My new Canon HG10 consumer-level high definition camera arrived and it's pretty nice. Downloading video from the camera to a Mac is almost automatic. Just launch iMovie ’08, connect the camera's USB cable to the Mac (to import high definition video, the Mac must have an Intel processor), then turn on the camera and put it in Play mode. iMovie automatically detects the video camera and opens an Import window that shows thumbnails of the video clips that are in the camera.
I'm slightly disappointed that the download time of clips is virtually real-time. I figured since the clips are already digital and didn't need to be converted that they would import a zillion times faster than from MiniDV tapes (which have to be converted from analog to digital during import). A two minute clip takes about two minutes to import.
As for iMovie ’08, it's very cool and you can make a movie quickly, then click a button to upload it to your .Mac Web Gallery page or to YouTube (if you've created a free account). However, it's not as easy to create complex edits as it is in iMovie ’06. But I'm not a whiner, and iMovie ’08 can still work basic, every-day miracles compared to what I did in the past with scissors, tape, and 8 mmm film. If that'll get you by, you're good to go. If you really need pro-level miracles, Final Cut Pro does those for a few dollars more. And Final Cut Express does almost everything FCP does for half the price.
But do you care? I don't think so. You're really just hanging around to see the latest MaltiPoo/Golden Doodle photo.
So here ya go.
