5 Best AVCHD Video Converters for Mac

"I just recorded some family party videos with my Sony camcorder. Now I would like to play these party videos on my Mac. The problem is that these videos were recorded in AVCHD files and my MacBook couldn't read these files. What can I do? Is there any AVCHD video converter Mac users could use to convert AVCHD video to Mac compatible videos? And how to convert AVCHD video on Mac? Please help. Thanks in advance."

Many Mac users would come across such kind of problems since Mac, though elegant and graceful, indeed lacks convenience and quantity in software support. It has less software programs than that of Microsoft Windows. If you happen to encounter such problem, this page would be right where you stop your searching. You will learn several best AVCHD video converters Mac computer users could make use of converting AVCHD videos on Mac. This post would include the following parts:

Part 1: What is AVCHD Video?
Part 2: 5 Best AVCHD Video Converters for Mac
Part 3: How to Convert AVCHD Video on Mac with Leawo Video Converter for Mac

Part 1: What is AVCHD Video?

Short for Advanced Video Coding High Definition, developed jointly by Sony and Panasonic, AVCHD is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video that came out in 2006 primarily for use in high definition consumer camcorders.

Both Panasonic and Sony released the first consumer AVCHD camcorders in spring of 2007. Panasonic released the first AVCHD camcorder aimed at the professional market in 2008, though it was nothing more than the (by then discontinued) FLASH card consumer model rebadged with a different model number.

In 2011 the AVCHD specification was amended to include 1080-line 50-frame/s and 60-frame/s modes (AVCHD Progressive) and stereoscopic video (AVCHD 3D). The new video modes require double the data rate of previous modes.

AVCHD uses the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 standard, supporting a variety of standard, high definition, and stereoscopic (3D) video resolutions. For audio compression, it supports both Dolby AC-3 (Dolby Digital) and uncompressed linear PCM audio. Stereo and multichannel surround (5.1) are both supported. That means if you want to play AVCHD files on your Mac computer, you need to make sure you player has all theses supported.

Actually, you could play recorded AVCHD video in various ways, like direct playback on TV via HDMI cable, Blu-ray/DVD players after burning recorded AVCHD videos to Blu-ray/DVD content, AVCHD memory card being played by selected Blu-ray disc players, HDTV sets, on a PlayStation 3, etc. However, the best way to play AVCHD video on Mac is of course to convert AVCHD video on Mac to some popular video formats like MP4, MOV, etc. The below content would show you 5 best AVCHD video converters for Mac.

Part 2: 5 Best AVCHD Video Converters for Mac

The below 5 best AVCHD video converters for Mac could also be considered as Panasonic AVCHD converters for Mac users to convert AVCHD on Mac from either Panasonic or other brands' camcorders. Let's see what these 5 best AVCHD video converters for Mac are.

No.1 best AVCHD Mac Converter – Leawo Video Converter for Mac

Leawo Video Converter for Mac has been one of the top-notch AVCHD video converters for Mac users to convert AVCHD video on Mac. This company has an excellent reputation in video processing and converting on both Windows and Mac platforms. As to this AVCHD video converter for Mac itself, it could convert AVCHD video on Mac to video in 180+ different formats like MP4, MOV, MPEG, AVI, FLV, MKV, etc. Therefore, you could actually choose desired output format according to your own needs and play AVCHD videos on Mac computer and any other media player as you like.

No.2 best AVCHD video converter for Mac - Handbrake

HandBrake converts AVCHD Lite format to MP4 and MKV (tested on macOS; other versions available), AVI and OGM are supported in versions before 0.9.4. It is a free and open-source transcoder for digital video files, originally developed in 2003 by Eric Petit (a.k.a. "titer" from his SVN repository username) to make ripping a film from a DVD to a data storage device easier. Since then, it has undergone many changes and revisions.

Roxio Toast 10 Titanium on mac converts AVCHD to most formats like MP4, AVI, MOV, etc. It is an optical disc authoring and media conversion software application for Mac OS X. Toast provides added control over the process as well as extra features, including file recovery for damaged discs, cataloging and tracking of files burned to disc. It also provides support for audio and video formats that Quicktime does not support, such as AVCHD files, FLAC and Ogg files.

iDealshare VideoGo can convert AVCHD to MP4, ProRes, MOV, AVI, WMV, FLV, DV, MKV, VOB etc. It could convert all kinds of camcorder/camera recorded movie files(AVCHD files), web videos, or other video files to iMovie most compatible MPEG-4, DV or convert to Final Cut Pro most compatible Apple Prores, or convert video for Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere, Sony Vegas, Windows Movie Maker and etc. It supports macOS 10.5 and later, including the latest macOS.

Badaboom is another wonderful Mac AVCHD video converter software program that could convert AVCHD video to MP4, MOV and other formats for various devices and Mac computer. It uses Elemental's video engine to transcode video files from several formats, including MPEG2, H.264, HDV, AVCHD, and RAW, into the H.264 format for devices such as the iPod, iPhone, and Sony PSP.

By testing all the above 5 best AVCHD video converters for Mac, Leawo Video Converter for Mac offers the easiest but most practical solution on converting AVCHD video on Mac. The below guide would show you how to convert AVCHD video on Mac to other format with the help of Leawo Video Converter for Mac.

Part 3: How to Convert AVCHD Video on Mac with Leawo Video Converter for Mac

As said above,Leawo Video Converter for Mac is a practical Mac AVCHD converter that could convert AVCHD files from camcorders of various brands to 180+ formats like MOV, MP4, FLV, etc. Actually, far more than a single AVCHD video converter for Mac, it’s also an AVHCD video editor and 3D video creator for Mac users. Follow the below steps to learn how to convert AVCHD files on Mac with Leawo Video Converter for Mac.

Leawo Video Converter is built in an all-inclusive tool – Leawo Pro. Media. Just click button bellow to install the Mac version on your PC. Don’t worry. Leawo Video Converter for Mac is a function module of Prof. Media. So, just kick off Leawo Prof. Media on Mac computer, and then click the “Video Converter” function module.

You click “Add Video” or “Add Video Folder” to import AVCHD files from your Mac computer. You could play back loaded AVCHD files, add subtitles, adjust file order, edit AVCHD files (like adding watermark and 3D effect) by clicking the “Edit” icon on the right of each AVCHD file title, etc.

After loading source AVCHD files, click the drop-down button right before the big green “Convert” button. Then, click the “Change” option to enter the Profile panel, where you could set output format from either “Format” tab or “Device” tab. You’re recommended to choose MOV or MP4 from “Format” tab, or iOS devices like iPhone and iPad under “Device” tab.

You could also adjust output file parameters like video codec, bit rate, aspect ratio, frame rate, audio codec, audio bit rate, etc. On the above mentioned drop-down panel, select “Profile” option to enter the Profile Settings panel to do these adjustments. Click “OK” to save adjustments.

Now, after setting parameters, you need to set output directory. Click the “Convert” button. A sidebar will pop up, where you could set output directory to save the converted AVCHD files in the “Save to” box.

Finally, hit the “Convert” button on the sidebar to start to convert AVCHD videos on Mac to other videos in the format you need. You could view the whole converting process on the converting panel.

After converting, you could then freely make use of the AVCHD files, like playing it in QuickTime, iTunes, FCP, iPhone, iPad, etc. You are now in the control of your AVCHD files on Mac.

Conclusion

AVCHD files are not accepted by Mac computer, however, with all these wonderful AVCHD converters for Mac mentioned above, you could easily use AVCHD files freely. You can get more enjoyment with the above mentioned tools, especially Leawo Video Converter for Mac, which even allows you to turn your party AVCHD videos into vivid 3D movies.