The brand new 4K ALEXA camera, with wonder shooting quality and compact body, really attracts many users' attention. The camera is equipped with an onboard Sxs card encoder that can record in either Rec. 709 or Log-C to ProRes 422 or ProRes 444 codecs as well as DNxHD in 1080p resolution. For an additional 1,350 Euros, Alexa camera owners can purchase a software "key" that will unlock the camera's ability to record up to 120fps in ProRes 422 HQ.
To process the raw videos captured with ALEXA camera, iMovie is a good choice. But the first importing step will prevent you from the following editing progress. This may because of some incompatible codec problem when you try to import ALEXA videos in iMovie. Let's have a quick review about the supported format list of iMovie.
iMovie supported format list:
MPEG-4 (MP4), QuickTime Movie (MOV), MPEG-2, AVCHD, DV&HDV
(Detailed list of iMovie supported format)
As you can see the supported input formats by iMovie are very limited, but you can expand them by using this Pavtube HD Video Converter for Mac. If your files are VOB, AVI, MKV, FLASH, TiVo, MXF, etc, you can still load them into iMovie and do the editing job with this converter's help. What's more, HD, 2K and 4K UHD can also be kept via this converter.
How to transcode HD, 2K, 4K UHD ALEXA videos to iMovie for editing?
Step 1. Load ALEXA Videos to this converter
Free download this converter on your Mac, you don't have to worry about if there is any virus or bundle apps. Pavtube HD Video Converter for Mac ensures the 100% clean installation.
Click this "File">"Add Video/Audio" to load your files, if your ALEXA files are happen on the desktop, you can directly drag them into the main UI of this converter.
Tips:
If you want to take a snapshot of your videos, click this "camera" icon below the preview window and click the "folder" icon to find the picture you just snapped.
Step 2. Choose AIC for streaming ALEXA videos to iMovie
Thanks to the multiple presets in the format list, "iMovie and Final Cut Ex...">"Apple InterMedia Codec (AIC) (*.mov)" can be best choice.
For some newbie who just start to use iMovie, this really makes their day. You don't have to struggle to guess which is the most proper format or settings before loading ALEXA videos in iMovie.
Step 3. Adjust parameters if you need
Actually, the default settings are already the best to importing ALEXA videos to iMovie for editing. But still, if you want to make some parameters adjustment, click "Settings" to do this job.
In the below table, you can see detailed information about your generated file.
Tips:
If you want to keep the HD, 2K, 4K, you can type the corresponding parameters in the "Size (pix)" following box. But if you type it manually, it will be calculated by this converter, the output quality may not as sharp as you expected.
Step 4. Start to convert ALEXA videos to AIC to edit in iMovie
After all have been settled, click the "Convert" in the main UI to start the conversion about ALEXA to AIC for iMovie.
Then after finishing the conversion, you can click "Open" to check your generated files. Now you can edit ALEXA videos in iMovie without any problem.
For beginner, how to transfer files into iMovie can be learned here.
