How do I convert AVCHD or .MTS format to mpeg or avi?

[legocitytruck]

I recently bought a Panasonic Lumix camera that takes video in AVCHD or .MTS format. Is there anyway to convert this video to a more usable format such as mpeg or avi?

I'm hoping to share video with family who use windows media player 10 as their movie viewer. I'm hoping to convert the video to a format that works with this.

Punting Digital & Video Cameras

-ViRGE

 

[Friendo]

wrong section nub

 

[legocitytruck]

I believe that most HD sony and panasonic video cameras now use this format.

 

[mmntech]

There's a couple ways to do it. Most editing programs (Final Cut, Premiere, Sony Vegas) have built in converters. AVCHD and DV are the two dominant formats for video editing so most converters should recognize them. Try MPEG Streamclip.

You might consider picking up Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum. It's a cut down version of Vegas Pro, which is supposed to be pretty good. It's a proper non-linear editor with AVCHD support. Final Cut Express is the best editor IMO for prosumers, if you have a Mac.

 

[tdawg]

I'm using Sony Vegas Movie Studio (non-platinum) at the moment. I'm in my 30-day trial, but will likely pay the $40 for the program when the trial ends. Looking at the comparison sheet, I see no reason to pay $90 for the platinum version, as feature-wise, there's nothing that stands out that's worth $50 dollars.

Didn't Panasonic include any software to handle the videos? Sony did for my handicam that has a simple option to transcode straight to a handful of consumer formats.

 

[mmntech]

I'm using Sony Vegas Movie Studio (non-platinum) at the moment. I'm in my 30-day trial, but will likely pay the $40 for the program when the trial ends. Looking at the comparison sheet, I see no reason to pay $90 for the platinum version, as feature-wise, there's nothing that stands out that's worth $50 dollars.

Didn't Panasonic include any software to handle the videos? Sony did for my handicam that has a simple option to transcode straight to a handful of consumer formats.

According to the website, the basic Vegas Movie Studio doesn't support AVCHD. He needs to convert and edit AVCHD video.

 

[legocitytruck]

Thank you for your help guys! Does the non-platinum version of Sony Vegas Movie editor have non-linear editor suport for AVCHD or is it a feature only available with the platinum version? Is having non-linear support very importnant? Will I loss a lot of quality when converting with this Sony Editor to a more useable format?

My Panasonic Lumix came with software which I have reinstalled numerous times but the software does not recognize the .MTS format which seems very odd.

 

[Gooberlx2]

avidemux should be able to open the files, convert the streams and/or change the container.

 

[legocitytruck]

avidemux should be able to open the files, convert the streams and/or change the container.

I tried avidemux and it wasn't able to convert AVCHD. Is there difference between AVCHD and AVCHD Lite such that some programs can only handle one but not the other?

I will still try the Sony software which I would hope will work because Sony videocameras use AVCHD format.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I tried avidemux and it wasn't able to convert AVCHD. Is there difference between AVCHD and AVCHD Lite such that some programs can only handle one but not the other?

AVCHD lite is just a lower resolution, lower bitrate, lower fps subset of AVCHD, the streams and format structure should be the same.

I have a Lumix ZS3 and just tried an 8MB .MTS file with avidemux (version 2.5.2) and it worked fine for me. Converted from .MTS (h.264+AC3) to .AVI (xvid+mp3). Just dragged the .mts straight in to avidemux's window, set my desired conversion options and saved the new video. Worked Great.

If there's already an index file (.idx) present in the same directory as the .mts, try moving it elsewhere temporarily to let avidemux build its own.

 

[tdawg]

According to the website, the basic Vegas Movie Studio doesn't support AVCHD. He needs to convert and edit AVCHD video.

Sorry, the version I'm using, which is the $40 non-platinum version, is Movie Studio HD. I don't think they even sell the non-HD version any more. Movie Studio HD has all the same capabilities as it's platinum brethren, but comes in $50 cheaper.

 

[tdawg]

Thank you for your help guys! Does the non-platinum version of Sony Vegas Movie editor have non-linear editor suport for AVCHD or is it a feature only available with the platinum version? Is having non-linear support very importnant? Will I loss a lot of quality when converting with this Sony Editor to a more useable format?

My Panasonic Lumix came with software which I have reinstalled numerous times but the software does not recognize the .MTS format which seems very odd.

Yes, both the platinum and non-platinum versions have the same editing stage. There is really no tangible difference between the two that I could tell (tried the platinum trial version and am now on the non-platinum trial). The 30 day trial works great and doesn't put a watermark over your file like the trial for Adobe Premiere Elements 8 does. I highly suggest giving the sony trial a go: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/trials/moviestudiohd

You should see no loss in quality if you export to a high quality file (720p, 1080i, etc). I haven't tried outputting a standard dvd resolution, but here's a quick conversion from AVCHD (1080/60i) to 720p .mp4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF1Eq7QNllc Just dumped it into the timeline and hit "make move" to output it. No editing done.

 

[legocitytruck]

AVCHD lite is just a lower resolution, lower bitrate, lower fps subset of AVCHD, the streams and format structure should be the same.

I have a Lumix ZS3 and just tried an 8MB .MTS file with avidemux (version 2.5.2) and it worked fine for me. Converted from .MTS (h.264+AC3) to .AVI (xvid+mp3). Just dragged the .mts straight in to avidemux's window, set my desired conversion options and saved the new video. Worked Great.

If there's already an index file (.idx) present in the same directory as the .mts, try moving it elsewhere temporarily to let avidemux build its own.

I am attempting to use avidemux again. When I drop in the video I get the following error message:

H.264 detected
If the file is using B-frames as reference it can lead to a crash or stuttering. Avidemux can use another mode which is safe but YOU WILL LOSE FRAME ACCURACY. Do you want to use that mode?
Yes or No

What is the best response to this question? I would prefer to not lose accuracy but I also do not want stuttering. Have you encountered this error Gooberlx2

 

[legocitytruck]

AVCHD lite is just a lower resolution, lower bitrate, lower fps subset of AVCHD, the streams and format structure should be the same.

I have a Lumix ZS3 and just tried an 8MB .MTS file with avidemux (version 2.5.2) and it worked fine for me. Converted from .MTS (h.264+AC3) to .AVI (xvid+mp3). Just dragged the .mts straight in to avidemux's window, set my desired conversion options and saved the new video. Worked Great.

If there's already an index file (.idx) present in the same directory as the .mts, try moving it elsewhere temporarily to let avidemux build its own.

I also have a Lumix DMC-ZS3. My .MTS file is originally 1.73 gigs. I attempted to duplicate your choices of Video: MPEG-4 ASP (Xvid) Audio: MP3 (lame) Format: Avi in Avidemux

However, Windows Media Player 11 was not able to play the output converted video. Are these the same settings that you choose?

 

[Gooberlx2]

gotta make sure you have the requisite codecs installed. Installing something like cccp, klite or even just divx should help with your playback issue. Alternatively, try using VLC which is a standalone player that is self contained regarding codecs.

I haven't noticed any difference with either option when it came to the b-frames in avidemux...atleast not with the files the zs3 puts out. Maybe it would make a difference with long clips.

one thing to remember is to convert the framrate to 30 fps (NTSC) in avidemux...to compensate for the zs3's frame duplication. (This is avchd lite's way of using 30fps but maintaining compatibility with full avchd's 60fps.)

 

[legocitytruck]

gotta make sure you have the requisite codecs installed. Installing something like cccp, klite or even just divx should help with your playback issue. Alternatively, try using VLC which is a standalone player that is self contained regarding codecs.

I haven't noticed any difference with either option when it came to the b-frames in avidemux...atleast not with the files the zs3 puts out. Maybe it would make a difference with long clips.

one thing to remember is to convert the framrate to 30 fps (NTSC) in avidemux...to compensate for the zs3's frame duplication. (This is avchd lite's way of using 30fps but maintaining compatibility with full avchd's 60fps.)

I downloaded and installed the VLC player and it's able to play the videos in their original .MTS format. However, those whom I will be distributing the video too won't know how to install VLC and will most likely be using Windows Media Player.

Is a codec required so that Windows Media Player can play the video? Is it possible to convert the video to a format that doesn't need a codec but still maintains quality?

Also, how do I convert the .MTS file to 30 frames per second in avidemux? I am assuming this has to be done before converting to another file format.

Thanks again for your help by the way!

 

[Gooberlx2]

menubar --> video --> framerate to change the project's fps.

I don't know what to tell you about a good all-compatible, no-extra-codecs-needed video format. A simple avi with mjpeg and pcm audio might do, but it will increase the resulting file size. I s'pose you could try an mpeg1 video or even flv (since most people have flash installed).

Probably most people have atleast quicktime installed, so you could encode to .mov or .mp4 and use h.264/aac streams. Could also take that mp4 and embed it in a html video tag (works in all modern browsers, except firefox, for now).

You'll just have to play around with your desired output.

 

[vshah]

ffdshow has been able to play avchd files from my canon in windows media player.

 

[julietzhu520]

i just have problem playing mts files in vlc, then google search a mts converter to change mts to divx avi , maybe it can also help you to solve this issue.