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ambunjes

Q: How to convert MTS files

Hello, I have a Canon HD camcorder HG10.
This Camcorder produces *.MTS files.
However, all supporting software is Windows based and not Mac based.
I have searched the web but didn't find any solution till so far (I'm just a user and not a programmer ...).

May be some people here have some experience and have found some solutions?

If so I would be grateful to hear from you.

Best regards!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Feb 24, 2008 12:26 PM

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Q: How to convert MTS files

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  • by gstoner,

    gstoner gstoner Feb 11, 2009 2:05 PM in response to ambunjes
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 11, 2009 2:05 PM in response to ambunjes
    I had to convert some .MTS video files at work and found that the new version of Handbrake (requiring VLC Player) seems to do a great job of converting it to H.264 video.

    Hope that helps.
  • by Eric Shawn2,

    Eric Shawn2 Eric Shawn2 Feb 11, 2009 2:16 PM in response to gstoner
    Level 3 (612 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 11, 2009 2:16 PM in response to gstoner
    Interesting. In all my research to a solution, this is the first time someone has mentioned Handbrake. I will definitely give that a go. I'll let you know how it works out.

    To answer RoryandCari, other than gstoner's suggestion, I haven't found any other solution, except using my Intel Mac at work to download and convert through iMovie. Which by the way does a very good job in terms of speed of download and quality of conversion.

    I have actually decided to bite the bullet, and dish out some cash for a Mac Pro Quad 8. I justified it as an investment to my work, and to get future proofed. Gets delivered tomorrow. But I will still test the Handbrake suggestion.
  • by Eric Shawn2,

    Eric Shawn2 Eric Shawn2 Feb 11, 2009 8:13 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    Level 3 (612 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 11, 2009 8:13 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    So I tried the latest version of Handbrake. It recognizes .mts files and can convert it to m4v, avi, mkv, and omg. I converted to m4v (H.264). It does the job ok, and pretty quick by video conversion standard (a 200MB mts file took about 4 min to convert). At such a small conversion size (13.8MB) the quality is not bad, but only if you view the full 1920 x 1080 at half the size. At full 1920 x 1080 you can see the quality degradation. iMovie converts mts files at about half the size of 1920 x 1080. But the quality is so much better. It retains pretty much all the details of the original mts file. Which means it will look better when viewed on an HDTV, burned on a normal DVD. I'm sure the quality would look better if it was burned as a true Blu-ray format.

    IMO, if you don't have an Intel Mac, don't require large format videos (920 x 518 or smaller), and you don't mind loosing some details, then I recommend Handbrake. It does the best job in it's class. Other than that, you'll have to get an Intel Mac and use iMovie.
  • by Tristan Merritt,

    Tristan Merritt Tristan Merritt Mar 11, 2009 4:01 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    Level 1 (20 points)
    Mar 11, 2009 4:01 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    I have Sony HDR-SR12 camera here, Honestly, You do need high end intel, not G4/G5 or minimac/early iMac as they don't have the "power" to perform fast enough. If you're complaining, you might consider getting Mac Pro to do the job fast enough.
    I'm using Intel E8500 hackintosh here, and to convert video in VolaicHD and to convert 1gb takes 15minutes to convert. (even my G5 Dual 1.8 is still slow enough and takes 3-4x longer than hackintosh)
    Also toast works as well and latest version of iMovie can load them aswell..
    Cheers
    Tristan
  • by jacjos,

    jacjos jacjos Apr 2, 2009 6:40 AM in response to ambunjes
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 2, 2009 6:40 AM in response to ambunjes
    Use the free tool -Video Monkey
  • by TimP35,

    TimP35 TimP35 Jun 13, 2009 9:08 PM in response to ambunjes
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 13, 2009 9:08 PM in response to ambunjes
    I downloaded Handbrake, but when I go to finder to open it show up in my toolbar and then disappears and won't open. Any idea on how to get past that problem?
  • by Studio X,

    Studio X Studio X Jun 14, 2009 8:21 PM in response to TimP35
    Level 7 (27,074 points)
    Jun 14, 2009 8:21 PM in response to TimP35
    Handbrake is a useless program for editing. Look into Mpeg Streamclip.

    x
  • by nick101,

    nick101 nick101 Jun 15, 2009 12:48 AM in response to Maurizio Bussi
    Level 5 (5,108 points)
    Jun 15, 2009 12:48 AM in response to Maurizio Bussi
    iMovie foes not play/convert individual .mts files; it needs the complete folder structure from the camcorder to interpret them. Then it converts them to AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec) which is more editing-friendly. You have to convert individual files to use them. Use MPEG Streamclip (free) to convert them to AIC.

    Or import direct from the camera and have iMovie do the conversion for you.
  • by nick101,

    nick101 nick101 Jun 15, 2009 12:48 AM in response to sjxm9203
    Level 5 (5,108 points)
    Jun 15, 2009 12:48 AM in response to sjxm9203
    MPEG Streamclip is free and does the job
  • by David Sloan1,

    David Sloan1 David Sloan1 Jul 13, 2009 10:33 AM in response to ambunjes
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 13, 2009 10:33 AM in response to ambunjes
    I have same problem and managed to convert with Toast. Is MPEG streamclip any better? I have downloaded it but found I have to buy Quicktime mpeg coder as well. Although it is not that expensive there is little point if it does not produce a better result than Toast.
  • by nick101,

    nick101 nick101 Jul 13, 2009 11:25 PM in response to David Sloan1
    Level 5 (5,108 points)
    Jul 13, 2009 11:25 PM in response to David Sloan1
    MPEG Streamclip gives you more options for transcoding. If Toast does the job for you, you may as well carry on with it.
  • by SepticBurrito,

    SepticBurrito SepticBurrito Jul 30, 2009 12:35 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 30, 2009 12:35 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    If you want a fast convert to a H 264 file use either of these.
    http://www.matrox.com/video/en/products/compresshd/
    http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/Turbo264HD/product1.en.html

    If you have a Mac with descent graphics card, you can wait until Snow Leopard hits the streets. In theory, OpenCL should support hardware acceleration of H 264 encoding onto the graphics card. Similar sets up on the Windows side, using NVIDIA hardware saw something like a 7X speed increase.
  • by xiaowei,

    xiaowei xiaowei Jul 31, 2009 10:12 PM in response to ambunjes
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Jul 31, 2009 10:12 PM in response to ambunjes
    Although my post is too late, I hope it could be of some help to you.

    To the question you asked, you can just use a MTS/M2TS Converter for Mac program to solve it.

    And I am glad to share this nice program with you: Pavtube MTS/M2TS Converter for Mac.

    I just found it a few days ago through google search. It can help the people who are using the AVCHD digital camcorders including Canon HF S11 and HF 21 to edit and convert their high definition record videos (*.mts or *.m2ts) to other video and audio formats, such as MP4, 3GP, 3G2 AVI, MPG. MOV, MKV, AVI, FLV, VOB, SWF, MP3, FLAC, OGG, WAV, AC3, M4A, MP3, WAV etc.
    For more information please refer to: http://www.pavtube.com/mts-converter-mac/

    I prefer the program as its after-sale service is wonderful. After I purchasing the program, thier support center delivered an email for greeting and helping. How warm and kind!
  • by xiaowei,

    xiaowei xiaowei Jul 31, 2009 11:28 PM in response to xiaowei
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Jul 31, 2009 11:28 PM in response to xiaowei
    So I think when choosing an appropriate program for ourselves, we should consider not only its quality, functions, but also its after-sale service.
    By the way, its quality is good and there is no spyware.
  • by lulud,

    lulud lulud Aug 27, 2009 11:56 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2009 11:56 PM in response to Eric Shawn2
    If you want to convert m2ts/mts video files, there is an easy way, you can try HD Video Converter for Mac, it can convert your MTS M2TS video files to various video formats including HD AVI, HD QuickTime, HD WMV, AVI, MP4, MOV, FLV, WMV, etc. for playing on different devices.

    Work well on my computer, i like it, and i believe that once you try it, you will like it too. Following is a step by step guide:
    http://blog.bitcomet.com/post/112779/

    Hope it can help you.
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