Canon Vixia HF S100. and .MTS files

You've got the wrong camera for your version of iMovie.

new camcorder or new software.. 😉
you need this converter tool for your hardware
http://www.shedworx.com/voltaichd

iMovie (even the current one) can't work directly with the .mts file. When you recorded the video, the camera created a folder structure including the .mts files and other info, and iMovie needs the full folder to make sense of the .mts file.

If you don't like Voltaic, try MPEG Streamclip (free). You will find yourself limited by the fact that your Mac is non-Intel. It just can't handle the processing load of AVCHD. You can use MPEG Streamclip to create a format that iMovie HD can handle. Try HDV.

By the way, it's not surprising that the Voltaic output was much bigger. The whole issue with AVCHD is that it's incredibly compressed, so much so that iMovie can't handle the process of uncompressing, making edits etc in a sensible time-scale. Using Voltaic (or anything else) turns it into a much less compressed format that iMovie can work with.

andreamad wrote:
Can I try to copy the .mts files back to the sd card and try to download directly from the camera to the new imovie?? Could that work??

No, unfortunately - unless you've kept the whole AVCHD folder structure together. When you're camera records, it puts files into a set of folders with a folder called AVCHD at the top level. If you just copy that and all its subfolders to disk, iMovie can usually deal with it. But if you separate the .mts files, iMovie can't make sense of them any more. Hence using intermediate software.

Your Mac is easily tough enough to handle AVCHD, and so you could upgrade to iMovie 09 OK - but that won't help with the problem you have with this current set of files. Try MPEG Streamclip - it.s free after all, and it will solve the problem.

In future, if you have multiple SD cards, you could simply stick the card in a card reader and have iMovie pull from that - although connecting direct to the camera as you suggest is also fine.

You have to best new Imovie and if you make backup SD card to your portable (i think so) hd you have to remember that for imovie is important to structure of catalog copy SD card. Best way is to remove any copied card to main catalog of hd, and conect this hd to imovie. And next one... If you got PS3 this work the same...

I just worked out how to do this: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10058943#10058943
hope this !helped