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I've connected the camera using a (new) USB cable directly to a Mac Mini port. When I select "PC" on the camera, iMovie doesn't recognize it as a camera, even though it's listed as compatible with iMovie.
What am I missing?
Thanks!
Dick
Mac mini, macOS 13.2
Non-recognition problems frequently are caused from defective cables, or loose connection, or possibly a defective USB socket. So check your cable connection to make sure they are tight. You might also try replacing the cable with a higher quality one. If you have an additional USB socket, try switching to that one.
To cover the bases, review this link that describes how to import from a file based camera:
https://help.apple.com/imovie/mac/10.1/#/movbc953953e
Sometimes toggling the camera on and off, and/or getting the camera running will trigger recognition. Here's a list of things you can try:
Here's a link that you can look at with some more info about camera recognition problems:
-- Rich
It might be that your vid clips are in a legacy media format that is no longer compatible with iMovie versions running on Catalina or later, as for example, the .avi format.
Check the format of your vids and see if they are shown as a compatible format in this link:
About incompatible media in iMovie for macOS – Apple Support (AU)
What is the make and model of your camera? Is it tape based or file based? Is it digital or analog?
Digital tape and file based digital cameras must be connected to the Mac with a firewire cable, not USB. If your Mac does not have a firewire socket, then you would need the appropriate adapters so that it can plug into whatever sockets that your Mac has, i.e, Thunderbolt 1 or 2, or USB-c (Thunderbolt 3).
-- Rich
Your earlier suggested link did the trick. It's the Apple Support doc on "OTHER WAYS TO IMPORT MEDIA - Import from file-based cameras."
It shows that removing the SD card from the camera and inserting it in an adapter was a way to access the files. It worked! Interestingly, it appears as a Camera in iMovie, not as a Device (see below).
The SD card also appears on my desktop as I had seen before, but notice there is no file for the video in question which was shot on Feb 5, except the backup TMP file which I can't find anything to read.
Anyhow, thanks for the help! (Please disregard my earlier reply to your last message.)
Cheers!!
Dick
Thanks, Rich839,
Sorry. I don't see the link you suggested. The bottom of your message is not visible.
I've replaced the cable and used another USB port (known to work) to no avail, so I'd appreciate getting the link.
Dick
Rich839
Thanks for your replies and the link!
I've stepped through its suggestions but unfortunately, they didn't help.
It's a Panasonic HC-V180, which uses digital AVCHD files. It has no Firewire connector. It does have a USB connector and the instructions say it can be used to connect to a "PC." I've followed those instructions and selected "PC" on the screen that appears when I connect the USB cord. The screen then shows a tumbling hourglass and says "wait" but nothing ever happens until it finally says "Disconnect the USB Cable."
I had set the camera to record MP4 files but don't see any such files on the SD card, so I assume the video I can play on the camera comes from a native AVCHD file.
Here's the screen I'm using on which I hope to see my camera listed.
Best....
Dick
Great! Glad you got it working.
I want to correct my earlier post where I said that you should use a firewire cable. For your file based camera a USB cable is the correct one to use. Don't know what I was thinking there.
Cheers!
-- Rich
Correction to my earlier post: File based cameras are connected to a PC with a with a USB cable. Digital tape cameras are connected with a firewire cable. So you are using the correct USB cable. Sorry for my error.
-- Rich
Rich,
Yes, I knew that firewire wasn't in the cards. I had a Sony HD camcorder with one and know it used DV cassettes, not SD cards.
As I mentioned earlier, the USB approach didn't work, but removing the SD card and putting it in an SD-to-USB adapter did. That was one of the suggestions in a link you sent me at the start.
Apparently, the Panasonic HC-V180's USB connector doesn't present signals compatible with Mac Mini's inputs.
Thankfully, the SD card approach works, although I can't understand why the list of files on the card doesn't include the video I now have in iMovie. 'Tis a "puzzlement" (ala The King and I)!
Many thanks for your diligence!
Dick
Rich,
Of possible use for others, I've answered the "puzzlement" mentioned in my other reply today.
I hadn't noticed a folder name "104YAPHH" on the SD list. Lo and behold it has all the mp4 files I needed. No wonder iMovie found them! Panasonic sure doesn't follow Apple's approach to making things intuitive!
Thanks again for your help!
Dick
Hi Rich, I see you graciously assisted another Mac User with a similar question about downloading video clips into iMovie. I once made a video for my granddaughter several years ago with the same computer and same camcorder. Now I get a message "No importable files" when I follow the directions to using iMovie to create a video. Am I doing something stupid and would appreciate any help you can give me? Thank you in advance.
Les
Hello LMH17061,
I know you aimed your question to Rich, but the following may help.
I also wish I knew why I couldn't import directly from the camera. I suspect it's related to Panasonic's apparent assumption that the computer involved will be a Windows machine. ! I wasted an hour or two fussing with this issue!
I finally found that the only way I could move the video from the Panasonic HC-V180 camera to iMovie was to remove the memory card and use an adapter (such as: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08C2BBLSJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to connect it a USB port on my Mac Mini.
The memory card did NOT appear under the list of DEVICES on the iMovie Import screen. It appears under CAMERAS, as "HC-V180."
Then, it took a while to realize the video files were in a folder labeled DCIM and in a sub-folder labeled 105YAPHH. Neither of them looked like the right place when I first saw them. I'm not sure those are always the labels, so you may need to open all the files on the card to find the MP4 video, assuming you set the camera to generate MP4 files.
(Although a post on Apple Discussions says iMovie accepts the camera's AVCHD files, I've never tried that.)
Let me know if that leaves you with questions!
Dick
iMovie doesn't recognize video camera
