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Home / Audio and Video / Blog / Video / Video Production / How to import DVD Video into iMovie ‘08
First, why I needed to know this.
I have clients from time to time who have self produced videos on a DVD they would like to add to their websites, either progressively streaming off of their hosting server or through one of the myriad of video sharing sites (ala YouTube, Blip.TV, Vimeo etc.)
In the past, when we were a PC only web shop it frankly was easy. Rip the VOB file you need as an AVI (with something as simple as Pinnacle), convert to FLV and that was it basically.
However on the MAC (Specifically MacBook Pro with Mac OS X 10.5.6) I found it a bit more of a challenge without investing in more apps for a purpose that doesn’t come up all that often. Let’s face it, I’m cheap. It shouldn’t be that hard.
Let me be clear, I’m not talking about commercial, copyrighted material. These are in-house production quality videos that my client, XYZ company, shot of someone using their auger system, of making a cappuccino, or whatever.
That said, I found this solution in bits and pieces on a various forums and was able to create my own work-flow that I will now share.
The Problem
Basically with DVD video you have files called VOB (video object files). You may have several VOB files on the same disc if you have chapters of several smaller videos on the same disc. OK, that said, the problem is getting iMovie, let’s say, to recognize a VOB. It won’t. Hence you cannot import it. The image to the right show these files. Notice the dark color of the files. When you look at them in iMovie they will be grayed out, meaning they are not a valid file type for iMovie as such.
The Solution
The key then is simply getting the VOB file in a format iMovie will import. It’s actually very simple. You just need to make a disk image (.dmg). Here’s how.
Let Disk Utility chew on that a few minutes and presto-chango you have a disk image (.dmg) of your DVD.
Now, with iMovie open, you have to “mount” the disk image by double-clicking on the .dmg file (the disk image file) you created.
Next iMovie’s IMPORT window will pop-up and you will notice that the disk image is recognized as ….a camera! How about that.
Now choose IMPORT ALL and get to editing once it is in iMovie. That’s it!
Assuming you know how to export, you’ll end up with a .M4V file that can be uploaded and let YouTube, Vimeo, et al, do the rest.
One note: Occasionally you may get errors when importing and from my experience this is most often because the disk I am working from is a bad/damaged copy.
Hope this is helpful in getting you going the right direction.
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DISCLAIMER: Note that this is relating my own experience using iMovie 08 and this process. This may or may not work with other versions of iMovie. Be sure and check the comments as several others have tried other solutions with other versions of iMovie and found work-arounds. The idea for this was a collaborative place to share ideas.
April 12th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Yeah I had read similar posts, but you are very clear. Thanks. I wish Apple could make their iMovie software smart enough to figure out if there’s no DRM on a DVD and just let you import your own DVD’s easier. This is great tutorial though.
April 18th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Sorry to be contradictory, but this doesn’t seem to work in Imovie ‘09. You can make the image and all, but the “mounting” doesn’t do anything.
April 18th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Thanks Jeremy. You’re probably right, as I don’t have iMovie ‘09 and so didn’t try it in that version. I’ll update my post to reflect that. Thanks for the comment! Have a great day.
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April 18th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Thanks Jeremy. Probably correct no doubt as I don’t use iMovie ‘09. I will reflect that in my post. Thanks for the comment. Have a great day!
April 20th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
You’re welcome. For what it’s worth, downloading Handbrake and the VLC media player will help ease the burdens of imovie ‘09 users. It’s working for me so far.
Be aware, though, that Handbrake is NOT enough – you need VLC installed to be able to handle the MPEG-2 files, but you DON”T have to actually open that program to make everything work. Handbrake will do all the work from there on out.
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:19 pm
I followed your instructions. It seems to me that after creating dmg file, when imovie get the dvd contents, but they are all messed up. they are not in correct orders, nor the contents are complete (some segments are missing. My DVD have three sections. I have iMAC 20″, imovie09.
Have you had any problem?
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:03 am
This does not work for iMovie 09. Sorry.
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April 24th, 2009 at 9:43 am
This doesn’t work for me. I have a MacBook OX X 10.5.6 and iMovie 08.02.
I followed your instructions, but when I try to mount the .dmg with iMovie open, nothing happens. A window opens with an audio (empty) and video folder, but you can’t import it into iMovie any way I can figure.
When I tried the same in iMovie ‘07, iMovie would crash after a few seconds each time. So I bought iMovie ‘08 JUST to be able to deal with a home DVD (one of my kids’ plays, no permissions).
WHY does Apple have to make it so hard? What is their problem? This has to be one of the most common usages of iMovie.
Any help would be appreciated.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:14 am
This worked great the first 2 times I tried it, but since then every time I “mount” the .dmg file iMovie 08 crashes. Anybody else have this problem? I am trying to load my son’s baseball games from DVDs that another dad made, but I’m stuck after the first two…
Any ideas?
May 1st, 2009 at 6:26 am
Hey Charlie,
Yeah I had the same problem. It is not a perfect solution for sure, but seems to work most of the time. I found that longer video clips were maybe the culprit.
In any event I have since found another free solution and used it successfully on a non-copyrighted, but institutionally produced videos I have to upload. I will be posting a step by step on that shortly.
Thanks again for the comment.
Sandy
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May 6th, 2009 at 7:57 am
I’m having the same problem with iMovie ‘09. I’ve used Handbrake in the past, but even that isn’t working for me. I’ve output the file as an .m4v using Handbrake and it still is greyed out in iMovie 09. This is very frustrating.
Jeremy – Any idea how I can get Handbrake to work? I do have the VLC player. I’m not sure why this isn’t working for me. I’m using HandBrake 0.9.3.
May 11th, 2009 at 4:38 am
Imovie ‘09 will only recognize *.mp4 files. It will not reconize *.m4v files. Get handbrake to save the output as MP4. Beware the image quality loss is considerable on the default settings. Ramp it up.
June 13th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Hi
I tried your directions to get a dvd -one that I had previously made – back into iMovie but after creating the dmg image – iMovie does not recognize it….in that it does not give me an import option. What am I doing wrong?
June 20th, 2009 at 10:17 am
i double click on the disk image and it just opens up the file with a video TS folder in it. how do i get the import window to pop up?
June 29th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
This suggestion worked like a charm for me with iMovie ‘09. Dianne, you need to double-click on the .dmg file and let it expand. iMovie then recognizes it as a camera and imports the file as an iMovie event.
Thanks, Sandy!!
July 6th, 2009 at 7:08 am
I was having trouble getting the Handbrake-exported file into iMovie as I couldn’t figure out the setting for a .mp4 file, just .m4v (although I didn’t look very hard) . It seems as simple as changing the file extension to .mp4 and iMovie imported it like a charm.
July 20th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I had nearly given up hope when I found your web site. I had transferred all my home movies from VHS to DVD, but then found I could nothing with them. Now thanks to your web site I have 2 ways, either via converting to mp4 via Hand Brake or using disk image.
Hurray and thank you
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Your original post worked GREAT with iMovie 09 – thank you!!!!
August 9th, 2009 at 8:37 am
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this worked so well you saved me from hours of confusion and stress
September 1st, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Thanks for the tutorial, we have had our DVD transfer customers always asking about importing DVD via imovie, we transfer all the old camcorder tapes, vhs & 8mm/16mm movie film to DVD, (shameless plug) always referred to mpeg streamclip or open shiiva, but it takes a long time to do all the files individually, we will link to your instructions.
Cheers,
Phil Thomas
gotmemories.com
September 4th, 2009 at 10:47 am
i’m getting really frustrated, please help me.
mounting dmg doesn’t make anything happen in imovie, no import windows are opening, and i don’t know how to edit this file otherwise…
any tip?
September 24th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Hmm let’s see if I can put this in a nutshell.
-Been using computers since I was about 12…commodore 64 and PCs.
-Bought a mac mini (on clearance) so I can give a shot at writing iPhone apps
-Recorded some funny commercials and other stuff from a dvd burner you hook up to cable or satellite receiver
-Brought the DVD to my PC to convert it..using dvd fab or avsmedia
-DVD drive wouldn’t recognize the dvd (even though my DVD player played it perfectly)
-Threw it in the mac….played fine
-Googled “can I use iMovie to get from DVD’
-Came to this page….followed the instructions….history
The more I use my mac…the more I am moving away from my PC. Mac are freaking cool.
GREAT PAGE thanks. (I was NOT using iMovie ‘09)
October 4th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
I’ve followed the directions but am having the same problem as another person who commented. After i double clicked to mount, imovie does recognize, but gets half way through creating thumbnails, freezes, and then shuts down. You stated that you found another free step by step solution and would be posting it shortly. Has that come to fruition, and could you possibly point me in the right direction?! i am a novice when it comes to this sort of thing
appreciate any help anyone can give !!!!!!
October 5th, 2009 at 7:37 pm
I am having the same problem – iMovie ‘08 recognizes the dmg but gets halfway through creating thumbnails and then crashes. I don’t know what else to do!
October 8th, 2009 at 10:47 am
It did not work for me. Major bummer. I just want to upload some non copyrighted dvd’s to my library.
October 27th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I’m having the same problem. I’m using iMovie ‘09 and was able to use these directions once… and now iMovie just isn’t doing its part. Isn’t there another way to do it?
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I used it on imovie 09 with no problem. Thank you so much I’ve tried to figure this out for so long and it was so easy. Thanks!!!
November 4th, 2009 at 10:02 am
wow, great instructions!! thank you SO much.
November 23rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Many many many many thanks.
November 30th, 2009 at 7:25 am
I copied from a 20 year old VHS to DVD, followed the original instructions and it all works perfect in iMovie 09. Also running new Snow Leopard OS. Not sure if that makes any difference. I have only had my mac for 2 months so now I have to figure out how to use iMovie.
Great post. Thanks for the help!!
December 12th, 2009 at 7:22 am
hi there, i have imported the movie into imovie as you have advised and said but i have no sound…? could you please advise me on how to get it?? regards james
December 12th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Dear Digital Juggler
Thank you so much for helping us. In 2006 I purchased my Mac OS X version 10.4.11. At the time I was doing pretty well economically. I was so busy in 06 07 and part of 08. Now things are different and our christmas gifts to family and friends this year will be a video of our family wishing them a Merry Chirstmas and New Year consisting of various good times we have had doing simple things like the beach, soccer games etc. all saved on existing DVDs.
Thank you for making our Christmas a bright and happy one for our family. May God bless you and your family
Merry Christmas Digital Juggler
The Stevens Family
December 14th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I have followed the steps exactly and was able to import my video clip into imovie, but not the entire clip. The clip is 49 minutes long and imovie says that it imported all 49 min successfuly, but when i go to edit the thumbnails the clip is only 38 min long. i tried again with a different clip of similar length and the same thing happened, where is the last part of the clip going? any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:14 pm
I have successfully imported my video into imovie but the picture/clip is squished and I don’t know how to make it look normal.
January 17th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
I appreciate the original instructions, though they did not work for me in iMovie ‘09. I ended up using HandBrake to create an M4V file of my DVD. I couldn’t import that either, but then I read Mike’s suggestion about just renaming the extension to MP4. I did that, and now my file is importing beautifully! Thanks everyone.
January 25th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Hi Digital Juggler,
Not sure if you are still monitoring this page – hope so…Great set of instructions. I am an experienced PC user (used Movie Maker, Adobe Premier Elements on Windows), but fairly novice Mac user. Like Brian, I was able to import most, though not all of the clips. Any pointers which would enable me to capture the full video would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, N
January 27th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Works just fine in iMovie’09. Just been using this exact method to import from a BBC provided DVD of our recent features on the Breakfast program, to edit down then upload to YouTube. IT WORKS – Just follow the steps EXACTLY and it does what it says on the tin!
January 28th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Hey, worked perfectly on iMovie ‘09 – thanks for the tip!
February 12th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
It worked for me in iMovie ‘09, except the scenes were not in the correct order. Unfortunately, my DVD recorder was set to insert a chapter mark every 10 minutes, which resulted in a lot of clips in a 2 hour recording. Now I have to try to reorder these 10 min. clips in the proper order. If I had not had the chapter marks inserted, I could have probably had a perfect import into iMovie “09 using this method.
February 16th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
THANK YOU!!! I knew that there was a way to do it. I wasn’t mounting it! DUH! I am a PC guy to but this is much easier to do on macs…
February 16th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
I have iMovie ‘09 and have had no success in importing MP4 files at all. I am using Handbrake to extract segments of my DVDs which are either in MKV or M4V formats. When I use the MP4 format, I can play the file in QuickTime but it will not import into iMovie. Any suggestions?
March 5th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Just wanted to point out to everyone the reason you may have problems with this method in versions older than iMovie 09. I used this method just fine for a DVD that was only 10mins long but then all my other home dvds made imovie08 crash. Did some looking around the web and it seems iMovie 08 has a size limit for this method of about 1GB (or 2, cant remember now). so I bought imovie 09 which supposedly fixes this issue. I imported all but 4 of my home movies in less than a week using this method in Imovie 09. The ones that wont import seem to be the dvd images that appear with an empty audio_ts folder. The ones that worked only have a video_ts folder. Now investigating this issue to see if perhaps I did something different to these 4 last images.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:40 am
if you have m4v format by using handbrake or whatever software your using just change the extension to mp4… problem solved!!!!
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:49 am
eedwin:
don’t drag it. do this instead:
*change the m4v extension to mp4 just by clicking the name of the movie
*open imove
*file>>import>movies>choose where you saved the movie>create new event>import
let the system to kick in nearly 11mins depending how big the file is… done
March 23rd, 2010 at 2:03 pm
This worked! Thanks for the instructions! Very easy!
March 24th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
Victor, What did you find out about the 4 you could not import with the empty audio_ts folder? I created an idvd and burned it to a disc then later wanted to import it back into imovie and it has an empty audio_ts folder and it will not import. I click on the camera icon in imovie 09 and it is empty. It only says “built in sight” as the only available choice. I hope you figured it out. thanks.
March 26th, 2010 at 2:58 am
thanks for taking the time to post. hmmm…. i followed the directions exactly… but the import option is not what pops up when i double click the disk image (with imovie open). i am using imovie ‘09 (i presume that was released in year 2009, which in small print is really version 8.0.5!). arrrgh!
March 27th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
I’m having issues with getting all the video off of my .dmg files. Some DVDs it works perfectly, others won’t load (they are non-commercial), and others don’t convert all the video. I used Handbrake to covert one of my DVDs, but it has issues with video play in the process of producing a project
April 4th, 2010 at 9:46 am
I’m having a little trouble where to find the disk utility. You say “applications/utility/disk utility” but I am not that familiar with a mac. Is it when I am in FINDER, DVD, or iMOVIE?
April 6th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
I love the information. I have an imac, with Tiger OS 10.4 (?) ..around that, with imovieHD 06. I’m trying to get a movie I already made and put onto a DVD, and put that file into a new imovie project.
I see many ideas on here with newer versions of imovie, but has anyone tried this with an older version like imovie 6 HD?
Thanks for any responses!
April 25th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
thank you SO MUCH. you really honestly saved me soo much trouble. i noticed that i had to reopen iMovie for it to finally recognize the new .dmg file that i created. also, i was wondering what does it mean when the folder has a red circle on it? sigh, sadly I have had this Mac for a couple years now and i still feel like a noob.
April 25th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
you are my hero, thank you for this!!!
April 30th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Just got new mbp and this worked great. I checked everywhere and im not good with computers but you broke it down great!
May 4th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Appreciate the insight very much; this thread lead me to a solution! Your trick didn’t work with my video in iMovie ‘09, so I just downloaded HandBrake and VLC. Problem solved, video edited, and I’m a happy camper!! Thank you all so much.