Sony Handycam to iMovie: How to Easily Import Sony AVCHD MTS/MPEG-2 to iMovie/iOS

Sept. 21, 2011 - PRLog -- The release of iMovie '11 makes iMovie broke new ground with its unique, combined timeline-storyboard editing view, and continues to be a marvel of ease and power among consumer video editing apps by adding more powerful audio editing and Hollywood-style trailer creation. But probably the most impressive feature is that iMovie '11 supports importing both AVCHD (high definition) and MPEG-2 (standard definition) content from Sony HDR-CX11, HDRCX12, HDR-SR1 and HDR-SR7 cameras.

However, update to iMovie '11 requires Mac OS X v10.6.3 or later. If you use Power PC Mac, you will be unable to upgrade for enjoy. So, if you use Power Mac, there is no other solution but to convert Sony Handycam to iMovie friendly video for importing Sony Handycam to iMovie.

Even you upgrade to iMovie '11, issues come out when trying to import Sony Handycam to iMovie with the files in AVCHD MTS/M2TS (especially raw MTS) or MPEG-2. Apple just said than done.
This article helps

Edit MPEG-2 in iMovie on Power Mac from Sony NTSC HDR-CX11, HDR-CX12 and Sony PAL Handycam HDR-CX11E, HDR-CX12.

Edit AVCHD in iMovie on Power Mac from Sony NTSC HDR-CX11, HDR-CX12, HDR-SR1, DCR-SR5, HDR-SR7, HDR-SR8, HDR-SR11, HDR-SR12, HDR-TG1 and Sony PAL Handycam HDR-SR1E, DCR-SR5E, HDR-SR7E, HDR-SR8E, HDR-SR11E, HDR-SR12E, HDR-TG1E.

Edit MPEG-2 in iMovie '09, '08 and iMovie HD from Sony HD DCR-SR60, DCR-SR82, DCR-SR82, DCR-SR300, DCR-DVD308, DCR-DVD505, and DCR-DVD508.

Edit AVCHD in iMovie '09, '08 and iMovie HD from Sony DCR-DVD908E, HDR-CX7E, DCR-SR60E, DCR-SR82E, and DCR-SR300E.

To import Sony Handycam to iMovie for iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone, you can refer to this guide "Import Camcorder Video to iMovie for iOS".
Three Steps to Convert Handycam to iMovie Friendly MPEG-4 H.264 format

Make Preparation: Run Bigasoft iMovie Converter for Mac

Free Download Bigasoft iMovie Converter for Mac at http://www.bigasoft.com/imovie-converter-mac.html . Install and launch the Mac app.

Bigasoft iMovie Converter for Mac, working as a professional Sony Handycam to iMovie converter can easily and fast convert Sony Handycam recorded videos in AVCHD MTS, AVCHD M2TS, MPEG-2 to iMovie compatible video MPEG-4, MPEG-4 H.264, iMovie HD Video MPEH-4, MOV in batch for fast import to iMovie and import to iMovie for iPad, iPod touch and iPhone. Besides converting AVCHD, MPEG-2 to iMovie, the iMovie Converter also converting various other video formats to iMovie.
Step 1 Add files

Copy your movie footage from Sony Handycam to your computer. Click on the button of "Add File" in the main menu to import Sony camcorder video to Bigasoft iMovie Converter. Or just drag your video files directly to the main interface of Sony to iMovie Converter

Note: You can refer to Sony document on how to transfer video from Sony Handycam to Mac OS X.
Steps for How to Sony AVCHD MTS MPEG-2 to iMovie

Step 2 Set output video format

Click "Profile"button and select iMovie Video MPEG-4(*.mp4), or iMovie H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video(*.mp4), or iMovie HD Video MPEG-4(*.mp4) or iMovie HD H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video from the "Profile" drop-down list iMovie Video MPEG-4(*.mp4) will give you fast conversion speed but there will be more quality loss during the conversion.

iMovie H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video(*.mp4) will give you much better image quality and much smaller file size than iMovie Video MPEG-4 (*.mp4) but the conversion speed will be slower.

With iMovie HD Video MPEG-4(*.mp4) or iMovie HD H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video(*.mp4), you will get almost no loss of video quality with higher video definition and resolution.

Tips:
Edit before convert
You can edit camcorder files like trim and crop to remove unwanted parts or area, split large files to smaller, crop to focus video and join several video files into one, and set aspect ratio from to 16:9 or 4:3. All the functions can be applied in the Editing Window which can be opened by clicking "Effect" in the main menu.

Step 3 Start Sony Handycam to iMovie conversion

All is set, just click "Convert" button to start Sony Handycam to iMovie conversion
Step 4 Import Sony Handycam to iMovie

Run iMovie, then import the converted files to iMovie by clicking File > Import > Movies...
Import MTS to iMovie

Resources
http://www.bigasoft.com/articles/how-to-import-sony-handy...

# # #

Professional multimedia software provider of DVD Ripper, Video Converter, iPod Transfer, and Ringtone Maker both for Windows and for Mac OS X.