Can my macbook handle a HD Camcorder?

[Ickle Yoda1]

I have a year old macbook, 2.16GHz with 2GB Ram, intel core 2 duo, GMA950 graphics.

I was looking at buying a HD Camcorder and using imovie. Would my macbook be able to handle this ok?

Cheers for any help guys

[A n d r e w]

Assuming that by "HD" you mean "high defintion" then:

Yes. iMovie converts either HDV (high definition video recorded to tape) and AVCHD (high definition video recorded to hard drive or memory card) to an editable format using AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec) so you're good to go.

I'm also assuming your MacBook has a firewire port. Firewire is essential for tape-based camcorders, but card- or hard drive-based camcorders use USB for importing your clips. At some stage you'll probably want an external hard drive for archive.

Andrew.

[Ickle Yoda1]

Yeah, sorry HD meaning High Def. My macbook does indeed have a firewire port. I was concerned the graphics card on a macbook may not be up to scratch since it is not a macbookPro.

Anyone else use a macbook for video editing?

[ben2579]

I have a macbook from december 2007 - does handle HD. However i have had a few compatibility issues with my Sanyo HD1000 and IMovie so check first which ones are compatible. There are a list on the apple website. With updates we are nearly there with the sanyo however still having a few problems.

[A n d r e w]

iMovie ’08: Camcorder Support

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by Ickle Yoda1

I was concerned the graphics card on a macbook may not be up to scratch since it is not a macbookPro.

I import AVCHD and edit the resulting AIC files using both iMovie and Final Cut Express with no problems at all on a 2Ghz Mac mini with Intel integrated graphics, so you'll not have any problem there.