sony handycam DCR-SR40

[fabman]

I bought a new sony handycam (digital not dvd). I need to know how to get the handycam to work on imovie. When I hook up to the usb port it is totally unresponsive

 

[zwida]

You might do a search for this subject as it's been addressed a few times on MR. That said, iMove doesn't recognize USB devices. Does your new Handycam have an iLink/Firewire connection?

Edit: Doesn't look like that device has iLink. If you can find a shareware utility to copy the data from the camera to the computer, you should be able to import it into iMovie that way.

Good luck.

 

[fabman]

firewire

I must say I am a big novice...could ya be so kind as discribe a firewire

 

[zwida]

NP. Firewire is just a different sort of connection between your machine and your camera. It looks like this:

 

[bigbossbmb]

your camera does not have firewire....

you must purchase additional software to get this camera to work on a mac. i don't know where it is, but i'm sure you can find it through sony.

 

[zwida]

Looks like you'll need Roxio Toast

So, I did a bit of digging for info on this (I'm considering buying a similar Sony camera, so I have a vested interest). It looks like you need Roxio toast to convert the native MPEG2 file to something that iMovie will import. This two (or three) step process is annoying and stupid, but at least it will allow you to use your new camera with iMovie. I'm not sure if Final Cut Express (another Apple application, but not free) has the same issue, but that might be another option for getting footage from your camera.

Please let me know how this works out for you. It'll impact my purchasing decision.