iMovie not Recognizing Sony HDR-XR520V in Import Window

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iMovie not Recognizing Sony HDR-XR520V in Import Window

I have a SONY HDR-XR520V which I have used for the past 3 years with iMovie. In the past, I could plug the camera into the computer, open iMovie and the import window would automatically open and I could select the files I wanted to import. I recently decided to back up the files from the camera to an external Hard Disk. I copied the .MTS files into a folder on the external HDD and they could be played on a Windows computer. I'm assuming that after doing this, the format of my Camera's HDD changed to "MS-DOS (FAT32)".

Now when I connect the camera to iMovie, it is not recognized as a device. I see the Camera HDD in the Finder and am able to look at the individual .MTS files but obviously can't import them directly from Finder into iMovie.

I am assuming that I need to somehow change the camera's hard drive format to something that iMovie will recognize but I am not able to figure out what that format is let alone how to change it back.

I am working on Mac OS X 10.7.5 with a 2.53 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I have iMovie '11 installed with version 9.0.9. (1975).

I don't want to lose any of the files on the camera HD and I don't know enough about how hard drives work to format it. I would appreciate some advice

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2009), Mac OS X (10.7.5), Sony HDR-XR520V

Posted on Jul 27, 2013 3:36 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 27, 2013 6:36 AM in response to dmehra

dmehra wrote:

… I'm assuming that after doing this, the format of my Camera's HDD changed …

that's pretty impossible, if you really just copied files from Cam to some other location. And I'm pretty sure, it was fat32 before …

2nd, changing format of a drive means erasing any content on that drive; if your camera still shows any old videos, it's not re-formatted. that's the good news ...

… Now when I connect the camera to iMovie, it is not recognized as a device. …

I am assuming that I need to somehow change the camera's hard drive format …

read the Manual of your cam, how to format/initialize/reset/… your cams drive.

doing so, you will lose any recordings on that drive!

This is some general advice, for any media (drive, stick, card):

Always format IN camera, using the cameras format feature.-

… I see the Camera HDD in the Finder and am able to look at the individual .MTS files but obviously can't import them directly from Finder into iMovie.…

that is correct - 'orphanized' mts files are of no use with iMovie.

they have to be in a fully functional AVCHD structure, most probably showing lots of folders within folders, private/stream/… etc etc

__________

workaround:

• copy in Finder (you mentioned, Finder notices the Cam as 'drive') THE WHOLE DRIVES content from cam to some location on your Mac or any external drive

• re-format your camera as described in its manual = erases all content, but will set-up a functional disk-system

• to use the copied mts files with iMovie (or any other editor), you have to manually convert these files. diff. solutions avail, 49$ ClipWrap or free solution Media Converter.

final advice:

use iM as intended. It has its own 'archive' feature http://help.apple.com/imovie/#mov39f84817 , you should use to backup your precious recordings. doing anything 'manually' has a 95% chance going wrong 😉

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Answer 2

Jul 27, 2013 6:42 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

Hi Karsten

My thought - but You may already covered it.

• an AVCHD - Camera

• recording in 60p or 50p

Both of these makes any direct import into any iMovie impossibly (as I understands it)

Both in need of conversion to ? ? - AIC must be one working option ????

Please fill in if this is not covered.

Yours Bengt W (still in the world of miniDV tapes) 😉

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