How to Import iTunes Movies to Final Cut Pro or iMovie for Editing

We will always need to add iTunes movies to Final Cut Pro or iMovie to edit for different reasons. Have you ever tried to edit iTunes videos on Final Cut Pro or iMovie but eventually came to nothing? Or even more frustrated when finding no way to import iTunes movies into FCP or iMovie at all? You’ve come to the right place if that’s your case. This article here will show you a quick yet effective way to add movie files from iTunes into FCP or iMovie for editing with the introduction of a smart iTunes to FCP/iMovie application. Before we begin the tutorial of streaming iTunes movies to FCP or iMovie, let’s take a brief look at the reason why it’s so hard to import and edit iTunes movies on Final Cut Pro or iMovie.

First of all, you need to figure out what video formats iMovie and Final Cut Pro support. And that would be the key point to solve the puzzle why iTunes movies can’t be added to FCP and iMovie for editing. In fact, both programs support importing videos with a limit number of file formats, which including MPEG-4, .mov, HDV, and AVCHD. However, those not include the format of iTunes movies which are locked by Apple’s DRM protection. All movies, TV shows sold from iTunes are encrypted in M4V format which can only played on iTunes compatible programs or devices. The DRM is used to mainly protect the copyright of iTunes movies by preventing iTunes customers from copying and transferring those movies to other platforms. Thus no one is allowed to directly import iTunes movies to Final Cut Pro or iMovie for editing, even though they are developed by Apple itself.

Then the situation becomes clearer now. In order to edit iTunes videos on iMovie or FCP, the only way is to bypass the DRM protection from iTunes movies and convert the DRM-ed M4V files to FCP or iMovie compatible formats, such as MP4.

Currently the best way to remove DRM from iTunes movies is to use some 3^rd-party software among which TunesKit iTunes DRM Video Converter for Mac is the best of the best. It’s the fastest iTunes to FCP/iMovie Video Converter which can convert iTunes DRM M4V movies to non-DRM MP4 for FCP and iMovie while removing the DRM from iTunes movies at 20x faster speed.

Steps to Convert iTunes  DRM M4V Movies to FCP/iMovie MP4

Install and launch TunesKit iTunes to FCP/iMovie Video Converter on Mac OS X 10.8 or later.

1. Add iTunes M4V movies to program by clicking “Add Files” button or by drag-and-drop. Once selected the movies you want to import to iMovie or Final Cut Pro from iTunes, click “OK” button to load the movie files.

2. Choose output folder, audio tracks, subtitles and languages before converting iTunes movies to FCP or iMovie.

3. Click “Convert” button to begin remove DRM and convert iTunes M4V movies to MP4 for FCP and iMovie.

4. Open iMovie or Final Cut Pro, click menu bar File > Import > Movies to transfer the converted DRM-free iTunes movies to iMovie or FCP for editing.

Read More - Final Cut Pro vs iMovie: What’s the Difference

Although both Final Cut Pro and iMovie are video editing tools developed by Apple, they do have some obvious differences when compared.

Firstly, they are aiming at different user groups. iMovie, as part of Apple's iLife suite of multimedia projects, is geared towards first-time or novice video editors that want to learn the basics of video editing and create their own home movies or videos, while Final Cut Pro, Apple's flagship video editing software, is geared toward video professionals. 

Therefore, on the basis of different target users, iMovie offers a limited number of effects, layers and transitions that can be applied to a video clip while FCP offers almost every imaginable feature and option for video editing.

To sum up, if you are looking for a simple video editing software that will create videos in a few minutes, you should choose iMovie. Otherwise, Final Cut Pro will be the best option for you.