[cheekyage]

Hi Guys,

I am all new to iMovie '09 as I have a work project coming up where I can only obtain .FLV files.

Can I use .FLV files in iMovie '09?

Also, I was told that iMoive only works with HD quality video, not SD.
Is this true?

Cheers

[Japester]

You won't be able to use the .FLV (hateful things) unless you transcode them first.

iMoive (Kath & Kim moment there!) does work with SD, in fact even lower res. It was branded as iMovie HD at one time to highlight the new support for HD but it has always been able to work with lower res.

[mmulhern]

I use MPEG StreamClip from Squared 5 - MPEG Streamclip video converter for Mac OS X to convert video formats. You'll be spoilt for choice as to what to convert to, but the easiest is to choose the export for iMovie option.

iMovie will handle SD as well as HD (in standard & widescreen)

[NeoRicen]

In Snow Leopard Quicktime X now natively supports FLV, so iMovie should as well. That's not until September, worth noting though.

[Arkhum_Eramak]

I second MPEG streamclip by squared 5.

Didn't know that Quicktime X natively supported FLVs. Good to know...about time! But the question is...can preview play GIFs?

[cheekyage]

Thanks so much for you prompt and informative replies guys.

Much appreciated.

So I would need to convert the .FLV files then?
Which format is best to convert them to?
Does iMovie convert the format or do I need to download a video converter tool such as Squared 5?

[Japester]

If you can drag the files into iMovie, then you're golden. If you can't, you'll have to transcode using a tool like the aforementioned MPEG Streamclip. This is where my knowledge gets sketchy, but you could export to DV. I've done that with MPEG 1 clips from a still camera. DV is a favoured format because it's what comes straight off many digital cameras. MPEG 4 is also a good one because it can be edited and exported as Passthrough, which means it doesn't get recompressed. iMovie supports MPEG 4 but whether it exports with Passthrough I don't know.

I'm sure someone has a better idea of what happens in iMovie and could better recommend a format to transcode to prior to import. At this stage, I would go with DV.

[cheekyage]

Thanks so much for you prompt and informative replies guys.

Much appreciated.

So I would need to convert the .FLV files then?
Which format is best to convert them to?
Does iMovie convert the format or do I need to download a video converter tool such as Squared 5?

[cheekyage]

Originally Posted by cheekyage

Thanks so much for you prompt and informative replies guys.

Much appreciated.

So I would need to convert the .FLV files then?
Which format is best to convert them to?
Does iMovie convert the format or do I need to download a video converter tool such as Squared 5?

Friendly BUMP :P