How to Edit Sony AZ1 1080/60p XAVC S in iMovie?

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The splashproof HDR-AZ1 Action Cam Mini from Sony is designed for capturing POV footage of adventures of all kinds. It features 1080p60 recording in the lower-compression XAVC S format at 50 Mbps.

However, if you try to import XAVC/XAVC S to iMovie for editing, you’ll find it’s really a frustrating thing. Well, for Sony AZ1 users, here comes the Sony HDR-AZ1 XAVC S to iMovie incompatibility or no sounds issues. Have you got XAVC S files from Sony HDR-AZ1, and found that it is unable to import the XAVC S to iMovie? Is it a Sony/Apple problem or more a problem of amateurs not understanding how to make it work? In fact, iMovie does not support Sony XAVC or XAVC S codec, let alone the true 4K resolution. 

To make XAVC/XAVC S videos compatible with iMovie, the easy workaround is to convert them to MOV encoded by Apple InterMediate Codec, the native format for editing in iMovie. Pavtube Video Converter for Mac (read thereview) is a professional yet easy-to-use tool to help users to make the XAVC to AIC MOV conversion on Mac OS X (including 10.11 El Capitan).

With it, you can effortlessly transcode any type of XAVC/XAVC S files to Apple InterMediate Codec encoded MOV, ensuring maximum editing quality and efficiency when working with iMovie (no matter iMovie HD, iMovie 08, iMovie 09, or iMovie 11). Besides, its also exports advanced encoders like ProRes, DNxHD, MPEG-2, etc. allowing you to convert video to seamlessly fit FCP, Avid, Adobe Premiere, Premiere Elements, After Effects, etc. 

If you’re facing problems editing XAVC/XAVC S in non-linear editing systems (NLE), just download it and have a try.

First free download and install Pavtube Video Converter on your Mac, and then launch it. Now just follow the step by step guide demonstrate how to convert Sony XAVC or XAVC S to iMovie compatible format for further editing.

Step 1. Click the “Add” button to import the XAVC S videos to the program. (Drag and Drop is also a convenient way to load the videos.)



Step 2. Click the format column to select output format “iMovie and Final Cut Express > Apple Intermediate Codec(AIC) (*.mov)” as the best compatible video format for iMovie



Tips: It is available to adjust the output parameters, press the settings button on the main interface and then adjust the resolution, bitrate, frame rate, etc. But if you are not good at it, you’d better use the default parameters, they will ensure you a good balance between file size and image quality basically.

Step 3. Click the “Convert” icon on the main interface, the XAVC S to AIC MOV conversion will be completed soon.

After conversion, you will be able to get the output files compatible with iMovie effortlessly. So there you have it. Pretty Simple. And now you can import Sony AZ1 4K XAVC S files in iMovie smoothly.