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5 Replies Last post: Aug 19, 2008 1:41 PM by mac_user21  
Click to view paris1886's profile New Member
paris1886
34 posts since
Dec 17, 2003
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May 3, 2004 8:42 AM

iMovie file in external hard drive

Is it possible to work on an iMovie file from an external hard drive?

Here's my situation:

I recently bought an external hard drive (it's a 160GB, 7200RPM, External USB 2.0/FireWire Hard Drive. Manufacturer: Acomdata) to store my photo and movie files. Connected to my PB G4 via USB, it took 4 hours to copy a 10GB movie file (which I can deal with if I must), however, i was hoping to be able to be able to work on the movie from the external hard drive--but when i open it in iMovie it won't play the clips (they stutter, stop, etc.) I'm guessing this is because of the slow transfer from the external drive.

So is what I want to do impossible--or do I just need a better/different external drive/connection?

Also, with just iMovie, is there a way to reduce the size of my movie (raw footage) file?

Thanks for the help.
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Click to view Arne's profile Member
Arne
409 posts since
Feb 14, 2001
1. May 4, 2004 1:53 AM in response to: paris1886
Re: iMovie file in external hard drive
Hi paris1886,

Sounds to me like you connected the external USB 2.0 HD to the USB 1.1 of your PowerBook. This way, you lose all the advantage of USB 2.0
I recommend you connect the HD via FireWire or, if your PowerBook provides this connection, via USB 2.0; you will experience a speed increase of about 40x.

This way it is also possible to do Video editing on your external HD. I am doing the same and it works perfect for me.

Cheers from Tokyo,

arne
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Click to view paris1886's profile New Member
paris1886
34 posts since
Dec 17, 2003
2. May 4, 2004 7:19 AM in response to: Arne
Re: iMovie file in external hard drive
arne, thanks for your reply.

i guess i still have a lot to learn because i wasn't aware that i have one USB 1.1 and one USB 2.0 port (i just assumed they are both USB 2.0); i'll have to check my specs on that.

no matter, though, because last night i connected the HD via FireWire and it worked beautifully! it took just several minutes to copy a 7GB movie over and i was able to edit the movies from the HD without a hitch.

thanks again.
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Click to view sandrakahn's profile New Member
sandrakahn
1 posts since
Aug 8, 2008
3. Aug 8, 2008 10:06 AM in response to: Arne
Re: iMovie file in external hard drive
Hi,

I bought an external hard drive to store my imovies. It an iomega 149.01 GB.
Info says that I have 109,44 available but when I try to transfer my imovie the computer says that there is no more space available.
I have 3 imovies (about 20 min each) in there using 44,47 GB

Do I need a new external hard drive?
I need some better way to store my family imovies. DVD also say there is not enough room for a 20 minute imovie.
Thanks for your help,
Sandra
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Click to view aarongr's profile New Member
aarongr
2 posts since
Jun 21, 2008
4. Aug 8, 2008 7:15 PM in response to: paris1886
Re: iMovie file in external hard drive
I received this spam email in my in box...

From: drakahn@aol.com
Subject: iMovie file in external hard drive
Date: August 8, 2008 12:05:56 PM CDT

To: aaronduffy23@yahoo.com, aaron1192@gmail.com, aaron@aaronmarks.com, fanning.aaron@gmail.com, aryck@charter.net, aarongizabo@yahoo.com

Return-Path: <drakahn@aol.com>

Hi,

I bought an external hard drive to store my imovies. It an iomega 149.01 GB.
Info says that I have 109,44 available but when I try to transfer my imovie the computer says that there is no more space available.
I have 3 imovies (about 20 min each) in there using 44,47 GB

Do I need a new external hard drive?
I need some better way to store my family imovies. DVD also say there is not enough room for a 20 minute imovie.
Thanks for your help,

Sandra

    • sandrakahn

Just follow this link to see the thread:
http://forums.macworld.com/thread/35323

(If the link doesn't work, try copying and pasting it from this email into your browser's address bar.)
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Click to view mac_user21's profile New Member
mac_user21
50 posts since
Aug 1, 2008
5. Aug 19, 2008 1:41 PM in response to: paris1886
Re: iMovie file in external hard drive

It is very good idea to use Firewire due to higher speed vs USB 2.0 accord This.

I will quoite what wiki has said

Comparison to USB


Although high-speed USB 2.0 nominally runs at a higher signaling rate (480 Mbits/s) than FireWire 400, typical USB PC-hosts rarely exceed sustained transfers of 280 Mbit/s, with 240 Mbit/s being more typical. This is likely due to USB's reliance on the host-processor to manage low-level USB protocol, whereas FireWire delegates the same tasks to the interface hardware. For example, the FireWire host interface supports memory-mapped devices, which allows high-level protocols to run without loading the host CPU with interrupts and buffer-copy operations.[18]

FireWire 800 is substantially faster than Hi-Speed USB. 19]

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