"Can you edit the HD movies from a GoPro Hero HD camera and save the movie (export) to an HD mov file for YouTube? Are there any tricks for using editing GoPro Hero HD movies under Final Cut Pro?"
The .mp4 file type produced by the GoPro HD cameras is not supported by Apple’s Final Cut software. The file type is a compressed output format and not an ideal editing format. To convert your files to a more editing friendly format you must use 3rd party software such as GoPro Video Editor for Mac.
Mac GoPro Video Editor is a specailly designed program to convert GoPro HD MP4 files to any other file formats like MOV, AVI, WMV, MPG, FLV, 3GP, MKV etc for editing in FCP iMovie or any other video editing applications on Mac, or you can even transfer GoPro HD MP4 files on portable devices like iPad Mini, iPhone 5, Kindle Fire 2 or upload to websites such as YouTube, Myspace for sharing.
Step 1: Load GoPro HD MP4 files
After installing GoPro Video Editor Mac, just drag and drop GoPro HD MP4 files into the program. Or go to the “File” meun to choose “Add Video/Audio files” to import GoPro HD MP4 files
Step 2: Choose output format
Click the format icon to pop up a output format list where you can choose your desired output video format, such as go to “Apple Software”-> “Final Cut Pro” or you can select MOV as the output format for iMovie or FCP.
Step 3: Convert GoPro HD MP4 video on Mac
After all the settings have been done, click “Convert” to start conversion.
Tips: In the same way, you can use GoPro Video Editor to convert GoPro HD MP4 videos to AVI, WMV, MPG, MOV, FLV, 3GP etc for editing GoPro HD MP4 files in Windows Movie Maker, Sony Vegas etc.