imovie 10.1.7 wont import avchd files

AVCHD media (including the .MTS files contained in there) use AC3/A52 encoded audio tracks.

Check if you have an older A52Codec.component installed in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components. Remove it as AC3/A52 codecs are build-in to macOS nowadays. After rebooting, AVCHD import should work fine again.

The third party software Perian installs this incompatible version of an AC3 codec in the components folder, so uninstalling this might have the same effect.

I'm in a similar situation. Prior to High Sierra/iMovie 10.1.7 I was able to use the AVCHD files directly from the Panasonic HC-WX970 our church uses. I'm still able to use these AVCHD files with Macs that haven't updated to High Sierra/iMovie 10.1.7. My work around is to convert them to MP4s and then use iMovie.

I found this in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components at the Root Level and not in the User Level. Once trashing the A52Codec.component folder, iMovie was able to import the file.

I've experienced the same problem. Unable to import in iMovie (latest version) from a Canon Legria HF G25 camera on my iMac, I've done this hundreds of times before. Tried to find a work around with importing the MTS-files directly after copying the AVCHD file from my camera, but this wasn't successful (no sound).

The second workaround was successful, connecting the camera to my macbook, create a new imovie library, importing the video into the new library and copy the library to my iMac (because I prefer to edit movies on a big screen).

To me it seems to me a bug somewhere in High Sierra or iMovie. Firmware of the camera didn't change for years.

Check to see if your camera is still supported by iMovie.

iMovie supported cameras - Apple Support

-- Rich

Worked for me too! I had Persian installed from way back. Removed it and now the High Sierra/IMovie combo works perfectly.

David

I also fixed the same problem. Only different thing was that the A52Codec.component was located at Library/Audio/Plug-ins/Components/ in my computer. Thanks.

I had the import problem with the video clips from my Canon M41 showing the camera icon but not really being in the Mac also. I followed the advice of the poster who said remove Perian, which I did by clicking uninstall Perian in system preferences and then deleting the preference pane itself. I restarted iMovie and it worked like bang! Instant import of 4 GB. Just like normal. I did not find the A52 codec file in the OS at any level. Maybe it was deleted when I uninstalled Perian. I don't know but...perfect fix. Doesn't seem like a bug in iMovie...more like maybe I should never have left Perian in there for years for no good reason. 😁

Was the SD card formatted in the camera? Have you tried connecting the camera to iMovie?

Perhaps the problem is the importing of AVCHD files because when I import the video using my third-party program, which creates an MP4 file, iMovie imports those videos just fine.

To my regret my Audio/Plug-Ins/Components did not contain this A52 codec. I ran into this AVCHD trouble after restoration of my soft ware from my time machine backup. Earlier imported AVCHD-files were no longer accepted by iMovie 10.1.8. So my whole iMovie-library is a mess. Work in progress also was not restored! I could import some AVCHD-files after conversion with Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate. But take care, convert to MP4-HD 1080P. After that I had to import the clips one by one or per 5 or 6 at a time. A time consuming business!

Do you have better suggestions?

Hi,

Here same problem with iMovie 10.1.8 / MacOS High Sierra (10.13.2) in combination with a Sony HDR-PJ780VE HD-camcorder who's unfortunately only exports AVCHD-files. If I had known this from the start, I've never would have bought a Sony but another HD-camera who delivers a more Apple iMovie compatible video format.

Anyway, I've removed the A52 codec from the /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components at user level (how funny because of the comment which says on root-level) and now I can hear the voice which wasn't the case before.

However the generic problem hasn't been solved, because I still can't import the different movies from the AVCHD file!!! When I import one of the files from the 'NO NAME' volume from my Sony HDR-PJ780VE camera, the file on my iMac shows in iMovie a file with a camera icon which means that the file isn't really imported because when you disconnect the camera the file suddenly shows a 'questionmark' meaning the camera is missing.

So after hours of searching for a solution just one tiny step further since I now have sound ... 😟.

Apple isn't delivering sufficient support for this awefull bug I think and they - as a premium brand - should shame themselves.

BR,
Marco

I wanted to emphasise that I've removed the A52 codec as well as the Perian.prefPane, but unfortunately my problem with iMovie and importing AVCHD files isn't solved. The problem stays the same: although it seems that the files are imported, they are not really because you'll see a camera icon placed in the left corner below which is an indicator that the file still resides on the camera. As soon as you'll disconnect the USB-cable between the Mac and the (Sony HDR-PJ780VE) digital camcorder, the file can not be played anymore.

My guess that there is a serious bug in Apple's iMovie 10.1.8 and/or in combination with MacOS HighSierra 10.13.2 which needs to be solved by the development team for iMovie in cooperation with the development team of this MacOS version.

My last resort now is, to convert the AVCHD file from the Sony digital camcorder to MP4 HD-1080P and then try to import those files into iMovie.

I also want to report this bug at Apple ... does anyone know how to do this and if somebody knows, please share the specific URL for that.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts so far …