Panasonic SDR-550 import issue

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Level 2

320 points

Panasonic SDR-550 import issue

I just got a Panasonic SDR-550. The instructions are less than clear and I'm unable to import from the removable SDHC card (8GB PNY Optima 120 HD). I'm using the USB cable that came with the camera. I've tried seeing if it would just mount on my desktop and importing through iMovie neither one of which methods results in seeing the movie on the card.
I'm in the middle of recording my reading of "The Little Prince" for my grandchildren and my old Sony camcorder gave up the ghost so I bought this Panasonic in hopes of making the transition from tape to flash memory and speeding up the process. Thus far without success. Help will be greatly appreciated
David

Macbook Black, Mac OS X (10.6.5), 4 GB RAM

Posted on Dec 18, 2010 1:17 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 18, 2010 1:28 PM in response to DavidHeady

Your new camera record in AVCHD. You need to convert that to be able to use the footage in iMovie 6.

Now, your new camera records in HD. If you want to keep the footage in HD, convert to Apple Intermediate Codec, 720p or 1080i.

If your goal is to create a DVD, then you may want to convert the footage to DV. Both a DVD and DV is Standard Definition.

Try VoltaicHD for the conversion.

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Answer 2

DavidHeady Author

Level 2

320 points

Dec 18, 2010 1:53 PM in response to Lennart Thelander

Thank you for the response, Lennart. I had suspected I would need to convert at some point. My problem at the moment isn't that at all however. I must first access the files on the SDHD card in some substantive manner. At the moment the card neither mounts on my desktop nor appears in iMovie (09). I have to get at the files in order to manage a conversion and that's not happening at the moment. I even loaded Panasonic's software into my VMFusion Windows virtual machine and it failed to work.
Would a solution be to get a card reader that would mount the card on my desktop as an accessible disk?
And yes, my goal is to create a DVD.

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Answer 3

DavidHeady Author

Level 2

320 points

Dec 18, 2010 2:02 PM in response to DavidHeady

Eureka!
Firstly, Panasonic's thick little manual has been less than functional but the camera appears to be of substantial manufacture.
Secondly, The rather precise steps one has to go through for transferring files from the SDHD card into iMovie is quite the little dance. Miss a step and it's unforgiving. Here's the steps:

1. Make sure your AC adaptor is plugged into your camera and a battery mounted also.
2. there is a non de script slider on the back top of the camera that has to be switched to the green icon that sorta looks like the arrow button on a VCR.
3. Make sure you only use the mini USB cable that comes with the camera. This could be a problem as it's only about 12" long.
4. And this is probably the most important step, make sure the bloody SDHD card is actually IN the camera! DOH!
5. Launch iMovie (I'm using version 9.0
6. Select File:Import From Camera
7. The files will appear in the bottom half of the pane that then opens and you simply follow the clear and concise directions for iMovie to import that into an event and voila! You're done.

Thanks again Lennart. I suspect the issue with iMovie v. 5 has been solved as there wasn't any indication of a conflict of file size or version.

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