Summary: If you are looking for a way to transfer Canon VIXIA HF R500 AVCHD footage to iMovie for basic editing, you are in the right place. This post demonstrates how to transcode R500 AVCHD MTS to QuickTime AIC for smooth editing in iMovie.
How can I transfer AVCHD footage that filmed onto my Canon HF R500 to iMovie for editing?
“Hi, can anyone help please! I am a creative director for live shows in Las Vegas, and I am helping a buddy edit together a promo video for his comedy club show. The source files are AVCHD MTS video clips, taken with a Canon HF R500 camcorder. I planned to import these Canon R500 AVCHD files to iMovie for editing, but iMovie can not ‘see’ them. So my question is, how can I transfer AVCHD footage that filmed onto my Canon HF R500 to iMovie for editing? Any suggestions?”
If you can not use Canon R500 AVCHD files in iMovie correctly, you can consider transcoding R500 MTS clips to Apple’s Intermediate codec for working with iMovie beautifully. To process R500 AVCHD MTS to QuickTime AIC Conversion, you can use HD Video Converter for Mac, which works great as an AVCHD converter to MOV for Mac.
Download a free trial of HD Video Converter for Mac
How to transcode Canon R500 AVCHD MTS to Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC) for use in iMovie?
Follow these steps:
1. Install and run HD Video Converter for Mac as a R500 AVCHD video to iMovie Converter. The main interface appears as below:
2. Click on ‘Add File’ to add your VIXIA R500 AVCHD footage to the program from your camera or from a card reader, or from an archived folder that contains your source media.
3. From the Format bar, choose ‘Apple InterMediateCodec (AIC) (*.mov) as output format from ‘iMovie and Final Cut Express’ column. Note that the AIC codec is also accepted by Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro.
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.
4. (Optional) Click ‘Settings’ button and go to ‘Profile Settings’ window to custom video and audio settings if necessary.
5. When ready, click ‘Convert’ to start transcoding VIXIA R500 MTS footage to AIC – the best suited editing format for using within Apple iMovie Version 11, 8, or 9.
6. When the conversion process is complete, click ‘Open Folder’ button to get the generated AIC QuickTime files and open them in iMovie for further editing with optimal performance.
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