Importing AVCHD MTS files

I too would like to know how to import AVCHD MTS files in iMovie 08. It's kind of a joke that they would release this version without the ability to do that. What's the point of having a flash camera if you can't offload files to a hard drive and edit them later?!?!

It does import nicely. Connect the USB cable if it's one of the new Sony HD's. Launch iMovie. Power up the camera. Select the hdd to computer in the camera screen display (Sony HDR-SR1). iMovie will autodetect the camera, create thumbnails of the clips in the camera, and an import window will pop up. Select the clips to import, follow additional directions for the import. The Sony AVCHD DVD cameras are not compatible according to the camera compatible list.

The only issue is that iMovie requires the other support files stored on the camera so you can only import directly from the camera. If you have your laptop with you while travelling I can't see why this would be a problem...howelse do you archive??

The only way I am aware of that you can work with MTS files that you copied to your computer is to use Voltaic to process them first...it does not require the support files and can process the MTS files directly from you HD...I'm not sure if you are loosing data in the process but. I have only just started using it and it seems to be simple and works well producing .MOV files that are about 10 x bigger then the MTS files.

If you copy the entire contents of the camcorder's hard drive to your laptop, then transfer those files (intact) to an external hard drive, iMovie will see this as the camcorder and let you import without the camera itself. You can archive as much video as you want using this method.

I only wish I had known this when I transfered all my older footage from my camera to a hard drive.

I am also disappointed with imovie08...
why convert m2ts?
Above all.. converted files are too big size.. at least 6 times...
This volume is terrible for Macbook's HDD ㅜㅜ..
Someone says, "Buy external HDD".
But..If I do, even edited files can't be stored in DVD-DL.
So, I decide to buy VEGAS 8.0 which support m2ts..and Window vista 64bit...
Apple causes a vicious circle..

Message was edited by: jany205

Yes, basically you have to convince iMovie '08 that the device (USB hard drive or flash drive) holding your movie clips is actually a camera. You need to use exactly the same file structure as used on the camera's drive on the USB device.

I agree completely with your conclusion....Apple needs to support AVCHD/MTS/m2ts natively to avoid the very lengthly conversion/import/export times. I was planning to download the trial version of Vegas to see how it handles AVCHD but based on the software that came with my camera the import from the camera is simply a disk copy from flash memory and does not involve a conversion. If Vegas can manage and edit these files natively then that is a significant advantage. I don't know the technical or licencing issues behind this but given the the importance of AVCHD now and in the future unless they can do something about this then Vegas looks like a very good replacement for iMovie and I'm disappointed to say that...was planning to buy a new 24" Intel iMac but maybe now its not such a good idea.

The greatest benefit of AVCHD and the reason it was developed was to create reasonable file sizes for HDD and Flash cameras...those same benefits apply to the storage on your PC. Native AVCHD support means no long waits for conversion, no loss of quality or function such a 5.1 surround (which is dropped by iMovie and everything else on the Mac), smaller file sizes and avoiding the need for multiple files (orginal AVCHD, Voltaic conversion to AIC, import to iMovie, export to iPhoto, copy in iPhoto library etc. In the last 24 hours less than 2GB of AVCHD content on my Sony camera has consumed almost 30GB of space on my iMac.

I found after imovie'08 imported the clips, the original dates when the clips were made were all messed up. Have you found the same problem?
thanks.

I am having the same problem. Have you found a way to work with your old footage?
Thanks.

DCIM
-> 100CDPFP
MISC
PRIVATE
-> AVCHD
-> AVCHDTN
-> BDMV
-> CLIPINF
-> PLAYLIST
-> STREAM (contains .MTS files)

sorry, here is the right implement

DCIM -> 100CDPFP
MISC
PRIVATE
-> AVCHD
--> AVCHDTN
--> BDMV
---> CLIPINF
---> PLAYLIST
---> STREAM (contains .MTS files)

after struggling with this issue for about 3 hours, i decided to buy voltaic. It converts the .mts files pretty easily. It costs 30 dollars, but seems to be worth it. Nothing else worked for me.

Hi there MadMac

Sorry to threadjack, but can I get some more details about spoofing iMovie into beliving you've got a AVCHD camera plugged in?

You said to copy the file structure:

DCIM -> 100CDPFP
MISC
PRIVATE
-> AVCHD
--> AVCHDTN
--> BDMV
---> CLIPINF
---> PLAYLIST
---> STREAM (contains .MTS files)

Do you mean put the .mts in DCIM/100CDPFP/AVCHD/AVCDHTN/BDMV/CLIPINF/PLAYLIST/STREAM ??

What disc format do I need to use? E.g. HFS / NTFS / DOS-16 / DOS-32 ?

Oh brave new world! I think I prefer it when my rushes arrive on digibeta!

Thanks


Tall Jim

I'm working with a Canon HG10.

I can confirm that when I copy the camcorder HD content to my external Firewire HD, I can import the MTS files in iMovie from the external HD.

As more and more products now support native AVCHD editing on PC, I can't understand why we can't find a third party soft on MAC OS X.

Regarding iMovie, maybe Apple was aware that native AVCHD editing would be useless on middle range MAC (performance) and decided to convert original files into AIC. Very slow for the import process, but once imported, comfortable editing, even on a Macbook ICD 1.83.