How to transcode Sony Alpha a7 II XAVC S for iMovie editing?

How do you work with Sony Alpha a7 II XAVC S files in Apple iMovie? If you get stuck in editing Sony Alpha a7 II XAVC S footage within iMovie, you may have interest in this tutorial. It guides you through how to encode Sony Alpha a7 II XAVC S recordings to AIC .mov for use in iMovie smoothly.

XAVC S is a subset format of XAVC, which is originally designed to serve the consumer market. This expansion will encourage growth of 4K content in the consumer market. Find out the details of XAVC S below:

"XAVC S" profile

• Resolution: 4K (3840 x 2160), HD, and Proxy
• Compression: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
• Wrapping format: MP4
• Audio: Linear PCM and AAC

If for some reason you are having issues editing Sony Alpha a7 II XAVC S recordings in iMovie, we would recommend transcoding them to a format that is well compatible with iMovie first. In the following guide, we explain a workaround to transcode Sony Alpha a7 II XAVC S files to iMovie preferred AIC .mov video.

How to convert Sony Alpha a7 II XAVC S footage to iMovie preferred AIC .mov?

To transcode Sony Alpha a7 II XAVC S files to AIC for iMovie editing, do as below: Step 1: Import source files With Video Converter for Mac, you can click "Add File" to load video files that you want to convert into this program.
Step 2: Select output format Click "Profile" to select "iMovie and Final Cut Express" > "Apple InterMediate Codec(AIC) (*.mov)" as output format. AIC .mov is iMovie's favorite editing codec, which iMovie will read and handle well.
Tips: If necessary, you can click "Settings" button to modify video and audio parameters like encoder, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, aspect ratio, sample rate, and audio channels. You can also "enable 3D Settings" to add 3D effect to your source media.
Step 3: Click "Convert" to start Sony Alpha a7 II XAVC S to AIC conversion for iMovie. As soon as the conversion is complete, click "Open Folder" to get the generated AIC .mov files for editing in iMovie with optimum performance. Hope it helps.