Trying to learn a new hobby.

Hi folks,
and thank you for accepting me to your forum.
I am totally new to all of this and am struggling with my new hobby.
I bought a little video camera (Canon Legria HF R46), A nice shiny new computer (iMac 3.2ghz i5 with 8gb RAM) and then got a cheap old version of FCP 5 to take videos of the grand kids and holidays etc.
Currently I can't find anything on the internet or in the user manual anywhere that tells me how to import the AVCHD files on my SD card into FCP 5.
Does this mean it's not possible?
I've seen that FCP 7 can 'log and transfer' from file but can anyone tell me how to do it with FCP 5 please or have I just wasted my money.
Please be gentle with me as apart from playing with iMovie on my old computer that my son showed me how to use, I've never used FCP at all.

Thank you in advance for your gentleness and kindness for an old fella.

if google tells me right, FC/pro5 didn' support AVCHD ....
FC/p5 is from 2008!
I'm surprised, your computer supports that stone-old version ...

Plan A) your Mac came preinstalled with iMovie - which is for beginners an excellent tool to start with (I used iMovie for about 10y, before I dared the plunge to the Big Boys Toys). Your movies don't get 'better' 'cause the tool you make them is'better'/offers more features/is named 'pro' ...

Plan you could abuse the preinstalled version of iMovie to convert the imports into something useful for FC/p5 .... painstaking, boring ...

Plan C) there're thousands of apps claiming to convert faster/better/more beautiful ... again: inconvenient..

Plan D) check your set-up (hardware/OS) if it supports FCPX (what this board is about ...) ; 300$ on top, but worth every penny ...

Welcome oldman-newhobby

I second Karsten. Since you have to learn the thing anyway, learn something modern: iMovie or FCPX.

The problems you're experiencing are not relevant anymore in 2015.

Good luck!

firstly my apologies I never realised this was a site just for fcpx.

secondly thank you very much for your replies, it really is appreciated.

I have played with iMovie for a couple of years but on this new computer there is no iDVD to burn onto anymore so I thought i'd upgrade to something a little more advanced and the FCP came with all sorts of other bits including DVD studio.

I'll have look around and see what newer versions of FCP I can get hold of. don't really want to be spending 100's of $'s just to play with occasionally for home movies.

Thank you again guys for you help and patients

KIndest regards.

... I never realised this was a site just for fcpx.

there's a hide-out for users of legacy version FC/p7:
www.fcp.co/forum/5-final-cut-pro-7-fcp7

… I have played with iMovie for a couple of years but on this new computer there is no iDVD to burn onto anymore

FC/p5 has no DVD-authoring included either. And actual FCPX has a very reduced DVD-creating feature (black or white 'menu' offering a single button.
There are several options to burn discs, read this User Tipp, I wrote over there at The Mothership;
discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3711

If you liked iDVD, and had it on some older Mac, install it from the re-installer disk, every Mac came with ....


Movie-making is a phantastic hobby, … and you can spend hours to refine your 'product' … and you learn every day new tricks, you find excellent tutorials for fee at Youtube (and even more gicing wrong advice :woohoo:

… I'll have look around and see what newer versions of FCP I can get hold of. don't really want to be spending 100's of $'s just to play with occasionally for home movies.

... hmm, FCPX offers a free 30d trial, test it, ... I'm a hobbyist too, 300$ IS a hefty price-tag - but after some wresteling with the new paradigms (no layers? clips get magnetic? Library/Event/Project = hu? ....) it is the biggest bang for a buck … I guess, that's the phrase in English ...

Enjoy Movie Making!