How to Transfer Canon FS20 MOD to Mac iMovie

Canon is the one of the best camera manufacturers over the world. It has made numerous great cameras during the past decades. However, for many Mac users, they always have problems in transferring footages from their Canon Camorders to Mac, and one of the FAQs is how to transfer MOD files from Canon cameras like FS20/FS200 to Mac iMovie. It's true that many users fail to transfer MOD from Canon to Mac, and even though sometimes the Raw MOD video is successfully loaded to Mac, it will probably look quite clumsy.

In fact, Canon is not to blame. The problems mentioned above is mainly caused by either improper transferring, or format incompatibility. Now let me guide you through how to solve these problems in Q&A way.

Q1: How Can I Transfer Canon FS20 Video to My Macbook?

"My Canon FS20 doesn't even show up on my desktop when I plug it into my MacBook Pro, and I can't figure out how to import video from it. The software that camera with is exclusively for Windows. Any idea what I can do here?"

A: You Need to Transfer FS20 to Mac via iMovie in a Proper Way.

As is known to all, you can transfer videos from almost all kinds of camcorders to Mac via iMovie. There's no easier way than connecting your Canon camera to Mac, and use use "Import From Camera" command to import the files. However, you should always keep in mind that you have to transfer Canon FS20 to iMovie in a correct way:

Connect the camera to your Mac with the USB (or Firewire) cable
Power on your camera, and set it play out through the cable
Click "File > Import from Camera"
Select the clips you needed and import to a new/existing event

If the steps above won't help, try the below:

Turn on your camcorder
Plug the camcorder into a power source
Click the "Video Mode" button on your camcorder
Connect your camcorder to Mac via USB cord
When the screen on the camcorder asks what memory to use, click "Select ALL"
In iMovie, hit "File > Import from Camera"

Q2: How Do i Convert MOD Files to iMovie?

"I have MOD files from my Everio camera. I no longer have the video camera so I can't connect to my Mac. I just have the original downloaded video files in MOD format. I want to convert them to use them on iMovie. Help?"

Q3: Canon Camcorder Uploading to iMovie'11. HELP!?

"I just get a new Canon Camcorder and the videos are great quality when I hook the camera up to my TV. But when I upload my MOD videos to iMovie'11 the quality is horrible! I love to edit videos but I can't use the camcorder footage because it becomes all pixely, colors are less vivid, and the picture becomes very dark once uploaded to the Mac. Anyone have any advice? Please help!"

A: You Should Convert MOD to iMovie AIC Format.

In fact, MOD is not natively supported by iMovie, so you cannot directly import MOD to iMovie without connecting the camera. Besides, MOD is not an iMovie-friendly format, so even if you successfully import MOD to iMovie, the video quality may become clumsy. Therefore, the best answer to both these 2 questions is to convert MOD to AIC -- the default format used by iMovie.

What You Need to Solve These Problems:

How to Convert MOD to iMovie

Step 1 Add MOD Files & Set Output Format

At the very beginning, download the MOD footages from your Canon camera if you haven't yet. Press the "Free Trial" button above to download and install the Mac Video Converter and launch it. Click the "Add Files" button to load the source MOD movies onto the program.

Since the iMovie Video Converter provides the AIC preset, you can easily convert MOD to iMovie AIC by selecting "Profile > Apple Application > AIC".

Step 2 Convert and Import MOD to FCP

In case you need to customize the output video/audio parameters like encoders, resolution, bitrate, etc, you can press the "Settings" button near the "Profile" menu bar.

When you finish the settings, now you can directly press the "Start" button to launch the conversion. According to the file size and your computer performance, the conversion may last for a while. Thereafter, you can freely import the converted files into iMovie without any problem!

Mac Version

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