HELP!! DV from Mac to PC?

[Otobe]

I have some footage that I imported from a DV camera using iMovie. I transfered the files from the Mac to my PC via an external firewire drive. If the footage is DV I thought I should be able to play it back on my PC. Everything I try to open the files in tells me that I don't have the propper codec to play the files. Is there anything that I can do to get my PC to be able to read these files?

[communist]

You could try by installing Quicktime or you could try to play the files with VLC.

[Otobe]

I've tried VCL, no sound or picture, and I have Quicktime installed

[bb]

Which container format does the Mac generated file have? Is it an AVI, or a QuickTime MOV?

Do you have a DV codec installed on your PC?

bb

[Otobe]

i do have a DV codec installed, and i don't know about the container format, it doesn't have a .avi or .mov extension

[theReal]

(...) using iMovie

Maybe iMovie uses some kind of proprietary container format (like Avid)?
If the extension of the files is not .mov then your chances are probably low.
However I don't think Apple would use some proprietary format in iMovie whilst using Quicktime dv in Final Cut Pro. They have a .mov extension and you can play them in Quicktime player (I have never tried to import them to NLE programs in Windows, though)

[bb]

Otobe,

what happens if you add a .mov or .avi extension to your filename?
By the way: how did you export the video from iMovie (which menues did you select)?

bb

[Otobe]

if i add an .mov or .avi extention it doesn't change anything, and i didn't export the files through iMovie, i imported them and then copied the clips from my iMovie project's media folder

[bb]

I have no idea what the file format in iMovie's projects media folder is, but I assume it's something proprietary. You should export/save your file to a DV type-1 or type-2 AVI (I hope that's possible with iMovie), or maybe a QuickTime MOV. But speaking of DV, AVI should be the most common container format.

bb

[theReal]

AVI should be the most common container format.

Steve Jobs would rather go to hell than export to avi on his Macs

There's no avi on Macs - they support playback of course, but you can only export to Quicktime. The contents of the quicktime file are still the same, it's DV, so no problem with that (Windows programs can handle Quicktime)

[bb]

Originally posted by theReal
Steve Jobs would rather go to hell than export to avi on his Macs [...]

Hehe, that's probably true
So maybe we should watch out for a QuickTime to AVI container converter program, which can strip the DV data from the QuickTime container and save it to a DV AVI (preferrably type-1 I'd say).

bb