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Is there any automatic way (or a good script) to compress the videos you import to iPhoto? I currently import the pictures and videos from my camera, and the videos are not compressed at al, and take up a lot of space on my hard drive.

My current solution, is to have a smart album to filter videos, and manually compress them using Handbrake to H.264. Then, I would delete the original in iPhoto, and re-import the compressed version (after changing its timestamp to match the original's one).

Is there any tool that can help me automate this process?

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did you ever find a way to do this automatically or with a script? I have the same problem, and also streaming the uncompressed videos to an AppleTV with Airplay is crazy slow. – Mike Ohlsen Aug 8 '12 at 12:51
Nothing. I kept doing it manually until I eventually got bored. My guess is that some sort of intermediary app is needed when importing. Take the files from the SD card, recompress the videos, and then import from that folder instead. – pgb Aug 8 '12 at 16:27

1 Answer

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iMove Camera Import

It is not possible to do this with iPhoto alone. You can possibly import your videos into iMovie when your camera is connected (see screenshot), then render them out in a suitable codec. I've done this with my iPhone before. Since I don't know what type of camera you have, I can't guarantee this will work. However, it has worked for me in the past and may be a viable solution for you as well.

  • To import from camera in iMovie, connect your camera. If iMovie is already open, it may pop up automatically. If it doesn't, press Command + I or go to File > Import from Camera.

Good luck and happy importing!

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