AVCHD to iMovie-How to Import HD Camcorder AVCHD/MTS Footage to iMovie?
AVCHD to AIC MOV-Transcode AVCHD MTS files to AIC for iMovie '09/11 Editing on Mac
Apple claims that iMovie '09/11 supports most commonly-used video codecs, including DV, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, AVCHD and AIC. However, due to the wide range of media types, and the different ways manufacturers store video on these media types, not all AVCHD camcorders are compatible with iMovie '09/11. In this case, the workaround for you is using a Mac AVCHD Video Converter tool to Convert HD Camcorder AVCHD MTS to AIC for iMovie.
About Apple Intermediate Codec (Quoted from Wikipedia)
"The Apple Intermediate Codec is a video codec designed by Apple, Inc to be an intermediate format in an HDV workflow. It features high performance and quality, being less processor intensive to work with than other editing formats. Unlike native MPEG-2 based HDV - and similar to the standard-definition DV codec - AIC does not use temporal compression, enabling every frame to be decoded immediately without decoding other frames. As a result of this, AIC takes three to four times more space than HDV.
AIC is available only on the Mac OS X platform and cannot be read on other platforms to date such as Windows or Linux. All Mac OS X software which makes use of the QuickTime codec libraries - primarily Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, and iMovie, but also freeware such as MPEG Streamclip - can use the Apple Intermediate codec."
how to Import AVCHD/MTS footage to iMovie on Mac?
Step 1: Load AVCHD MTS files.
Free download, install and run Pavtube HD Camcorder AVCHD Video Converter for Mac. click "Add" button to load Camcorder 1080p AVCHD MTS files. The Mac MTS converter supports batch conversion, so you are allowed to add multiple files to convert at a time. Meanwhile, if you wanna combine multiple files into a single AIC encoded .mov file, you can put a checkmark in the checkbox "Merge into one file".
Step 2: Setting Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) (*.mov) as output format.
In order to convert AVCHD to AIC for iMovie, click "Format > QuickTime Movie Format > Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC) (*.mov)" as output video format.
Tip:
1. Pavtube Mac AVCHD Video Converter also supports output Apple ProRes video format for using in Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Pro X, you can visit "how to convert AVCHD/MTS/MXF to ProRes 422 for FCP/FCP X? ".
2. If you want to Adjust audio and video, click "Settings" button, then you will enter the following interface, on which you are allowed to customize size, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate, and audio channel to your required ones.
Step 3: Convert AVCHD MTS footage to AIC for iMovie.
Click "Convert" button to start Convert MTS to AIC for iMovie '09/11 Editing. With perfect audio and video synchronization technology, the Mac AVCHD Converter will never cause you any audio and video out of sync issues, which is much better than other similar tools in the market. When the conversion is finished, you can click "Open" button to get the final output AIC MOV files with ease.
Now, you can Import AVCHD/MTS files to iMovie with the Highest Quality.