iMovie '09 won't import....

[ez4u2sa67]

So I just installed iLife '09 and have encountered a problem. All apps seem to work fine except for iMovie. Everything looks fine and the installation was a "success" but I can't import video. I have used iMovie '08 so I know how to operate this software. This is how the process works, I start iMovie up with no event currently added and no video in the events folder. I then go the the menu and click file>import>movies like I always would. iMovie then says that it is copying the movie which happens in under 1 second and then says it's generating thumbnails for another second. After those progress bars have completed and go away it creates "New Event", but no videos show up. I've tried this multiple times with the same result while changing the import settings. After it fails to import the movies I went to my "Movies" folder and checked the iMovie folders, and found the movies that had failed to import. The file type is a .mp4 and the resolution is 720 x 1280. In addition I have tried the .avi format with the same result. The only way to get video in iMovie seems to be through the iSight direct capture mode, but that's obviously no use to me. I have reinstalled the iLife '09 package with no difference. If anyone has any suggestions they would be much appreciated.

 

[admwright]

I found that iMovie does not like to import files from the hard disk. I had copied mp4 files from a HD camcorder onto the hard disk and iMovie did not want to know. what I did was created a folder structure similar to that found on a HD camcorder or digital camera. It does not matter where on the hard disk the "master" folder is you just need a folder that contains a sub-folder named DCIM. You then copy your video files in there and point iMovie at the "master" folder to import.

I am writing this from memory, so it might not be quite correct. possibly you might need a second sub-folder in the DCIM folder to contain the videos as most cameras have this type of structure, something like MyVideos\DCIM\100VIDEO then the videos.

Hope this helps.
Andrew W.

 

[interspeak]

I'm having same problem

Have you solved this problem? I'm experiencing the same thing. It works fine on my iMac but won't work on my MacBook Pro.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I had this issue until I installed the right codec for my flip camera.