Importing MPG video from a Sony HDD camera to Apple iMovie
UPDATE
Our new iMacs (September 08) will import from the SR1 directly in the normal manner, without the ‘burn to disc’ trick. However, when importing HD footage, all SD footage must be deleted first.
So this is now probably out of date…
Sony HDD (hard disk drive) cameras store footage as MPG files. These can be copied to a MacBook as files via USB, with the Mac treating the camera as an external storage device. Unfortunately, iMovie can’t play the Sony MPG format.
This seems to be a problem for other Sony HDD users.
I just discovered the trick! When the camera connects to the MacBook, choose the option “Disc Burn” on the camera. It then behaves just like an ordinary DV cam, and iMovie will capture and convert the footage.
Robert O'Toole
09 May 2008 10:23
| 
Comments (10)
| 
Report a problem
10 comments by 1 or more people
[Skip to the latest comment]todd joyce
This has worked great – after hours of searching this is actually working
todd
10 Jun 2008, 01:36
Chuck Kane
I’ve been searching all over for a fix to this, and this one doesn’t seem to work, for me. What connection are you using – USB, or firewire?
30 Jul 2008, 18:47
Jurrian
Thanks this works like a charm for me ! (using dcr-sr290 & iMovie 08)
10 Aug 2008, 13:39
Robert O'Toole
USB
27 Aug 2008, 08:09
Nicola
I’ve got just a little problem with this trick… i’ve already copied all files on my mac and deleted them from my sony hdd cam…
now i can’t copy them back cause it’s protected… what can i do now?! :(
17 Sep 2008, 20:00
Cathy Leff
I just bought a Sony Handycam HDD DRC-SR46 camcorder not knowing it isn’t compatible with my iMac. This page is great but I can’t even get the camera icon to show up on my desktop to open it. I love my Mac and know how to use iMovie but I would like to be able to download my camcorder directly to my computer. Any suggestions?
25 Sep 2008, 17:45
eter
i connected the camera and then a presed burn disc – what do i have o de next – open i-movie and…??
thank you
26 Sep 2008, 21:28
Robert O'Toole
Our new iMacs WILL import footage from the SR1 directly into iMovie08. There must have been a software update to fix it.
However, for some strange reason, it will only import HD footage when all SD footage has been deleted from the camera.
Once imported, the HD footage is significantly better than the SD footage.
13 Oct 2008, 14:12
Comment awaiting approval
This comment is awaiting approval by the author of the entry.
29 Oct 2008, 13:15
Comment awaiting approval
This comment is awaiting approval by the author of the entry.
11 Nov 2008, 23:17
Add a comment
You are not allowed to comment on this entry as it has restricted commenting permissions.