Just bought a new Canon Vixia HF R300. It looks like I have basically two recording modes--either AVCHD or MP4. I have a year old Mac Mini on Lion with increased ram. I edit on iMovie and upload to You Tube. Which recording mode would be best?

While both will work, I would suggest using AVCHD. This will allow you to record in 1920x1080 and make high definition movies. iMovie will import these and convert them to Apple Intermediate Codec for editing.

If you shoot MP4, you will get lower resolution movies, but you can share them immediately to Facebook or an iPhone with no conversion required (and no editing expected).

Does iMovie '11 prefer AVCHD or MPEG-4 files for editing? If you've got a camera/camcorder that allows you to shoot in one or the other, which is the best format to pick for editing in iMovie '11?

What program can you use to convert AVCHD to a DVD format?

you can convert your AVCHD into VOB format, then use iDVD to burn your movie

Hi

What program can you use to convert AVCHD to a DVD format?

Share to File (in iMovie) - AND AS 480p - NOT Higher as DownScaling will be done badly.

Use this file in iDVD or Roxio Toast™ or what DVD Authoring program You've got.

To make a VIDEO-DVD You must use a DVD Authoring program - to get the right compression format AND Structure - It is a MUST.

There are free alternatives - but resulting DVD hasve been far from what quality iDVD (and Toast™) will deliver.

To get best possibly DVD - also this counts.

- DVD brand used - I only Verbatim

- DVD type used - I only DVD-R Single layer (4.7Gb)

(DVD+R works for many and DVD-R/W usually don't work OK and Double Layer also are a problem to it self)

- BURN SPEED - I set this as low possibly (usually x2)

- Free Space on Start-Up Hard Disk - MATTERS - I never go less than 25Gb

Good Luck

Yours Bengt W