[Kristianus Ligara]

I have this exact problem trying to edit MOV files with HDV streams in it.

it seems in this case, Apple are the bastards. there is no reason why HDV, which is based on mpeg2 cannot be opened without the special codec that’s only available on Mac/FCP (the mov wrapper is the culprit in this case).

after lots of hair pulling I manage to find some solution:

1. use Avanti(which is a front-end GUI for ffmpeg) set it to use mpeg2 or mpeg4 (or other codec of your choice) and put it back to new MOv container. this works with MOV files obtained from FCP or the like, you must have recent version of ffmpeg installed.

2. use SUPER (another front-end GUI for ffmpeg) from https://www.erightsoft.com/S6Kg1.html

set it to copy track of the video, choose the audio codec and choose new mpeg container (instead of MOV this can be mpg, mpeg, mpg2 etc.)
you must have recent version of ffmpeg installed.

there’s no transcoding involved, it just grabs the tracks and put them into new container that’s recognizable by premiere or another standard mpeg2 reading app (basically it demux the tracks, and re-mux them into new container). so there’s no error in timing/framerate.

hope that this helps.