Sony a7R III XAVC S in iMovie, how to import and edit?


Experiencing problems importing Sony a7R III XAVC S MP4 files into iMovie for further editing? If you are working on a Mac that is not powerful enough, you may encounter problems one or another handling Sony a7R III XAVC S footage in iMovie, especially those with 4K resolution. Learn a workaround to get iMovie working well with a7R III XAVC S footage.

Issues editing Sony a7R III 4K XAVC S 30p in iMovie
“I have a Sony a7R Mark III which I among other things use to shoot video. The format options are either AVCHD or XAVC S. The higher 4K quality option is XAVC S. Everything looks smooth and great on the camera’s LCD but when I try to edit the 4K footage in iMovie it’s like the framerate drops a lot and the editing process is unstable and unreliable. I really don’t know what causes this issue. Would really appreciate if someone could clear this up for me.”

In that case, we would recommend converting the footage to a format that is best suitable for use in iMovie prior. Learn how to transcode Sony a7R III XAVC S footage to AIC .mov for iMovie editing.

If for any reason you are having issues editing Sony a7R III XAVC S footage in iMovie, we would recommend converting the footage to a format that is best suitable for use in iMovie prior. Learn how to transcode Sony a7R III XAVC S footage to AIC .mov for iMovie editing.

How to convert Sony a7R III XAVC S footage to iMovie preferred AIC?

Here’s what you need
HD Video Converter for Mac
Sony a7R III XAVC S to iMovie converter

The steps:
Step 1: Open up HD Converter for Mac as a Sony a7R III XAVC S Converter for iMovie. When its main interface comes up, click ‘Add File’ to load your source media.
importing Sony a7R III XAVC S into iMovie

Step 2: Select output format for iMovie
To convert Sony a7R III XAVC S video files for iMovie, from ‘Profile’ list, choose ‘Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC)(*.mov)’ as output format under ‘iMovie and Final Cut Express’ column. This codec is also suitable for use in the discontinued FCE.
importing Sony a7R III XAVC S files into iMovie
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 necessary, you can click ‘Settings’ button and go to ‘Profiles Settings’ panel to modify video and audio settings like video encoder, resolution, video bit rate, frame rate, aspect ratio, audio encoder, sample rate, audio bit rate, and audio channels. 3D settings are also available.

Step 4: Begin Sony a7R III XAVC S to AIC MOV Conversion for iMovie
When ready, click ‘Convert’ to start format conversion. Once the conversion process is complete, you can click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the generated AIC MOV files for editing in iMovie with optimum performance.
Tips:
If you don’t want to wait for the entire conversion process, you can tick off ‘Shut down computer when conversion completed’ and go away to do other things.

Related posts
How to edit Sony a6500 4K XAVC-S in FCP X?
Working with Sony a6500 XAVC S 4K footage in Avid MC
Nikon D3400 and iMovie-import D3400 60p files to iMovie
XAVC converting to FCP 7 free app-convert XAVC to ProRes