[Macworld]

Post your comments for HD camcorders: Capturing video into iMovie here

[clith]

Note that iMovie cannot actually edit native AVCHD files. The "import" process converts them to QuickTime format first, a lengthy task that is a major stumbling block with HD video.
As mentioned at the bottom of the article, you can use the free HandBrake tool -- http://handbrake.fr -- to convert video directly to your hard drive at the quality level you want, using the command-line client.
My command line ends up looking something like this:
HandBrakeCLI --cpu=4 --input="/path/to/mounted/videocamera/file.MTS" --output filename.mp4 --two-pass --decomb --denoise --ipod-atom --markers --height=720 --vb 5500
This produces a 720p HD mp4 file I can play on my AppleTV -- the "--vb 5500" flag ensures the bitrate remains low enough for the AppleTV to play the file.
If you want to produce a different-sized file, such as iMovie's 960x540 (commonly called HR these days), just change "--height=720" to "--height=540". For standard definition (640x480, a.k.a. SD), use "--height=480".
Adjust the "--cpu=4" to reflect how many CPU cores you have. MacBook Pro users would use "--cpu=2" while recent Mac Pro owners could say "--cpu=8"!
I've made available the GPL shell script I wrote to convert video using HandBrake which has a few extra features like automatically concatenating large video files together before encoding. You can get it at http://tech.tnir.org...oads/2009/tomp4 -- be sure to edit it first to tell it where your copy of the HandBrake command-line utility is.
Hope this is useful for someone.
Reid

[tfrohl]

Is there a way to get thevideo from a MinoHD (pocket camcorder) directly into iMovie as opposed to via iPhoto?

[tatilsever]

What if it is 1080p camcorder (as opposed to 1080i)? Can iMovie '09 handle it in its native resolution as well?

[clith]

Note that 1080p means 1080p60, which no consumer camcorders can do. I assume you mean a slower-framerate like 1080p30, or 1080p25 for PAL folk.

I believe that yes, iMovie can handle these frame rates. Not sure about 1080p60 (a.k.a. "full" 1080p) though.

[Arne]

How about AVCHD Lite? Could iMovie '09 or iPhoto '09 handle this, or can/ must I go through Handbrake first?

[clith]

Since "AVCHD Lite" is just AVCHD recorded at 720p instead of 1080i, I think it would be ok.

[Jon Seff]

I can import 1080p (30fps) into iMovie from my Vixia HF100 just fine.

[Filburt]

"But unlike with tape-based standard-definition and HDV camcorders, iMovie ’09 has to work a measure of magic to import video from AVCHD cameras (iMovie ’08 can also work with AVCHD)."
I thought iMovie converts both HDV and AVCHD to AIC format.

[Chris Breen]

Filburt said:

I thought iMovie converts both HDV and AVCHD to AIC format.

It does. The "measure of magic" refers to the import process rather than the conversion.

[KurtF]

Clith, thanks for the helpful info. I did want to point out that there are now consumer cameras that do 1080p60. I'm thinking about getting the new Sanyo Xacti that can do just that. The VPC-FH1 and the HD2000 both shoot 1080p60. I'm sure consumer models will follow. Not bad for under $500 street price.

[LazloLozla]

Could I use MPEG Streamclip to convert from those .mts files to .dv, and then import those into iMovie? Is it recommendable?

[clith]

According to Sanyo, the Xacti shoots in 1080i, not 1080p.

According to http://ca.sanyo.com/...0p-CameraCorder says:
bq. FULL 1080i HD SENSOR
bq. Incorporating the latest high-definition CMOS sensor, the SANYO Xacti HD1010 captures full 1080i high-definition video (1920x1080) at 60 frames-per-second.
The VPC-FH1 and HD 2000 look like they do 1080p -- http://sanyo.com/xac...roducts/vpc_fh1 -- I'd be curious to know more about them.

Reid

[mcoombs]

I have purchased, and am very happy with, a Canon VIXIA HF 10 Camcorder. I can readily import clips into iMovie '09 on my 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac running OS X 10.5.6. But until I removed
ZyGoAudioS.component
ZyGoMJ2K.component
ZyGoTimeCode.component
ZyGoVideo.component and
ZyGoVideo.component.hqx
from the QuickTime Library, every attempt to import clips resulted in a red "Error" message. After removal of those components importing went well.