Major new iMovie '08 "feature". No joke!

[ltldrummerboy]

OK, I've had a lot of trouble with the latest iMovie when it comes to video formats: it's pretty picky about what it'll import. Well after the latest update today, I can now import AVI movies. Tons of movie-capable cameras take videos in this format. This is huge! No more converting or quality loss. This is what stopped me from purchasing the camera of my dreams. Try some other video formats to see if they work.

Edit: Please post your camera model and movie/file type if it works with iMovie straight from the camera with no converting.

 

[dalvin200]

i'm pretty sure it always support .avi format

 

[ltldrummerboy]

I don't think so. I edited a 15 min. movie earlier this year and it wouldn't let me use movies from my camera until I converted them. It's a Casio Exilim EX-Z60. It also wouldn't let me use them from my EX-V8. That one works now too.

Edit: "Motion JPEG encoded AVI files do appear to be recognized, this is the most common format used by digital cameras." Taken from the Wikipedia iMovie article. I had neither Flip4Mac or QT Pro installed when I tried importing the AVI file. iMovie '08 now works with more file types, pure and simple.

Edit #2: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6116007& Confirmed here. EX-V8 didn't work with iMovie. Now it does.

 

[reclusivemonkey]

Canon Powershot A650 IS and Canon Ixus i both work for me.

 

[ltldrummerboy]

Canon Powershot A650 IS and Canon Ixus i both work for me.

What movie type do those take?

 

[eRondeau]

To put this long debate to rest once and for all, iMovie '08 DOES WORK with the Sony DCR-SR62 HDD camcorder via USB-2. It worked just fine for me running Leopard 10.5.3; can't confirm if it'll work with Tiger. I've also used it to successfully import .avi movies taken with my Canon Powershot A540 camera.

 

[theBB]

The new QuickTime may have added the right codec as part of its default set. In iMovie 06, I added the codec I donwloaded from Casio's website two or three years ago. That enabled me to use Casio movies without converting them first since then.

 

[ltldrummerboy]

I'm only talking about iMovie '08. I knew that '06 worked with more file types.

 

[Mac In School]

Wait...

Works with Sony?

That's a good sign.

Did it work before?

 

[lisa312]

Exilim EX-V7

Yay, it worked! I'm so excited! The wait is over for making iMovies with my camera!!! Thank you Apple for amazing updates! : )

 

[Dave00]

I can confirm that this is a new capability of quicktime. I purchased Quicktime Pro on one computer specifically so I could convert .avi to .mov and use in iMovie. Now, there is no conversion necessary.

Dave