I have Sony PMW-500 camcorder and shoot the videos recently, the Sony PMW-500 records and plays back high-definition video with 1920×1080 and 1280×720 resolutions up to 50 Mbps using MPEG-2 4:2:2P HL compression technology. I would like to edit the recorded .mxf video on iMac with iMovie 11, which is the free and useful part of the Apple Mac iLife.

While looking for solutions to import Sony PMW-500 MXF to iMovie 11 on iMac, I downloaded and tried several converters. Only Sony MXF Video Converter for Mac works for me. I like the batch processing and joining of multiple mxf videos into one file. The editing feature to trim the recorded videos is great, as I can control the content for conversion.

For guys who may find it difficult to import and edit Sony PMW-500 MXF files on Mac, here is the fast guide to merge and convert Sony PMW-500 MXF to AIC MOV for iMovie 8/9/11.

Step 1. Import Sony PMW-500 MXF files to Sony MXF Video Converter for Mac.

Connect Sony MXF camcorder to iMac with USB 2.0 cable, run UFUSoft MXF Video Converter for Mac as the best Sony MXF to MOV converter on Mac. click the “Add” button to load .mxf videos. This Sony MXF Video Convetrer can convert Sony PMW-500 mxf export lossless compression video/audio compatible with iMovie 6/8/9/11 on Mac.

Step 2. Choose MOV with Apple Intermediate Code AIC output format.

Click the “Profile” option and choose iMovie and Final Cut Express > Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC) as output format with high quality for iMovie 6/8/9/11. To get 1080 videos, we need to click the “Settings” button and choose 1920*1080 as output video size, Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC) as output video codec. You also can choose HD Video > H.264 HD Video(*.mov).

Step 3. Merge Sony PMW-500 MXF files into one. (optional)

Select the files in the filelist and click Merge, and the Mac Sony PMW-500 MXF Video Converter will join and combine the video clips into a single file as output.

Step 4. Edit and trim Sony PMW-500 MXF videos. (optional)

Select the file you want to trim and click the “Edit” button, you will face the Edit window with original video and output video preview. You can enter exact time point as the set in and set out for trimming.

Step 5. Convert Sony PMW-500 MXF to AIC MOV for 8/9/11 on Mac.

Click the convert button under the preview window, and the Mac Sony MXF video converter will start the conversion from Sony PMW-500 MXF to AIC MOV or MP4 for iMovie 8/9/11 on Mac.

Tips:

For some Mac users, when editing the MXF videos via the Editor windows of Sony MXF Converter for Mac, the video and sound may go output sync sometimes, making it somewhat difficult to find the trim location. But the output videos would play without sync problem after conversion.