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Sony DCR-SR50

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Hi, guys. I'm new to this forum.

I have a dilemma with my camcorder which is driving me crazy. The camcorder model is the Sony DCR-SR50 which I bought before my Mac so compatibility wasn't an issue at the time. I've been doing some research and have also checked the iMovie '08 and '09 Camcorder Support pages on the Apple website and it seems that this particular model is not compatible.

Could anybody suggest any other options as the memory is now full and I'd like to use it for my wedding in a few months!

Thanks.
 
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First, have you tried it with iMovie? What version of iMovie do you have?

Alternatives may involved adding the MPEG2 codec (available from Apple for some small cost) to your system, or trying some other piece of software to convert the files. There are plenty of threads here about converting formats.

Your manual talks about "Connecting with a Macintosh" so that the drive can be seen. It also mentions third party software. Look under the "System Requirements" heading.
 
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YES!! Managed to get it working in iMovie (with audio may I add)! Many thanks to xstep for suggesting adding the MPEG2 codec.

Was a kind of long process, but it works and I'm very happy!

1) Download the FREE MPEG Streamclip software (Google it or you can find it on the Apple website). 


2) Purchase the £15 MPEG-2 Playback software through Apple (which is used by the MPEG Streamclip software). 


3) Plug in the USB cable and turn on the camcorder. The camcorder will show up on your desktop (mine showed up as NO NAME).

4) Copy all files from your camcorder into another desktop folder.

5) "Open Files" in MPEG Streamclip one at a time. You will have to watch all the files in their entirety. 


6) "Export to Quicktime" all files after watching. This will save your new .MOV file in the same desktop folder. 


7) With iMovies open, go to File > Import Movies > then search for the desktop folder and select one of the files ending in .Mov.

I'm just hoping that it'll now burn onto dvd.
 
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I'm surprised iMovie can't just read the files since you have added the MPEG2 codec from Apple. By the way, what version of iMovie are you using?

Also, is step 4 really needed. MPEG Streamclip should see the files on the camera as being in a folder. Are there performance reasons for doing this step?

Once you have edited your files you can send the finished project to iDVD using iMovie 09, or export an appropriate file and import that into an iDVD project. iDVD will convert the files to MPEG2 for use on the DVD. When that occurs depends on a project selection. Most of the experienced iDVD users suggest creating a disc image before trying to burn to a DVD because this isolates the DVD burning process from the creation processing. This can matter when you see DVD burning problems. It's been talked about enough here.
 

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