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I recently purchased a Canon camcorder. The video editing software is windows only. My version of Imovie (3.0.3) doesn't recognize the files created by the camcorder. It creates 2 files for each clip, one is a .MOI, the other is a .MOD.

I'm running 10.4.11 on a PPC G4 1GHz, 640 mb of ram. The tech support guru at Canon said I needed to be at iMovie 7.?? at least. I didn't find that opition on the apple site, and iMovie '09 requires OSX 10.5.6 or later.

I'm wondering what my options are with the system and hardware I have. Are there other alternatives to iMovie? I'm not going to be a hollywood producer, just looking to be able to edit a few short clips occasionally.

TIA

You can probably find a cheap copy of iLife 08 (legally) on eBay. Note that iMovie 08 is a vastly different interface than iMovie HD 6 (some would say inferior), so many people choose to keep both on their system for different needs. Another option would be to buy a discounted copy of 10.5 + iLife 09, esp with 10.6 coming out in a couple of days. I would certainly add more RAM, but otherwise it should run alright on your Mac. We have several G4 eMacs running 10.5.

You can convert the .moi and .mod files to Mac friendly .mov files with This App. Then import into iMovie. The app is free.

Sure it's free? The website says $39. Maybe just the trial is a free download?

I would try MPEG Streamclip to convert the .mod files.

God I love this Place!!!!!!!

10.5 isn't an option, because I still use classic to run an antique version of photoshop, and pagemaker 6.5. I could put it on a separate drive, but then there's the hassle of having to restart to use one or the other.

The video conversion app works, It's free if you want to see their watermark on your videos. I don't. I could buy it to remove the watermark

MPEG Streamclip doesn't seem to work without purchasing MPEG-2 playback component from apple. I haven't fully explored Streamclip yet.

Thanks for the help!!!

The website says this: If you need to convert MOI (MOD, TOD) file to MOV, just download and run this MOI to MOV Converter for Mac for free! When you actually click on the get info link then it says it's $39. I hate that!

I'd avoid applemacvideo.com. On top of the misleading price info, it's one of the sites "converter" spammers linked to at MFIF.

Great now I'm linking to a spam site. Strike two. I've done a little research on .mod and.moi files. From what I've read they are mpeg 2 files in disguise. Simply changing the extension to .mpg or .mov may make them readable by iMovie. Make a copy first just in case. This trick works on PC's and (gag) movie maker.

didn't work on my Mac.

Strike three. I wish I had one of those .mod/.moi files to play around with. This is very interesting mainly because converting audio/video files is what I do on the side. Can't recall ever getting a .mod file. These files are usually from JVC camcorders but you have a Canon so they are using this format now too. The Canon Optura 60 that I have records in DV format so it's no problem for iMovie or iDVD.

btw what extensions did you try? How about .mpeg? What happens if you try to open the file? Error message?

I can send it to you if you want. I tried .mpg, .mov, .mpeg.
The error message I get is: "The movie could not be opened. The file is not a movie file." I just noticed that was a Quicktime player error. I opened iMovie and tried to import the .mpeg and got: "Error during import. The file could not be imported: The file MOV002.MPEG can’t be imported; QuickTime couldn’t parse it (-2048). Same for .mpg, and .mov

According to the Canon tech guy, the .mod file contains the video, the .moi file is information.

Right, while those files are MPEG2 format, the MOD container and MOI descriptor contain information that cannot be read by unsupporting apps, even if you change the file extension. Some apps will still open the file in a sub-optimal state, but many apps won't know what to do with it at all, such as iMovie 6. The converter options suggested would be required, or an upgrade to iLife 08 which can import and convert on the fly.

The mod file is probably too large to send. Maybe you could upload it to a (or my) file sharing site. According to These Instructions you should be able to use mpeg streamclip to convert mod to dv.
Let me know what you would like to do. I will post my email and file sharing info.

Hate to tell you this, but iskysoft.com is another site that converter spammers link to.

I think I'll try to find time to play around with the conversion apps this weekend. If they'll work easily, I think that's the way to go.

This is not good. Google searches for mod files always come up with these spammer sites. I found Better Instructions. Hopefully it's not a spam site too. You can read the whole article but the important part is in the Mac section. Just scroll down the page 'till You get to the Mac section.

The converter spam sites are definitely getting harder to winnow out. I once happened across a site that had a long list of them but darned if I can find it in my notes or bookmarks now. Doesn't help either that even VT and MacUpdate list some of the software, though thankfully some comments ID the junk.

I took a quick look at that masternewmedia.org page and the only red flag I saw was the link to "ISky Video Converter for Mac" at dvd-ipod.biz. Makes me wonder, but FWIW I don't have any mention of masternewmedia in my spammer notes from MFIF.

In this VideoHelp forum posting, tomlee59's post from Mar 19 15:35 (5th from the bottom) seems to indicate that you might not need the MPEG2 component to use MPEG Streamclip.

He also suggests that ffmpegX might be a tool to fall back on if other, easier options fail. I couldn't find any specific mention of .MOD files with relation to ffmpegX, which is why I didn't mention it in my first post. It has a bit more of a learning curve than Streamclip, but if you do a lot of video conversions, these two tools are indespensible, IMHO.

Thanks Bob! I followed the link, did some playing with MPEG Streamclip, and eventually solved the problem. I'm not sure what the actual solution was.

Streamclip was saving a file, but when I launched it, Quicktime said it wasn't a movie file. I selected Show stream info in the Streamclip File menu, and it showed the "Video Tracks" as MPEG-2. When I tried to Convert or Export I got the MPEG2 not installed alert. I went to apple store to spend the $19.99 + tax and learned I should update Quicktime to 7.6.2 to use it. I updated Quicktime and spent the $23.32 and Streamclip converted the video clip. Then I thought, I'm going to try just changing the file type to MPEG which I did, and quicktime opened it no problem, without using streamclip. At this point, I'm not sure whether I needed to spend the money for MPEG2 or not, but the problem is solved

THANKS TO ALL WHO HELPED!

While you could have gotten a legit copy of iLife 08 on eBay for about the same price, I'm glad everything worked out for you! Enjoy!

Knoodles I found that list of converter spammers I'd mentioned earlier: http://oncallnerd.com/blog-spam-hunt/

Looks like it hasn't been updated in over a year, so it's missing who knows how many sites. You and others might still find it useful though.