IMovie 09 Won't import Canon HV20 Video

When I plug the camera in and click import it just stops. The video never even gets past the blue screen. Help!

I have an HV30 and was experiencing the same thing. The way I got it to work was to go into iMovie > Preferences > Video and set Video Standard to PAL. (you'll have to restart iMovie for the change to take affect) Once iMovie was restarted I hooked the camera back up and it worked. Then just for kicks, I changed it back to NTSC, restarted and it still worked and has worked ever since. I figure it must be some kind of bug and another poster had previously mentioned. Hope it works out for everyone else as well.

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    He told me last Monday that purchasing the new iLife 2008 (that contains iMovie 2008) would allow me to use my current USB cable.
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    The USB cable is for importing still photographs. Not video.
    The firewire 400 cable you need is one that goes from the 6 pin full size male connector to the small 4 pin form used for DV.
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  • I'm using a Canon HV20 video camera that uses digital tape. After importing to my Events Library in Final Cut X, there are some timecode breaks between clips resulting also in gaps between the clips. Is there a way to avoid this?

    I'm using a Canon HV20 video camera that uses digital tape. After importing to my Events Library in Final Cut X, there are some timecode breaks between clips resulting also in gaps between the clips. Is there a way to avoid this?

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  • IMovie suddenly won't import

    Hi gang-
    I've been having such problems with all my Apple applications since my Mavericks upgrade, now iMovie
    I've been using a Canon Vixia HF R21 for a few years and haven't had any import problems other than long/large files slowing my computer a bit during import.
    Today I shot an 8 minute video, no changes to camera settings, and suddenly iMovie (version 10.0.2) won't import.
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    iPhoto quickly and easily imported the clip (for a change, har) but of course that version is crap quality for editing and etc.
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    Given that you don't have access to a Windows machine, you are of course right! For me, after having bought this splendid MacBook Pro and Final Cut Express, I didn't feel like throwing money after non-apple vendors just to get access to my files.
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  • IMovie HD won't import from Sony HDR-HC1

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    I have had import/capture problems using FW drives with FCE/iMovie5 and my 2gig iMac. My canon GL2 works fine but only when no other FW devices are connected to the FW port I use the computers internal drive to capture. If your using the G5's internal SATA drives this (below) may not apply.
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  • Imovie crashes/won't import

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    Try setting your camera's USB-mode to <Mass Storage>.

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    Hi, i don't know what happend, just two days ago everything was working fine, but now for some reason when importing window comes up it doesn't show any picture from play mode and it doesn't import any video. Help me please!

    Hi
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    from LKN 1935.
    Hi Bengt W, I tried it all, but nothing worked. Your answer has been helpful insofar as all the different trials led to the conclusion that there was something wrong with my iMovie software. I therefore threw everything away and reinstalled iMovie from the HD. After that the exportation of DV videos (there has not been any problem with HDV videos) to my Sony camcorders worked properly as it did before. Thank you. LKN 1935
    from Karsten.
    in addition to Bengt's excellent '9 yards of advice' ..
    camera set to 'Play' , not rec/computer/etc.?
    camera not on battery, but power-line?
    did your Mac 'recognize' this camera before...?
    a technical check.
    connect camera, on, playback, fw-connected...
    click on the Blue Apple, upper left of your screen ..
    choose 'About . . / More . .
    under Firewire.. what do you read . . ?
    More
    • FileVault - Secure that it’s turned off
    • Network storage - DOESN’T WORK
    • Where did You store/capture/import Your project ?
    External USB hard disk = Bad Choice / FireWire = Good
    If so it has to be Mac OS Extended formatted
    ----> UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange is NOT Working for VIDEO !
    mbolander
    Thanks for all your suggestions. What I learned is that I had a software problem. I had something called "Nikon Transfer" on my Mac that was recognizing my Canon camcorder as a still camera and was preventing iMovie from working properly. After un-installing Nikon Transfer and doing a reboot, everything worked great.
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    No Camera or bad import
    • USB hard disk
    • Network storage
    • File Vault is on
    jiggaman15dg wrote
    if you have adobe cs3 or 4 and have the adobe bridge on close that
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    see if that helps
    DJ1249 wrote
    The problem was the external backup hard drive that is connected, you need to disconnect the external drive before the mac can see the video camera.
    MaryBoog wrote
    Maybe your problems is solved in the meantime, but for all others this might help as I had the same problem, also have the Sony HDR-HC7, but the 7e (Europe, PAL). I found this link today and it works perfectly
    //support.sony-europe.com/tutorials/dime/videotransfer/vtransfer.aspx site=odw_en_GB&sec=DVH&m=HDR-HC7E
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    Switch camera off. Connect firewire cable to camera & Mac. Switch camera on, in play/edit mode.
    Open i-movie, choose import from camera. On screen below the camera connection is shown.- DV (HDV). Now you can import, automatically or manually.
    This worked perfectly for me. Took me 2 days to find out. Could not find any clear thread explaining what I had to do on the camera and the manual was not clear either.
    Yours Bengt W

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