Import and Convert MP4 Files into iMovie

As we know that iMovie supports .MP4 videos, but many people are still fail to import MP4 to iMovie directly. What's the matter? How to deal with such MP4 to iMovie importing problem? Well, this article will answer your questions in three parts – your problem, main reason and easy way to convert MP4 video to iMovie on Mac:

• Part 1: Problems of importing .mp4 videos to iMovie
• Part 2: Main reasons why iMovie cannot recognize MP4
• Part 3: Simple solution to convert MP4 into iMovie format

Part 1: Common questions about importing MP4 files to iMovie

Q: When I import an mp4 into imovie 11, only the audio is imported, without the visual....
Q: I'm trying to edit MP4 files in iMovie, they can open properly in QuickTime and VLC but can't be imported into iMovie (or iPhoto).
Q: I can't import mp4 clips in to iMovie. I can see them listed, but they are grayed out and I can't select or import them.
Q: I used Handbrake to do whatever Handbrake does and now my video is in MPEG-4 file format. I should be able to import this format into iMovie, but iMovie doesn't recognize it.

Part 2: Main reasons for MP4 to iMovie importing problems

Technically, iMovie can only support not corrupted .mp4 files that are encoded MPEG4/AAC or H.264/AAC data. Yes, iMovie prefers MPEG-4 and H.264 video codec instead of others, but MP4 is a video container that may contain various audio and video codec (and sometimes even subtitle streams included) that iMovie does not support. If either audio or video codec is not iMovie supported at the frame level, iMovie will not recognize or import them. In this occasion, you have to first convert .mp4 to iMovie supported formats before importing to iMovie.

Part 3: Easy solution to convert .MP4 files to iMovie '08/'09/'11/HD

To fix this problem, all you need is a professional Video Converter for Mac (Mountain Lion included), with which you can convert your .mp4 videos and easily import them to iMovie.

Download, install and run this MP4 to iMovie Video Converter for Mac, you can import video by clicking "Add File". Batch conversion is available here, so you are allowed to import several files at one time.

Choose iMovie->iMovie H.264, MPEG-4 or MOV as the output format from the profile pop-up menu, the output videos could be imported to iMovie without question.

Hit "Start" button to start converting MP4 to iMovie supported videos, so that you can import them to iMovie.

Launch iMovie, go to File > Import > Movies, or simply drag the converted videos to the iMovie interface. Done! You can now convert and edit any MP4 videos with this iMovie Converter for Mac. Very easy and fast, you could download it and have a try by yourself!