Hey all,

So I'm moving into the HD wave as most of you have, and I'm pretty sure I will be purchasing the Sony HDR-SR12....From your experiences with this, how well does it work with Final Cut Pro? Would i need to upgrade to Studio 2? Also, if I import into iMovie, then export out in full format, will it keep same resolution/quality?

Thank you all for your help!

-Alan

I got FCP Studio 2 version 6.0.2....And i still cannot use a .mt2s clip..

I also tried Final Cut Express version 4, and it didn't work either..

Any suggestions?

Hello.

I just bought the Sony HDR-SR12. I have an older iMac and am using Final Cut Pro 5.

I have been reading many forums and complaints from other people regarding this matter. It seems that Sony and others like them purposely did not collaborate with Apple to make sure harddrive camcorders and editing software work together. It's like they are forcing you to upgrade and buy the latest application, which means spending more money.

Anyway, some people have suggested using third-party software, such as Voltaic, to convert the MTS files to MOV files. I have tried it, and it does work, but the conversion takes forever. You have to download the demo first, then purchase the full license for $30. And, the company is in Australia.

The best I can hope for is to bite the money bullet and upgrade Final Cut. I found the following links from Apple that might help.

This link sends you to Apple's site for the "Pro Applications Update 2008-01" download. This update is recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio 2.0 and later.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/maco...date200801.html

This link sends you to Apple's site for Final Cut Pro 6 Release Notes. Search for "AVCHD" and it gives some information.
http://www.apple.com/support/releas...Cut_Pro_6.0_rn/

I plan to attempt this upgrade in June. If anyone else tries before me, please write back with your results. Thanks.

- eric

In order for AVCHD to work on a Mac, you either need iMovie 08 or Final Cut Express 4/Pro 6. Older versions don't have support for it.
As far as iMovie 08 is concerned, NO, you will NOT retain the same quality when exporting. The wide known limitation of iMovie (as it is a consumer app) is that it downgrades everything at 960 by 540 pixels when exporting. Of course, you can manually set the exporting resolution higher, but in reality, iMovie takes the 960*540 resolution and upscales it at whatever you have set.

I had abandoned iMovie mainly because of this limitation. I am shooting in 1080i and exporting in 720p. iMovie was severely affecting my video quality. Besides this, I discovered that Final Cut Express is really nice in terms of extra stuff you can do with your video and sound. Really nice.

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Sony HDR-SR5E HD AVCHD
MacBook Pro 2.2GHz, 2GB DDR2, GeForce 8600GT 128VRAM