For Mac users: Use iMovie to create .mp4 video files

Posted by ashalson
There have been many discussions on this site about where to find mp4 files for viewing on our beloved p800s. Well, why not make them yourself? I have lots of movies I have made myself using iMovie on my OS X TiBook. Tonight, I played around with iMovie and discovered that I can export perfect mp4 files for viewing on my p800.

Here's how you do it, using iMovie 3:

(This assumes you have already imported or created your movie.)

1. Go to File > Export

2. Choose 'Export: Quicktime; Format: Expert Settings' and click 'Export'

3. Choose 'Export: Movie to MPEG-4' and click 'Options.'

4. Customize your video and audio settings (I chose video 160x120, 15 fps, Stereo, 22mHz, etc.)

5. Click 'OK' and your file will be created.

6. Beam it to your p800 using BT, Infrared or the Dock...

Incidentally, you can also import many different video types into iMovie (depending on the codecs you have installed) then export out to .mp4.

Have fun!

Posted by lesneo
What version is ur iMovie?

Posted by slackerboy
Any version of iMovie should work, what you need is the latest version of QuickTime (6.2), which is the engine behind iMovie. You can also create mp4 movies with QuickTime Pro (versions 6.0-6.2).
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt/

Posted by Zoidy
Hi,

160x120 seems awfully small. Can you not get the video to 192 x 144. Using Quicktime on the PC I can resize a movie down to 192 x 144 and I get about 1mb a minute (at 20fps).

Problem with Quicktime for the PC is that it doesnt read in Mpeg audio from the video as a seperate file. So you need to demux it beforehand and add the audio to it another way.

Oh how I wish I had a Mac sometimes!

Z.

Posted by kowalski
Hi there,

Thanks for the tip; the only problem I'm having is step 6!

I have an old 233 G3 powerbook running Jaguar which has Infrared, and a Quicksilver G4 running Jag; I plan on getting bluetooth soon but don't have it yet.

How exactly can I transfer files across with Infrared or the dock? I've played about with it but am not having much luck.

Posted by ashalson
@kowalski: Whoops...you're right-- I shouldn't have said IR or Dock when talking about the Mac-- those aren't currently possible, are they?

@zoidy: You can choose several different sizes-- 160x120 just happens to be the size I chose...

[ This Message was edited by: ashalson on 2003-05-03 18:39 ]