How do you import movie clips from a Sony Handycam to a MacBook to be able to edit them in iMovie?

I have a Sony Handycam DCR-SR300 and a MacBook with OS X 10.4.11, iLife 08, and iMovie, and iMovie HD. I want to import clips from the Handycam to my computer and be able to edit them. Should I use iMovie HD or iMovie and how do i get the files to my computer?|||Connect the standard definition Sony DCR-SR300 hard disc drive based camcorder to the Mac with a USB cable. The camcorder needs to be in "Play" or PC mode. The internal camcorder hard drive will mount like any other external mass storage device.





Check the manual - near the back, there will be a couple of pictures showing the file system on the camcorder. You are looking for the video files.





You will also need to convert the files after you copy them to the Mac...





Download and install MPEG StreamClip


http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/vi鈥?/a>


After the conversion is complete (you want to convert to MOV or MP4 files for iMovie), launch iMovie, name the video project and all that - when the iMovie project window opens, drag the converted video files to the Log %26amp; Capture area. These instructionas are the same for either iMovie '08 or newer... or iMovie HD '6 or earlier - but then you drag the video clips to the clips pane (not the Log/Capture area).





For what it is worth, you would have to do most of this if you were using Microsoft MovieMaker and Windows XP or Vista, too...





Other handy tools you should download/install:





Flip4Mac:


http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/vi鈥?/a>





VLC Player:


http://www.videolan.org/vlc/|||import various video files into imovie for editing.





http://www.mp4kits.com/Converter/iMovie/