iMovie: How to Edit AVCHD (.MTS) Files from Handycams and Other Flash Memory Camcorders

[stuprint182]

hi just wondering if u could help me. I'm doing the same process as u and when i put my sd card in my iMac it finds it in iMovie and the videos show a box with 60 with a red circle cross in the clip so that means it won't accept 60 fps. which is 1080p. i can record in HE1920 and that will send to iMovie. which I'm sure loses video quality. is it best to record 1080p then convert video to mp4? thanks

[ShaoPing09]

I have the Sony HDRCX110 and could not, for the life of me, figure out how to make my camera compatible with a iMac and now I know!! Thank you so much!! Really helpful. 

[billytaylor1986]

LOOOOOOOOOL! You sound like Sheldon from the big bang theory! hahaha!

[j2cool2]

What if the card cannot be formatted after uploading? I have a Sony S1 tablet where I have taken videos. I upload them but I saw no way on it to format the card before or after use or uploading. I will let you know, if my next recording could still be uploader for you and other viewers future references.

[HiImKeith4]

@aldandann Do you have to media format every time your going to film or do you just do it once?

[HiImKeith4]

YOU. ARE. A. GENIUS!

[freeridezach]

please help i recorded a bunch off footage and imported into imovie off the internal HDD. Then i recorded more footage and it will not import! The camera shows up on my desketop. but when i click the camera button in imovie it will not show up. please help.

[mrperrybmx165]

might some dumb but can i get imovie on a pc?

[GamerZoneTactic]

@mrperrybmx165 nope, mac only

[brooks718]

@mrperrybmx165 .... it's not necessary as you get microsoft moviemaker/ or Moviemaker Live if you have windows 7 with your PC. It does the same thing. I have both a PC (vaio) and a Macbook Air and there is really not much difference between the two...except it is arguably easier to import native HD (1080p) video.

[GlitchMastasHD]

does this work with all the new handycams

[realheirlooms]

Thank you! I have a Sony NEX VG10 and it worked one time on iMovie and then never again. You're the only video to expalin the problem. Apple and Sony need to tell that you have to reformat the SD card after you load a video from the camera to iMovie.

[lookitsdaryl]

do i have to install the little cd that it comes with the camera to do this because my mac won't install it....

[Xtine061]

how about if i have already filmed the video before changing the media format? how to import those videos to iMovie 09?

[SkateFoLife13]

THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK UTHANKU I SPENT TWO DAYS TRYING TO FIND OUT HOW TO GET THIS CAMER TO WORK WITH I MOVIE AND THIS IS HE ONE THING THAT WORKS

[wajikay]

Why do you NEED to format?

[w1p30ut3r]

@wajikay To avoid write problems when filming...

[TamTamster]

Thanks for this - much help!

[feras33727]

I have a Sony cyber-shot that shoots both AVCHD and MP4 formats. When I was trying to import videos, iMovie recognized only the MP4 videos. I was really disappointed.

[sevenplyy]

I LOVE YOU

[mmontano86]

am i the only one whos computer freezes with this video?

[awsomepossum1340]

@mmontano86 nope



[muffemod]

How does one save their edited movie on Sony Vegas 10 to mts file?

[hitthedeckstudios]

windows 7 home premium

4.1 rating

AMD athalon tm ii x4 630 2.8 ghz

ram 4. gb 3.75 usable

64 bit

(quad core)

graphics card: ATI radeon hd 4200

i intend oin doing action scene editing and gunshot/explosion stuff

[blueberri1000]

hi i have the sony cx-150 hd camcorder and i imported it into imovie 09 v8.0.0 in full 1080p and after editing it i exproted it but it only gives me the option to exprt to youtube in mobile or in medium and to just export it it only lets me export up to large not hd even tho its hd footage i was wondering what my problem is

[darrenwouldgo]

this was incredibly helpful. i searched everywhere when i found out imovie hates mts. im so happy i found your tut as opposed to buying some converter. thanks so much for this. this is unbelievably priceless.

[kribich93]

i followed the entire thing but say you have clips on camera already and you need to switch the format. it pops up saying "all data will be deleted". will that delete my desired clips? and if so how do i skip that step?

[flykndlair95]

When I import AVCHD (.MTS) files into Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum and then I render in AVCHD format (.m2ts) and then upload to YouTube it losses quality. Why? Is there something wrong with YouTube? Because I see other videos on YouTube that don't have the same problem. Please help.

[tchunu]

how can I import it just from my HD??? I can't do it, it's so fucking lame. please help

[eaxel987]

nevermind... answered my own question.

[eaxel987]

this is a great video. thanks! :) although once you export it into quicktime... how then do you export it on to youtube with the 1080 HD qualities you just set...?

[eaxel987]

this is a great tutorial. Thanks! :)

[007Darkstar95]

wait do i hav to format my mermory all the time then film??

[SmexyWells]

Remember that when you import the Sony's .mts files into iMovie, there will be an automatic step down in quality because the file is transcoded into Apple's AIC format for easier editing. Even exporting to a 1080p file or uploading to YouTube in 1080p will unfortunately result in a huge loss in quality from the orginal .mts video file. You can use some video transcoding apps to create a usable file in iMovie that maintains as much of the original quality as possible, but this takes more time.

[TheElevatorChannel]

@SmexyWells Yes, there is some image quality loss, However, if your video's final destination is on YouTube, it would be hard to tell the difference.

[PoliteCheese1414]

dude i would worship you if i didn't know better! thank you thank you hank you! I just bought a JVC Everio HD... and i was like freaking out that the videos were complaining whenever i tried to put them into iMovie. THANKS!

[ThePhotoblogger]

Dude, you rock!! I searched all over the net for how to do this and EVERYONE said iMovie could not import .MTS files. Thanks man!!!

[MrSergeiProkofiev]

Thank you for your video but i still have problems

iMovie shows that i have video clips but it doesnt show their preview, time, and while importing it says ERROR

Can you suggest me anything please because i'm new to video camcorders

[JUSTINSANEpsn]

I dont have mac. only pc please watch video reply.

[SeanStols]

Exacly what i needed to know my man. I need to shoot some stuff tomorrow, so I'm curious to find out if it works. Maybe I can even bring in old material by popping it on my card again. Thanks again

[markiemark8585]

Thank you so much. I was having a hard time with my Sony a55, I can't use the PMB and this helped greatly.

[taynav00]

Thanks alot

[Kiggezoo]

very good!

[jhagley]

this is soooo good man! thank you for posting a really helpful, clear video. do you know anything about AVCHD on Final Cut? because I have Final Cut Express 4. after seeing this video though, I'm thinking it might just be waaay easier to stick with iMovie.

[AnimalCrossingFor3DS]

@jhagley

I do the clip arranging in iMovie. Then export as Final Cut XML.

You can then edit the iMovie project in Final Cut (Pro or Express, it doesn't matter) and add special effects.

[jhagley]

@AnimalCrossingFor3DS thanks! works perfect

[aldandann]

Worked 100% ! Thanks

[jimster586]

An excellent tutorial.

[alpaljl]

@jimster586 You got that right!