Windows movie maker.

[esox]

I`m playing about with WMM.

I`ve got several short videos on my laptop taken in video mode from my Kodak digi camera.

But,i cannot import them into WMM because;

"The file C:\Documents and Settings\blah.blah.bla.xxx.xxx.etc.etc.mov is not a supported file type, and it cannot be imported into Windows Movie Maker."

Is it possible to change the video file type to one that can be imported?

 

[grober]

windows media encoder

I`m playing about with WMM.

I`ve got several short videos on my laptop taken in video mode from my Kodak digi camera.

But,i cannot import them into WMM because;

"The file C:\Documents and Settings\blah.blah.bla.xxx.xxx.etc.etc.mov is not a supported file type, and it cannot be imported into Windows Movie Maker."

Is it possible to change the video file type to one that can be imported?

you could try Windows Media Encoder http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx
or get a analogue video capture card to take the files direct from the camera.

heres a list of supported file types.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316992

Its a minefield because although the file type may be right the compression type is not etc etc

 

[masqueraid]

What you are trying to do is move between two quite different proprietary media formats (Apple's Quicktime MOV and Microsoft's Windows Media WMV).

If you put convert into Google you will get thousands of hits fom people who want you to give them money for programs which can sometimes be a bit "hit and miss" in converting video and audio correctly.

The solution you need will depend on your own circumstances:

The fastest and most reliable is to pay and download Apple's Quicktime Pro which is the full version of the cut-down Quicktime you can get for free. The full version allows you to load any of the Apple video formats and then export them into a easily converted format of your choice.

If you are only converting MOV files on a regular basis this is probably the best paid for route to take. If you are going to want to convert lots of formats it might be worth paying for a third party product that has a bigger range of files it will load to convert.

There are however several routes that are entirely free but they all involve some degree of "lifting the bonnet" of your computer and fiddling inside. To my mind although these take longer to set up initially they are more worthwhile - not just because they cost nothing - but because you learn a lot about the way video is encoded for computers which helps if you want to do more than just copy files in the future.

If that's the route you prefer I'm sure I can find some software that can do this for you.

Finally have a look at what came with your video camera, there may already be something bundled with that which will do this for you already.

 

[guydewdney]

have a look on www.download.com for video converters - theres plenty of shareware ones...

 

[esox]

Why isn`t anything simple....

Masqueraid,whats the link between Kodak and Apple (quicktime)?

As i say,i`m only experimenting,add in the fact that any "under the bonnet" tinkering with computers would leave me with the vapours,and i think if i do do anything i`ll "go pro" with Quicktime.

I suppose i should also read the camera`s manual...



*edit*

All i want to do at the moment is reduce the file size of the vids.

In video mode,approx 2 1/2 minutes recording from my camera exeeds the file size of the host where i want to put the video(guess where...)

By reading "help/how to" in WMM,i found out you can save the file to fit within a chosen file size limit.

Is there another (easy) way to reduce the file size to a chosen limit preferably without any "under the bonnet tinkering"?


Thanks.

 

[masqueraid]

Kodak and Apple Some useful stuff here.
My guess for the video file size would be check the manual to see if you can decrease the image quality or size when you are recording. Otherwise you will need to use software to post-process it to a smaller file size.

 

[esox]

Well,i read all that,but its way above my compooter ability.

Dang...


"edit*
after having read the camera manual (!),i can reduce the pixel size of the video playback screen which means much smaller file sizes and i can get approx 8 minutes recording under the 100Mb host limit......

Its still not the correct solution though,so i`ll download one of the converter programmes to convert the .MOV files to something WMM can work with.