I have recently purchased a Panasonic DMC GH2 and found it still does not work for importing AVCHD MTS into iMovie 11. The recorded Panasonic DMC GH2 HD MTS playback ok but and error is generated when attempting import to iMoive. Panasonic is really a good camera for capturing family memories with 12x optical zoom even on video! But this problem is spoiling my enjoyment of it.
I know Panasonic GH2 can shoot Motion JPEG codec of videos rather than only AVCHD MTS footages. Somewhere there was suggested that the Motion JPEG movies are supported by iMovie. So I tried to switch to this recording format in order to import these MOV with Motion JPEG codec to iMovie. Unfortunately, still with no luck. iMovie doesn’t see these recorded clips either!? Why Panasonic and Apple can not work together well? It is going to drive me crazy. It seems Panasonic MOV is not exactly same as MOV by Apple. I gave up for Motion JPEG and start looking for the solution for AVCHD to Mac and iMoive.
Recording File Format by Panasonic DMC GH2:
1. AVCHD.
2. QuickTime Mo tion JPEG.
Using freeware:
Some friend recommended me to try free software MPEG Streamclip as this free tool seems working on producing H.264 videos compatible with iMove. However, my trial still gets no valid result. It even can not recognize MTS files. Finally one experienced forum guy pointed me in the right way: Mpeg streamclip won’t read Panasonic GH2 AVCHD MTS due to the lack of the decoding AVCHD ability.
iMoive doesn’t accept 108050/60 MTS:
Also I got a hint that iMovie can not recognize 1080P MTS at the frame rate 50/60 fps. That is why my videos can not be imported to iMovie directly. Until now I realized I need an AVCHD 1080 50/60P converter to transcode Panasonic DMC GH2 MTS recordings to H.264 of MOV for editing in iMovie.
Final solution to convert MTS to H.264 MOV:
On one forum, I found an easy to use application called AVCHD Converter for Mac. I really hate using something with the complicated operating steps. Only three or four clicks are needed to complete the conversion from MTS to MOV for iMoive. Moreover, it owns merging function. One more bonus feature for me is that this software can handle Panasonic DMC GH2 Motion JPEG MOV files too!! Now all my GH 2 files can be transcoded to MOV for iMoive.
Simple steps:
1. Click import button to load 1080P MTS files to this Panasonic DMC GH2 converter.
2. Select iMovie or HD Video option-> MOV in Format box.
3. Click the conversion button to begin encoding H.264 of MOV.
(Price: $35) 
