03-28-2010, 12:49 PM

I have a Sony harddiskrecorder DCR-SR75E, which creates Mpeg2 files. iMovie ca'nt open this files. What can I do?
Has someone experience whith this camera? Or with this problem?
Thanks, Jannes

03-28-2010, 01:00 PM

Have you tried Perian, it extends quicktimes video support and may help out with iMovie

Perian - The swiss-army knife of QuickTime components

03-28-2010, 03:42 PM

Perian does not support MPEG-2 because it is a licensed codec.

MPEG Streamclip (free) is among several programs that can convert these files for you, but you must first get the MPEG-2 Playback Component from Apple ($30).

From there you can convert the files to MPEG4 (lossy) or DV (lossless but large files) and work with them in iMovie and other programs.

03-28-2010, 09:43 PM

anyway, u need to convert mpeg2 to mov or mp4 imovie can support. And i just found a good tool in this forum which shows a video tool can do this job without quality loss.
::MacBB::

04-03-2010, 09:50 AM

What was the tool & where is it? I am in a similar situation having recently purchased a Sony CX-106E HD camera. I use iMovie 6.0.4 which gave me the ease of control and usage lost in later iMovie versions.

iMovie does not recognise the video footage so I need to convert it to a format iMovie will be able to use. Information on the right tool will be gratefully received. I currently have an Intel iMac, 3.06 GHz.

04-03-2010, 10:54 AM

Actually pmhb, you should have started a new thread - your problem - it would seem - is VERY different from the OP's problem.

The OP has Mpeg2 footage from an standard def camera - this requires a special quicktime plugin to be able to be used in quicktime (or any tool that might transcode via quicktime like mpegstreamclip).

Your problem appears more that your camera records in AVCHD - the iMovie version you are using doesn't support AVCHD, which means it needs to be transcoded first. You have a few options on that (assuming your version of iMovie 06 is the same as iMovie HD - in this respect I honestly don't know) -

1) If you have iMovie 08 or 09 as well, use that to import the footage which will convert it to AIC, which from what I understand, is supported by iMovie HD.

2) Get mpegstreamclip and use it to transcode into AIC or some other format supported by your version of iMovie

3) Buy Voltaic HD and be prepared to wait forever as it transcodes very slowly but does a good job.

4) Buy Final Cut Express 4 and use it as it's a lot cheaper then Final Cut Studio - as it supports AVCHD and has timeline editing - it is more complicated then your version of iMovie from what I understand, but with your existing understanding of timeline editing it shouldn't take too long to pick up.