HOWTO: Import JVC .MOD camcorder files into iMovie, Final Cut or Convert to another format
June 28th, 2007
I came across this very problem when I was doing some short films for work. The manager had bought a JVC GZ-MG130 Hard drive based camcorder and had recorded some short bits that needed editing. After first searching, I found out that iMovie couldn’t directly interface with the camera like it does on a Firewire one, because its JVC and they use a USB interface.
So some searching came up with this method.
1, Record your video as normal. Plug the camera into the AC adaptor, and the USB plug. Connect this to your Mac.
2. A new drive will appear. Open it. Copy the contents of the SD_Video folder onto your mac.
3. Delete anything that isn’t a .mod file as these are irrelevant.
4. Rename all the .mod to .mpeg and change the extension when prompted.
5. Download ffMpegX and the necessary binaries
6. Open up ffMpegX and open the first .mpeg file. Convert this to a .MOV, .DV, .AVi file or whatever format you need. Final Cut is best with DV (although uses a lot of bytes).
7. Repeat as necessary for all your .MPEG files.
Thats it! You can now import into iMovie (which will in turn convert into .dv files which means you can then trash the .mpeg and .mov files) and do as you wish. This is also true for importing into Final Cut Pro/Express, or pretty much any other editing program.
You could always use iSquint to convert to Apple TV or iPod compatible files and add straight to iTunes, or anything else you wish.
This is of course a work around that shouldn’t exist. Camera makers seem to leave out Firewire and use so called proprietary formats (just a different extension) to keep people using their software or pay for their goods.
If possible, get a Firewire compatible camcorder, generally one with a MiniDV tape.
UPDATE: This post has got an awful lot of traffic recently (seems to be my top post) so I hope its helping lots of you. If it is, please let me know in the comments. If you have come across any issues let me know too.
The one thing I will contribute, is that the conversion with ffmpegx seems to be a bit funny with widescreen videos. If anyone has found the right settings, please let me know.
UPDATE 2: I’ve just got done listening to MacBreak Weekly and was fed a little bit of info I never thought to try. Instead of going into MPEG, then FFMPEGX, try renaming the file to .MOV and import into iMovie or Final Cut. I no longer have any .MOD files to try so give this a try and leave a comment on the results!
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Posted in apple, howto, tech, work |
June 29th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Good advice!
August 4th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Extremely helpful, I just have one problem.
For some reason I do not seem to get any sound or music from the files.
I use a JVC GZ-MG142Ecamera and the quality on both Image and sound is surprisingly good for what it is. But it seems like the sound disappears in the encoding process.
WKR
Charles
August 4th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Charles, have you tried converting to different formats? (avi, mp)
Also, open the file with VLC (www.videolan.com) and see how it plays. It could just be a missing codec.
August 31st, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Wish I had read this yesterday!!
October 1st, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Just bought a JVC full HD 7 camcorder and a new Imac loaded
Want to use final cut express wont load the files in from hard drive on cam. Called JVC they said TOD files not compatable with FCExpress, could load them into IMovie only at 480 res.
what’s the use of buying hd cam if you can’t load the video ..uses fire wire or usb
called to return large restock fee want to keep camera
can I convert these tod files how about AVIs
October 1st, 2007 at 6:13 pm
You could try the same thing. Rename to .avi and open them in quicktime or VLC (www.videolan.org)
I’d be interested to know if that works
October 4th, 2007 at 3:37 am
Thanks for the info - However, it didn’t work for me.
I did exactly what you said:
ffmpegX installed successfully. I browsed to my file (after renaming it from .MOD to .MPEG), and then selected .DV (also tried several other formats) as my target format. I then clicked on ‘Encode’. A ring sound came but no file was created.
Observations:
In the ‘Source format’ panel of ffmpegX, I noticed that the format is ‘Unrecognized’. Also, when I click ‘Encode’ and a pop-up with an execution status appears, and then a ring sound comes, the ‘i’ (for information) text lists the following: Incorrect frame rate. I am not sure, however, if that is the source of the problem.
Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
sarzan
October 4th, 2007 at 5:26 am
Sarzan
Try opening it in VLC after you’ve renamed it, before converting. That should verify that it can be read as a MPEG file. If it doesn’t play, then go to the Window menu and select Info (or command+I). Go to the Advanced Information, and click the arrow next to Stream 0. This is the video stream and it should tell you what the codec being used on that video is. If its not a variation on mpgv then it you might need to change it from MPEG to something else, depending on the result. A little google-fu should help determine what file extention you need for that codec. Then send it through ffmpegX again.
If it still fails, have a look on the Console for some error messages that might help. (Applications>Utilities>Console)
October 5th, 2007 at 3:30 am
Thanks Dom
It actually worked after all, but this is what I had to do:
I renamed it to a .mpg as opposed to .mpeg (I don’t know if thats one of the reasons). I then exited ffmpegX and ran it again, but this time, I dragged the renamed file into the input panel. I selected the DV output and it took a few seconds to execute. I was then able to load it in iMovie… although I noticed that the resolution is not what I had expected.
Thanks again for the site and the feedback,
Cheers,
sarzan
October 10th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
I also have a JVC camera and am trying to import the files into Adobe Premier..
if you only change the file extension the sound doesn’t stay with the file..
is there a way to convert the file so that it keeps the sound??
October 10th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Mike
I had no issues with the sound here. Does the file play the sound once you’ve changed it to MPEG? If so, then maybe the conversion in ffmpegX isn’t going well. Check your settings for audio.
Thanks for checking out the blog
October 24th, 2007 at 11:54 am
im struggling geting jvc hardrive film on imac g5. when i open up the downloaded folder i can drag and open all clips ending in .mod but not .moi unfortunately 3/4 of wedding video seems to end in .moi . i would realy love some help please…..
October 24th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Chris
Have a look at the file size of the .moi files (Command + I for Get Info). If they’re video files they should be in the tens or hundreds of Megabytes.
I thought the .moi were just meta data used by the camera and as such were no more than about 10KB.
November 21st, 2007 at 6:59 am
Well just came back of holidays (where i bought a JVC 130) and was looking forward to using imovie. Obviously no luck but read your post and works fine (thanks very much
) i don’t even need to rename the .mod files to .mpeg i just drop them in!! Oh and renaming the file to .mov and importing them into imovie does not work!
November 25th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
The best way to do this is just go to Apple downloads and get MPEG2 WORKS 4 it is shareware and cost 25.00 to buy .You can play your videos instantly without converting ,your videos will have sound and you can convert to any format and even send to QT. I had already used all these other work arounds ,but this one makes them all irrelevant .Try it you’ll like it.
November 29th, 2007 at 2:03 am
If you have Toast 7 it does the conversions for you and a whole lot more.
Check it out. It saves a lot of drama and can give you the option to burn to DVD to preview.
December 2nd, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Hi al!
I really thanks for this info, i just want to know, how can i encoding more files booth with ffmegX , i have about 500 mod fie in one folder, i can make only one step one?
thanks
cmd+a doesnt work there…
December 2nd, 2007 at 11:10 pm
@medgya, not sure about bulk converting, but you can add more to the queue while one conversion is going. Drag and drop into ffmpegx.
Alternatively, you could look into the command line method, or try setting up an automator action!
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:12 am
I just renamed it AVI and imported into Premiere in HD1080 it seemed to have worked although I have not been through the pipeline yet.
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Giles!
yes, but if u do that, then in Final Cut you lost audio, i dont know why..
dom! thanks for suggest, just i never try automator, you know… im looking around another program what can to convert, maybe u have an idea?
thanks
December 3rd, 2007 at 6:03 pm
@medgya look here http://mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Streaming_to_iPod_touch_or_iPhone
It covers how to convert files from MythTV to iPhone format, but it has details for a applescript for converting. That should help work out command line conversion in Automator.
I was gonna try it myself but hit a wall when it came to converting.
December 12th, 2007 at 4:25 am
For Mac users, iMovie 08 supports the JVC HDD camcorders (and many others). For my camcorder (GZ-MG155), I have to follow this procedure:
- Power up the camcorder
- Open the camcorder’s display
- Plug the USB cable into camcorder and Mac
- The camcorder displays a menu
- Choose “PLAYBACK ON PC”
- iPhoto may automatically open. Close it if you don’t have any photos to import
- Open iMovie 08 (if not already open)
- The Import screen should automatically open
- Either press “Import All”, or switch to Manual mode and check/uncheck the clips you want, then press “Import Checked”
- The import proceeds very quickly, but the thumbnail generation takes a while, as usual
That’s it. Internally I found that iMovie converted the clips to .MOV files (you can view them in the “iMovie Events” folder). Now the only problem I have is that iMovie adjusts the timestamps of the clips back 5 hours. I believe this is because the camcorder doesn’t have a time zone setting, so it’s timestamps are probably in GMT (I am EST, which is 5 hours behind GMT). I haven’t found an answer to this problem yet. If anyone knows the answer, please fill me in!
December 15th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
ON A PC by dropthe files into Powerdirector and picking up the converted files in the export folder. The TOD conversion takes place without having to do anything. The 4 bytes per frame get taken out and a .mpg is made automatically.
Just check the preferences and see which folders hold the files. You will see that on a PC the conversion is extremely fast and you dont need to do anything.
Importing by 1394 is time consuming.
December 29th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
There is actually a much easier way.
1. Buy a 4-pin to 6-pin firewire cable from the Apple Store
2. Record a video
3. Plug the DC adapter then firewire cable into the Everio dock
4. Place your camera in and turn it on
5. Make sure it’s on play mode.
6. Create a new iMovie file with a changed video format to DV Widescreen
7. When you are in the import stage with iMovie move the cursor on your JVC
to the clip you wish to import.
8. Click the “import” button on iMovie and you’re finished
December 29th, 2007 at 6:22 pm
That doesnt help when you have a JVC hard drive based with no Firewire output (which are more often found on tape based video cameras, rather than hard drive based). This is because Firewire is needed to maintain the high-speed data transfer from tape to computer, to generate the files, whereas hard drive based already have the files so USB can be used because transfer speed isn’t an factor.
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Thanks for the posting. Very useful!
January 10th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
MPEG Streamclip converts .mod files without trouble in a variety of formats, including .mov and .dv, which are compatible with FCP, iMovie and FCE. Best of all, it’s a free download, and is a simple and quick app to use. Open the file, then File>convert. Done!
January 13th, 2008 at 3:23 am
Greg, what format are you converting to? Streamclip gives me a message that I need MPEG-2 Playback Component for 20 bucks. I’m hesitant to do this, not knowing if it will work or not.
Matt’s solution of playing back through Firewire sounds good but doesn’t work with my new Everio GZ-MG155. Then again, I bought a hard drive video camera so I wouldn’t have to playback through anything. This is like the old tape machines.
I should be able to plug it in and copy my files from camera to computer.
I sent an e-mail to JVC. I will be interesting to see what they have to say. I probably should have brought the DVD burner that comes with some of the retail packages. Then I’d just burn the DVD and transfer the files from there. Apparently, JVC has never heard of video editing software. All the instruction book talks about is copying to a DVD or VHS.
Any other suggestions would be great or I’m returning the thing.
January 20th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Im trying the fast way, Matt’s option using firewire and it doesnt work either for me. I guess I’ll have to the first option TBC.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:48 am
DropDV did not work. Creates the folder but does not have any files inside. EMPTY folders are created on my desktop iMac
January 26th, 2008 at 6:11 am
Hi,
I use dropdv, its easy and quick, all you do is select all the files you want to convert .mod, drag them onto the application and drop. They will then convert to .dv. I would recommend you play with the settings at via the menus at the top of the screen under the preferences menu you can select where you want the DV files, what folders to create and limit the size of the dv files. Note - you have to buy it without the proper reg code it leaves text in your vid.
February 16th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Tried the DropDV method. Worked perfectly. The .mod files are significantly more compressed than the .dv files - the 595MB .mod file was converted into two .dv files comprising approximately 7.5GB. Audio file worked fine.
Once converted to .dv, which took about 10 minutes, I imported the .dv files into iMovie08. Everything worked fine.
February 18th, 2008 at 12:18 am
I agree with Tom, I purchased an HDD camera to eliminate real time downloads. My GZ-MG155 has both USB and Firewire. After all my research, it seems that everything requires the MPEG2 Playback component. There are plenty of options out there, Streamclip, ffmpeg-x, DVdrop, MPEG2 Works and more, but without the MPG2 Playback Component, it looks like you are out of luck. So, it looks to me that no matter what you have to pay at least 25 bucks to solve this problem. And if you choose shareware over freeware you can add another 20 bucks.
The install instructions on ffMpgX are a bit scary to me. Its not just a simple install. I shy away from any of these Unix solutions which mess with your system instead of just installing an application.
I’ll probably try StreamClip first since it is free.
February 18th, 2008 at 3:23 am
Jay,
The same thing worked for me, but I can’t see any of the thumbnails or view the movies, and it leaves me with an empty folder in imovie ‘08 (the folder on my Mac has the files but when I view them, I get sound but no video). Have you had this happen?
February 24th, 2008 at 4:54 am
Hey,
Everything works just like you said. However, converting high def .MOV files to 720×480 resolution DV files takes a long time. I have a iMac with a 2.16 Core2Duo Processor + 2Gigs of Ram and it still takes a while. To put it into perspective, 9 min of video, converted to the above resolution with 2 pass encoding took over half and hour. I have to convert at least 30 min.
I’m importing to FinalCutExpress and all I have to say is I hope it works the first time cause I got a bunch of clips to convert in a short time frame.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Thanks to everyone who’s left their own thanks for the post. I’ve moved this over from my previous blog but don’t seem to be getting traffic from there!