How to import video files from Nikon D810 to iMovie

Facing problems importing Nikon D810 MOV into iMovie 11 or iMovie 09 for further editing? Follow this simple tutorial to find an easy way to fix it.



The Nikon D810 (36MP full-frame, 35.3 oz/1000g, about $3000) is Nikon's best DSLR ever. Besides taking best quality photos, it also can shoot footage in MOV container format. While, it's a bit hard to import Nikon D810 MOV into iMovie. You may encounter many problems: can't be recognized, import slowly, couldn't edit smoothly... So, is there any practical way to edit Nikon D810 footage in iMovie 11 or iMovie 09 without any issue?

A bit frustrating. Many folks are having problems when importing Nikon D810 MOV files to iMovie on Mac. The basic reason is that the Nikon DSLR cameras record footage with H.264/MPEG-4 codec and save the files in MOV container format. This is an ideal file type for video capture in an SLR camera, delivering relatively compact file sizes with image quality noticeably superior to alternate video compressions (such as Motion JPEG). However, the H.264 compression format is not ideal format for editing with NLE. So, how to get Nikon D810 footage into iMovie for editing smoothly?

To bring Nikon H.264 .MOV footage into iMovie for smoothly editing on Mac, the easy workaround is to convert Nikon D810 H.264 footage to iMovie compatible format. Along with some help from third-party program such as Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac, a powerful high-quality video converter, player and editor, it can be done flawlessly. If you are editing Nikon MOV with iMovie, chances are you already installed this great free utility. If not, download it it from here.

Brorsoft Video converter Mac exports advanced encoder - Apple Intermediate Codec encoded MOV, which ensures best results when using in iMovie. With it, you can transcode all Nikon MOV files to iMovie highly compatible AIC MOV without quality loss. With it, you can have a good experience of importing and editing Nikon Video files within iMovie 9/10/11 as fast and seamless as possible. This will help you import the file correctly and saving the rendering time. It also supports advanced encoders like ProRes, DNxHD, MPG, allowing you to convert video to seamlessly fit iDVD, Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, etc. Just get it and follow the tutorial below to learn how to import Nikon D810 movies to iMovie.

Converting Nikon D810 MOV for Editing in iMovie

STEP 1: Import Nikon D810 videos

Install and run the H.264 MOV to iMovie Converter, then run it. Click on "Add", and browse your files; select all the .MOV files you wanna convert. If you want to combine all the files together for easy importing to iMovie, please tick the box "Merge into one" on the main interface.



STEP 2: Choose a target format

You can directly choose the preset for iMovie which has been supplied by the Mac converter. The setting works for iMovie 08, iMovie 09, iMovie 11. Moreover, the Mac program has some simple edit functions like cropping, splitting, adding effects etc



Tips: Adjust the video and audio parameters, including the Bitrate of Video & Audio, Video Size, Sample Rate, Frame Rate, Audio Channels, etc., by clicking the Settings button on the main interface for getting the best quality.

STEP 3: Start Nikon H.264 MOV conversion on Mac

Click the Convert button to start transcoding Nikon MOV to AIC for iMovie immediately on Mac OS X.

This conversion process will finish soon. Afterwards, click the "Open" button to locate the output files and import to iMovie program. In this way, you can easily transfer and edit your Nikon D810 H.264 MOV files in iMovie smoothly.