Level 1

21 points

imovie 10.1.7 wont import avchd files

After starting iMovie and Importing Media from SD card reader on iMac - 'Select All' - iMovie stalls.

The progress bar shows 'Importing from...reference number .mov' but stops on clip 1.

However the clips are displayed and can be run temporarily.

the clips then go black with ? mark and 'No Camera'. I notice the SD card is formatted as FAT32 is this valid or the cause of the problem?

Up to a month ago I had no such problems for over 5 years withe same Sony camera and running Sierra on my ageing mid 2007 iMac.

I can't find anywhere in the net with a similar problem but perhaps an expert here can advise please.

Failing that I will contact apple as I am within the 90 day telephone support on the new iMac .

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13), iMac 21.5 4K Retina 512GB SSD

Posted on Oct 19, 2017 8:07 AM

Top-ranking reply

b.art

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Jan 1, 2018 8:49 AM

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.

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39 replies

Mar 26, 2018 4:40 PM in response to GiacomoDiPantera

Worked like a champ...thank you!

Apr 8, 2018 12:07 PM in response to b.art

Yes!!! This worked - thank you so much! I spent 2-3 hours yesterday converting .MTS files in Handbrake. This now allows me to upload the my camcorder videos back into iMovie (like before)!

swisslad Author

Level 1

21 points

Oct 20, 2017 1:03 AM in response to Rich839

My Sony camera is listed as supported and AVCHD format.

Looking at other discussions there appears an ongoing theme of problems with 10.1.7

I will try Apple support to see if any solutions and report here for others to read.

Oct 20, 2017 2:55 PM in response to swisslad

When you connect the camera by USB it should show up in the devices section of the import window. Since the camera is supported then perhaps a cable problem? The fact you get a no name for the SD card when you use a card reader would seem to suggest the card is damaged. Can you try another card?

Jan 8, 2018 7:17 PM in response to swisslad

my problem is that nearly every time my MacBook Pro tells me it is through with the import of the files from my sd card into iMovie, it tells me I can eject, and when I do, it stalls indefinitely. Little colorful ball that will never go away. I'm stuck having to do a force quit and then I lose all of my progress. So annoying.

Apr 3, 2018 10:02 PM in response to swisslad

Thanks to the team here who figured out the problem was Perian.

Like others, removing it and the Preferences pain has solved the pain. This is very much appreciated.

I too could not find the A52 codec, but removing Perian (using the remove Perian option within the program) and then deleting the preferences pane and a restart solved this.

Almost instantaneous transfers!!!

I am back to a happy world before this happened.

Apple should post this on their iMovie site or update the help menus in iMovie.

FYI I am in High Sierra 10.13.3, iMovie 10.1.18 on an iMac with my iMovie library on an external thunderbolt drive

Apr 13, 2018 4:41 AM in response to Rich839

It is quite crazy. It was opening my AVCHD files up to last year. I changed the iMac and now I have only problems, I would like to have my money back and trash this crap.

Two OS upgrades and 2 major issues blocking the mac, now this.....

I will try to convert in mp4 but this thing is crazy, it is supposed to give me a better service and not a sh*t like this.

Is it someone still thinking at Apple or everybody focusing at stock options?

Rich839

Level 8

48,156 points

Oct 23, 2017 12:19 PM in response to clp698

That is a possibility. Historically, the way to import AVCHD files was to open the AVCHD package and convert the files in there to Mp4, that then imported easily.

-- Rich

Rich839

Level 8

48,156 points

Apr 13, 2018 7:33 AM in response to spokadini

It is very frustrating. Let's hope it gets fixed.

-- Rich

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imovie 10.1.7 wont import avchd files