How do I transfer AVCHD video off my camera to my Mac?

[czayachkowski]

Hey,

I've got an AVCHD camcorder (Canon HF100) and a Power Mac G5 and I want to "grab" the files off the media card and transfer onto my G5 Mac. How do I do that? The included Canon software is useless -- does not work.

I realize I can use apps like Voltaic HD to convert from AVCHD to AIC but first I must copy the movie files over. Any ideas?

Chris

 

[Big Shisha]

I was about to post a topic about the same thing(apart from I have a Black macbook)!

I did a quick search and apparently the latest version of VLC will play files directly off the SD card, but I have yet to test this.
I'll try tonight when I get home from work and let you know.

 

[CaptainChunk]

It's just a simple file copy. Copy the entire contents of the each card (with separate folders, preferably) to your hard drive. The camera should mount as a USB drive to the desktop when it's plugged in and switched to playback mode.

 

[danimal99]

What I do is use Disk Utility to create an image file of my SD card, which is basically a snapshot, and store it on my internal HD, as well as a copy to a backup hard drive (my Time Machine drive also picks up a copy from my internal HD).

After I'm satisfied that all copies are ok, I can then reformat the card in the camera.

What this does is preserve the original structure of the card, and you can always mount it later and as far as your Mac is concerned, you just inserted that card again as it was when you snapshotted it.

 

[cwright]

I'd like to know if anyone can confirm that FCP can edit AVCHD on PowerPC Macs. I found this article on Apple's website that states AVCHD requires an Intel machine.

I have a Dual 2.0 Ghz PowerPC G5 and Final Cut Pro 6.0.1. I've edited DVCPRO HD footage from Panasonic's HVX200 before with no problems, and I'm familiar with the Log and Transfer window and all that, but now I'm interested in the new AVCHD HMC150 camera, and would like to know for sure that my computer can edit the footage.

I'm in the market for a new computer sometime this year anyway, but I'd like to hold of for now...

Thanks

 

[martinX]

I'd like to know if anyone can confirm that FCP can edit AVCHD on PowerPC Macs. I found this article on Apple's website that states AVCHD requires an Intel machine.

IIRC, to do it solely in FCP does require an Intel CPU, but VoltaicHD does work on a PowerPC. I understand that it's pretty slow on a PPC.

 

[haysal08]

I need tons of help PLEASE

Okay I'm not really computer savvy and I'm a new Mac user, I just got a MacBook Pro '09 and I can't get the video to play in any form from my Cannon HF100. I've tried USB cable, the card holder usb combo and I put the card in disk reader on my laptop and it just shows up "no name" and I don't know what to do from there. I absolutely hated using the HF100 on our old PC and I had no clue it would be so difficult on a mac.

I did not install and Cannon software. I just want to do some simple editing and then burn to a DVD. I'm hoping somebody can tell me how to get it to load into iMovie/iDVD. Do I need a firewire? Better card reader? Or should I just beat the camera with a bat? I'm digging the bat idea.

Thanks for any help.

 

[MisterMe]

...

Thanks for any help.

In Post #3 of this thread, CaptainChuck told you what to do. It is up to you to follow his instructions.