Simple Advice For Using Vixia HF M41 and iMac

[Mac'nCheese]

Is there any way to get video from a non imovie compatible hd video camera to be usable in imovie (or even final cut, which I'm willing to buy if I have to)? I have a Canon Vixia HFM41 and a intel core (one year old) imac. When I hook the camera up via usb: nothing. When I insert the memory card in sd card reader, the folder has no usable files that I can find. Any help to get my video from my camcorder into any editing software (basic editing only, nothing fancy needed) on my imac would be much appreciated. Please dumb down advice as much as possible.

 

[puckhead193]

does it record AVCHD? if so, try using a program called mpeg stream clip to convert the files to Quicktime files.
http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html

 

[cgbier]

Did you copy the complete card to a hard drive and used FCP's Log and Transfer, then point L&T to that drive? That should do the trick.

 

[MisterMe]

Is there any way to get video from a non imovie compatible hd video camera to be usable in imovie (or even final cut, which I'm willing to buy if I have to)? I have a Canon Vixia HFM41 and a intel core (one year old) imac. When I hook the camera up via usb: nothing. When I insert the memory card in sd card reader, the folder has no usable files that I can find. Any help to get my video from my camcorder into any editing software (basic editing only, nothing fancy needed) on my imac would be much appreciated. Please dumb down advice as much as possible.

The Canon VIXIA HF M41 records video in the AVCHD (MPEG4-AVC H.264) format on Flash media. You should have no issues. I would recommend that you install the Perian codec suite. At the very least, your camcorder [or card reader] should mount on your Desktop. If for some reason you do not have the proper codec installed, then you should see unplayable files in the mounted volume. The fact that you are not seeing anything means either that you are not looking in the right place or that you are inadvertently not recording anything.

 

[AngryRedTicTac]

If the HF M41 has the same file system as my HF20, you may be looking in the wrong place. AVCHD>BDMV>STREAM is the way to the .mts files on my HF20. If the camera mounts on the desktop, the files should be directly accessible.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

If the HF M41 has the same file system as my HF20, you may be looking in the wrong place. AVCHD>BDMV>STREAM is the way to the .mts files on my HF20. If the camera mounts on the desktop, the files should be directly accessible.

Thank you all for your advice. I started with ARTT's post and did find exactly what was posted. I found A .mts file in the stream folder. Now, is this the file I need to convert using one of the programs listed below and then I import it into imovie? Because right now, if I click on it, its unusable (as far as I can tell.) So, I think I'm closer to fixing this but still need some help. Thanks again in advance....

P.S. Just tried to open file from program at:

http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html

but it said file wasn't recognized.

P.P.S. Just installed the perian suite. Ran it, and it installed. How does this thing work? Is it automatic or do I run my files through some kind of converter?

 

[AngryRedTicTac]

Yep, that is the file you are looking for, if there is only one .mts I take it that you shot your entire event in one take. You can grab that .mts file and drag it to a desktop folder, at which point I would recommend Movist to view it. I find it to be very smooth, with the added bonus of being free ;-)

iMovie doesn't like to import things that it needs to convert from folders on your computer, you'll need to import it directly from the Canon. I convert most of my footage to AIC offline with Voltaic, a program I picked up in PPC days gone by. Once it's in AIC I can pull it into iMovie. Without using alternate software, you can import from that Stream folder on your camera with iMovie, which should work fine. You should be able to address the file(s) directly for import and conversion.

Open your project. Go to the File drop down, select Import>Camera Archive. Select the CANON in your DEVICES list. It may take a moment, but it should read Camera Archive detected - click Import to proceed. Click on Import, and you should get an Import From: CANON Inc. Video Camera window. Select the file(s) you want to pull, check them, and import them. Good luck, it should work perfectly. Should.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Yep, that is the file you are looking for, if there is only one .mts I take it that you shot your entire event in one take. You can grab that .mts file and drag it to a desktop folder, at which point I would recommend Movist to view it. I find it to be very smooth, with the added bonus of being free ;-)

iMovie doesn't like to import things that it needs to convert from folders on your computer, you'll need to import it directly from the Canon. I convert most of my footage to AIC offline with Voltaic, a program I picked up in PPC days gone by. Once it's in AIC I can pull it into iMovie. Without using alternate software, you can import from that Stream folder on your camera with iMovie, which should work fine. You should be able to address the file(s) directly for import and conversion.

Open your project. Go to the File drop down, select Import>Camera Archive. Select the CANON in your DEVICES list. It may take a moment, but it should read Camera Archive detected - click Import to proceed. Click on Import, and you should get an Import From: CANON Inc. Video Camera window. Select the file(s) you want to pull, check them, and import them. Good luck, it should work perfectly. Should.

You are 100% right. I did exactly what you wrote in the final paragraph and imported the one clip I took just fine. Thank you so much, I was freaking out thinking I might have bought the wrong camera but this is so easy to import with. Now, I just have one final question. I want to backup all the clips I take with the new camera. So, I will use imovie to import and edit down everything but is the best way to back up stuff: simply make a folder and transfer all those mts files from a finder window to that folder. Keeping all the old sd cards will probably be too expensive (I plan on reusing them) but I figured this is the next best thing to saving all the original video for the future. Thanks again and thanks everyone for helping, I really am grateful.

 

[AngryRedTicTac]

I save all my .mts in a dedicated folder, that is Time Machined. I also burn them to DVDs, .mts is a highly compressed format, so plenty of footage will fit on a DVD. The Canon-Mac combo is awesome, once you figure it out. Glad we got you going!

 

[Mac'nCheese]

I save all my .mts in a dedicated folder, that is Time Machined. I also burn them to DVDs, .mts is a highly compressed format, so plenty of footage will fit on a DVD. The Canon-Mac combo is awesome, once you figure it out. Glad we got you going!

I'm gonna do all that, too. Thanks again. I'm also gonna change this thread title since this camera is more then compatible with macs!

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Anybody know the steps to turn on/off the date/time burn in when u shoot videos? I saw it once in one of the manuals and for the life of me, i can't find it again.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

bump-a-rooni

 

[Bobby C.]

I save all my .mts in a dedicated folder, that is Time Machined. I also burn them to DVDs, .mts is a highly compressed format, so plenty of footage will fit on a DVD. The Canon-Mac combo is awesome, once you figure it out. Glad we got you going!

To AngryRedTicTac - I connected my Canon M41 to my iMac via USB and have imported my video files directly into iMovie. This works flawlessly and seamlessly. But I wonder if the files are still intact and in an unaltered state...or whether iMovie somehow does some further alteration and/or compression upon importing into an iMovie event. If I ever wanted to use the video files with another editing application, and I pull them (using Finder) from the iMovie Events folder(s), would the quality of the video be as good as the original taken from the camera? Would I be better off saving the mts files from the camera into a desktop folder, then importing the mts files from the folder into iMovie? Or will I retain the original quality by importing the files directly into an iMovie event - if in the future I need to edit those files again using some other program?

 

[cgbier]

Bobby, iMovie transcodes your files to AIC. You'll be able edit with any app you can get for the Mac (Windows apps might be a bit difficult), but that is exactly the reason I suggested further up NOT to extract the files from the camera, but copy your SD card to your computer first, and then extract. In that way, you'll always have the original files intact.

 

[floh]

First of all I want to add to the thread: If you do want to save your .MTS-files for backup in a time machined folder, then you definitely want to save the whole folder structure from your SD-Card, not just the .MTS-files! Otherwise you will have a lot of trouble if you ever want to use them again! Please, please don't just save the STREAM-folder!

But apart from that glitch, I think you got the footage imported now?

Anybody know the steps to turn on/off the date/time burn in when u shoot videos? I saw it once in one of the manuals and for the life of me, i can't find it again.

It doesn't record those date/time burns, does it??? If you are only talking about the display (if you want it more clean, with less stuff on there), for my Canon HF-S10 and HF-R26, the option is a little hidden: I have a dedicated hardware button that says "Display" on it, with which I can switch between different views and get rid of the date/time and all other displays... I'm guessing your M41 has a similar button and that's why you can't find it in the menus. Took me a while...

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Sorry, I just saw that this thread is really old and my answer probably useless by now...

 

[Mac'nCheese]

First of all I want to add to the thread: If you do want to save your .MTS-files for backup in a time machined folder, then you definitely want to save the whole folder structure from your SD-Card, not just the .MTS-files! Otherwise you will have a lot of trouble if you ever want to use them again! Please, please don't just save the STREAM-folder!

But apart from that glitch, I think you got the footage imported now?



It doesn't record those date/time burns, does it??? If you are only talking about the display (if you want it more clean, with less stuff on there), for my Canon HF-S10 and HF-R26, the option is a little hidden: I have a dedicated hardware button that says "Display" on it, with which I can switch between different views and get rid of the date/time and all other displays... I'm guessing your M41 has a similar button and that's why you can't find it in the menus. Took me a while...

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Sorry, I just saw that this thread is really old and my answer probably useless by now...

No it's not. I never got an answer and gave uP on finding one so thank you! I thought ot burned in and that's what I wanted. To burn in the date every now and then