USING MENCODER TO CREATE AN IMOVIE-COMPATIBLE IMPORT FORMAT
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    Maybe this works only because I have DivX installed on OS X. Either way,
    it just works.

    The basics:

        mencoder ~/input.avi -o output.avi -ovc lavc -oac mp3lame \
            -lavcopts vcodec=msmpeg4

    If you need to stitch on a separate audio file, add:

            -audiofile input.wav

    To start at 10m30s and end after 45 seconds:

            -ss 10:30 -endpos 45

IMPORTING INTO IMOVIE WITHOUT THE DELAY
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    (1) Right click on the .MovieProject file and choose "Show Package Contents"

    (2) Open the Media directory. Drag the .avi file into there.

    (3) Open the iMovie project file. It will complain about "stray files" in
    the project and ask if you want to view the Trash. Click yes.

    (4) Drag the movie clip from the Trash window onto the Clips window.