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How Can I Save Video Clips That Are Imported Directly Into iMovie?

I am using iMovie 11 and Lion on a 27″ iMac with 4gb. I have just purchased a Sony HDR PJ760VE camcorder and took a half hour of video clips at the highest level/size to start with as I am new to this video thing. The clips were imported directly from the camcorder into iMovie. How can I save them so that I can archive them/keep separately in case I want them in the future? Any video clips I have previously taken on my 7D camera import into iPhoto as .mov files and can be burnt directly onto a disc to save them.
I understand that anything shot in HD will be converted to SD and lower quality when made into a movie in iMovie and then sent off to iDVD then burnt to a disc……but how can I view the same iMovie movie at max quality on a real HD TV? I dont understand the export to desktop/quicktime etc thing.
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Angie

Comments: One Response to “How Can I Save Video Clips That Are Imported Directly Into iMovie?”

    11 years ago

    So you've got two questions here. The first is how you can get your raw video files from an iMovie import.
    That's actually quite easy. They are all stored in your home folder, in Movies, in iMovie Events. You can see a folder there for each event, and in that folder all of the .mov files. You can copy those to another location for archiving.
    Your second question is about how to view HD video you make on your Mac on your TV.
    Well, first export it as HD. You don't need to use the custom QuickTime settings. You can use the regular sharing options, just at the highest quality You'll only get the higher HD quality options if your original video is HD, of course.
    Then to play that on your TV you have a lot of options. Here are a few:
    1. Buy a cable to connect your Mac to your TV. Play the video over the cable.
    2. Get an Apple TV and use AirPlay to stream the video to your TV wirelessly.
    3. Using an Apple TV, you can also put the video in your Mac's iTunes library and then stream it to your Apple TV.
    4. Upload the video to YouTube in HD and then use a YouTube app on your TV to play it (many new TVs come with apps)
    5. Buy a Blue-ray disc recorder and some Blue-ray creation software and make a Blue-ray disc.
    6. Use special software to burn an HD video to a DVD, and then play it in a DVD player that supports the same. Never tried this, but it is technically possible if you have the right devices.

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