Summary: By the article, you will learn the easiest way to import and edit Panasonic AG-HVX200 P2 MXF recording with iMovie flawlessly on Mac Mountain Lion 10.8 by transcoding Panasonic P2 MXF to iMovie campatible codec “Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) MOV”.
Q: One of my clients just bought a used Panasonic P2 camera, a AG-HVX200, and wants to edit P2 MXF footage (720p 24p) in iMovie 11 and Mac Mountain Lion 10.8.
I’m looking for an simple, reliable, reasonably priced converter so they can take their Panasonic P2 MXF footage and prep it for iMovie 11.
I am seeing a number of products on the market that do this, but I’m not sure which one I should purchase.
Do you guys have something suitable for this task?
Stephen
A: Apple Intermediate Codec is iMovie preferred video. That is to say, AIC videos will show you a better performance when you import and edit them in iMoive. So you’d better to choose a program which can export AIC videos. My brother is a photographer and he owns a Canon XF100. The program he uses is a MXF Converter for Mac made by PavTube (it seems to be this name). He usually exports Apple ProRes video for further editing in FCP. I have tested this program and noticed that it also has AIC output. Please google PavTube MXF Converter for Mac and check if it is helpful.
Pavtube MXF Converter for Mac is entitled as a top P2 MXF to iMovie Converter. It supports encoding Panasonic P2 and Canon C300/XF105/XF100/XF300 MXF files to iMovie native format so that you can easily import Panasonic P2 camera recording MXF to iMovie 8/9/11 for editing on Mac Mountain Lion 10.8. This will help you import the file correctly and saving the rendering time.
Required software:
1. Free Download P2 MXF to iMovie Converter for Mac
2. Supported OS: Mac OS X Leopard (10.5), Snow Leopard (10.6), Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.8)
Below, I will offer a quick tutorial up on how to transcode Panasonic AG-HVX200 P2 to AIC MOV for editing on iMovie 8/9/11 smoothly on Mac Mountain Lion 10.8.
Step 1. Load P2 MXF footage from Panasonic AG-HVX200 to Pavtube P2 MXF to iMovie Converter for Mac.
Install and run P2 MXF to iMovie Converter for Mac, load your P2 MXF files into the program.
MXF file structure on Panasonic’s P2 card
Note:
If you are loading Panasonic P2 MXF files to Pavtube MXF converter for Mac to Final Cut Express to do format conversion, please make sure you have the entire MXF file structure as it saved on your camcorder’s P2 card. As the above screenshot of MXF file structure on Panasonic’s P2 card showing, .MXF clips are all saved in ‘VIDEO’ folder, while audio files are all stored in ‘AUDIO’ folder, so if you only have some loose .MXF clips, your files will have image only without audio.
Step 2. Select AIC MOV as the output format for iMovie 8/9/11 and set the output folder.
Click “Format”, and move mouse pointer to “iMovie and Final Cut Express”, from the sublist, you can easily find the “Apple Intermediate Codec(AIC) (*.mov)” which is the compatible format for you to import Panasonic AG-HVX200 P2 MXF to iMovie 8/9/11 for further editing on Mac Mountain Lion 10.8.
Step 3. Click “Convert” button in the main interface to start convert Panasonic AG-HVX200 P2 MXF to AIC MOV for iMovie 8/9/11 editing on Mac Mountain Lion 10.8.
Some more helpful features of the Panasonic P2 MXF to iMovie Converter for Mac:
1. Settings – click to set video resolution (1920×1080/1440×1080/1280×720/720×480), bitrate(from 1Mbps to 20Mbps), frame rate (24p/30p).
2. Editor – click “
” bar to set effect, deinterlace, denoise, mute, volume up, trim, crop etc.
As a 2012 professional P2 MXF to iMovie Converter for Mac, it also supports transcoding P2 MXF to Apple ProRes Codec for editing with Final Cut Pro 6/7 and FCP X.
2 comments
Pachter
November 1, 2012 at 6:03 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
You really make it appear so easy with your presentation but I to find this matter to be really one thing which I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and very wide for me. I’m looking forward on your next submit, I’ll attempt to get the dangle of it!
Hamedesayed
January 13, 2013 at 12:42 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Ummm, the main HD editor on mac would be Final Cut Pro. It’s an awoseme editing tool that even the big hollywood editors use. However, the pro version can only be purchased in the final cut studio package, which has lots of other video editing goodies. The draw back to the studio package is it’s price, $999 for the newly released version.Assuming you have no interest in having THAT much power, Final Cut Express would be perfect for you! It’s a lot like the pro version, only lacking in some of the features. But you can buy express by itself. Express also supports HD footage and you can even import imovie files and work with them! Express is far more powerful and useful than imovie, and it’s easy to use. But again the price tag is $200 on Express.And now that I’ve made you read all that lovely info on advertising on apple’s products, I’ll tell you the easy solution! In iMovie 09 (It should be the same for older versions) you can go to the “iMovie” bar at the top of your screen when you open the program. Click on “iMovie” then go to “Preferences” then under the “video” tab make sure you are importing the HD video as “Full Original Size” And that might be the problem. Also when you are exporting make sure you select the HD option as well (1280 720). And that might fix your problem as well. iMovie does support HD footage though, so there shouldn’t be a need to buy or download a new editor, unless you want some more professional editing software. If that doesn’t do it, check the settings on your camera. Some cameras can shoot at a lower quality to conserve space. The canon powershot sd 780 does do 1280 720 footage, but make sure your quality settings on the camera itself are set to best ;D