If you are looking for a smooth workflow for editing Panasonic HC-V160 video on Mac through iMovie or FCP X, you are in the right place. This post explains a workaround to transcode HC-V160 AVCHD/MP4 footage to Mac friendly format for use in iMovie and FCP X with optimum performance.
The HC-V160 Full HD Camcorder is Panasonic’s budget model for 2015, offering a pretty minimal list of specifications for a pretty attainable $230 price tag. The HC-V160 makes it easy to capture your subjects in Full HD 1920×1080 resolution, whether far away or close-up. It features a wide-angle lens with a 35mm-equivalent focal length of 32.3mm and a large 38x optical and 77x intelligent zoom range for capturing far away subjects. To deliver clearer images, especially at long focal lengths, the camcorder has built-in image stabilization to help correct from shakes and jitters when shooting handheld.
Panasonic HC-V160 Video Format
AVCHD
1920 x 1080i / 60 fps (17 Mbps)
1920 x 1080i / 60 fps (13 Mbps)
1920 x 1080i / 60 fps (5 Mbps)
MP4
960 x 540p / 30 fps (28 Mbps)
640 x 360p / 30 fps (1.5 Mbps)
If for some reason you are having issues working with HC-V160 AVCHD/MP4 footage on Mac through iMovie or FCP X, we would recommend transcoding them to a format that is compatible with your editing program first. This requires third party video converter software like HD Video Converter for Mac. Check a short tutorial on how to encode HC-V160 AVCHD/MP4 footage to AIC .mov for iMovie and how to convert HC-V160 AVCHD/MP4 footage to ProRes .mov for FCP X.
How to convert Panasonic HC-V160 AVCHD/MP4 video for editing on Mac?
Here’s what you need
HD Video Converter for Mac
The steps:
Step 1. Install the HC-V160 AVCHD/MP4 Converter for Mac program and run it. Drag the source files to the software. Or you can also click “Add File” button on the top of the main interface to import video to the program.
Step 2. Hit the ‘Profile’ box to select output format for iMovie and FCP X.
1). To edit Panasonic HC-V160 AVCHD/MP4 video clips in iMovie, “iMovie/FCE –> Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC) (*.mov)” is the optimal choice.
2). For importing HC-V160 AVCHD/MP4 video clips to Final Cut Pro X, you can choose “Final Cut Pro> Apple PreRes 422(*.mov)” as output format.
Step 3. Click ‘Settings’ button to modify video and audio settings (optional)
Step 4. Click the ‘Convert’ button to start transcoding Panasonic HC-V160 AVCHD/MP4 video to .MOV (AIC for iMovie, ProRes for FCP,) on Mac OS X.
After the conversion is finished, you can easily transfer the converted files into iMovie/FCP X for further editing without any problem.
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