large iMovie file...stuck with it. HELP!

[kowens82]

hello

pleeeeeeeease help! haha.

a few years ago i made an iMovie for someone on my powerbook (its an 03). i would like to get this movie off of my computer and give to them to watch on dvd. unfortunately, i dont have a dvd burner. just a cd burner. when they originally watched the movie, we plugged it into the tv, which worked fine.

the file is 16GB, which i know is pretty big. its only pics, 3 songs and some transitional effects.

i bought an external dvd burner but my old mac didnt recognize it.

i am really truly stuck on this. and i would love any any all help/advice about it

thanks so much for your time!!!
-k

 

[r.j.s]

Export it from iMovie on that machine and burn the file to CD ... then burn to DVD using a newer machine ...

... or ...

... get an external drive to copy it to.

 

[De Rocca]

Or export it in Imovie, and put it on a 10 $ 8 gb USB stick, works on everything with a usb port (even on a flatscreen , if yiou save it in the right format)

 

[simsaladimbamba]

If the Mac you have now has Firewire (or the Windows based PC with the help of MacDrive), use Target Disk Mode to copy the file.

If the Mac you have (or Windows based PC) has an Ethernet port, use an Ethernet cable to copy the file, just enable file sharing in System Preferences > Sharing on the PowerBook.

 

[kowens82]

Export it from iMovie on that machine and burn the file to CD ... then burn to DVD using a newer machine ...

... or ...

... get an external drive to copy it to.

but isnt it too huge to fit on a cd? what specifics should i export it as to make it smaller?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

but isnt it too huge to fit on a cd? what specifics should i export it as to make it smaller?

A CD can hold 700MB (some can hold 800MB), a Single Layer DVD can hold 4.7GB, a Dual Layer DVD can hold 8.5GB.
What about the options I mentioned?

 

[kowens82]

If the Mac you have now has Firewire (or the Windows based PC with the help of MacDrive), use Target Disk Mode to copy the file.

If the Mac you have (or Windows based PC) has an Ethernet port, use an Ethernet cable to copy the file, just enable file sharing in System Preferences > Sharing on the PowerBook.

i honestly dont know anything about firewire...the powerbook is from 03, so its kind of old. do you know where i would check to find out?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

i honestly dont know anything about firewire...the powerbook is from 03, so its kind of old. do you know where i would check to find out?

Either look at the sides for one of the ports shown below or look at System Profiler > Hardware > Firewire. But that PB will have Firewire 400.
But there is also the Ethernet option. You could use the Ethernet cable you may use between your computer and the router or the Ethernet cable you use between the router and the modem.
Btw, what OS do you use on your computer, the one you want to transfer the file to?

 

[kowens82]

im not trying to transfer to any specific computer. i just want it off mine. the person i am giving it to is in another state but they also have a mac. so im just trying to figure out how to get it to them...

 

[simsaladimbamba]

im not trying to transfer to any specific computer. i just want it off mine. the person i am giving it to is in another state but they also have a mac. so im just trying to figure out how to get it to them...

What kind of internet connection do you have and how fast is you upload speed (www.speedtest.net can be used to test it)?

I once had to upload a big file (4GB) in chunks to a file sharing service to get it to another person.


Or you could use Handbrake to make a .mp4(m4v file, which will be loads smaller. You need to find a PPC version of Handbrake though, and it might take a night (my 2004 iBook took 15 hours for a two hour movie using two passes).

 

[wonderspark]

You haven't tried uploading it to my FTP site yet.

 

[Dave Braine]

burn the file to CD

put it on a 10 $ 8 gb USB stick,

It's a 16Gig file, so I don't think either of those will work.

Your best bet is probably to export from iMovie to Quicktime. It gives you various Quality options that will result in different file sizes, so you can choose one that will fit on a CD or onto a USB stick.

If you have Handbrake, you could do the export at Full Quality. This will result in a file of more or less the same size, but you could then compress it in Handbrake using the h264 option already mentioned to reduce it's size.

You say the file is 16gig. How long is the movie? iMovie movies usually run at about 12gig per hour and you say that it's only a few pictures and 3 songs. That sounds like it could be a lot less than an hour, in which case you've probably got some stuff in iMovie's trash. Empty that and it should reduce the file size.

 

[kowens82]

It's a 16Gig file, so I don't think either of those will work.

Your best bet is probably to export from iMovie to Quicktime. It gives you various Quality options that will result in different file sizes, so you can choose one that will fit on a CD or onto a USB stick.

If you have Handbrake, you could do the export at Full Quality. This will result in a file of more or less the same size, but you could then compress it in Handbrake using the h264 option already mentioned to reduce it's size.

You say the file is 16gig. How long is the movie? iMovie movies usually run at about 12gig per hour and you say that it's only a few pictures and 3 songs. That sounds like it could be a lot less than an hour, in which case you've probably got some stuff in iMovie's trash. Empty that and it should reduce the file size.

emptying the trash made a HUGE difference! i was always too scared to do that, thanks for the suggestion!
that made it small enough to burn to a cd so they can watch it on quicktime. at this point, that is good enough for me! i cant wait to get this off my system!!

thanks soo much for everyones help and advice! great forum!