macbook and JVC EVERIO CAMCORDER

[coolguy94578]

Hi,

I recently bought a 13 inch macbook. I am new it . and i have a JVC EVERIO GZ-MG330 which I want to use with macbook . dont really know how to know if it detects or not . can anybody please advise me how to use my camcorder with macbook .

appreciate any help/suggestions.

thanks in advance.
pk

 

[Praying Mantis]

I have the Everio MG330 and it does work fine with my macbook. Easiest thing to do is download MPEG streamclip (google it) and use that to convert the files from the camera onto your hard drive. Connect the camera with USB, start MPEG streamclip and go to File, Open file. Navigate to the file(s) on your camera (.MOD files) and double click. Files are not named well, so it's sometimes hard to find which one you're looking for. Play it to make sure its the right one. If you want to later edit the video in Final Cut or other editing software, or you want to burn a DVD with iMovie, go to File, Export to quicktime. Set compression to DV/DVCPRO-NTSC, quality 100%. Frame size 720 x 480 (DV-NTSC) and then "Make movie". If you want to make an internet ready vid, just choose the export to mpeg-4.
*Note- Videos will not look so good in the Streamclip player, but once they're converted they look great...especially if you burn to DVD.

 

[hwojtek]

It works without any additional tricks with iMovie08. I use exactly this camera for casual SD shooting.

 

[MusLtngBlue]

Please note, though, that MPEG Streamclip will NOT work with .MOD files to convert if you don't have iLife '08. If you have an earlier version of iLife, you must go to Apple's online store and purchase the Quicktime MPEG-2 plugin, and after that MPEG Streamclip should work fine.

For the record, .MOD is a form of MPEG-2 file that is program stream format. It interlaces audio and video in intervals in one stream/timeline, if you will. MPEG Streamclip, given the right tools from Apple's MPEG-2 Support (which is included in iLife '08), can disassemble the pieces and reassemble the video and audio linearly in video and audio tracks for whichever format you want to make it.

I just find it frustrating that better support for the file format isn't given even with Final Cut, since it is a widely used consumer video format. The only other supported options are to buy a twice as expensive HD camcorder so it writes in HDV/AVCHD, or get a camcorder that writes to a Mini DV tape - which is getting phased out and less support from Apple, as FireWire is being taken from their computers (See the new MacBook). There's a huge gap they're missing that really should be filled in. I don't think it should take more than a small update to make the codec available system-wide, rather than confining it strictly to iMovie '08 (correct me if I'm wrong).