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.WMV to .MOV Converter

D

dylanbrown

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 20, 2008
289
2
London
Hey all,

I've got some .WMV files that I need to import into iMovie. I tried encoding them as .MP4's using HandBrake - but they won't import.

Is there any way to encode these .WMV files as something iMovie will read? Any free methods would be preferable.

Also, the files are quite large, around 1GB and over 1 hour in length.

Thanks in advance...
 
It's not free, but . . .

dylanbrown said:
Hey all,

I've got some .WMV files that I need to import into iMovie. I tried encoding them as .MP4's using HandBrake - but they won't import.

Is there any way to encode these .WMV files as something iMovie will read? Any free methods would be preferable.

Also, the files are quite large, around 1GB and over 1 hour in length.

Thanks in advance...
Click to expand...

I just tried doing this (1hr .wmv, 800MB, convert to .mov) with Wondershare
Video Converter ($50) - took 9 minutes on my iMac and was 191MB.

Hope this helps . . .
 
Hi there,

You can just download and install the free WMV plugin for quicktime:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx

After you've installed it you will be able to load the WMV into Quicktime, and export it as a .mov

dylanbrown said:
Hey all,

I've got some .WMV files that I need to import into iMovie. I tried encoding them as .MP4's using HandBrake - but they won't import.

Is there any way to encode these .WMV files as something iMovie will read? Any free methods would be preferable.

Also, the files are quite large, around 1GB and over 1 hour in length.

Thanks in advance...
Click to expand...
 
^^^ No, you won't.

You need to buy a version of Flip4Mac in order to convert WMVs to anything else. It sucks, but then again, WMV sucks.
 
You do not need the paid version of flip4mac to convert wmv to mov, you will need Quicktime Pro as the other use pointed out though.

r.j.s said:
^^^ No, you won't.

You need to buy a version of Flip4Mac in order to convert WMVs to anything else. It sucks, but then again, WMV sucks.
Click to expand...
 
Also, keep in mind that you aren't just going to go from one file container to another (.wmv to .mov) - the resulting Quicktime file also needs to be an a codec that iMovie can edit efficiently, like DV NTSC or AIC. As pointed out before, Quicktime Pro can do this with the Flip4Mac plugin installed. Quicktime Pro is $20 from Apple.
 
r.j.s said:
Last time I checked, that will put a watermark on the exported WMV and/or only allow 30 sec to be converted.
Click to expand...

CaptainChunk said:
Also, keep in mind that you aren't just going to go from one file container to another (.wmv to .mov) - the resulting Quicktime file also needs to be an a codec that iMovie can edit efficiently, like DV NTSC or AIC. As pointed out before, Quicktime Pro can do this with the Flip4Mac plugin installed. Quicktime Pro is $20 from Apple.
Click to expand...
To close the loop here, you need:
  • QuickTime Pro, the $20 paid version of the QuickTime Player to convert and save the video in a different format.
  • Flip4Mac's WMV Player Pro, the $29 paid version of Flip4Mac's WMV Player to "import WMV for conversion to QuickTime formats." It removes the 30 second time limit and the watermark from the converted WMV.
Long story short, conversion of .wmv to .mov require requires you to fork over an additional $49 if you don't have QuickTime Pro.
 
bmcgonag said:
I used to use visual hub with excellent results...it is no longer available, but the code was released for the program and there are several free off-shoots.

VideoMonkey was made in it's place and I've heard great things about it. check it out if you like at http://videomonkey.org/Video_Monkey/About.html
Click to expand...

So basically, this is the only free solution right? I tried to export to .mov using QT Pro and it doesn't work. I still get the Flip4Mac pop up message telling me to purchase a license.
 
chkdg8 said:
So basically, this is the only free solution right? I tried to export to .mov using QT Pro and it doesn't work. I still get the Flip4Mac pop up message telling me to purchase a license.
Click to expand...
Reread Post No. 9 of this thread.
 
MisterMe said:
Reread Post No. 9 of this thread.
Click to expand...

MisterMe, thank you for your response but I'm glad to say that I've found a better and free solution. The latest Video Monkey works like a charm. I was contemplating on buying a copy of Flip4Mac but I knew something else was out there. No watermarks and no time limits. Version 0.8 is what I'm using right now.
 
chkdg8 said:
MisterMe, thank you for your response but I'm glad to say that I've found a better and free solution. The latest Video Monkey works like a charm. I was contemplating on buying a copy of Flip4Mac but I knew something else was out there. No watermarks and no time limits. Version 0.8 is what I'm using right now.
Click to expand...

Glad videomonkey worked out for you.
 
flip4mac pro only works with the older version of imovie. It does not work with imovie 08 nor imovie 09. So if you have those two version of the imovie, don't even bother looking at flip4mac pro it will do you noting.
quote from flip4mac's website
"If you have iMovie '09, you’ll need to import the file into QuickTime Pro for conversion to MOV. You can then import into iMovie '09 for editing. To export as Windows Media, you’ll need to import your edited MOV into QuickTime Pro and then export as a Windows Media file."
so yea quicktime pro is the way to go.
 
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