Can't import AVCHD to iMovie after High Sierra update

swisslad wrote:

I posted this problem last October with some interesting further replies (including contact from Apple)

imovie 10.1.7 wont import avchd files

Still no solution. Perhaps in imminent 10.13.3?!

iMovie can import AVCHD just fine for most users.

It was determined that for at least some if not all of those affected the problem was due to old Quicktime plugins lying around, specifically Perian and the A52 codec.

Did you look for them and uninstalled?

Did you try doing a clean install on a separate drive or partition? If that works, it will confirm that the problem lies in your current installation.

Most likely if you just hope for a fix in a coming update you will be disappointed.

Same here:

1. First no import possible directly from HG20 (via USB directly from hard drive of recorder)
2. Manually extracted .mts files and imported into iMovie but then no sound.
3. Deactivated Perian and voila: all fine again (including time stamps!).

Greets.

I am having the exact same problem.

And this is from hooking my camera up to my computer - or from the SD card directly.

I spoke to Apple Support last night (11/1/17) - and the thought the update of High Sierra and iMovie update would fix the issue.

It did not.

The issue doesn't seem to be with iMovie - as much as now the OS doesn't seem to want to play the sound on AVCHD files.... which is a huge issue.

I use my Cannon VIXIA HF R20 and iMovie for my business.

This was not happening before I upgraded to High Sierra.

Please let someone know this needs to be fixed ASAP.

The reason why users are now unable to import AVCHD files from camcorders (who used to work properly for years with iMovie) is that High Sierra has introduced stricter security protocols. Apple have not yet published final APSF format documentation for developers (in my case Sony) to update their software in order to make it work with High Sierra. Sony customer care told me that they are waiting for OSX Sierra to fix the issue so that they can change software on their end. This issue is also affecting the latest Sony camcorders models.

I am having a similar problem importing movies in AVCHD containers created by my Sony RX100 camera into iMovie. I never had a single problem importing these files into iMovie before. I simply drag-and-dropped the AVCHD container from the SD card into a folder using the finder, then imported the desired clips from AVCHD container in iMovie.

Now, when I attempt to import them into iMovie, the date and time stamp on the clips is the same as the time of import, rather than the time of creation. This messes up my workflow considerably. It happened with the latest iMovie 10.1.8. I was hopeful that upgrading to High Sierra might fix the problem, but no, it didn't.

Also, I'm able to browse into the containers through the Finder to reveal the contents, but I am unable to view the individual clips. I just get a spinning wheel, and I'm unable to extract them.

Thanks to others in this forum, I found Free AVCHD to MOV works to extract the individual clips, but it is buggy and crashes often.

Seriously, Apple, get on this.

Hi there, I have exactly the same issues you have described. I have also tried to import using other software (Wondershare pro). it does the trick but then when moving to iMovie, those clips seem to be buggy, as thumbnail preview does not show, most of them can't be played (spinning wheel). Not sure why. Sony's software does not work with High Sierra (see my post above). Final cut presents the same problem. Which software have you used? And yes, Apple, get on this!

Do you by any chance have Perian installed? Perian was useful back in the day but it was discontinued long ago and now in HS it causes conflicts. There are a few threads onthe FCP X forum where uninstalling Perian solved similar issues to those described here.

Tks Luis, have now removed Persian but I am having to fix an issue that seems to be a collateral effect of such removal ([update required] label in place of username at log in screen). Then will check whether it has made any difference with iMovie/FCP. It’s quite disheartening that we have to troubleshoot this problem ourselves. I am not seeing much help from Apple.

Thank you Luis. On Mac OS High Sierra (10.13.1) I had the same issues: iMovie (10.1.8) did not manage to import AVCHD movies from my Sony camera anymore, although this worked correctly on previous Mac OS version (Sierra). With Mac OS High Sierra, the video import was stuck before finishing, or it completed only partially ("camera" icon shown on the video in iMovie with text "The media for this clip is still on the camera"). Also in all cases iMovie was not able to read the sound of the video.

Finally, deactivating Perian (version 1.2.3) on my Mac solved these issues with Mac OS High Sierra: System Preferences > Perian > click on "Remove Perian". Then close and restart iMovie.