My daughter has a folder on her desktop with QuickTime movies that can all be seen if we click on it. But for some reason, we can't import that folder into iMovie. We can see it but can't click on it to import. Hope someone can help us out. She's using Catalina.
MacBook
Right click (Control-click) on the BDMV folder and select "Show Package Contents" from the contextual menu that pops up.
Several folders should appear.
Open the one called "STREAM" and all the videos in .MTS format should be revealed.
Drag them into iMovie.
Right click (Control-click) on the BDMV folder and select "Show Package Contents" from the contextual menu that pops up.
Several folders should appear.
Open the one called "STREAM" and all the videos in .MTS format should be revealed.
Drag them into iMovie.
The BDMV folder was probably in an AVCHD folder originally on a memory card..
If you had copied the AVCHD folder to your desktop the video clips could have been imported by the usual "Import Window" method.
When copying from a camera's memory card it is important to copy the whole file structure and not just bits.
Select all of the files in the folder as a batch and drag them into the timeline of an iMovie project. Or, create a new event by clicking on the Library name in the iMovie media sidebar and doing a File/New Event. Then drag the files into the new event.
-- Rich
As Ian mentioned, once you open the "Stream" folder, you can copy drag the .mts files to your desktop. iMovie might not convert them for editing, and if so you will need to convert them to Mp4 or other format compatible with iMovie in order to edit them in iMovie.
Try converting the .mts files to H.264, Mp4/AAC with the free download, Handbrake. Do that even if the codec already is indicated to be Mp4/AAC. Re-rendering often cures the issue.
You can get Handbrake here:
A simple way to do it is to open Handbrake and do a File/Open Source. Navigate to your video and choose it as the source from the resulting screen. Then do File/Start Encoding. Wait a couple of minutes for the conversion to complete. Then save and import the converted clip into iMovie.
-- Rich
Hi Rich, I can select all the files but it won't let me drag them anywhere. The folder is called BDMV and has a QuickTime logo. Other movies on the desktop can be imported without problems.
Thanks, Ian!
My version (10.2.1) of iMovie has no problem importing or editing the .MTS files.
They are just the normal files that most HD cameras and camcorders shoot.
Ah. That's good to know. Posters here had reported problems with earlier iMovie versions converting the .mts files. So I wasn't sure. I think .mts files are basically Mp2. Thanks, Ian.
-- Rich
Importing QuickTime movies into iMovie
