Digital Camera Question

[Macaddict16]

With a camera that can also take mpeg movies is it possible to import them into iMovie? I have the sony P7 digital camera and would like to be able to use iMovie with it?
Thanks in advance,
Macaddict16

 

[pcsteed]

digital video

If you have firewire and can download the clip into your hard drive then I think that you can you can import it into imovie. I bring in video for final cut pro 2 as a quicktime movie, so you may have some luck doing that. However I imagine the quality will not be good at all. Normal video is at least 24 frames per second, and takes 1gig for 5 minutes of footage when downloading it. I am guessing that your camera compresses the picture a bit (12 frames a second) and maybe it even uses a smaller ratio than the required 720x540, so you may have a black border around the picture.

 

[ajp]

I have a Sony IP7 and have been told by Sony and various others that no software yet exists to recognise direct MPEG 2 firewire inputs from this camera onto a MAC. Really annoying! The only software is Movieshaker (supplied by Sony) for PCs and apparently this is fairly mediocre. I contacted Sony who said they had no plans to release Apple software so it's going to have to be someone else (hopefully). All I can download are (low quality) stills and short movie clips from the memory stick.

I'd be happy if someone can tell me this information is wrong!

 

[alex_ant]

In order for iMovie to recognize the video from the camera and import it, the camera needs to be able to output video in DV format, which very few (if any?) digital cameras do. If your digital camera outputs something else, then you will need to save the clip to your hard drive, open it in Quicktime Pro, export it to DV format, then import it into iMovie (major pain).

 

[Macaddict16]

Thanks for the info. Now I have imported it in through QT Pro and exported into DV format, but there is no sound. Also with all of the movies that I download from my camera, in QT Pro the edit menu is completely unuseable. I can't cut, copy, or do anything. I was trying to export the audio, but it would not let me (as that is in the edit menu).
Thanks
Macaddict16

 

[Macaddict16]

One more question:

How do I import still pictures into iMovie. I have tried to import them directly off of my camera, through iPhoto, and also exporting it from iPhoto in diff. formats.
The only thing I can import is the thumbnail size images.
Thanks again
Macaddict16

 

[alex_ant]

Originally posted by Macaddict16
How do I import still pictures into iMovie. I have tried to import them directly off of my camera, through iPhoto, and also exporting it from iPhoto in diff. formats.
The only thing I can import is the thumbnail size images.
Thanks again
Macaddict16

Sorry, I don't have an answer for your other question -

To import still pictures into iMovie I think you need to re-save them in Preview first, otherwise they won't be given the appropriate resource fork (?) and iMovie won't recognize them as valid importable files.

Yep, iMovie definitely needs work...

 

[ftaok]

Macaddict,

Here's the definitive answer for importing your mpeg's from your P7 to iMovie. Your P7 captures video in mpeg format, plus it is "muxed". So you need to demux it and then convert from mpeg to DV.

There is freeware called bbdemux. Do a search for it on VersionTracker. This will separate the sound track from the video track.

From this point forward, my expertise gets murky. But it goes something like this. You need to convert the sound track to mp3 and then re-combine the "new" sound track with the video track. This new file can then be converted to DV, therefore suitable for iMovie.

 

[idkew]

dpreview.com is one nice place to learn about different digital cameras. they have something like 6 or 7 page reviews of most major cameras. take a look and see what they have to say. there are full size samples and everything.


-idkew