MP4 digital video camera, and my MAC

[Anamagous]

HI,
I have purchased a digital video camera that records all files in mp4 format. I have tried to connect and upload these videos to my old pc with no luck. I want to upload to my MAC and before I connect and upload files, I just wanted to see what you all have to say about it. Will these files be able to be uploaded with ease and then burned onto DVD's. Once burned to DVD can they be played in any dvd player? How would I go about getting these digital files on my camera to a dvd for viewing? I am sure this novice question but I need your advice / help. Thank you all

 

[spinnerlys]

What exact camera model are you using?

If it is a photo camera, iPhoto will do nicely with it. If it's a video camera, you can use iMovie.

.mp4 files use H264 as a codec most of the time, so in order to get it to DVD it has to be converted to MPEG-2, which iDVD will do most of the time.

So if you can tell us more about the camera, for instance what exact model it is, we can help you more.

Also MRoogle is an excellent tool to search these fora, so maybe you will find answers in the meantime.

 

[Anamagous]

ok, great I will take a look at the camera when I get home this evening and let you know. I am guessing that iDVD comes standard on MACs. I will mess around with it tonight. Is it pretty user friendly on converting mp4 files.

 

[Anamagous]

Ok, so I am home and my video camera brand is Pannasonic, the model is SDR-H40P. It has an SD card and a Hard Disk Drive.

I opened up the files on my MAC but they are not able to be read. For example, the file name is MOV001.MOD When I click on more info it states that the kind of file is a Unix Executable File.

Any Ideas of what I should do?

 

[spinnerlys]

Have a look at some of these threads.



And yes, iDVD is part of iLife, which is installed on every new Mac you purchase.

 

[Anamagous]

After looking at some of the different files on the camera, I also noticed that it saves the files in more than one type. For example I already stated that the files I was looking at were .MOD now I see that there are more video files and they are .MOI and .PGI I have no clue on how to view these files. Please Help me find a solution. All of my family videos are on this camera. Thank you

 

[spinnerlys]

After looking at some of the different files on the camera, I also noticed that it saves the files in more than one type. For example I already stated that the files I was looking at were .MOD now I see that there are more video files and they are .MOI and .PGI I have no clue on how to view these files. Please Help me find a solution. All of my family videos are on this camera. Thank you

Then take a look at the threads I linked to. There have been many users in the same situation, but as I don't know the specifics, I point to these other threads for you to read.

The .mod file will probably be the actual video, the other files might be smaller pointer or information files. Look at the file sizes and if they are only some KB, then they probably have no video in them. But don't delete them please.

Have you tried iMovie yet?

 

[Anamagous]

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I am in the process of reading some helpful threads. I have tried imovie with no luck. I will let you know the process that ends up working. Thanks again

 

[Anamagous]

Ok, so i downloaded MPEG Streamclip to convert my mod files to mov files. When I select a batch of mod files to convert.... it wont allow me to fully convert them. A message states that I must download the MPEG - 2 reader from the apple website before I can fully convert and view the file. This program is $20. I want to make sure that this is truly going to work before I buy. What are your thoughts

 

[spinnerlys]

Ok, so i downloaded MPEG Streamclip to convert my mod files to mov files. When I select a batch of mod files to convert.... it wont allow me to fully convert them. A message states that I must download the MPEG - 2 reader from the apple website before I can fully convert and view the file. This program is $20. I want to make sure that this is truly going to work before I buy. What are your thoughts

If you take a look at page 115 of the manual for that camera, you'll see, that the compression used is MPEG-2, so buying the MPEG-2 Playback Component is definitely safe and helpful.