iMovie Hangs on Import of MPG files

[johnnyonthemac]

Greetings all,
Recently purchased a new macbook pro with 10.7 Lion. It does not have iDVD, so I'm trying iMovie.

I have MPG video files from my Sony cam-corder. I've moved them from the camera to my hard drive. When I import these MPGs into iMovie, nothing happens. I see a pop-up that reads, "Optimizing Video - Processing Event iMovie-myMovies"

Nothing happens in this popup. The progress bar never starts. It seems to Hang at this point.

I've used iDVD on my older macbook with videos from this same camera. I never had a problem importing movies.

Is this a codex problem. I've read that MPGs are in the MPEG-2 file-types and Mac 10.7 has problems with MPEG-2.

Any ideas?
Thanks,

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Have you tried importing into iMovie directly from the camcorder?

 

[johnnyonthemac]

Yes, I have tried to import directly from the camera. I moved the files directly to my hard drive just for 'ease'. I can work on iMovie later and I do not need to hook up my camera each time I need a file.

I've tried importing from the camera and the hard drive a few times each, "just to see if maybe it will work *this time*. But, alas, it hangs each time from both MPG file locations.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Then try transcoding the MPG files to .mov files via MPEG Streamclip before importing into iMovie.
You can use the following method to do so and use the Apple Intermediate Codec for iMovie.

Video: Ripping a video DVD (.mp4, 28s, 2.8MB)
Video: Transcoding ripped video to a format iMovie understands (.mp4, 75s, 7MB)​

 

[MisterMe]

...

I have MPG video files from my Sony cam-corder. ...

Which model Sony camcorder?

 

[johnnyonthemac]

Which model sony cam corder?

It is a SONY HandyCam. 2000x Digital Zoom 70x extended zoom.
model # DCR-SX65

1 year old.

 

[MisterMe]

Which model sony cam corder?

It is a SONY HandyCam. 2000x Digital Zoom 70x extended zoom.
model # DCR-SX65

1 year old.

OK. Your camcorder records video files on Flash Memory 4GB or optionally on any of several versions of Memory Stick Duo. These are standard resolution files, 720x480/60i, in MPEG2-PS. Despite the name, MPEG2-PS is not limited to MPEG 2 video format. MPEG2-PS video may be MPEG-1, any of several versions of MPEG-2, or even MPEG-4.

As simsaladimbamba said, you should use MPEG Streamclip to transcode your video files into AIC or DV. If the internal format of the video is [MPEG-1 or] MPEG-4, then MPEG Streamclip will handle your files with no additional software. If the files are MPEG-2, then you need the MPEG 2 Playback Component. It is my understanding that it is included with Lion.

Try it. Report back.