HD video

Maybe not correct, though I would be more comfortable in saying that if you listed the exact Sony, and the version of iMovie and OSX you are using.

I have a Sony alpha a65, and use its avchd in 60P in Final Cut Pro, though iMovie can't use it.

You could overcome the problem by recording in pretty much anything except 60P and 28mbps, which is AVCHD 2, and not supported on Apple, as far as I know.

HD is supported in iMovie. What version of OSX and Imovie are you using? IMovie 06 cannot work with avchd.

Wow, in my mind, I just went through all the versions of iMovie that has come out in the last 6 six years, as well as all the versions of OSX. Really need more info.

Hugh

Here are the camcorders that iMovie 09 supports. Since models just before and just after your model are supported, I imagine the cx115 will be fine. The mpeg-2 stuff is a problem, as the link mentions. You have to erase any mpeg-2 footage before trying to import.

Hugh

Oh, a hint that I found useful and will pass on. OSX 10.7 has a way to convert video clips that otherwise might not work on a Mac. One selects the clip and right clicks and selects services then selects convert video. But you shouldn't have problems with the AVCHD from your camcorder.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3290

Well, iMovie 09 handles HD fine if one wants to post on the web, say YouTube, but it exports in a way that is a lower quality than from the earlier iMovie HD (06), or final cut pro x for that matter.

The HD files are so huge that when I use iMovie, I just import in the 960x540 size and use that.

I would suggest posting your quality question on the iMovie 09 discussion list. Lots of expert there.

Hugh

I use Aperture so don't have iPhoto 11.

I love iMovie 11, as it has some great audio editing features, and for quick edits for YouTube videos it is wonderful. Another upside of iMovie 11 is that if you ever want to move up to Final Cut Pro X, you will find that that application works much like iMovie 11.

But it rarely uploads correctly to YouTube directly, so I just put it on the desktop and upload from YouTube.

Hugh