iMovie 7.0 Help (iLife '08)
Importing video from a USB camcorder or camera
You can import video from USB camcorders that record to DVD or hard disk drive (HDD) storage media, or from flash-based devices, such as digital still cameras that record video.
These devices are also called random access devices (RAD) because you can access and import video clips by selecting them randomly. You can preview video clips on the device, but you don’t have to wait for the video to play through as it imports.
Note: An Intel processor is required for AVCHD video support. Mac OS X version 10.5 (Leopard) or later is required for AVCHD DVD camcorder support.
To import the video, you’ll need to connect your device to your computer using a USB cable; make sure you have one available. One end of your USB cable plugs into your Mac, as shown here:
Your USB cable may have a different connector on the end that plugs into your device:
Warning: Do not attempt to insert mini DVDs or other nonstandard video discs into a slot-loading or tray-loading disc drive on your Mac. Doing so may damage your computer. Standard discs are circular with a diameter of 12 cm and should be between 1.2 and 1.5 mm in thickness.
To import video from a USB recording device:
Set the device to PC Connect mode, and then connect it to your computer. The standard USB connector plugs into your Mac.
The Import window opens automatically displaying all the clips on the device. You can use the playback controls under the viewer to review the contents of the clips.
If the 1080i HD Import Setting dialog opens and you’re not importing 1080i format video, just click OK. If you are importing 1080i format, or if you will do so in the future, select the size in which you want iMovie to import your video. To learn more about selecting a size, see the following page:
Note: If you’re connecting a DVD camcorder, plugging it into your Mac may cause DVD Player to open. If that happens, you can simply close DVD Player.
To select which clips you want to import, do one of the following:
To import all clips, make sure the Automatic/Manual switch is set to Automatic, and then click Import All.
To import most of the clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Manual. Deselect the clips you don’t want to import, and then click Import Checked.
To import only a few of the clips, set the Automatic/Manual switch to Manual, and then click Uncheck All. Select the clips you want, and then click Import Checked.
Choose the disk where you want to store the video from the Save To pop-up menu.
You can choose any supported hard disk that’s connected to your computer. It takes 13 gigabytes (GB) of space to store about one hour of video in standard (DV) format and 40 GB for video in high definition format (HD), so make sure your disk has enough available storage space for the video you’re importing. The amount of free space on each available disk is shown in parentheses next to the disk’s name in the pop-up menu.
Choose how you want to organize the imported video in your Event Library:
To add the imported video to an existing Event, select “Add to Existing Event,” and then choose its name from the pop-up menu.
To create a new Event, type a name for it in the “Create new Event” field (for example, “Birthday Party”). If you want to create a new Event for each day on which the video was recorded, select “Split days into new Events.”
If you’re importing 1080i-format video, you can choose a size from the pop-up menu.
Click OK
It can take several minutes to over an hour for iMovie to import the video and generate thumbnail images of each clip, depending on how many minutes of video you have. The circular progress indicator in the Import window shows you how long it might take.
If your camcorder records to DV or HDV tape, you must use a FireWire cable (also called IEEE 1394 or i.LINK) to connect it to your computer and import video into iMovie. To learn how, see the following page: