iMovie 3 is out.... and it imports MPEG-2 files.

[Eug]

Cool! Works with both .m2v and .mpg files (without audio).

[caintgetrite]

Really? I just installed iMovie 3 tonight and tried "Import file" on a .m2v file...doesn't work. How did you do it?

[Eug]

Really? I just installed iMovie 3 tonight and tried "Import file" on a .m2v file...doesn't work. How did you do it?

Yeah, for some reason, "Import"ing an .m2v files doesn't work, but if you simply drag and drop the file into the main window it does work. Dunno why.

I CAN "Import" an .mpg file, and also works with drag and drop too.

For whatever reason though, I lose the audio. I still have to manually extract the audio with 3rd party software to AIFF or something.

Mind you all of my files are DVD sized, so I don't know if that makes a difference. I dunno if a wonky size like 800x600 would work.

[caintgetrite]

Wow, thanks! Drag and drop does the trick! At least for video...I can mess around with converting the .AC3 files and see what happens

[marti286]

Final cut pro 3 has alway had mpeg 2 import capabilities. I works well with lower bit rate of m2v (quicktime mpeg 2 export).

[Eug]

Final cut pro 3 has alway had mpeg 2 import capabilities. I works well with lower bit rate of m2v (quicktime mpeg 2 export).

Yeah, but iMovie 3 is free. And iMovie 2 never supported this function.

By the way, besides FCP, Final Cut Express also will import MPEG-2 files.

Anyways, I wouldn't be doing this for ripped .mpg from .vobs or anything, unless it's something small like trailers, since iMovie 3 still has that pesky 2 GB per DV clip limitation (which is around 9 minutes per clip).

[wIReman]

When I try to drop .m2v file on iMovie 3 I get "Error...QuickTime couldn't parse it (-208)." Do I need another program to add functionality to Quicktime?

Also, I can't find on the Apple website that FCP and Final Cut Express can import m2v. If this is an undocumented import option it seems that it could be used to help with sync problems ie import long .m2v file and long AIFF file (converted from ac3), sync and then export to DVDSP...

Am I correct?

Thanks!