I have problem with converting video files .MTS from my Sony video camera into imovies required format (ie .mov, mpeg, etc). I did it once from my camera using USB cable "Import - Movies - etc" and it was all successful (in imovies the files were with .mov extention). Now I am trying to do the same but all the video files in my camera are inaccessible with extention .MTS. Online I found that I needed to purchase a special software video converter like iSkySoft, Replay Converter, iSquint software etc. I tried a free version of one of them and besides the fact it takes a lot of time to convert files into .mov format, the video quality had suffered significantly. My questions are: i) How is it possible that first time I didn't need any additional software and now I need one? ii) what can you recommend me to do to open .MTS video files and import them into mac imovies? Many thanks in adcance. Your help is very much appreciated.
MacBookPro5,5 Mac Os X 10.6.2,
Mac OS X (10.6.2),
2.53 GHz
It's important that you delete those problem clips _from your camera_ - the clips that would not play in the camera. If they don't play in the camera, then there is clearly something wrong with them. That's why iMovie is having trouble recognising any of the clips. You need to delete them first, then connect the camera and try iMovie's "Import from Camera" again.
You said "I copied all clips to external drive". If you are just referring to the .MTS clips from the STREAM folder, then that will not work for iMovie. It needs the
whole file structure from the camera. When an "Archive All" is done through iMovie, the full directory from the camera is copied. Similarly, when you "Import from Camera" iMovie has to access the full camera contents - it can't carry out the import from just the .MTS clips.
Your camera sounds similar to mine, except mine does 6.1 megapixel stills. The hard drive is 60GB like yours. Do you know the model number - mine is HDR-SR7.
Try what I've suggested (about deleting problem clips from the camera) and let me know how things went.
I've found that individually corrupt clips don't stop imovie seeing the camera, they show up in the imovie import (from camera) window but won't import.
thanks John, Winston. it means that the problem here is not in the corrupted files. as you said, normally I should import from files > import from camera. But mac doesn't offer me this function. I can only access camera in Finder... I copied the entire settings of good files in external driver but the story remains the same. nothing can be recognized, imported, opened etc in imovies or anywhere else.
Anastasia, did you try deleting (trashing) the iMovie preference file. I mentioned this a couple of times earlier in our discussions, but you didn't say whether you had tried this. Doing this can sometimes fix problems with iMovie.
Another suggestion - if possible, can you try your camera with another Mac. Do you have an Apple retailer near you that would be willing to let you import some footage to iMovie?
This would help to isolate why you are unable to import from your camera. Given what Winston has reported, it does now seem unlikely that the "bad" clips are causing the problem. But, if you still cannot import on another computer, we may still have to look at deleting those "bad" clips from the camera. From reading your posts, this hasn't been done yet.
I'm not sure if I've mentioned this already, but it might be worth creating a new user account. There could be something in your user account that is causing a conflict with iMovie - it's been known to happen!
I've run into a similar problem myself. I have an HD camera that uses SD cards to record video, and connects to the Mac via USB.
Neither the SD card (in the MacBook Pro SD slot) and the camera (with SD card installed in the camera, and camera configured so it's seen as a mass storage device) are seen as an import sources from within iMovie.
This is, of course, insanely frustrating. It's a camera that's listed as working with iMovie '09. It's a camera other people say they have no problems when working with iMovie. So I thought the problem was how I was configuring the camera, using iMovie, etc.
This wasn't the case.
The SD card contains an AVCHD folder, and inside of that are folders named "AVCHDTN", "BMDV", and "XXXXXX" (XXXXXX = brand name of camera). In the BMDV folder there's BACKUP, CLIPINF, PLAYLIST, and STREAM folders, along with two files named "INDEX.BDM" and MOVIEOBJ.BDM. The only place I can locate video clips (.mts files) are in the STREAM folder.
After much painful thrashing around, and working with some engineers who have
very deep experience with AVCHD content (e.g., HD camera firmware engineers), they were able to confirm that the INDEX.BDM file is corrupted.
Working with a different SD card (which was confirmed to not have a problem with its INDEX.BDM file) I was able to import content from the camera, as well as from the SD card (inserted in the SD Card slot of the MacBook Pro).
Okay, seems clear that the problem is with the contents of the SD card (specifically the INDEX.BDM file). it's not with the user, nor with the camera. And, most importantly, it appears that the problem/fault isn't with iMovie. We could thrash around a bit (I know I have!) with why iMovie can't import .mts files. But, let's not go there. I'll get another splitting headache.
I wouldn't claim that a corrupted INDEX.BDM file is the only thing that can cause iMovie to fail to import content from a camera or flash media that has an AVCHD folder hierarchy. It's probably not, as other types of corruption can likely give the same results. But, it's certainly something to consider when iMovie doesn't recognize your camera or flash media.
What can you do about a corrupted INDEX.BDM file?
Not much, it seems. I haven't been able to locate a utility that can repair the INDEX.BDM file. If someone knows of a utility that can rebuild INDEX.BDM files, please let us all know. You should certainly check whether your camera has the capability in some submenu, but before you start experimenting, you should back up your content from the flash media. You don't want to accidently delete everything in an every to get your camera/flash memory recognized by iMovie.
Next steps...
Keeping everything:
Assuming that the INDEX.BDM file can't be repaired, importing directly into iMovie isn't an option. You'll need to transcode .mts files into something iMovie will recognize. I'm trying out AVCWare, but thus far I've not found the right export/transcode settings that generate an output file with the same quality as the input file. But I'm getting close. If I transcode .mts to .vob (MPEG-2) the size of the .vob file is about half the size .mts file, and it's less blocky/jaggy than some of the other compression types (which created tiny files with very blocky video). I may have to live with this slightly lesser quality, which isn't a good thing.
Keeping almost everything:
If you don't care if you lose a little bit of your content, try erasing a single clip. It might rebuild the INDEX.BDM file as a result. I can't stress enough that I have no knowledge of what, if anything, triggers a camera to rebuild the INDEX.BDM file. You'd be experimenting, which means you might lose all your content. So, if you have any
concerns about losing content, back it up!
Keeping nothing:
If you don't care about losing all of your content, and decide to clear off the card, I'd reformat the card entirely from the camera itself. You might even first delete all the content on the card using your Mac (to be 100% certain that the INDEX.BDM file is deleted, thus forcing the camera to recreate it from scratch), then reformat it using the camera's format media function.
After erasing your media, try recording a single clip and see if it's now recognized by iMovie. That worked for me. But I had a spare SD card that I didn't care about, so it wasn't a loss/problem to reformat the card and start over.
What about that other SD card that I do care about?
I'm still looking for a way to convert all my .mts files into a format that iMovie will recognize, without losing any quality. Because, as it stands now, there's
no way to import those 341 .mts files without a valid INDEX.BDM file, and I presently have zero hope that I'll be able to create/rebuild one from my hundreds of .mts files.
If someone has used AVCWare, or some other utility, and found good settings to convert their HD content to something nearly as high as quality as the original file, please let us all know.
If someone has found a way to repair/rebuild their INDEX.BDM file without also deleting all their content, please let us all know.
I'll close by repeating what I've already said: before doing
anything in an attempt to get your camera to rebuild/repair the INDEX.BDM file,
please back up your content. Because if your content is erased from the flash media or camera, you're even further away from being able to import it into iMovie.
Thank you for your comprehensive post - some excellent information and suggestions there! A corrupted INDEX.BDM file could well be the source of Anastasia's import issue.
You asked:
If someone has used AVCWare, or some other utility, and found good settings to convert their HD content to something nearly as high as quality as the original file, please let us all know.
VoltaicHD, among other things, can convert AVCHD clips to AIC format (Apple Intermediate Codec). As you may know, AIC is the preferred editing codec for iMovie '09. iMovie actually converts AVCHD (.MTS files) to AIC on import. See the topic "What is the default output" in the ShedWorx FAQ here:
http://www.shedworx.com/voltaichd-faq-mac#3
I tried VoltaicHD (trial version) some time ago on my older iMac G5, before purchasing my Intel MacBook Pro. It produced excellent results, but its conversion process was extremely slow compared to how quickly iMovie '09 does the conversion. VoltaicHD takes about 12 times as long as the original footage to do the conversion - see "How long does the conversion take" in the FAQ.
I haven't found any 3rd party software able to convert AVCHD any quicker than imovie, I've settled on Voltaic because it has the added ability to extract 5.1, which while I haven't really been able to do anything with practically, has given me source for fiddling.
Thanks Winston. Are you OK with the time it takes for VoltaicHD to do the conversion? I gave up on it after a couple of attempts, mainly because I was editing a few projects with heaps of footage. Voltaic is fine though for shorter projects.
Now that I have iMovie '09 running on my Intel MacBook Pro, I can get the clips converted reasonably quickly - but not quite as quick as you are seeing!
You need a good home theatre system for 5.1 - that's on my wish-list!
To be honest it doesn't bother me too much, I'm aware they take a while, but there's a number of factors which mean it's not too concerning.
I format my camera regularly to avoid directory corruption, occasionally I get clip corruption which means I only use voltaic occasionally and for odd clips, I usually have lots of things to do while I work with video (rendering, converting, exporting etc)
VoltaicHD, among other things, can convert AVCHD clips to AIC format (Apple Intermediate Codec). As you may know, AIC is the preferred editing codec for iMovie '09. iMovie actually converts AVCHD (.MTS files) to AIC on import. See the topic "What is the default output" in the ShedWorx FAQ here:
http://www.shedworx.com/voltaichd-faq-mac#3
Thanks for the suggestion to try Voltaic. I'm running it right now.
The output video quality looks great. File size is, of course, huge. But it'd be exactly the same if I imported the content from the SD card into iMovie, so that's not an issue.
As far as the speed is concerned: if I have to let Voltaic run a long time in order to work around my corrupted INDEX.BDM file, that's okay. Because it's better to take a day to convert 430+ clips than it is to not be able to import anything at all!
Actually, according to the Voltaic's status line, it'll only take 844 minutes to finish the conversion of my clips. Not a day, only 14+ hours. Not a big deal.
Thanks again for the suggestion to use Voltaic HD. This appears to have solved my issue of having hundreds of clips that I couldn't get into iMovie because of the corrupted INDEX.BDM file.
Great to hear that you are having success with VoltaicHD Kzintar!
14 hours - wow! You have more patience than me, but as you say it's better than not being able to import anything at all. Also, these things can be partly run overnight if necessary, which breaks it down a bit.
As you are seeing - AIC is the way to go, even though the files are large. The bonus is that you are getting at least the same quality as that provided by an iMovie import/conversion process.
Thanks for replying and best of luck with your projects!
Also, these things can be partly run overnight if necessary, which breaks it down a bit.
That's exactly what I did - I started the conversion before going to bed Thursday night. It was finished when I got home from work Friday afternoon.
It appears, based on my specific problem with INDEX.BDM, and other folks solving problems by deleting individual clips (use the camera! don't delete the file in the Finder!), that iMovie won't see a camera (or SD card) if there are some? any? a few? problems with the AVCHD volume/folder hierarchy.
If iMovie won't see your camera, but you can see the AVCHD volume in the Finder, then you need to decide when to cut your losses. You might well spend more time, energy, and emotion wrestling with this than you would if you just run a utility overnight to convert your .mts files. I know I wasted a lot of time & emotion on this issue. And it simply wasn't worth it, nor necessary, in the grander scheme of things.
To reiterate: if you can't get your camera recognized by iMovie, but you can see the .mts files in your AVCHD file, you might spend less time using a utility to convert them to AIC .mov files than you will messing with your camera.
Of course, once you get your content into iMovie you should take a step back and figure out if you have a persistent problem with your camera; try reformatting the media (using the camera format media function), shoot a few more clips, and see if iMovie will now recognize your camera.
If no amount of reformatting of your camera's media & changing of camera recording settings results in iMovie recognizing the camera, then, well, you might have another issue or three.
Ranging from a problem with the camera itself, to an iMovie install problem, to... Well, far more possible problems than can be solved in a single discussion posting. A trip to your local Genius Bar is probably in order.
It sounds like you were happy with the conversion to AIC by VoltaicHD. I'm also using a ShedWorx program called RevolverHD, which lets you archive individual clips from your camera. iMovie '09 allows only an "Archive All" function - you can't selectively archive individual clips. That's a bit of a nuisance when you haven't reformatted the camera's hard drive (or SDHC card) and have deleted some old clips and added new content since the last archive.
The only issue I have with RevolverHD is that when archived footage (from a Revolver archive) is imported to iMovie '09 the clips appear to lose details of the actual recording date and time. Instead, the archive date is used in the imported clips in iMovie's Events - these are labelled "Date Created" (being the Revolver archive date). Interestingly, the .m2ts files in Finder exhibit the correct recording date. Note that Revolver creates .m2ts clips when archiving, whereas iMovie's "Archive All" function retains the clips as .MTS files.
Thought this might be of interest to you, seeing that you are now using VoltaicHD.
Thank you for this discussion thread as it proved to be vital in dealing with .mts format with MAC OS.
Anyways, I found a really nice solution rather than buying third party software or connecting a camera so I thought I would share it with you all. I transferred the AVCHD folder from the camera to the desktop and then:
Step 1. Create a disk image file (.dmg) via Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility of the AVCHD folder from camera with all its contents intact. Go to File>New>New image from folder and select the AVCHD folder
Step 2. After creating an image, mount it to the desktop (drag it to desktop and double click it).
Step 3. Open Handbrake (Free open source video file converter,
http://handbrake.fr/downloads.php)
Step 4. Click 'Source' icon and select the AVCHD.dmg file and navigate until you find the .mts files under 'Stream folder'
The handbrake software will convert these files into mp4 keeping the resolution intact which is pretty sweet. I think what happens is that I convinced the software to think that the .dmg file is a separate drive or camera and I was given access to the files. This method still does not work with iMovie09 sadly.
