I am dearly love my Flip Mino HD. It is convenient, easy to use, and well designed. So much so, that most all of the videos on my newest project – SpanTube – have been recorded on the Flip Mino HD. Typically, I just import them directly into iMovie on my Mac and edit with no problems.
Recently, however, I decided I might like to try a little green screen fun. I do have a copy of Final Cut Express which I suspect does chroma keying, but I was already familiar with how to do it in Pinnacle Studio 10, which I have installed on my Windows XP machine at work. I also have Adobe Premiere 1.5 that I could use for the same purpose.
The trouble came when I tried to import the .mp4 files directly into either program, as the programs did not support the file format, or so they said.
Now bear in mind that yes, I did install the 3ivx codec on this machine. I even reinstalled it, to no avail. After a series of tweets looking for help, most folks responded thinking I had the regular Flip camera, which saves videos as .AVI files. The high definition Flip Mino does not, it saves files as .mp4.
Well, finally, I have figured out a system to convert these files to a format friendly to the two programs I have on this machine (Pinnacle Studio 10 and Adobe Premiere 1.5). And it’s using freeware software, which is even better.
Some time ago, I had downloaded the Quick Media Converter program that Lifehacker mentioned. I didn’t realize it was as good as it is.
First, go download it and install it. I am using version 3.6.5.
Then, export a clip using the FlipShare software.
Then, drag and drop your exported clip onto the Quick Media Converter screen.
Then, choose AVI DivX Custom Resize from the top menu.
Change the dimensions of the file to 1280×720, which are the same dimensions the Flip Mino HD records in.
Press the convert button.
After conversion, the file appears on your desktop with an appended file name.
I hope this helps. I haven’t seen this answered to this degree anywhere else, so I am hoping this serves the larger community well.
When I exported the video from Pinnacle Studio 10, I used the following settings.
Size: 1280×720
30 FPS
I figured out that the native settings when recording with the Flip Mino HD records audio as 64kbps AAC/AAC+. I didn’t know that. It does sample at 44100, though.
Good luck, and enjoy your HD video editing on a Windows machine!
I’ve only tried this on XP, so keep that in mind.
jdornberg says:
Great info! I’m downloading QMC as I type this. Have you used FormatFactory? It’s also a free media converter that I’ve had good luck with.
1st May 2009 at 11:08 am
jan says:
THANKS! This is great great info. I just bought flip HD today and am frustrated that it wasn’t compatabile with my sony vegas software! Ahhhh. . .im using vista. . i had to convert video and audio separately. if you find any other programs for editing on a PC for flip mino, please please email me! This is soo frustrating and it shouldn’t be.
Jan
1st May 2009 at 3:30 pm
Ken Ballar says:
I just bought my Flip UltraHD and love it. I’ve noticed that the version of PowerDirector that came with my PC (version 7) doesn’t handle mp4 files either.
Why can’t you use the WMV files that are created when you choose to create a DVD or when you choose to upload to a webiste?
Do you know of any video editing software that is able to use the mp4 files?
1st May 2009 at 7:56 am
Ken Ballar says:
I needed to update last statement, WMV files are created when you make a movie using FlipShare. Since you are creating a movie with their software I assume the result is an HD movie and is of the same quality. Just make a movie and don’t add a title or music and it looks like Flipshare can be used to make the conversion!
1st May 2009 at 7:16 am
Chris says:
Ken,
My goal was not to use Flipshare, I wanted the raw video to be able to edit it on my PC.
And the goal was also to produce it in a different format. I try to avoid WMV at all costs because I want something that Mac users can easily see as well. I realize there are products like Flip4Mac but I want something less Windows centric.
And as for Flipshare and HD, I simply do not know. I wanted to make sure I could edit and view in HD, so I chose to convert prior to editing. I also wanted to consider green screening (chromakeying) so I needed something more full featured for editing. On the PC, I use Pinnacle Studio 10.
I still prefer to edit on my Mac and iMovie, but sometimes I cannot access a Mac.
Chris
1st May 2009 at 7:20 am
Converting Flip Mino HD video files to edit them on a PC | Crucial Thought | Video Software Site says:
[...] the original: Converting Flip Mino HD video files to edit them on a PC | Crucial Thought Share and [...]
1st May 2009 at 11:10 pm
Judy O'Connell says:
Perfect…timing for me as I was searching for just this answer!! Thanks so much for sharing!
1st May 2009 at 9:39 am
MrScience101 says:
Works great on Vista thanks! Just remeber to right click on the quick media conversion exe file and run it as an administrator. The drag and drop doesn’t work on vista so you have to import video’s the hard way.
1st May 2009 at 7:43 pm
Adam says:
Can anyone recommend video editing software that will edit the Flip HD mp4 files without converting them first? I am willing to pay for software that is able to digest the HD Flip mp4s without having to do any conversion first. Adobe? Cyberlink?
1st May 2009 at 10:36 pm
steve levine says:
On a PC with XP.
I just got my Ultra HD and I am using Adobe PP CS4.
It is fully up to date and I can directly import from the Ultra HD .mp4 into Premiere.
What I am having issues with is it is not allowing me to mess with the audio clips on the timeline even after I unlink them from the video. I cant trim them and the right-click doesn’t work.
From what I can tell, it is aac 44.1 @ 64kbs. Are there project preferences that need to be set correctly for this to work? PPCS4 doesn’t make it easy to change project preferences once everything is imported. Should I be able to do this?
Thanks
1st May 2009 at 6:59 pm
Mr. 200 says:
How about Flip Ultra HD? Is the procedure the same? I assume it is.
1st May 2009 at 1:33 pm
FLIP-ing out: Editing: PC « The Art of the Business says:
[...] (I don’t have to do this on my Mac). In order to do that, you need a file converter. Click here for the download information and how to use it. Thanks to Simon for sharing that information with [...]
1st May 2009 at 10:55 am
JSR says:
Found that DVD Flick (free DVD authoring) will handle MP4 (and most formats) quite cheerfully. These can be imported straight from a Flip camera.
1st May 2009 at 3:02 am
AirBender says:
[Ultra HD & Original Flip, Vista 64, Adobe Premiere element 8.0, Flipshare 5 (5.0.5.52727 release)]
Interesting workaround. I agree that using the raw files is “easier” and you’d expect the files to be compatible. All the software vendors we mentioned know there are both old and new Flip movie handheld cameras out there — so why don’t they “test” their software for compatibility.
I have the problem that in Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0 (great software – bought bundled with Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0 for $59 on black friday at Best Buy) but it is in reverse.
I have film project with 5 files from old Flip (original) in AVI nad 9 files in .MP4 from Ultra HD. On Vista Ultimate 32, I could use FlipShare to trip all clips no problem after installing tools below (see step 1).
Problem is Adobe Premiere Elements can load in all 14 files, but only shows black screen with sound for the AVI clips.
1. MP4 on Vista: I installed latest Quicktime and even better free VLC (videolan) software viewer. Once I did this, I could work with the raw MP4 files.
2. On Vista Ultimate (32-bit), Movie Maker can work with both the old and new FLIP files.
3. On Vista Premium 64, PE8 as stated could only see MP4 files. The AVI files appeared in raw media area but as black screens. Only Audio plays. Just download Movie Maker, DVD Maker and Photo Shot from Microsoft from free if you don’t have it.
PROBLEM: We used two cameras to show different view of same action and now can’t clip together the AVI files.
1st May 2009 at 10:59 am
carol says:
I can’t believe how hard it is to edit this Flip Ultra HD on XP! Thanks so much for the original post. It’s the only thing I tried that worked. I also tried DVD Flick (as suggested by JSR) but it only creates source for DVD and titles to burn a DVD – no real editing. All I was looking for was multiple trims on the same video clip so I could post it after trimming it down to facebook size. Is that so much to ask for in 2010!? whew!!! now I know why I stayed away from this (not really so) high-tech stuff!
1st May 2009 at 3:22 pm
flyfishchick says:
THANK YOU!! just one question……how do you change the size to 1280×720??? I was able to convert a flip mino hd file and import into movie maker but the file looked stretched vertically, kinda funny
in QMC the width and height fields are faded out and I can’t access them with my cursor
I tried EXPERT mode and found a place to alter the width and height but then it wouldn’t convert, it showed an error msg
1st May 2009 at 7:27 pm
Chris says:
Flyfishchick,
Make sure you are using the AVI with Custom Resize option. That allows you to set the size.
Good luck!
Chris
1st May 2009 at 7:29 pm
Jason says:
Thank you much for this tip. I just converted my MP4 file to an avi….59mb to 23mb….much better!
1st May 2009 at 7:45 pm
Vern says:
Thanks for that! I use a Sony Cybershot dsc-h20 and it shoots mp4 1280×720… I don’t have a mac so was out of luck. I tried many other programs to convert and they wouldn’t work with my Windows xp computer – after the conversion – the files wouldn’t play.
This worked!
Uploading my converted video to youtube right now if you want to see – my username is Thaipulsedotcom and the video is the Malay Pit Viper eating a Mouse… lol – well, that’s what I do here…
Thanks again SO much for helping me out on this conversion issue.
1st May 2009 at 2:39 am