QT Pro won't export to anything

Question

I admit I'm not a video expert, but I should at least be able to get quicktime to export a video into some sort of useable format.
I recently purchased a Sony HDR-SR12. It records HD video in a format called .MTS. This format apparently hates the Mac and won't work with it. So, I downloaded a program called iSkysoft Video Converter. This would open the .MTS files and convert them to .MOV files.
However, when I open the MOV files in Quicktime, I cannot export them to anything else. Nor can I import anything into iMovie. And this is my main goal. MOV files, AVI files, WMV files... It doesn't matter. I cannot get any of these into iMovie.
I feel this is a question i should post in the iMovie forum. However, the problem seems to start with Quicktime as I cannot even export ANYTHING out of QT. All I get is "qtKitErrorCatchAll (-2166)" error codes and such.
I do have QT Pro 7.6 and am working with OS 10.5.6
Do these programs not work anymore?

Answer 1

OK, I tried removing all the files from the "New Event" folder and adding the MOV files in one-by-one. No dice. All I get is the folder icon and clicking on it gives me the "NO Matching Video" message.
May I assume you did open and close the iMovie application each time you added a file? (I.e., iMovie only scans the folder as the application is opening and would not detect changes in the folder contents otherwise.)
The MOV files do open in quicktime and play just fine. BUT, i can't export them into anything else. i can't even copy a small clip, load it into an empty QT file and save/export to anything w/o getting the same error i was getting in QuickTime before. It's as though QuickTime will do nothing other than play, even though I payed for Pro.
Would have to see a sample file before making any guesses here.
Could it be possible that since I bought QT Pro there's been an update, and, even though it says I have QT 7.6 Pro, it's only a player? OK, not likely if it says pro, but it's not working.
Not that I know of. Does QT Pro work normally with other foes -- i.e., can it edit, trim, copy, save, etc normally?
I mean, if I import a video and it will play, how can it be that i can't export it to anything that iMovie can see? I'm trying not to be a whiner, but this is really frustrating.
It is possible to may QT file "playback only" -- i.e., they can be played but not edited, converted, or saved. However, I just downloaded the application and ran an "evaluation" test and the file was editable, convertible, and re-saveable -- but i the file was a normal SD file as I have no AVCHD content to test.
BTW, the inspector says:
Format: Apple Intermediate Codec, 960 x 540, Millions 16 bit integer (Little Endian) Stereo (LR) 48,000 kHz
Is this what it's supposed to say? If not, any ideas as to what i should do?
Am a little confused here about your work flow. I don't see a specific output for AIC video in the iSkySoft list. So are these MOV files converted directly from AVCHD (MTS/M2TS) files copied to your hard drive or did you convert MOV (AIC/AIFF) files already captured from your camcorderby iMovie '09? Would normally expect iMovie '08/'09 imports to be AIC video with "Big" Endian order rather than "Little" Endian but QT supports both.
Basically, I have never used any of the iSkySoft applications before today so I hesitate to say much about them without more personal experience. Most Intel Mac users either get iMovie '08/'09 to import AVCHD files directly or join the PPC users in copying AVCHD to their hard drive and then converting using the Voltaic HD application which seems to have a very good reputation with many AVCHD users who post here on a regular basis.