Convert .mov Apple ProRes to Windows Movie Maker

[waloshin]

What is the best way to convert Apple ProRes or H.264 for editing in Windows Movie Maker?

A friend needs to edit the videos in Windows Movie Maker.

Thanks

 

[Dave Braine]

Open in Quicktime and save as .mov or .mp4?

 

[waloshin]

I used FCPX to capture and edit. I hear Windows Movie Maker does not support .Mov or .MP4

 

[aarond12]

I'm at work on a Windows machine with QuickTime installed, so let me experiment. I'm making the assumption that WMM will import .AVI files. Microsoft's online help docs don't mention anything but importing from a digital camera.

I can export from QuickTime to AVI, but its choice in codecs (Cinepak or DV/DVC only) leaves a lot to be desired. It does work but the output is UGLY.

FFMPEG works, but the AVI is terrible at the same bitrate. You may have to REALLY increase the video bitrate to make it work. Since Handbrake uses FFMPEG behind the scenes (IIRC), you can use Handbrake to convert those files to .AVI without the headaches of command-line based FFMPEG.

 

[Dave Braine]

I hear Windows Movie Maker does not support .Mov or .MP4

According to this it does:
http://www.pavtube.com/windows-movie-maker-supported-file-formats.html

 

[ColdCase]

I used FCPX to capture and edit. I hear Windows Movie Maker does not support .Mov or .MP4

WMM nay need to be running on a premium or pro level Windows install to get the codecs you need. Not applicable to your case, but I used WMM a couple times and hated it and all the constraints imposed.

 

[Maxwill]

Prores is not included in Windows Movie Maker editable file formats, you will need to convert Prores to Windows Movie Maker native handle WMV file format. Many free video converter tool don't support Prores format, you can search on Google: Best Prores Converter, there are many program can do the job for you.

 

[Unami]

x (sorry, wrote something stupid and can't figure out how to delete my post)

 

[mcpix]

As mentioned before, WMM will import AVI files, so for the best quality, you'll want to convert your video to AVI. As also previously mentioned, the quicktime to AVI codecs will give you terrible quality video. What I do is import the file into Adobe Premiere Elements 11 (other versions may work, but make sure it will import .mov files) on a Windows machine. Then simply share the video as an AVI. APE 11 is pretty fast so I'm assuming little or no re encoding is going on and the final AVI video looks great.

 

[Gwendolini]

As mentioned before, WMM will import AVI files, so for the best quality, you'll want to convert your video to AVI. As also previously mentioned, the quicktime to AVI codecs will give you terrible quality video. What I do is import the file into Adobe Premiere Elements 11 (other versions may work, but make sure it will import .mov files) on a Windows machine. Then simply share the video as an AVI. APE 11 is pretty fast so I'm assuming little or no re encoding is going on and the final AVI video looks great.

Transcoding* has to be done, since the AVI container/format cannot encapsulate video encoded with the ProRes codec - AVI is like a can and ProRes is the specific liquid inside that can - put an AVI can cannot hold ProRes and WMM cannot drink such stuff.
Thus the new AVI must use a new codec supported by WMM, which specific codec is supported by WMM I do not know, since WMM is not my cup of tea. And neither is iMovie.

And since this is an old topic, and AVI should be gone and no sane person should use WMM, I leave it at that.


* transcoding - the change of codec and often format, though the latter is not necessary, as converting a ProRes MOV to an H.264 MOV is transcoding without changing the format, only the change of codec

 

[mcpix]

I should have been more specific. The .mov format is also a container. When you export it, use the dv codec. Then it is simply a matter of converting the .mov dv codec to the avi dv codec. That's why I said little or nor re encoding was going on.