New Sony HDD camera import problems

[EngBrian]

Hello All,

I got a Sony Handycam DCR-SR42 for christmas. It is a harddrive type SD video camera which seems to record in the Mpeg 2 format. I am currently using iLife '06 so my movie editing is iMovie 6 HD.

So far iMovie doesn't recognize the camera exists. My computer in general does not seem to recognize the video format. So even when I manually pulled the clips off my camera through finder they still can't be watched or edited. Sony does not seem to support mac (at least for my camera) so there is no help that i can find on their site.

In my search for answers I came across an apple download for $20 so that quicktime can support the mpeg2 format. Seems a bit much for a codec so I would like to see if there are alternatives (not stealing but other sources). I also do not think that getting a program to convert the files to a different format is a long term viable solution.

My mom's computer back home has no problem with the camera but she is running iLife '08. I can only assume that iMovie '06 didn't have mpeg2 support but iMovie '08 does.

My questions are:

1) Will the $20 download solve my editing problem as well or will that just let me watch mpeg 2 video?

2) Since I don't want to convert the files every time is my only other solution to get iLife '08? It is only $59 dollars for me as I am a student so if i would otherwise have to spend $20 i might do the other $39 to get an upgrade on ilife.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Cromulent]

iLife '08 is the only option.

 

[EngBrian]

iLife '08 is the only option.

Alright. Well I wish it had worked out of the box (I usually check these things when buying but as this was a gift that wasn't an option obviously). I guess $59 will allow me to edit but also give me access to what appears to be a superior iMovie and iWeb.

 

[Cromulent]

Alright. Well I wish it had worked out of the box (I usually check these things when buying but as this was a gift that wasn't an option obviously). I guess $59 will allow me to edit but also give me access to what appears to be a superior iMovie and iWeb.

iMovie '06 never supported AVCHD camcorders and the like. That was only introduced with iMovie '08. FCE 4 and the latest update to FCP 6 also support AVCHD camcorders.

 

[EngBrian]

iMovie '06 never supported AVCHD camcorders and the like. That was only introduced with iMovie '08. FCE 4 and the latest update to FCP 6 also support AVCHD camcorders.

Alright. Thank you very much for the help. Looks like I will be upgrading.

 

[Jimbob58]

I'm having an issue with an HDD camera as well, I was using iMovie '08 on my new mac book pro, but the software is not up to standards that i need for video editing. Now i'm having trouble importing to Final cut pro. Anyone know if theres a way to fix this problem?

on a side note i don't recommend iMovie '08 in its current form if you've ever done any major editing, its a downgrade in functionality from even iMovie HD