Greetings All,
Hope everyone had a nice holiday. I need help getting a large (2.3GB) .wmv file into iMovie for editing and burning. Video work I do is rather simple. Underwater inspections. Nuthin fancy DVD's to accompany printed reports.
Some info: I am using an old Mac G5 (OS 10.4.11), iMovie (4.0.1, cause I don't like the functionality of newer versions). I know I must break video into smaller chunks to import. Quicktime Pro was recommended, although my old G5 needs a OS upgrade to support this. Wondering if anyone out there has an easy way to accomplish breaking video into chunks.
Many thanks.
Handbrake (free) will convert it to an mp4, iMovie will then import the mp4. You'll need to look around the older builds page for a version to run on your OS. Not a workflow I've ever used as such so I can't comment on the quality you'll get.
Hmmmm. Downloaded older version for OSX.4. Doesn't recognize .wmv as valid video format. Any suggestions?
Hmmm, I can't match your specs totally but I d'nd this version - HandBrake-0.9.4-MacOSX.5_GUI_ppc.dmg and ran it on an old G4 Dual 1.42 with OS X 10.5 and 3 different wmv files with no problems.
The words 'Doesn't recognize .wmv as valid video format' can only have come from Apple. Even Guadalajaran tribesmen would recognise .wmv as a valid video format.
I don't know about Guadalajaran tribesmen but my 2000 Mac G4 with 10.5 will open a .wmv and convert it to .mp4 in Handbrake without any problems. Microsoft supply a couple of test .wmv files @ 720 and 1080HD:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=16136
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=24559
Both of these opened quite happily and converted to .mp4 (iMovie format) in Handbrake 0.9.4 - It took a while on an old Dual 1.42 with only 2Gb of RAM.
OS X 10.4 is very old software, Leopard 10.5 was released in 2007 so 10.4 was considerably before that, if it's a G5 it's more than capable of using 10.5 up to 10.5.8 and as far as I can see that's the only difference between my old system and yours.
So, if you really want to work with .wmv files you might want to think of at least upgrading some of your workflow software, move to a PC or ask a Guadalajaran tribesman what to do.....
Thank you all for your input. I am looking into upgrading my ancient OS to 10.5. For some reason the Handbrake version for OS 10.4 would not accept the .wmv file. Will try again once I have made the upgrade. I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond. As with electricity, I know just enough to be dangerous and have no idea how to get in touch with a Guadalajaran tribesman.
If it's a question of 'get you out of trouble until you get sorted' you could Dropbox the .wmv to me and I'll see what I can do with it.
That's a nice offer. It is my understanding I still need to break the video into chunks to get it into iMovie, or burn to DVD to play through bridge and let iMovie break it up automatically. What option would I have if you were able to convert it to say mp4?
I don't have an earlier version of iMovie to test with - my main edit machine is a Mac Pro Quad running 10.8 and Final Cut Pro 7 (FCS3) but it does have iMovie 11 installed so I can't really answer your question. I can cut your file into chunks if you wish when (and if!) converted if iMovie won't 'see' a large file - I wasn't aware iMovie won't see large files - you probably have more info on that than I do. More than happy to have a go, if you have Dropbox (or Copy or GoogleDrive) upload your file and send me a link daveATfoxvideo.co.uk
Thanks, Dave. My G5 is currently being upgraded to 10.5 and other software made compatible. I submitted my .wmv on DVD to local guy who is going to convert to mp2. I can play through my bridge to slightly newer version of iMovie. Will let you know if I have any hiccups. I appreciate your willingness to help. Happy New Year!
No worries, hope it works out OK.