Showing posts with label edit h.264 files in imovie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label edit h.264 files in imovie. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Import/Edit H.264 Files to/in iMovie Smoothly

H.264

H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (MPEG-4 AVC) is a video coding format that is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of video content.It is used in many places including Blu-Ray players, as well as videos streamed through sites like YouTube. It is also used in some TV broadcasts.

H.264 & iMovie incompatible issues

H.264 video streams can be contained in various containers such as MPEG-4 part 14 (.mp4), MOV, Matroska (.mkv), 3GP (.3gp), or Flash video (.flv). 



So folks met the incompatible issue:

I shoot with a Canon EOS and its native video is on H.264 codec. I used to edit by importing the native H.264 footage into iMovie(11), but found trouble when it was really slow and didn't flow smoothly.

I was trying to bring a .mov file to iMovie 11, but the filename is greyed out in the finder window so I can't select it. According to the QuickTime inspector, the video was encoded in H.264. The problem I’m facing now is how can I import H.264 to iMovie for further editing without any hassle. 


Why iMovie unfriendly with H.264

Will iMovie(iMovie 11) support H.264 codec? As far as I know H.264 is supposed to be a supported codec in iMovie. However, if aspect ratio and frame rate can’t fit iMovie editing, it will still reject your H.264 files. What’ more, H.264 is highly compressed. It is not designed as a format for editing. That's not where you want to start with editing for high quality results. 

Solution: transcode H.264 to iMovie most compatible Apple InterMediate Codec

Luckily, you can get the H.264 format video recognized by iMovie (iMovie 11) easily. What you need is only a Mac video converter that can convert H.264 to iMovie most compatible Apple InterMediate Codec. It can ensure the best results when editing H.264 files in iMovie on your Mac. 

Pavtube Video Converter for Mac (Top 8 iMovie Converter for Mac Review) is just what you need, which has optimized preset for iMovie. Enable you to transcode MP4 to AIC .mov for using in iMovie directly without any rendering or codec problems. Plus, it also allows you to convert MP4 to ProRes for FCP, DNxHD for Avid, etc editing with best results. It would be finished with only 3 clicks without losing video quality.

The trail-before-purchase is supported, just feel free to try it:

          

How to convert H.264 to Apple InterMediate Codec

1.Drag the H.264 files to the software. Or you can also click "Add" button to import video to the program. It supports batch conversion and joining multiple video clips into one file.



2.You can directly choose the preset iMovie/FCE --> Apple InterMediate Codec(AIC) (*.mov) as the output format. 



3.Adjust the video and audio parameters, including the Bitrate of Video&Audio, Video Size, Sample Rate, Frame Rate, Audio Channels, etc., by clicking the Settings button on the main interface for getting the best quality. 1080p/720p video size, 30fps frame rate, are the optimal settings for iMovie.



4. click on the Convert button to start transcoding H.264 to iMovie. 

After the conversion, click "Open" to locate the result videos and then you can start fun away with editing H.264 footage in iMovie 08/09/11 without problems.

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