subject: Transfer and Import MPEG-2 Video Camera to iMovie, Final Cut, Avid, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, iPad [print this page] Transfer and Import MPEG-2 Video Camera to iMovie, Final Cut, Avid, iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, iPad
I was in the market for a new video camera, and one of the hardest decisions to make is what type of media I would be looking for. There are just so many types, sizes, prices, and specs to choose from, but one thing that I knew that I wanted, was a HDD video cam.
Instead of using clunky tapes, or non-price efficient DVDs, it just saves all of the video (or images) that you capture onto a built in hard drive. However, I quickly learned that my other main essential need compatibility with OS X was going to be the harder part.
I looked online for any mention of Mac support for some of the cameras I was looking for and was dismayed to find that there was no documented support. But, that didn't stop me. After a little deeper research, I found out that the Sony DCR-SR42, the Sony camera that I was seriously considering, shot its video into MPEG-2.
Unfortunately, my version of QuickTime did not have an appropriate MPEG-2 codec, so back to Google I went, and I found Apple's own MPEG-2 codec for Quicktime. I decided that the pros outweighed the cons, so I purchased it, downloaded, and installed. After restarting, I was eager to find out if the codec had worked.
When you connect the camera, it shows up as a similar Hard Disk Drive. It popped right up on my Leopard desktop, complete with all my videos that I had recorded. Just to check that it worked, I used Quicklook (one of my favorite new Leopard features) and sure enough, my video started to play.
However, now that I was actually able to watch the video, I needed a way to more efficiently work with it. So back to Google, yet again, and I found Total Video Converter from Bigasoft Corporation. This piece of software converts video, similar to other pieces of software, but I saw this recommended from a forum thread online. The software can be downloaded from its official site at:
I fired up the software and dragged the MPEG-2 file from the Finder window into the Total Video Converter main window. I went up to File, and chose the option to export to MPEG-4. There are a bunch of different formats that you can export to, but I chose MPEG-4 because for me, that's the most flexible.
Just a few minutes later, (depending upon the movie size and your machine's specs) I had imported my video into iTunes and was watching it on my iPod touch. It's not that difficult to get your hard drive-based video camera working with your Mac, and it definitely makes it much easier to work with. You can start accessing your video and then editing it with iMovie, Final Cut, or any other movie-making software that you desire.
