Help! I want to transfer several home videos from several different camcorders to iMovie on my MacBook Pro. The problem is: none of my camcorders have a Firewire port. They only have usb ports. Can I still somehow get these videos into iMovie and, if so, how? My tech skills are low, so please don't hesitate to be detailed. (Are there adaptors that I can use to "fit" a Firewire to the usb port on the camera?) Thanks.
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Importing video from camcorder to iMovie on aMBP
- Thread starter Broboob
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USB --> Firewire adaptors exist, but they are a scam.
When your cam doesn't have an FW port, I'd assume it stores its clips on flash cards. It is pretty simple: Connect your cam to the USB port and copy the complete card with all files to your computer. Then just point iMovie to the copy for import.
When your cam doesn't have an FW port, I'd assume it stores its clips on flash cards. It is pretty simple: Connect your cam to the USB port and copy the complete card with all files to your computer. Then just point iMovie to the copy for import.
Connecting consumer camcorders via Firewire has been nice, but it is pretty old school. I still own some camcorders with FW, but they are all recording on miniDV tapes or something similar.
If your cameras have been bought in the last few years, they will surely record on cards or hard drives. You can either (like cgbier pointed out) copy the entire content to your hard drive or just import directly from your camera or card. In my experience iMovie will recognize most cameras and filesystems on cards. Just go to "File"->"Import from camera..." in iMovie or press Cmd+I and see if your camera shows up.
If your cameras record on SD cards, take out the card and plug it directly into your Mac's card slot. That is a way faster card reader than any camera, in my experience.
If your cameras have been bought in the last few years, they will surely record on cards or hard drives. You can either (like cgbier pointed out) copy the entire content to your hard drive or just import directly from your camera or card. In my experience iMovie will recognize most cameras and filesystems on cards. Just go to "File"->"Import from camera..." in iMovie or press Cmd+I and see if your camera shows up.
If your cameras record on SD cards, take out the card and plug it directly into your Mac's card slot. That is a way faster card reader than any camera, in my experience.