Create video_ts from M4V

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Create video_ts from M4V

I posted this earlier but now can't find it on this huge site. If you read it please tell me where.

I have a slideshow maker that is excellent but produces only M4V files. I want to change that to a video_ts folder and wish to make that change to be done on the hard drive of this computer. What software will do this?

I know I can burn that M4V to a DVD and that makes the video_ts folder which I can then copy back to the hard drive but that seems to be a long way round. Surely I can do it without have to burn and then trash a dvd.

Somebody is going to ask why. When I have the video_ts folder on this hard drive I can burn a dvd which will show slides on a dvd player and also have the individual data files on the disc.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Aug 19, 2015 7:32 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 20, 2015 3:23 AM in response to dick35

A simple and free way to do this is to download the completely free 'Burn' utility for the Mac. This can not only convert video files like your m4v file to a VIDEO_TS format and burn it to an optical disc, but it also has an option to save it as an 'image' file. This image file is a standard ISO file and you can mount this by double-clicking on it and play it as if it was a real optical disc.

See http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/Pages/English/home.html

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Answer 2

dick35 Author

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Aug 20, 2015 4:01 AM in response to John Lockwood

Thanks, John, that boosted my hopes immensely, but it failed. I have the M4V file produced by my slideshow builder, Fotomagico, which I consider to be an excellent program. This M4V file has produced perfectly good slideshows, when converted to video_ts folders when burning to disc, which work on this mac and my tv. So it looks like there is no problem with that file. When I dropped it into Burn the first message was that it is an incompatible file and it asked if I wanted to convert it to MPG. I clicked yes for that but the conversion failed.

If you think I may have done something wrong, or something else to try, I look forward to it.

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Answer 3

Aug 20, 2015 7:24 AM in response to dick35

You could try using either VLC or Handbrake to convert the video first and the try using the converted video in Burn.

I would try converting your m4v to other mpeg4 variants as the first step but it will be a matter of experimenting. Which Burn version did you download? I downloaded the 64-bit version.

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Answer 4

Eric Root

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Aug 20, 2015 12:44 PM in response to dick35

Video Player - VLC

Video conversion - Handbrake

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Answer 5

dick35 Author

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Aug 20, 2015 12:48 PM in response to John Lockwood

Thanks for the suggestions. Each step makes the process longer. For the one use I have for this disc making each year I think I will stay with the process of burning to disc to get the video_ts folder then copy data and the video_ts to new discs. That works. I was just hoping for a quicker, all on the hard drive, save a wasted disc, process. Nothing simple has been forthcoming but I will have a look at the two you mention.

Thanks for putting your mind to it.

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Answer 6

dick35 Author

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Aug 20, 2015 1:14 PM in response to Eric Root

I have looked and they do not do what I need.

Video Player VLC plays videos nicely but I did not see any opportunity to convert my M4V to video_ts.

Handbrake looked hopeful but it has only two output formats: MP4 and MKV. Not Video_ts.

So, burn a disc, copy video_ts back to the hard drive. Put it all on a new disc.

Thanks for the suggestions.

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Answer 7

Aug 20, 2015 1:33 PM in response to dick35

Even though Handbrake would convert to mp4 which is in theory the same as an m4v still try this. For VLC to get it to convert a file do the following.

Launch VLC
Select Advanced Open File from the File menu
Tick the Streaming/Saving option in the bottom left
Click the Settings button on the right
Select your file at the top
Choose some transcoding options, you will have to experiment with various settings

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Answer 8

dick35 Author

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Aug 20, 2015 1:56 PM in response to John Lockwood

Will that create a video_ts folder? I believe that is what I need on a dvd for it to play automatically on a dvd player through my TV.

Just sending a video file may be ok for the experienced but I need automation and the slideshow needs to run an endless loop. I know that putting my slideshow to disc creating a video_ts folder will do this?

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Answer 9

Aug 20, 2015 2:02 PM in response to dick35

No neither VLC or Handbrake will produce a VIDEO_TS folder but they might convert the video file to a format that Burn is then happy with.

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Answer 10

dick35 Author

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Aug 20, 2015 2:07 PM in response to John Lockwood

Thanks again. Burn was happy to put my M4V file to disc (no change necessary) but it did not make a video_ts folder on the hard drive. When I set it to keep the output on the hard drive it created a different file format.

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Answer 11

Aug 20, 2015 2:15 PM in response to dick35

You need to tell Burn to save as an image file, this will produce an ISO file which you can 'mount' and inside it will be the VIDEO_TS folder.

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Answer 12

dick35 Author

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Aug 20, 2015 2:21 PM in response to John Lockwood

True but can I add a folder of data files at the same time as mounting the ISO file? My last try like that created the slideshow dvd but failed to add the data files.

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Answer 13

Aug 20, 2015 2:23 PM in response to dick35

Data files are not part of the DVD standard. Burn will merely take your video file(s) and make a DVD or ISO that can be played as a movie.

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Answer 14

dick35 Author

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Aug 20, 2015 2:42 PM in response to John Lockwood

True again but....... My need is to have a playable dvd which also has data files (JPEGS) in a folder for the user to access. I can do this if I have a video_ts folder and a folder of data files on my hard drive. Then I use Toast to put these on a disc in DVD-ROM (UDF) format. This works. I just hoped I could find software to create the video_ts folder on my hard drive without having to burn to disc.

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Answer 15

Aug 20, 2015 3:27 PM in response to dick35

Make the VIDEO_TS using Burn as described, then mount the ISO as described. The tell Burn to make a new Data disc, add the VIDEO_TS folder to the data disc, and add your folder of JPEGs, then burn it as a UDF disc.

The VIDEO_TS movie will play in a standard DVD player but to see the JPEGs you will need to put it in a computer.

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