Which .mts file converter do you use?

[afhrhs@gmail.com]

I have a new iMac desktop (10.6.4) that I got for Christmas. I have a canon HD camcorder that records in .mts mode. I have spent hours upon hours to figure out the following:

a) iMovie 11 will not transport .mts files
b) The .mts files must be converted in order to be used on the mac

With that said, which .mts file converter are you guys using? Everyone I found costs $35.00, and I don't mind paying the fee, but is there one that is better than the others? For instance, I have found iorgsoft, moyea mts, MTS converter (which I have downloaded and seems to work ok, but it's a trial version and you can only see the first minute of the video).

Which one is the best? Is there a free option that will suffice?

I want to transfer the files to .mp4 or whatever so I can upload into iMovie '11 and burn them to a DVD. Thanks everyone!

[Daniel Rutter]

Try searching "Free Video Converter Mac"

OR: http://www.macyourself.com/2009/03/2...y-file-format/
I recommend Handbrake.

[cgbier]

Maybe you should start with reading the manuals first. You have to import the full file structure from your camera. Then it'll work with iMovie like a breeze.
Handbrake is a bad choice for that task. It's decoder is good for ripping DVD, but not for "full quality" transcode.
Download Perian and MPEG Streamclip.

[Bob Sanders]

Maybe you should start with reading the manuals first. You have to import the full file structure from your camera. Then it'll work with iMovie like a breeze.

The MTS files still must be converted.

Try clipwrap. It will not reencode or transcode

[cgbier]

Yes, Bob, but this will be done by iMovie or FCE/P in the log and transfer.

[Bob Sanders]

Yes, Bob, but this will be done by iMovie or FCE/P in the log and transfer.

Not with clipwrap.
Clipwrap simply changes the container. In this case fram M2TS (or MTS) to MOV, which then imports directly to imovie or fcp, but as stated in a previous thread.... it's just simply avchd (h.264 + audio) re-wrapped in another container. Both FCP and imovie will have time line performance issues, and those issues can be pretty severe depending on the age of your mac.

[HueyNRolf]

Yes, Bob, but this will be done by iMovie or FCE/P in the log and transfer.

[Bob Sanders]

Yes, Bob, but this will be done by iMovie or FCE/P in the log and transfer.

Correct me if I'm wrong.... but I'm under the assumption that "Log and transfer" transcodes the video?
Clipwrap doesn't transcode. It simply changes containers

[HueyNRolf]

Yes, Bob, but this will be done by iMovie or FCE/P in the log and transfer.

[Bob Sanders]

Yes, Bob, but this will be done by iMovie or FCE/P in the log and transfer.

from the OP:

Which one is the best......so I can upload into iMovie '11 and burn them to a DVD.

"log and transfer"....transcodes only to require transcoding again for dvd.... quite the waste of time. Changing containers allows ORIGINAL material to be loaded which will require transcoding zero to one time (depending on whether you're going HD or SD).

Now editing is a different story. "log and transfer" would be the better bet since Apple software wasn't really built to deal with such heavy formats as h.264

[cgbier]

... and all that comes from daily experience with anything Apple. Right?

[Bob Sanders]

... and all that comes from daily experience with anything Apple. Right?

I never for one single second said I had ANY experience on apple software. My experience in this thread is simply passed on from others:

Pedanes,

Your solution [clipwrap] worked just perfectly! I would only add one more thing: when copying/moving .MOV files into the 'Events' folder, it is necessary to create a sub-folder with a name for the event. This is actually quite practical, as it allows you to sort out your clips into these, well, Events. Once the files are in their proper Event folder, iMovie takes a minute or two to go through them and generate those thumbnails.

The only problematic issue remains there: performance with AVCHD. I tried this on my current generation MacBook (base model), and the most prominent feature of iMovie (ability to scrub live over video) simply doesn't work, due to the extremely heavy demands of the codec on the processor. This will be a problem with all long GOP (group-of-pictures) codecs, which is why iMovie transcodes video into AIC by default. Situation is somewhat better on a new iMac (Core i3), in that playback is smoother, but scrubbing most definitely won't work as expected. You still get a lot of spinning beach balls. If you can work around the scrubbing feature (mousing around carefully, to avoid swiping your mouse pointer across a video clip), you won't see that beach ball that much.

The advantages of the editing of AVCHD directly are (at least) two (that I can think of):

1. Reducing/eliminating any artifacts that may be introduced during transcoding from AVCHD into AIC;
2. Conserving hard drive space while editing (AIC would take up to five times as much space)

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/avchd-fo...ml#post1586305

[iThinkergoiMac]

I never for one single second said I had ANY experience on apple software. My experience in this thread is simply passed on from others

Wait... isn't this exactly what you were criticizing me for?

[Bob Sanders]

Wait... isn't this exactly what you were criticizing me for?

No.
I'm relying on what other people have said and made that quite clear right from the start of the other thread. You on the other hand are relying on little more than your PERSONAL opinion... which in this case is based on air. I stated there were complaints about the quality of the imovie transcode and you in a nutshell said that those complaints would not be valid because they're using the program wrong. I asked you if you discovered this by talking to them personally... and you STILL have not completely answered that question. In fact if my memory serves me correct, you simply skated around it.

You CONTINUE to insist the quality will not be bad even though you have never tried it yourself and as far as I know, never talked to the people complaining. You have taken a pile of assumptions from the air and you are trying to make people swallow them based on a..... whim.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

[HueyNRolf]

Yes, Bob, but this will be done by iMovie or FCE/P in the log and transfer.

[Bob Sanders]

Yes, Bob, but this will be done by iMovie or FCE/P in the log and transfer.

[iThinkergoiMac]

I asked you if you discovered this by talking to them personally... and you STILL have not completely answered that question. In fact if my memory serves me correct, you simply skated around it.

Skated around it? I very specifically answered it: "No, but I can extrapolate. [...] FCP imports at full quality, and there are very few complaints about that quality. With the "Original" setting, iMovie imports at the same quality as FCP. Therefore, complaints about quality in iMovie are very, very likely to be because of the import setting not being set to "Original", because otherwise we should have as many complaints about FCP as about iMovie, and we don't." This is also not a statement of fact, but of my opinion.

You CONTINUE to insist the quality will not be bad even though you have never tried it yourself and as far as I know, never talked to the people complaining. You have taken a pile of assumptions from the air and you are trying to make people swallow them based on a..... whim.

As I've stated multiple times (and you conveniently ignore it): "I've imported the same clip via both iMovie and FCP, and they were identical in every way." How is this having never tried it?

Now, if you want to talk about questions you've skated around... that's a different thing entirely.

[Bob Sanders]

Skated around it? I very specifically answered it: "No, but I can extrapolate.

Yes of course... my mistake. It was the "capture" issue you skated around..... saying some dumb thing like "well it's the same as...."

"I've imported the same clip via both iMovie and FCP, and they were identical in every way.

And what does that have to do with avchd???
I suppose next you're going to tell us you know how to build the space shuttle because you saw a picture of it one time.

[HueyNRolf]

Shame on you, Bob, for having nothing better to do.

[Bob Sanders]

Shame on you, Bob, for having nothing better to do.

Wow... pot calling kettle black!

[iThinkergoiMac]

And what does that have to do with avchd???

Nothing. It has to do with your comment about how AIC created by iMovie and AIC created by FCP aren't the same. I never said or implied that it had anything to do with AVCHD. If you thought I did, you didn't read it carefully enough.

[Bob Sanders]

Nothing. It has to do with your comment about how AIC created by iMovie and AIC created by FCP aren't the same. I never said or implied that it had anything to do with AVCHD. If you thought I did, you didn't read it carefully enough.

You like changing your story about every 15 minutes or so don't you.

FCP imports at full quality, and there are very few complaints about that quality. With the "Original" setting, iMovie imports at the same quality as FCP. Therefore, complaints about quality in iMovie are very, very likely to be because of the import setting not being set to "Original", because otherwise we should have as many complaints about FCP as about iMovie, and we don't.

[bean]

I feel sorry for this guy...every time he asks a simple question, he gets a flame war.

[Jergling]

Just in case you neglect to read your other thread, afhrhs, you do not need a converter for the HF20 to work with iMovie '11. In the other thread, I described in extreme detail how to do it. I wrote the instructions while performing them, with my HF200 and a Mac running iMovie '11 and OSX Snow Leopard.