"I have gathered several M4V video clips, and I would like to edit M4V in iMovie. I was wondering if I could directly import M4V into iMovie for editing M4V in iMovie. Thanks!"

As a matter of fact, iMovie can support all videos generated by Apple products, like recorded by iPhone and iPad. Most M4V videos files are compatible with iMovie and can be imported into iMovie for editing. However, some M4V video files are protected by DRM, for example, iTunes M4V video files. Therefore you might want to figure out how to import iTunes DRM M4V to iMovie. Such being the case, you need to convert iTunes DRM M4V to iMovie compatible video files. Besides, there might be some M4V files having video codecs that are not supported by iMovie. Here you are also required to convert M4V to iMovie compatible video formats.

Part 1: iMovie Compatible Video Formats for Importing

It is necessary for us to figure out what video formats are supported by iMovie if we would like to import video files into iMovie for editing. The chart below lists out video formats supported by iMovie. Please take a close look.

MPEG-4 (.mp4) Also MPEG-4 Part 14 or MP4, a digital multimedia format used to store video and audio, but also store subtitles and still images. It will be the best video format for iMovie, in case you want a smaller video file size.
QuickTime Movie (.mov) This file format specifies a multimedia container file containing one or more tracks, each of which stores a particular type of data: audio, video, effects, or text (e. g. for subtitles).
MPEG-2 aka H.222/H.262 as defined by the ITU, it is the core of most digital television and DVD formats.
AVCHD Short for Advanced Video Coding High Definition, it is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video.
DV&HDV The format for storing digital video recorded by camcorder. If you want video for better quality, believe it will be the best video format for iMovie as it is uncompressed (or compressed with a lossless format).

Part 2: Convert Common M4V to iMovie Compatible Video Formats

For common M4V video files, you can make use of a professional M4V to iMovie video converter to convert common M4V to iMovie compatible video formats. Here I recommend Leawo Video Converter to you. This professional video converter is available not only in Windows version, but also in Mac version. As iMovie does not have Windows version, those who want to import M4V to iMovie are more likely to be Mac users. Therefore the Mac version of Leawo Video Converter are used here to show you how to convert M4V to iMovie compatible video formats. Windows users need to switch to the Windows version. Download and install the right version of Leawo Video Converter on your computer, and follow the guide below to perform video conversion from M4V to iMovie video formats.

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Guide on how to convert M4V to iMovie video format with Leawo Video Converter:

Step 1: Import source M4V video files

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Kick off Leawo Video Converter for Mac to enter the main interface. Go to the "Convert" tab, and click "Add Video" button on the sub-menu to load your source M4V video files. After loading, you could play back M4V video files, select subtitles and audio tracks from source M4V video files, add external subtitles to loaded M4V video files, edit loaded M4V video files, etc.

Step 2: Choose and set one iMovie compatible video format like MP4 as output format

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Click the drop-down box next to the “Add Photo” button. On the drop-down list, select “Change” option. Then on the popup Profile window, select an iMovie compatible video format like "MP4" from “Format” column as output format. In addition to MP4, you can also set MOV as output format.

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Note: If you need, you could click the "Edit" button on the drop-down profile setting box to adjust video and audio parameters like video codec, aspect ratio, frame rate, resolution, audio codec, bit rate, channel, sample rate, etc.

Step 3: Start converting M4V to iMovie

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Click the big green "Convert" button on the sub-menu bar next to the format setting drop-down box. Then, on the popup sidebar, set output directory. After setting output directory, click the "Convert" button right below. Leawo Video Converter would start to convert M4V to iMovie immediately.

Part 3: Convert iTunes DRM M4V to iMovie Compatible Video Formats

For iTunes DRM M4V video files, you need to remove DRM protection from iTunes M4V video files and convert iTunes DRM M4V to iMovie before importing M4V into iMovie for editing. To do it, an iTunes DRM removal program and an iTunes DRM media converter is necessary. Here I recommend Leawo Prof. DRM for you to convert iTunes DRM M4V to iMovie video format. However, unlike Leawo Video Converter, Leawo Prof.DRM does not have Mac version, which means we can only convert iTunes DRM M4V to iMovie on Windows. After the conversion completes, we need to transfer converted M4V files from PC to Mac with the help of a USB drive, and then import converted M4V files into iMovie.

Download and install Leawo Prof.DRM on your PC computer, and kick off the program to get ready for the iTunes DRM M4V to iMovie video conversion.

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Guide on how to convert iTunes DRM M4V to iMovie video format with Leawo Prof. DRM:

Step 1: Add iTunes DRM M4V Videos

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After entering the main interface of Prof. DRM, you can click “Add Files” button on the sub-menu bar or “Add Files” button in the middle of program interface to browse and choose iTunes DRM M4V videos in the pop-up “Add Files” panel. Choose at least one iTunes M4V video and click “Add” to begin importing iTunes M4V video into Prof. DRM. Prof. DRM allows you to import all files at a single time by clicking “Add All” button.

Step 2: Choose Audio Tracks and Subtitles

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After importing iTunes DRM M4V videos into Prof. DRM, you can choose one file and click “Remove” button to remove the file from the list. The “Clear” button on the sub-menu bar is designed for removing all files in the list at one go. Before removing DRM from iTunes M4V, you can choose a file and click “Edit” button to freely choose audio tracks and subtitles for keeping in the output MP4 video file.

Step 3: Set Output Directory

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Click “…” button at the bottom of “Home” list to set an output directory for containing output MP4 file.

Step 4: Remove DRM Protection from iTunes videos and convert iTunes M4V to MP4

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Click the blue “Convert” button at the bottom for removing DRM from iTunes M4V and converting to MP4. After a while, the iTunes DRM removal and conversion process will be completed.

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Note: Before conversion process takes place, you will be asked to authorize the computer for playing the iTunes video if you have not yet authorized the computer.

After the conversion process completes, you need to transfer converted M4V files from your PC to Mac for importing M4V into iMovie with the help of a USB drive.

Part 4: Import Converted M4V Files into iMovie

Now you can start to import M4V into iMovie.

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  1. Step 1: Launch iMovie to enter the main interface where you need to create a new project on the timeline.
  2. Step 2: Set the project theme, the name of the project, put in the aspects ratio as well as the frame rate.
  3. Step 3: Import converted M4V files into iMovie Event Library by clicking "File > Import".

Now that you have successfully imported M4V files into iMovie, you can start to edit M4V video files on iMovie.