I think I've found an easy way to do this that doesn't result in much (if any) quality loss.
First, you need to make sure you have a few things:
-A Mac
-iMovie HD (from iLife '06)
-TOD files from the GZ-HD7 camera
-Quicktime Component for Everio (for Mac)
Install the Quicktime component (from the CD that came with the camera)
Open up iMovie HD.
Drag the TOD files into the Clip panel (the grid of rectangles on the right side)
Wait for the files to finish importing. (They are converting - this may take a while)
When done, save the iMovie project file with the clips imported.
Find the file in the Finder. Option-/Right-click it and choose "Show Package Contents"
Go to the "Media" folder. The video files have been converted (MOV). Drag them from this folder to wherever you want. They are usable in Final Cut, iMovie, or your video editing program of choice.
Discussion about
I've been looking for an easy way to make my .TOD files recorded with this camera usable.
hey gtsorbo. You can use VLC to export the video to a .mpg container. You will not need to recode the files this way. The time it takes to do all this is only the time it takes to read from the source file and write the new file. It is very fast. You should be able to do a 500MB file in a few seconds. I used to have this camcorder myself. All you are doing is moving the MPEG-2 video from one container to another. I don't have the camcorder any longer, but this should still work.
Let me know if you need a guide to do this.
Let me know if you need a guide to do this.
I've used this method before, and here's a few thigs i don't like about it. First, is that i can't do batch processes in VLC. That's one major thing i need. Also, final cut express (not pro) is what i use for editing, an without the mpeg-2 quicktime component, i would not be able to edit the video. Unfortunately, i found out that by using my original method, much larger files were created (2 gb became 18 gb... yikes) so im looking for another method. I might just end up paying for some conversion software.
