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General discussion

Transfer videos from Canon Vixia HFM30 to iMovies

Feb 21, 2011 6:00AM PST

I am not very skilled with either computers or camcorders, but my older Canon DC-50 minidisc recorder had a very simple connection via USB to my iMac. I upgraded to the Vixia because of the hard drive storage, but, if I understand the manual correctly, only still photos can be exported directly to a computer via the connections included. Is there an easily explained way to transfer videos from the Vixia to my iMac, using a wired connection? (I understand there is also a wireless option--is this any easier for someone not to techie?)

Discussion is locked

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More detail, please...
Feb 21, 2011 10:13PM PST

Which Mac, which version OSX, which version iMovie?

Assuming the computer was med in the last 3 years, then it has an Intel CPU - and the OSX version should be fine... iMovie '09 *should work.

Connect the HF M30 with the USB cable to the Mac's USB port. Put the camcorder in PC mode. Launch iMovie. Capture the video.

That is how it works with my 2 year old iMac running OSX version 10.5.8, using iMovie version 8.0.6 - tough I prefer using Final Cut 4... with a Canon HF S 100.

If this does not work, when the HF M30 memory mounts to the desk top, you can always copy the MTS files from the camcorder to the Mac, then using a transcoder like MPEG Streamclip
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/video/mpegstreamclip.html
covert the MTS files to MOV or MP4 files that iMovie can deal with.

If your Mac is newer, Apple has LOTS of support...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iMovie/9.0/en/mov39f84bc2.html

If iPhoto launches, just quit it before you use MPEG StreamClip or iMovie.

Hopefully, your Mac meets (better yet, exceeds) the minimum requirements (RAM, CPU speed, etc...) for dealing with the highly compressed MTS files the HF M30 creates.

Good luck.

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Canon Vixia
Feb 22, 2011 9:46PM PST

My Mac runs OSX 10.5.8, and uses iMovie '08--can I just use the USB connection with this set up? Thanks

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By the way...
Feb 21, 2011 10:28PM PST

The HF M30 does not have an internal hard drive - it records to flash memory (internal or by inserting a card in the card slot).

Link to the manual:
http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/5/0300003135/01/hfm30-m31-m300-nim-en.pdf

The included software in the box with the camcorder is unneeded. "PC" mode means "Video Playback" mode with the USB cable connected. We found investing in the DW-100 DVD burner was a good idea. Wireless video transfers only works if you are using an "Eye-fi" memory card - it is not any easier or difficult, but special cards are required.

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Canon Vixia
Feb 22, 2011 9:48PM PST

I guess I misspoke about hard drive capability, but I guess what I really meant was internal memory. The DVD burner sounds like an interesting option--what do they run? Thanks

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Depends where you buy...
Feb 23, 2011 12:35AM PST
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Download from the Camcorder to iMovie
Feb 23, 2011 12:39AM PST

I don't know why capturing video from your camcorder would be any different than capturing video from a digital still camera that records video. A digital still camera records to a memory card. In the case of a camera that records to a memory card, the video can't be played into your computer to record it like a camcorder that uses tape and connects via Firewire. I use the internal Mac program called Image Capture, which is located in your Applications. Launch Image Capture. If you have the newer version of Image Capture, you will see a column along the left side that should show you connected devices, like scanners and cameras. Put your camcorder into PC mode, connect it with USB, then power it On. It should show up and if you click on it, all the stored files (video will be a file) should show up. Then you are given a choice to save and download any files to your location of choice. Then, try to drag the video file into iMovie. It may load it. If it does not, then you need to download a free program called MPEG Streamclip which will convert most any file into a DV file for iMovie. If you have an older version of Image Capture, then you need to open it's preferences and tell the program what to do when a USB device is connected. Choose Open Image Capture, then when you follow the above steps to connect and power up your camcorder, Image Capture should open and show you the files to download.

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Canon Vixia
Feb 28, 2011 5:47AM PST

To all who replied, I finally did what I should have done in the first place, which is just connect the cam to my iMac using the USB cable and see if iMovie would import it, which is exactly what happened. I was a little daunted by some of the information in the User's Guide which let me to believe this might not happen Thanks everyone. Terry McClymonds