How to Play and Convert AVCHD Lite to iMovie, FCP etc. on Mac

June 13, 2013 2:59 PM / Posted by Adam Cash to Camcorder Tips
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In this tutorial some basic knowledge about AVCHD Lite file are mentioned:

• Part 1.What is AVCHD Lite file?
• Part 2.How to play AVCHD Lite file on Mac (Mountain Lion included)?
• Part 3.How to convert AVCHD Lite to AVI, MP4, MOV or for iMovie, FCP?

What is AVCHD Lite file?

In 2009 Panasonic introduced AVCHD Lite to selected members of its Lumix line of digital cameras. AVCHD Lite is a subset of AVCHD defined as devices using the codec at video resolutions up to 1280x720p. Generally this means any camera that uses AVCHD and records 1280x720 video will be referred to as an AVCHD Lite camera because it's unlikely that cameras will record AVCHD video at lower resolutions.

How to play AVCHD Lite file on Mac OS X (Lion included)?

VLC media player is the most popular way to play AVCHD Lite files. Download VLC media player and run this application. Drag the AVCHD Lite Video to the play list, and then double click it. Now you can play AVCHD Lite video on your Mac. Or you can open an AVCHD Lite file by going to File> Open Files > and locating the spot on your hard drive where your AVCHD Lite files are located. Click Open to start playing AVCHD Lite files.

Tips: You might need to have iLife'08 installed in order to play AVCHD Lite files using VLC. If you can open AVCHD Lite files smoothly with VLC, you can give MPlayer a try.

How to convert AVCHD Lite to QuickTime MOV, MP4, WMV, AVI, iMovie, FCP?

Video Converter for Mac is highly recommended by millions of Mac users to convert AVCHD Lite files to other common video formats. This user-friendly and professional AVCHD Lite Video Converter for Mac could help you convert your AVCHD Lite to MP4, WMV, AVI, QuickTime MOV or convert AVCHD Liter to iMovie, FCP in a few clicks. Here is the detailed information to do the video conversion by using the recommended video converter.

Step 1: Launch AVCHD Lite Mac Video Converter. Drag and drop M2TS/MTS files to the program. Or go to "File" menu, choose "Load Media Files" to locate the M2TS/MTS files you want to add. As you see the aformentioned interface of the program, you can merge several videos into one big file by check "Merge into One File".

Tip: This smart Video converter for Mac additionally allows you to edit your media files before the conversion. You can crop, split, rotate, apply cool video effects etc. Detailed info: User Guide of Video Converter for Mac.

Step 2: Select an output format, say MP4, MOV, from the format tray as the output video format. If you want to watch the target videos on devices, you can directly choose the video players as the output format. Or for editing, choose the video editing program as the output format.

Step 3: Click the "Convert" button to start AVCHD Lite to iMovie, FCP, etc. conversion on Mac OS X.

Well! This AVCHD Lite Video Converter for Mac will just take a very short time to do the conversion. After you have finished converting the AVCHD Lite files, import them to iMovie or FCP to create your masterpiece. During the process, if you are busy with other stuff, you can set "after conversion shut down my computer." See, watching AVCHD Lite on Mac is as easy as ABC.

Tip: If some part of the shot video you think that could ruin the whole footage, you can trim it. Just enter the editing interface, set the start time and end time or scroll the slider bar to keep the part you need.