• The Mac-Forums Community Guidelines (linked at the top of every forum) are very clear, we respect US law and court precedence when it comes to legality of activity.

    Therefore to clarify:
    • You may not discuss breaking DVD or BluRay encryption, copying, or "ripping" commercial, copy-protected DVDs.
    • This includes DVDs or BluRays you own. Even if you own the DVD or BluRay, it is still technically illegal under the DMCA to break the encryption. While some may argue otherwise, until the law is rewritten or the US Supreme Court strikes it down, we will adhere to the current intent of the law.
    • You may discuss ripping or copying unprotected movies or homemade DVDs.
    • You may discuss ripping or copying tools in the context that they are used for legal purposes as outlined in this post.

What to do with iMovie projects?

Joined
Mar 29, 2016
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hi,

I know this title may seem a bit unusual, but a bit of background might help to clarify.

Prior to getting a digital video camera, I used 8mm tapes (actually up until just the other year) and so to archive the 2-hour tapes I simply transferred from 8mm to VHS. Simple and uncomplicated. Pop the VHS into the machine and watch. The original 8mm tapes went into my safe deposit box. (I'm a bit paranoid of the possibility of loss by fire)

So...fast forward to the age of digital video. Being a bit of a die-hard when it comes to old technology and equipment, I researched and bought a cable that still enabled me to transfer from my Sony camera's multi-port right into my old combo VHS/DVD player and so was able to put my digital video on VHS or DVD and then patted myself on the back for my ingenuity (LOL). However, it occurred to me that I really was not taking advantage of what programs like iMovie had to offer in the way of being able to edit out undesired clips and also add titles, etc. I realized I was still doing the same old thing only using a new camera and digital instead of tape files.

So...fast forward a bit more to transferring my video files from the camera right into iMovie. All well and good....except that my mode of using the camera while traveling is to take many short segments. I frequently pause while filming and so accumulate literally hundreds of individual clips for any one trip. So to create a movie is not that hard, but I wind up working with aLOT of clips - some of which are only a few seconds long depending on what I'm seeing while touring. Now, while the learning curve has been a bit steeper than expected in learning to feel comfortable with iMovie, I'm getting it. I know how to organize clips and events in the library, and to create movie projects since I've used iMovie previously with creating short youtube videos that use mostly still photos.

But....(and this is the point of the thread) what do most of you do with all these video clips? I still like the idea (or perhaps am just resistant to changing the old way of doing it might be a more appropriate description) of putting together a full-length movie, sitting back and turning on the tv and watching it. My average VHS tape of home video might cover a span of a year or more - holidays, birthdays, trips...whatever. BUT...now I've begun filling up a hard drive with all these digital clips and projects.

Do most of you take the time to create long movie projects and then indeed burn them to a DVD? If so, can one easily string together individual iMovie events that could be placed on a DVD in such a way that it is all relatively seamless and flows from one event to the next? Or would you have to create one HUGE and LONG event that would essentially fill up an entire DVD-R? Am I hanging on needlessly to my long-engrained habits and thinking too much in terms of continuing to archive large files on DVDs that are played without the use of computer at all, and instead should be thinking more of just watching shorter video segments either on the computer or through the computer into a good digital monitor? In thinking about it, it's a bit ludicrous that my typical chain of events proceeds from new to increasingly old technology in this fashion: first employing a reasonably state-of-the-art camera, then transferring to another reasonably state-of-the-art laptop, using new iMovie software, but then transferring to DVDs that will be placed in a 20+ year old combo VHS/DVD player where the discs will be viewed on an even older CRT television! I know...a bit weird. At the least I know I need to upgrade the tv to a nice large flat-screen.

So back to the subject...what do most of you do? Do you simply watch your iMovie projects by connecting computer to tv? Is archiving important to you and if so how is it accomplished? I do have a 2 TB external drive that I use to make back-up copies of all my digital video files, but I just don't know what I should be doing with all these clips. While totally outdated...transferring the old 8mm to VHS sure was easy and to be honest some of those tapes from the early 90s play and look as good as the day they were recorded!! This iMovie thing is certainly cool...and it's neat to add the titles and so forth...but it is quite time consuming and alot more complicated of a process compared to the old way of transferring which simply involved hitting play on the camera, record on the VHS player...and done.

So I guess I'm just looking to find out what others here do with their digital video, since it seems part of me is alive and well in the digital present but another more stubborn part of me is hopelessly rooted in the analog past. The two are clashing somewhat as to which direction both want to go it seems.

Thanks,
Keith
 
Last edited:

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top