CANON HG 10 Problems importing into Imovie HD 6

[Sara Smylie]

Hi Everyone,

I have a Canon HG 10 and used to import video without a problem onto my MacBook Pro running Tiger. I switched machines (still a Macbook Pro) and am using Imovie HD 6. This machine runs Leopard 10.6.7.

I created a new project under HDV 1080i and selected the name of the project but after pressing the import button in Imovie HD 6, a pop up up message appeared "The file could not be imported: The file “Macintosh HD/Users/[name]/Movies/Trial 2” can’t be imported; QuickTime couldn’t parse it: -1409. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at pressing the "import button", once I was able to import my video but as still images. A very loud beeping noise accompanied the import.

On another occasion, I created a new project and selected the Canon folder from the Finder window. The file imported and said "filtering unusable files" during the import. A series of still images then showed up instead of the video. Multiple error messages popped up saying: "The file could not be imported: (-36).

Any ideas on the problem? The solution? Prescious video is on here so I am hoping not to re-initialize.

Thank you!

 

[martinX]

Sounds ominous. Have you tried iMovie '11? You can use iMovie '11 to archive the card's contents to your Mac and just work from that.

 

[xStep]

Sara, are you saying that you used to use iMovie HD with this camera on an older OS and now with a newer OS the same technique of import does not work.

iMovie was not designed to use USB connections until iMovie 08. Also, from what I could find out about the camera, it records AVCHD and iMovie HD does not handle that format.

 

[md4peace]

Importing Canon to iMovie

I have a Canon Vixia HF G 10 that I import to iMovie '11 without trouble. I usually use one of the SDHC cards from my video camera, pop it into the SD slot on my MBP and transfer the files to my hard drive. The AVCHD files that you need to access are inside the "BDVM" folder and then inside the "stream" folder. They are listed as .MTS files. VLC player can also play these files.

 

[Sara Smylie]

Sara, are you saying that you used to use iMovie HD with this camera on an older OS and now with a newer OS the same technique of import does not work.

iMovie was not designed to use USB connections until iMovie 08. Also, from what I could find out about the camera, it records AVCHD and iMovie HD does not handle that format.

Hi,

Yes, I had no problems with the camcorder on a 2007 MBP with Tiger and running Imovie 8. The computer got damaged, and so I followed the same import process on my other 2007 MBP that had been upgraded to Leopard running Imovie HD 6. Still unsure what might be going on....

Thanks

 

[xStep]

Hi,

Yes, I had no problems with the camcorder on a 2007 MBP with Tiger and running Imovie 8. The computer got damaged, and so I followed the same import process on my other 2007 MBP that had been upgraded to Leopard running Imovie HD 6. Still unsure what might be going on....

Thanks

Use iMovie 08 or newer. iMovie 6 doesn't handle AVCHD material.

 

[Sara Smylie]

Use iMovie 08 or newer. iMovie 6 doesn't handle AVCHD material.

Hi,

Ok. I noticed that my MBP has both Imovie 7.1.4 and Imovie HD 6.0.4. I'll upgrade Imovie 7.1.4 to Imovie 8.

Thank you,
Sara

 

[Dave Braine]

I'll upgrade Imovie 7.1.4 to Imovie 8.

Recommend that you upgrade to iMovie11. It's so much better than 8.

 

[xStep]

Ok. I noticed that my MBP has both Imovie 7.1.4 and Imovie HD 6.0.4. I'll upgrade Imovie 7.1.4 to Imovie 8.

Startup 71.4. I believe that is iMovie 08. The version number doesn't necessarily match the number on the name. For instance, the version for iMovie 09 that I have is 8.0.6.

 

[Sara Smylie]

Startup 71.4. I believe that is iMovie 08. The version number doesn't necessarily match the number on the name. For instance, the version for iMovie 09 that I have is 8.0.6.

Thanks for the tip on the version #s. I also found the following link which shows the numbers and the versions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ILife#Releases_and_history

I started up imovie 8 and the mts files are greyed out, as per the recommendation above to access these files. Should I upgrade to imovie 11?

Strange how there was never a problem before with the old imovie and older os....

Thank you

 

[Dave Braine]

Should I upgrade to imovie 11?

Yes, you can do so much more in terms of audio editing and control than you can with iMovie8, very much like iMovie6.

iMovie8 is a waste of time IMHO. It's really designed for those who want to shoot video and upload to sites like YouTube without bothering to do any editing, so it is very limited in what you can do with it.

 

[xStep]

I started up imovie 8 and the mts files are greyed out, as per the recommendation above to access these files. Should I upgrade to imovie 11?

How are you trying to import the video. You are suppose to load AVCHD video via iMovie, not by dragging & dropping or opening MTS files via the file menu. When you plug in and startup the camera and iMovie, try choosing "Import from Camera..." under the File menu.

I'm wondering if md4peace didn't describe his workflow fully. In the past you could not do what he describes without making sure to copy the entire memory stick. In otherwords, there is/was a trick to getting it right.

Should you upgrade? That depends on your needs or wants. iMovie 11 is a more polished product. It even restores the timeline from what I've heard.

Strange how there was never a problem before with the old imovie and older os....

iMovie 08 and above have no relation to the previous versions except in name only.

 

[Sara Smylie]

How are you trying to import the video. You are suppose to load AVCHD video via iMovie, not by dragging & dropping or opening MTS files via the file menu. When you plug in and startup the camera and iMovie, try choosing "Import from Camera..." under the File menu.

I'm wondering if md4peace didn't describe his workflow fully. In the past you could not do what he describes without making sure to copy the entire memory stick. In otherwords, there is/was a trick to getting it right.

Should you upgrade? That depends on your needs or wants. iMovie 11 is a more polished product. It even restores the timeline from what I've heard.

Hi,

My workflow has been:

1. Canon HG10 camcorder in playback mode
2. in imovie 8, select import imovie HD project or import movies
3. a finder type screen appears, select canon_HDD, AVCHD, BDMV, STREAM
4. mts files appear greyed out as well as import button

Thank you--

 

[xStep]

Hi,

My workflow has been:

1. Canon HG10 camcorder in playback mode
2. in imovie 8, select import imovie HD project or import movies
3. a finder type screen appears, select canon_HDD, AVCHD, BDMV, STREAM
4. mts files appear greyed out as well as import button

Thank you--

As I stated, for MTS files, use "Import from Camera...". If those files are no longer on the camera, then...

iMovie does not directly read MTS files. It uses other files in the folder structure of the cameras memory stick for some help to read the MTS files. As mentioned, there is a way to copy the whole, and only the whole, file structure to a drive. Even in that case, iMovie has to see that content as a drive I believe. I'd like to see md4peace describe the exact workflow since he opened this can of worms.

 

[Sara Smylie]

As I stated, for MTS files, use "Import from Camera...". If those files are no longer on the camera, then...

Thank you for the post. Import from camera brings up Isight and I see myself.

 

[xStep]

Thank you for the post. Import from camera brings up Isight and I see myself.

And click on 'iSight' as it is a popup, it will allow you to choose your camera if it is ON and iMovie can see it.

 

[Sara Smylie]

And click on 'iSight' as it is a popup, it will allow you to choose your camera if it is ON and iMovie can see it.

Hi,

When Isight was closed, the imovie window pane did not show my camcorder. A Canon HDD icon was on my desktop however...

Thank you

 

[xStep]

Hi,

When Isight was closed, the imovie window pane did not show my camcorder. A Canon HDD icon was on my desktop however...

Thank you

I'm not sure I understood what you just said. Here is a screen shot using my old point & shoot. It did take a while, less than a minute, for it to appear in the pop up list. I don't know if your camera would show up quicker.

Notice at the bottom where I've selected 'Sony DSC'. That is the popup I'm referring to. When I did that, all those thumbnails showed up. They are all checked marked for import, but you can check only the ones you are interested it.

Click on the image to see a bigger sharper image.