->Camera Archive

Select the top folder CamCorderMovies and select Import

All the files appear and you can now import them, funny thing is it says CamCorderMovies is a Camera ( oh well, it works ).

Hope this helps a lot of people with Sony Handycam Camcorders with HDD.

Cheers,
Johann Smith
twitter.com/johannsmith

[PjfZim]

Originally Posted by johannsmith

I could not help but to get frustrated when I've copied years of footage and the iMovie app could not just natively use my footage and work away with it.

Reading most of the forums and why the need is there to first plug the camera in, then startup iMovie and then import all the files. Just didn't make sense if you took footage from 3 yrs ago.

So I finally found the answer.

I created the following file structure...

CamCorderMovies/MP_ROOT/101PNV01

Copied all my files into the 101PNV01 directory (1300 files of different sizes)

Opened up iMovie11 and then select File->Import->Camera Archive

Select the top folder CamCorderMovies and select Import

All the files appear and you can now import them, funny thing is it says CamCorderMovies is a Camera ( oh well, it works ).

Hope this helps a lot of people with Sony Handycam Camcorders with HDD.

Cheers,
Johann Smith
twitter.com/johannsmith

Hi Johann,

Please may you explain the steps to creating a file structure CamCorderMovies/MP_ROOT/101PNV01 as I no longer have access to the camera and this looks like the only option I have left at the moment.

Kind regards

Paul

[siwilko]

CamCorderMovies/MP_ROOT/101PNV01?

Hello there.

I am a newbe to the Mac world.
I have a load of mpegs which I have tranfered from my PC to my Mac.

I cannot import them into IMovie.
I tried creating a similar structure to that above and the import does NOT work.

I find it very poor that software with the Mac reputation cannot import MPEGs MTS files without the stucture being there behind it.

Pinaccle 14, Serrif Movie5 and Vagas can deal with this I am surpised and disapointed that I have spent over £2k on a system that cant.

[cgbier]

That is because Apple differentiates between transport/delivery formats and editing codecs.

MPEG Streamclip should do the trick. I've heard that the $20 MPEG QT plugin/extension is now built into Lion.

[siwilko]

Originally Posted by cgbier

That is because Apple differentiates between transport/delivery formats and editing codecs.

MPEG Streamclip should do the trick. I've heard that the $20 MPEG QT plugin/extension is now built into Lion.

Thanks for the info,
I have found a little gem of a program called 'Mini Video Converter' in the App Store it just about converts anything to anything (give or take) for less the $2
which is nice

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by cgbier

That is because Apple differentiates between transport/delivery formats and editing codecs.

MPEG Streamclip should do the trick. I've heard that the $20 MPEG QT plugin/extension is now built into Lion.

I had already purchased the MPEG 2 Playback Component before I upgrade to Lion, but I don't believe that this is correct. If it were true, then the codec would account for almost all of the cost of the Lion upgrade. The reason that the MPEG 2 Playback Component is not free is that it uses licensed technology from Sorensen. If you want to use Sorensen's technology, then you must cross its palm with silver. If, like me, you have already have the codec installed, then it works perfectly fine after you upgrade to Lion. However, it is not bundled with Lion.

[siwilko]

Originally Posted by siwilko

Thanks for the info,
I have found a little gem of a program called 'Mini Video Converter' in the App Store it just about converts anything to anything (give or take) for less the $2
which is nice

Spoke too soon
Mini Converter Worked but changed the aspect ratio from Wide to standard.

Quick question,
Should mpeg-2s play on the Lion OS because mine don't?
Testing the conversion , using Mini Video Converter, I had to use my pc to test the mpeg2 against the converted MP4 on the Mac.

[siwilko]

Originally Posted by siwilko

Spoke too soon
Mini Converter Worked but changed the aspect ratio from Wide to standard.

Quick question,
Should mpeg-2s play on the Lion OS because mine don't?
Testing the conversion , using Mini Video Converter, I had to use my pc to test the mpeg2 against the converted MP4 on the Mac.

Having downloaded MPEG Streamclip, MP4 plays wide screen!! , Quick time has the aspect ratio issue. I am having fun!

[cgbier]

Originally Posted by MisterMe

I had already purchased the MPEG 2 Playback Component before I upgrade to Lion, but I don't believe that this is correct. If it were true, then the codec would account for almost all of the cost of the Lion upgrade. The reason that the MPEG 2 Playback Component is not free is that it uses licensed technology from Sorensen. If you want to use Sorensen's technology, then you must cross its palm with silver. If, like me, you have already have the codec installed, then it works perfectly fine after you upgrade to Lion. However, it is not bundled with Lion.

Ok, so it isn't then.

Thanks for the correction.

[Virtuous70]

Originally Posted by johannsmith

So I finally found the answer.

I created the following file structure...

CamCorderMovies/MP_ROOT/101PNV01

Copied all my files into the 101PNV01 directory (1300 files of different sizes)

Opened up iMovie11 and then select File->Import->Camera Archive

Select the top folder CamCorderMovies and select Import


Cheers,
Johann Smith
twitter.com/johannsmith

Thank you! This method worked great for me, what a relief! Previously, I had been using Handbrake to convert the .mpg files for iMovie, but the de-interlacing was ugly. I would like to add that if you intend to perform this action on different folders of clips, I found it necessary to quit iMovie before starting the next import.

[knhellesky]

Originally Posted by Virtuous70

Thank you! This method worked great for me, what a relief! Previously, I had been using Handbrake to convert the .mpg files for iMovie, but the de-interlacing was ugly. I would like to add that if you intend to perform this action on different folders of clips, I found it necessary to quit iMovie before starting the next import.

I got the videos (.mpg) imported to iMovie using the file structure above, but...they dont have audio? what gives?

[MisterMe]

You have given no information about your video files. It sounds like they are multiplexed aka "muxed." In these, the audio and video are combined into a single track. Use MPEG Streamclip to demux the video and audio into separate tracks.

[knhellesky]

Originally Posted by MisterMe

You have given no information about your video files. It sounds like they are multiplexed aka "muxed." In these, the audio and video are combined into a single track. Use MPEG Streamclip to demux the video and audio into separate tracks.

I apologize. Yes, the clips I have are all integrated in one file (.mpg) and I don't have the old folder structure when they were imported a long time ago.

I am a recent Apple convert and never really needed to "convert" my video files as they've always worked before on all my Windows systems (from '98 to WIN7).

I'll try Handbrake to see if I can move these files and look at your MPEG Streamclip solution as well.

Thanks!

[ppreuscho]

It works 100% with DCIM:

Create any folder like "my videos" then create subfolder "dcim" and copy your videos to "dcim". - All done now

Go to imovies - import from camera archive and select "my videos" (not "dcim") and then OK

I hope it helps - worked for me

[Justina]

You need to convert the MPG file to DV which iMovie is designed to handle. you can do this with MPG to iMovie Video Converter for Mac (file>export) . then you can move all your files to iMovie'11 for editing. For iTunes or QT, you should select an iTunes-friendly output format, such as MOV, MP4 or M4V

[Helgamobil]

Thanks Johann, this really works, no idea why or how but IT WORKS - it costs nothing - perfect. You are a genius! Thank you.

Originally Posted by johannsmith

CamCorderMovies/MP_ROOT/101PNV01

Copied all my files into the 101PNV01 directory (1300 files of different sizes)

Opened up iMovie11 and then select File->Import->Camera Archive

Select the top folder CamCorderMovies and select Import

All the files appear and you can now import them, funny thing is it says CamCorderMovies is a Camera ( oh well, it works ).

Hope this helps a lot of people with Sony Handycam Camcorders with HDD.

[cjwo57]

Originally Posted by jahala

I had the same question a while ago. The solution is to copy the whole DCIM folder from the camera to your Mac. Keep the name DCIM. Then in iMovie choose File -> Import...-> Camera Archive... and navigate to your DCIM folder. Everything should import fine from there. If that does not work, maybe iMovie needs the .mpg files to be directly in the DCIM folder, so just move the .mpg from the subfolder to the DCIM folder and try again. I did it so long ago that I don't remember that particular detail.

Let me know if this is not clear and I will explain another way.

THANK you so much for posting this! I have been fighting with video from two cameras, a Canon FS100 and a Sony DVD610, trying to import the video. Most of the clips are on the Sony, which is importing right now from my DCIM folder. I will try a similar approach with the Canon when I am done.
Why do they make this so hard.....?