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Import of AVCHD .MTS files

I really would like to purchase Final Cut Pro X but I would like to check one thing. I need to know if Final Cut Pro X will import .MTS AVCHD files. These were recorded on a Panasonic 1080p Camcorder. I also have 1080i footage. I understand the methods of importing into Final Cut but I don't know if FC will work with these files. I would like to import then edit and then output to bluray.


Many thanks in advance.


Steven

Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Jun 21, 2011 11:41 AM

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Posted on Jun 21, 2011 11:58 AM

Hi.


Final Cut Pro X fully supports AVCHD.

But it is not possible to import single .MTS files.


You will have to back up the full contents of your SD card, with all directories and files and the use the import

from camera and then go to archive.


That is necessary, because AVCDH is a stream and there's additional info saved on the card.


Anyway: if you backup AVCDH, back up the full card with all directories. I always do this for every project.


If you've already thrown everything aways and only kept the .mts files, maybe you could convert them with handbrake to mp4 to at least be able to use them. I don't know of any other method right now out of my mind.

Maybe somebody else can help?

258 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jun 21, 2011 11:58 AM in response to dafishboy

Hi.


Final Cut Pro X fully supports AVCHD.

But it is not possible to import single .MTS files.


You will have to back up the full contents of your SD card, with all directories and files and the use the import

from camera and then go to archive.


That is necessary, because AVCDH is a stream and there's additional info saved on the card.


Anyway: if you backup AVCDH, back up the full card with all directories. I always do this for every project.


If you've already thrown everything aways and only kept the .mts files, maybe you could convert them with handbrake to mp4 to at least be able to use them. I don't know of any other method right now out of my mind.

Maybe somebody else can help?

Jun 21, 2011 1:24 PM in response to dafishboy

Nope, you must import MTS files directly from the camera, from a memory card (with the original file structure in place), or from a camera archive. This is a major bummer for me too because having to use camera archives is stupid. I store all of my MTS files in folders on my hard drive, sorted by date or subject.


Panasonic is supposedly releasing a Final Cut plugin called AVCCam Importer that will allow FC to work with MTS files directly. But I don't know if that's being released for the last version of Final Cut Pro, or if there will be a solution for version X as well? It was announced back in April.


http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1302543677.html

Jun 21, 2011 1:43 PM in response to Winston Churchill

You can import individual clips, yes, but only from the camera itself, the memory card, or from a camera archive. You can't import individual MTS files that are on your hard drive, unless the file structure from the memory card is in place. Many of us only copy the MTS files to our hard drives because we use our own file/folder structure. And while we can play these files in VLC and convert them with a plethora of software, we still cannot import the individual MTS files directly into FC unless you preserve the file structure from the the camera archive.

Jun 21, 2011 7:48 PM in response to Travisimo

I noticed the feature list mentions "Create Camera Archives from any folder of media for importing into Final Cut Pro." Out of curiosity, would anyone be able to check if this applies to .mts files? I have about 60 gigs of .mts I saved straight to a hard drive because I was stuck on a slow iBook while on a trip a year ago and making camera archives was out of the question. Otherwise it looks like I'll just be waiting for Panasonic's tool.

Jun 22, 2011 2:44 AM in response to Geoffrey Legg

I've been trying it - in the Import Camera window, there is a button for "Create Archive", but it only works if I have a camera card or flash drive online. If I deselect them, the button is grayed out. In other words, I can use that button to create a (backup) archive of what's currently on the card (or flash drive) and store it on my Mac hard drive (the archive seems to be only read by Final Cut - it has an ".fcarch" extension in the finder, with a silver film canister icon with a keyhole in the middle). But that's all I can get the button to do. Next to it there's an "Open Archive" button for opening already created archives.


You can't import .mts files directly from the Finder. If you navigate to them from the Import dialog, it will have them grayed out. FCPX doesn't work with them directly, like I was thinking it would from the demo at the Las Vegas sneak peak. It rewraps the MTS file on ingest from the camera and saves it as a MOV file on your Mac, in a format that QuickTime Player reports as "AVC1". I don't think it transcodes (unless you check "optimize media", which transcodes it as a ProRes file); if you import without checking "optimize media", it looks like it just rewraps it, because it doesn't add much to the file size. I imported a 12MB .mts file from the camera and it shows up from "Reveal In Finder" as a newly named 12.7MB MOV file. So I think it's just rewrapping it, but it definitely doesn't work with MTS files directly, only ingesting them from the archive on the camera media, or a Final Cut archive.


That's been my experiences so far.

Jun 22, 2011 4:20 AM in response to Geoff Kaiser

Hi,again.


To sum it up:


When working with AVCHD you have two options.

1. You can import directly from the SD Card — go to import from camera for that.

2. You can copy the full — with all folders, exactly everything that is on the card — contents of the SD card to a folder on your hard drive an archive it that way. If you want to import an archived SD card later on you can go to import from camera and then go for the open archive button, then point to the folder where you keep the back up of that specific card.


It is not possible to import .mts files on their own.

AVCHD on Final Cut needs camera data that is included in the other folders of the SD card.

That's why it's called "Import from camera", even if you only insert the card directly.


If you only backed up the .mts files and that's all you have you will have to convert them outside of Final Cut beforehand. I recommend to make the best of the situation and just download the free tool called "Handbrake".


With Handbrake simply convert the .mts files to mp4 with the same bitrate. You won't lose that much quality. It's really no big deal.

So, if your camera records with AVCHD 17 Mbit for example, convert to mp4 with 17 Mbits. And then import to Final Cut.


In the future be more careful of what you do: read the documentation before you delete something and try to keep a full backup of your cards. I always have a card backup in the project folder, because AVCHD doesn't need that much space anyway.


Hope that helps.

Import of AVCHD .MTS files

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