How do you import movie clips from a Sony Handycam to a MacBook to be able to edit them in iMovie?

by Finn Perez

I have a Sony Handycam DCR-SR300 and a MacBook with OS X 10.4.11, iLife 08, and iMovie, and iMovie HD. I want to import clips from the Handycam to my computer and be able to edit them. Should I use iMovie HD or iMovie and how do i get the files to my computer?

Answer by Small Dog
Connect the standard definition Sony DCR-SR300 hard disc drive based camcorder to the Mac with a USB cable. The camcorder needs to be in “Play” or PC mode. The internal camcorder hard drive will mount like any other external mass storage device.

Check the manual – near the back, there will be a couple of pictures showing the file system on the camcorder. You are looking for the video files.

You will also need to convert the files after you copy them to the Mac…

Download and bed in MPEG StreamClip
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/mpegstreamclip.html
After the conversion is complete (you want to convert to MOV or MP4 files for iMovie), launch iMovie, name the video project and all that – when the iMovie project window opens, drag the converted video files to the Log & Capture area. These instructionas are the same for either iMovie ’08 or newer… or iMovie HD ’6 or earlier – but then you drag the video clips to the clips pane (not the Log/Capture area).

For what it is worth, you would have to do most of this if you were by Microsoft MovieMaker and Windows XP or Vista, too…

Other handy tools you should download/bed in:

Flip4Mac:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/flip4macwindowsmediacomponentsforquicktime.html

VLC Player:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Answer by Lily
import various video files into imovie for editing.

http://www.mp4kits.com/Converter/iMovie/

What do you reckon? Answer below!

Sony Handycam


Image by Asim Bijarani

I have a Sony Handycam and I don’t have the proper software apparently and I need to be able to upload video files from the mini dvd in the camera but I have no thought what I can do in order to get this to work? Any suggestions other than call sony or some bs answer like that?

Answer by Small Dog
Download and bed in HandBrake.
http://handbrake.fr/

Finalize the disc (if vital – read the manual).

Take the disc out of your camera and place it in the DRAWER loading DVD drive in your computer. Never place a small or odd-sized disc in a slot loader – you will break the optical drive and scratch the disc. Get an external drawer loader if needed.

Launch Handbrake.

Rip the video and save the new file to a video file type your video editor can deal with. MovieMaker likes AVI and WMV (among others); iMovie likes MP4 and mov (among others).

When the ripping is complete, Quit HandBrake.

Launch the video editor.

Drag the converted/ripped file to the clips/collections or timeline pane.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Sony HDR-CX110 High Definition Handycam Camcorder

• 1920×1080 Full HD Recording w/3MP still image
• Memory Stick PRO Duo media slot; direct Copy to external HDD w/o PC
• 1/4″ back-illuminated “Exmor R” CMOS sensor
• 1080/60p playback via HDMI and compatible HDTV
• 30mm CZ Vario Sonnar T* with 25x Optical zoom

Capture stunning 1920 x 1080 Full HD video and 3.0 Megapixel images with the ultra-compact HDR-CX110, which features an “Exmor R” CMOS sensor for superior low-set alight routine and a Carl Zeiss® Vario Sonnar T* 25x optical zoom lens to help bring you closer to the action.

List Price: $ 399.99

Price: Too low to show

This review is on my family’s Sony Handycam video camera. I have been by it for all of my Youtube videos and now I am by my Samsung TL205 camera. Thanks for watching! Subscribe!
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