The best way to import Nikon D7000 MOV to iMovie and Final Cut Pro X


Summary: If you are unable to edit Nikon D7000 MOV video files in iMovie or FCP X, this post may give you a workable solution. It displays the detailed steps required to convert D7000 footage to AIC for iMovie, and to Apple ProRes for FCP X.

nikon d7000“Hi, all, recently I have borrowed a Nikon D7000 DSLR camera from one of my friends. It has a movie feature to create Full HD 1,920×1,080 MOV video at 24 fps, and HD 1,280×720 MOV video at 30 fps or 24 fps. The main problem I have, is iMovie refused accepting D7000 MOV files when I drag it into a new project. What should I do to make iMovie work with my Nikon D7000 MOV footage? I’m currently on an iMac running Mac OS X (10.9.1). Any advice is appreciated. Many thanks.”

To be able to make Nikon D7000 MOV videos work smoothly in iMovie, you will need to convert D7000 MOV to Apple InterMediateCodec (AIC), iMovie’s native editing codec in the first place. This ensures that your footage has optimum performance when editing within iMovie.  Like iMovie, in order to edit D7000 MOV clips smoothly in FCP X, you’d better transcode Nikon D7000 MOV to Apple ProRes, the best friendly editing codec for Final Cut Pro. To do format conversion, third party software like Video Converter for Mac is required. You can free download a trial version to see if it works.
free trial

What to do if iMovie and FCP X not reading Nikon D7000 MOV?

The Video Converter for Mac program helps you convert Nikon D7000 MOV to AIC for iMovie, and to Apple ProRes for FCP X or the former version FCP 6 and 7. To do format conversion, follow these steps:

Step 1: Run Video Converter for Mac as a Nikon D7000 Video Converter for Mac. When the main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ button to import MOV shootings captured by a Nikon D7000. You can load directly from a camera or from a card reader, or from a folder on your HDD that contains your media data.

Step 2: Select output format for iMovie and FCP X
In order to edit Nikon MOV shootings in iMovie, from the Format bar, choose ‘Apple InterMediateCodec (AIC) (*.mov) as output format from ‘iMovie and Final Cut Express’ catalogue.

To be able to convert D7000 MOV for editing in FCP X, from the Format bar, select ‘Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)’ as target format from ‘Final Cut Pro’ column.

Important: If you’ve loaded a number of video clips to do batch conversion, please do remember ticking off ‘Apply to All’ option before you start.

Step 3: Custom video and audio settings (optional)
If you want to adjust video and audio settings in your own way, you can click ‘Setting’ button and go to ‘Profile Settings’ panel to do so, if not, simply skip this step.

Step 4: When ready, click the ‘Convert’ button to start converting Nikon D7000 MOV video files to AIC/Apple ProRes for using within iMovie/FCP X.

Tips: You can tick off ‘Showdown computer when conversion completed’ checkbox, and go away to do other things instead of waiting around in front of the computer for the entire conversion process.

Step 5: When the conversion finished, click ‘Open Folder’ button to find the generated QuickTime MOV files for using in iMovie or FCP X.

Also read
Import Nikon D5200 MOV to WMM, Premiere, Sony Vegas and Avid
Convert P2 MXF to ProRes 422 for FCP 6/7/X without losing sound
How to edit and import Olympus E-PL3 AVCHD video to iMovie?