Exporting from iMovie to view on a 4k TV?

[steveatesh]

I just finished my first car video for a relative using iMovie. I ws hoping to export it as a 4k video suitable for watching on a 4K TV.

I exported the finished article using the 4k option in iMovie, it produced an MP4 file. Put it on a USB formatted for ExFAT (it's over 5gig) but the Sony 4K TV will not see the file?

I reported it as a 1080p file in iMovie bit the same problem. The TV is not recognising the MP4 files produced by iMovie.

Is there. a way of doing it in iMovie or do I have to convert the file to another format to watch on a TV?

Will Handbrake do that or does it require something else?

Thanks in Advance.

[Simpo Two]

Not my expertise but Google AI says 'Sony TVs recognize a wide range of video, audio, and image file formats, with support depending on the specific model and whether you are using a USB drive or a DLNA network. Common supported video formats include MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVC (H.264), and WMV, while audio supports MP3, LPCM, and WMA. For photos, JPEG and MPO are widely supported.'

[steveatesh]

Simpo Two said:

Not my expertise but Google AI says 'Sony TVs recognize a wide range of video, audio, and image file formats, with support depending on the specific model and whether you are using a USB drive or a DLNA network. Common supported video formats include MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVC (H.264), and WMV, while audio supports MP3, LPCM, and WMA. For photos, JPEG and MPO are widely supported.'

Thank you, Ive checked through compatibility with Sony, the iMovie exported file is MP4 H.264 but for some reason the TV won’t play it (or even load it) but it does play MP4 files provided on a USB stick and taken by the Driving Experience provider to the person I’m putting the video together for . I’m assuming iMovie is doing something that makes the exported files non compatible.

I’ve tried converting the exported file to a couple of variations of MP4 using Handbrake but still not working on the TV.

I’ll keep trying, I’ll also try a Samsung. Thank you.

[Simpo Two]

I suspect the issue is 'codec'... but that's the limit of my knowledge.

Clutching at straws, AVCHD maybe? It's a Sony thing.

'StevieBee' is probably the man for this.

[Fordo]

steveatesh said:

Thank you, Ive checked through compatibility with Sony, the iMovie exported file is MP4 H.264 but for some reason the TV won t play it (or even load it) but it does play MP4 files provided on a USB stick and taken by the Driving Experience provider to the person I m putting the video together for . I m assuming iMovie is doing something that makes the exported files non compatible.

I ve tried converting the exported file to a couple of variations of MP4 using Handbrake but still not working on the TV.

I ll keep trying, I ll also try a Samsung. Thank you.

Ah isnt modern tech wonderful? Smart TVs in general can have a very narrow and limited set of codecs they can play back, where everything has to be 'just right'. Sony in particular, i had the same a while ago trying to get a playstation to playback some clips.

As you have a file that your TV does playback, you could use that for a bit of detective work. Open the file in quicktime player, hit cmd and i keys to bring up the inspector, and click the little drop down where video details is - this will give you a bit more info about what video codec that video used, and you might be able to set imovie to export in those settings.

As a side note, rather unhelpfully, a videos file format and codec are kind of two different things. An mp4 file is a container format, that can contain a variety of video & audio codecs (like h264, or MPEG-4 Part 2). Think of it like the file format is the Book cover, and the codec is the language inside. (apologies if thats stuff you already know)

So you can have two files that are both .mp4 files. but one might play back on your TV and one wont. Usually it'll be because the actual video codec inside is different


I did a little basci sleuthing and found that most Sony TVs want:

Video: H.264 (AVC), High Profile, Level 4.0 or 4.1, 8-bit
Audio: AAC-LC (stereo)
Container: MP4

Edited by Fordo on Tuesday 25th November 11:31

[StevieBee]

Simpo Two said:

'StevieBee' is probably the man for this.

I think Fordo trumps me on this!

Could of other things to try:

You could try to reimport the film back into iMovie and then re-export it (I have no idea what this does but has worked for me once or twice - I'm guessing the process removes codec conflicts).

I believe you can get Final Cut Pro on a free month's trial. This is the pro-version of iMovie and has more export options one of which may work.

[Road2Ruin]

Handbrake has a number of presets, try one of those. I see there is a PlayStation 4k, that would highly likely work on a Sony TV.

[Fordo]

Road2Ruin said:

Handbrake has a number of presets, try one of those. I see there is a PlayStation 4k, that would highly likely work on a Sony TV.

That’s a really great suggestion.

I’d only add that if you’re exporting from iMovie and then running the file through HandBrake, make sure iMovie’s export is set to as high a quality as possible. Otherwise you’ll be compressing the video twice and losing more detail each time. A higher-quality iMovie export gives HandBrake the best source to re-encode from.

[Road2Ruin]

You can set handbrake to not compress, I think, or certainly at a level where it would be unnoticeable.

[steveatesh]

Thanks everyone, I did get it running on Samsung, the bloody Sony , a much more modern TV, just would not play it. I tried various exports following the suggestions above to match the info from a playable file but no good. I have ended up being defeated by the Sony media Player and installed Kodi onto the Sony and that plays the exported movie thank goodness!

In Handbrake and Any Video Converter I found different codec options to do with H.264 but not the specified on H.264 AAC so I dont know if that is the problem.

Anyway, thanks again for everyones input - Stevie Bee, thanks for the info you gave me on a previous post to do with two cameras at a kids dance, this particular event benefited from 5 cameras in total (My Sony A7RV, my iPhone 17pro, two cameras in the car and videos taken by the lads mam on her Samsung phone) and I used your suggestions to blend them into my first video - not Hollywood standard by any standard but its watchable!

Edited by steveatesh on Tuesday 25th November 16:20