iMovie AVCHD Archive Problems

Question

iMovie AVCHD Archive Problems

I archived Sony Camcorder video content with iMovie's archive function and found that the archive created one 115 GB file called "AVCHD" instead of individual .MTS files. This file with neither play or import back into iMovie.

I checked my last archive and it did the same thing. Previous archives had created individual .mts files.

Although I have had multiple legitimate issues with my new iMac and iMovie, I checked my video camera, and whereas there used to be a file structure AVCHD - BDMV - STREAM - (all the .MTS files), now it just shows one file called AVCHD with no folders and sub directories.

It appears that now something has gone awry on my camcorder, unless this is an issue with how the Mac views the camcorder after upgrading to the new OS and iMovie.

Oh, and in the import window when archiving it shows all of the individual thumbnails of files just like always.

Has anyone seen this or have any suggestions?

iMovie '11, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.1)

Posted on Aug 26, 2012 9:04 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 27, 2012 1:08 AM in response to Wanttogobacktopc

It seems that something has changed in Mountain Lion. To access the .MTS files, Control-click (or right-click) on the AVCHD folder then click on Show Package Contents from the menu that appears. You will then need to Control-click on the BDMV folder and select Show Package Contents. You will then see a folder (among others) named STREAM - click on that to reveal all the .MTS files.

Not sure why this has been changed in Mac OS X 10.8.1 - it used to be a simple process of opening each folder in turn in the normal way.

John

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Answer 2

Aug 27, 2012 6:33 AM in response to Wanttogobacktopc

Try using FILE/IMPORT...CAMERA ARCHIVE and select this file (package). It should import and allow you to choose individual clips.

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Answer 3

Aug 27, 2012 8:44 AM in response to John Cogdell

Thanks, mate! That got me a step closer. I'd had so many issues and quirks during the first six months of owning my iMac (apparently an incorrectly installed OS at the factory that eventually led to a complete crash) that I thought that something was going seriously wrong again. This week my One to One trainer at the Apple Store had no clue what this file was and assumed something had been corrupted. Thanks for keeping me from going down the wrong track.

Using your technique in Finder works and I have the 3rd party software "MPlayerX" that will open the .MTS files and play them. Unfortunately, in iMovie using File - Import Camera Archive this file is greyed out and it doesn't recognize it as an archive. This makes the archive as useless as the .MTS files on an external drive. iMovie doesn't recognize them and won't import them either as a video file or as an iMovie camera archive.

I understood that iMovie was going to provide enhanced support for .MTS files, so I hope that I'm doing something wrong. I'm just a guy who wants to edit some home movies for family.

Any suggestions?

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Answer 4

Aug 27, 2012 8:49 AM in response to AppleMan1958

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it and the file is greyed out in iMovie so I can neither import it as a video file or as an iMovie camera archive. Using John's suggestion of Control - Click I was able to view the individual .MTS files in Finder, but iMovie does not recognize it as a camera archive.

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Answer 5

Aug 27, 2012 7:29 PM in response to Wanttogobacktopc

When using FILE>IMPORT....CAMERA ARCHIVE (as suggested by AppleMan1958) it is not necessary to navigate to the AVCHD folder (which is greyed out in the image you posted). Just click on the top level folder, which in your case is SONY HDR-XR200V-8-26-12. Now iMovie should generate a window with thumbnails of all the clips which you can selectively import to iMovie - no need to go to the individual .MTS files within the AVCHD folder.

John

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Answer 6

Aug 27, 2012 7:52 PM in response to John Cogdell

I wrote:

Just click on the top level folder, which in your case is SONY HDR-XR200V-8-26-12. Now iMovie should generate a window with thumbnails of all the clips......

I should have said after the first sentence above.......Now click on IMPORT and iMovie should generate a window....

John

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Answer 7

Aug 27, 2012 9:17 PM in response to John Cogdell

My iMac struggled for a while with processing, but it worked just like you said. Thanks so much for the assistance!

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Answer 8

Aug 27, 2012 10:50 PM in response to Wanttogobacktopc

Glad to be of help! And thanks to AppleMan1958 for reminding me of the way the import from archive worked. I hadn't used that feature for a while as I import directly from the camera, but know that AppleMan generally imports from his archives. Once he has imported from an archive (and knows that it works) he reformats the memory card in readiness for the next shoot, knowing that he now has the full capacity of the card available again.

Rather than use iMovie's archive process, I now use an application called Revolver, as it allows me to selectively archive clips from my 60GB hard drive camera. I normally don't delete clips from my camera after archiving, unless I need more space. With iMovie's archive process, it only allows archiving of the total contents of the camera. Revolver gives you an option to select clips individually when archiving. You can still import from the archive in the normal way using the iMovie menu item File>Import>Camera Archive. iMovie will recognize the archive.

The only downside to Revolver is that the metadata regarding the clips' actual recorded date and time doesn't carry over to iMovie when importing the archive - just the archive date comes over. This is the reason for me importing directly from the camera, but separately archiving using Revolver (which I'll often do at a later date - hence the date and time not matching).

Here's a link to Revolver (it's available on the Mac App Store):

http://www.shedworx.com/revolverhdmac

John

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