Apple ProRes Converter

My friend is using MacBook Pro with Quad Core i7. However, the iMovie on Mac does not work with the 1920×1080 progressive HD videos from Panasonic HDC-TM900.

Actually, iMovie would read the 1080i AVCHD videos from the video camera. But the 1080/60p (for NTSC countries like US, Canada) or 1080/60p (for PAL countries like UK, China) videos would not show up on the Import from Camera window.

The solution to get the AVCHD videos from TM900 keeping in 1080/50p or 1080/60p high quality, is to convert 1080p AVCHD to iMovie native format, Apple InterMediate Codec. Please note that the file size for the AIC format would be a lot larger than the original AVCHD file. But it is to keep the maximum quality in the transcoding from MTS to AIC MOV.

There are some applications to get AVCHD file into AIC MOV, but Aunsoft Final Mate for Mac is the recommended iMovie partner for 1080p AVCHD files. It does not only allow you to convert MTS/M2TS to Apple InterMediate Codec, but also enable you to join and rewrap MTS to MKV without transcoding for quick playback on WD TV Live Plus, Popcorn Hour, etc.

Three steps will make it easy for editing 1080p videos on iMovie.

1. Import videos to Final Mate for Mac from camera or hard drive.

To get video from camera to Mac, just connect the camera and follow the wizard on Final Mate. Otherwise, go to the Resource tab to add file path from Macintosh hard drive.

2. Choose iMovie format with high quality.

The default output option is .mp4, here we click the MP4 icon and choose iMovie Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC) (*.mov). Then click the small icon below the format icon to choose high quality and 1920×1080 as frame size.

3. Convert AVCHD to iMovie AIC format.

Start the conversion by clicking the export button under the preview window.

When the conversion from MTS/M2TS to AIC on Mac is finished, click the Browse for Export Path to locate the videos. Then the videos could be edited on iMovie, or played on QuickTime player if you like.

Tips:

AIC is generally for editing, and H.264 or MPEG-4 MOV for QuickTime playback. If you would like to play AIC movies on QuickTime, it also works.