Initial problem editing

When the group and i tried transferring the AVCHD camera files to the Apple Mac we noticed we couldn't watch the video clips because the computer wouldn't support the file type. It took around 1-2 hours to sort out this issue where we had to ask the school technicians to help us with the problem. One of the technicians helped convert the files for us into MTS files to support the software on the Apple Macs. He then created a file on my account where the film would be saved, along with all the video clips so that we wouldn't lose the files such as if we worked straight from the clips on my memory card. Once this issue was solved we were able to crack on with our editing.