IMovie won't read all my Canon HF100 files.

Question

I have a Canon HF100 camcorder. I record in FXP or 1080 HD video mode, 60 frames. My PC reads and imports the video just fine.
I have a brand new Macbook Pro 15" intel cpu machine with iMovie 09. When I use one of the memory cards to import video it works fine. When I use the other memory card to import video it doesn't even see the camera. It will import pics from it into iPhoto and mounts the camera so you can see the files but iMovie won't even recognize it.
The cards are both formatted fat 32, all video on both is recorded in the same format, both cards had pictures on them as well as the video. I have tried everything I can to get iMovie to read the files, everything suggested on the forums and researched the heck out of this. It won't recognize one of my cards, even though everything else on the mac will. I have 14 gig of HD video to import and am running out of options. I don't have the money to buy another program just to get THIS program to read the files. iMovie 09 was supposed to be HD compatible....why doesn't it have native .mts file support? these cameras have been out for over a year or two and are some of the more popular ones around now. Please help if you can!!!!

Answer 1

D. Thomas Lamourine wrote:
well, it seems that the card is bad from what you say. Are you plugging the camera directly to the mac? or using a card reader? what type of card? (guessing MMC/SD card?) how big is the card? if you can get it to show on the desktop then make a folder and manually drag the files off the card and into the folder a few at a time. You will probably find one or 2 corrupt and wont move over so don't try and do them all at once because it'll just bog down. do the smaller ones first!!
you may also find that very large files SEEM to be not seen but it's just the USB/Firewire/system need a LOT of time to transport and convert the file into mac.. (not really what it's doing but give you and idea)
As was stated you may need to reformat the card because its got bad data areas/blocks. From what you are stating it's more than likely the card, not the computer/software.
I have had issues with a friends camera importing to Imovie. My camera and his both record in AVI format but mine I can import directly where his I have to run it through Quicktime Pro and convert to MOV files.. why? no clue but it works.
I would love it if it was just a bad card but check this out. The files are all perfectly fine. They can be copied to my mac no problem. I imported them all to my Windows PC and they play / edit just fine. I'm working with a free file converter to change them into what, mpeg4? I really really don't want to buy VoltaicHD just for a memory card worth (albeit 16 gig of video) of video. I DID find this on Canon's website....
+Issue: What is the Mac compatibility of my camcorder?+
+Solution: The digital video solutions disk is compatible with Mac OS 10.2 up to 10.4 for stills only. No video related software is provided.+
+The video connectivity of the Canon DVD and Hard Disc Drive camcorders provided by the software bundled with them is designed for use with Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Microsoft Windows Vista only. The Sonic Roxio My DVD software included with some models is only compatible with the Windows XP SP2 operating system when combined with a computer supporting the USB 2.0 specification.+
+Macintosh OS10.4.3 and up users may be able to view the contents of a finalized disk or files recorded onto the hard drive (for hard disc drive models) on the computer when it is connected to a USB port on the computer. With a finalized disk loaded into the camcorder the camera should show up on the desktop as a mounted drive and files may be copied (dragged) from the disk using normal procedures. Any desired editing, playback or other features may require additional third party software.+
+Note: Proper operation is not guaranteed.+
Now I already have reformatted the card and put the files back on it, still no dice. I've tried everything I can think of, I have no other codecs on my machine but QT native codecs. From what Ive read on the forums and such it seems that iMovie and the lack of support by Apple for .mts and .m2ts file formats in general is the main problem. It seems people have random problems with HD camcorders. Some people it works fine for and some it doesn't..I am one of the unlucky ones with intermittent compatibility. Fun. I have spent SO much time on this problem I almost took my mac back. This is my first Mac and while I love it to death, I am getting real tired of the unsupported crap and having to download other programs to get it to work right when it was supposed to do so in the beginning. I'm not trying to rant, just really frustrated at all the extra expense after having paid 2400$ for what was supposed to do it by itself. From what Canon said on their website, apparently there ARE issues with mac compatibility and it may or may not work. yay. Oh well, I guess I'm stuck paying for more 3rd party software.
Also, yea, I cannot import AVI files into iMovie even after I installed divx...good stuff.
Message was edited by: Stormborn