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Need help importing Canon Vixia HF200 to MacBook Pro

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TotallyConfused


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Hi, new to this forum and hoping for some assistance.

I have a MacBook Pro, Version 10.6.8. My iMovie is iMovie '09, Version 8.0.6 (821).

I just bought a Canon Vixia HF200, and am having trouble importing it. I searched this site, and there are threads stating that it is possible, but they are in computer speak, and I am not fluent. I need some help in layman's terms.

1. To begin, one post talks about a sync button in iMovie. I can not find one at all. Should I spend the money and upgrade to the '11 version?

2. One post talks about plugging in the camera and importing direct. The HDMI cord that came with the camera does not fit my computer. Is it possible/should I purchase an HDMI cord that is USB on the computer end?

3. One post talks about using a card reader, I tried that, but it does not want to recognize the video on the SD card at all, only the still photos.

Thank you in advance for any help you might be able to offer.
 
RavingMac

RavingMac

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TotallyConfused said:
Hi, new to this forum and hoping for some assistance.

I have a MacBook Pro, Version 10.6.8. My iMovie is iMovie '09, Version 8.0.6 (821).

I just bought a Canon Vixia HF200, and am having trouble importing it. I searched this site, and there are threads stating that it is possible, but they are in computer speak, and I am not fluent. I need some help in layman's terms.

1. To begin, one post talks about a sync button in iMovie. I can not find one at all. Should I spend the money and upgrade to the '11 version?

2. One post talks about plugging in the camera and importing direct. The HDMI cord that came with the camera does not fit my computer. Is it possible/should I purchase an HDMI cord that is USB on the computer end?

3. One post talks about using a card reader, I tried that, but it does not want to recognize the video on the SD card at all, only the still photos.

Thank you in advance for any help you might be able to offer.
Click to expand...

I believe upgrading to the latest version of iMovie is $15 through the Mac APP Store, that and using the SD Card Reader is your simplest soloution (providing it works--and it should).

EDIT: I did some searching, and see no reason why you shouldn't be able to use iMovie 09 with your camera. Posted a link below to an Amazon Review (5th review from the top on using your camera with iMovie). Also found this quote from it quite interesting:

"I didn't realize until I read in David Pogue's Missing Manual book (iMovie '09 and iDVD) that I could still use iMovie HD with a flash memory video camera and the AVCHD codec. I'm glad to have discovered this."

I am a big fan of David Pogue and the Missing Manual Series; might be worth picking up a copy of the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-VIXIA-Memory-Camcorder-Optical/product-reviews/B001OI2Z2I
 
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codda


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When you put the card into the reader...do not attempt to access the video files. Open iMovie...click import video...click from source ( your card ) and then click import. It will work. The files will begin to import into an event you have established.

Upgrading to iMovie 11 will not improve this process...it is the same in each.
 
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TotallyConfused


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Thank you for your help. It did eventually work. Opening iMovie BEFORE inserting the SD card to the reader seemed to make the difference in getting the import prompt.
 
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wattersk said:
I can't make it work at all. Help!
Click to expand...

This thread is about two years old. Can you give us ann idea of exactly what is going wrong when you try the import?
 
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Cannot figure out how to transfer videos from the VIXIA HF200 to my iMac 10.7.5. Have iMovie 11 but cannot find any 'merge' button. How can this be so difficult?!
 

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