What is an M2TS file?

Is this the right place to ask this?
I recently bought a Panasonic HDC-TM300 video camera. (Yes, it's lovely.) Played with it shooting stuff on the street etc. Imported them to my computer and they played fine using an ordinary viewer. Now my computer doesn't recognise these same files. Shot some more, all imported via an SD card. Can't get the computer to play them nor the ones already imported THAT DID PLAY when I first took them across.
It seems that they are M2TS files.
However. Adobe Premiere Elements 7 does accept them, but plays them haltingly, seeming to jump several frames along as it bumbles through. Very puzzled that files that did run, now don't. They all play perfectly well when reviewed within the camera itself.
I know very little about the ins and outs of video file formats. Nor about AVCHD and other recording modes. I do know a bit about making TV programmes, but only as a BBC Producer (now retired) who always had technical people around to manage the hardware and press the right buttons. (And, it should be said, to make very valuable creative contributions to the programmes we made.)
Any thoughts, anyone?

The files from your camcorder are 1920x1080 resolution compressed using MPEG4 h.264 format. That compression is very efficient at making the files smaller and still reproducing a beautiful picture. The problem is that to decompress it is very processor intensive. Dedicated players can play it back fairly well, but for an editor to decompress it into memory for editing and display it for preview is a bit much to ask of most hardware. That is why at one point your player ran fine, but dropping it into PE yields choppy playback. I am not sure what happend to screw up your player. PE is doing its best and it is really expecting too much of it to play it back well unless you are on a powerhouse workstation.
Development is in progress at some manufacturers to improve the ability for editors to play it back. Some manufacturers are pursuing methods of transcoding it to intermediate formats for edit.
For the time being, take the raw files and transcode it to a high bit rate alternate file such as HDV before editing it.
JMHO
KK

Similar Messages

What's hardware should upgrade for Using Premiere CS4 to editing (AVCHD)m2ts file?

What's hardware or software should upgrade for Using Premiere CS4 to editing (AVCHD)m2ts file?
1st question: when i try to do editing by using Premiere CS4 AVCHD sequence timeline, the edting monitor seems not smooth (like wearing goggles) & delay, and when i use AME to encode m2ts file (which not yet edit) to AVI file (about 1 hour), it take 2h 13min to finish, is it normal?
2nd question: i use mpeg2 HD 1440 file to do eding, the edting monitor also not very smooth but better than using m2ts file, after editing done, i try to encode these mpeg2 HD 1440 file (which edited about long 1 hr) to a New file mpeg2 1440 X 1080i HQ or even mpeg2 Pal DV HQ file, the encoding was not runthe encoding after wait for half an hour. How many hours it take usually????
3rd question: i use m2ts file video file to export as a Bitmap, 1 frame 1 picture bitmap, it take long time too, about 1 or 2min to finish encoding, if i export more than 1 picture, it take even more time, i have experienced it, 3 or 4 pictures need about 10 or 15 min to finish encoding. i used to using mpeg2 HD 1440 file (which edited file) to export frame as picture, it not run the encoding at all. WHY ????
i'm new in Premiere CS4,so i got many question about Premiere CS4, usually i use Premiere Pro 1.5 version
my computer is: Intel (R) Core (TM) 2 Duo CPU
                         E7400 @ 2.80 GHz
                         2.80 GHz, 2.00 GB RAM
                         Graphic Card: ATI Radeon X1650 series
                        2 Hard Disks in my computer (C Drive is 300 GB (not sata) , D Drive is 500 GB sata)
4th Question: Premiere CS5 & Premiere CS4 which one is better ???
5th Question: What's different ATI Radeon and NVIDIA Card, which is better, which u suggest to. What is different Graphic Card and Video Card ?? Should i install HD Video Card ????

I don't think a core-2 will work very well with AVCHD... you need at least an Intel i7 920... or whatever is current
My CS5/AVCHD 1st Impressions http://forums.adobe.com/thread/652694?tstart=0 includes a link to the computer I built... since the GTX 285 is no longer sold, I would now go with a GTX 460 or whatever is the current "best bang for the buck" - AND I would buy 4Gig-by-3Sticks memory to be able to expand from 12Gig to 24Gig if needed
For my home hobbyist, family movies (which means that I am not trying to recreate Star Wars with video effects or many layers) AVCHD editing is "as smooth as spreading warm butter on hot toast" (also the MP4 video from wife's Flip camera)
My 3 hard drives are configured as...
1 - 320G WD Win7 and all programs
2 - 320G WD Win7 swap file and PPro projects
3 - 1T WD all video files... read and write

What is the best way to import m2ts files into iMovie?

I have spent the afternoon reading various forums about converting m2ts files into iMovie. Transferring the files back onto the HD Sony Handicam is not an option. I therefore need to somehow convert the files as they stand. There seems to be 2 main options to convert files from .m2ts to .mov:
1. Download MPEG Streamclip; drag clips into window; export to QuickTime and choose Apple Intermediate Codec.
2. Download Clip Wrap ($50) to rewrap m2ts files into mov files.
It seems that option 2 is likely to be quicker and easier. Is this other people's experience? Any feedback would be extremely helpful.....I am a fairly new Mac user.
Cheers.

MPEG Streamclip cannot do m2ts files.
Your options are ClipWrap and Voltaic HD. Both cost money but should work fine.
I believe Karsten Schlüter has posted some free alternatives on his website. Let me see if I can find his link.
Here it is. http://sites.google.com/site/karstenschluter/mts-to-mov
You should only need to do this for your existing files. For any files you shoot in the future, you can import them into iMovie directly from your camera, or easier still, from your SDHC card.
A good tip is to create an archive of your clips so that you have the original clips along with the original folder structure. That way you will not have to use ClipWrap or Voltaic on future shoots. You will find the Archive function on the iMovie Import screen when your camera is attached. I am in the habit of 1) creating an archive. 2) Importing to iMovie from the Archive. 3) Making a backup copy of the archive off-site 4) Only then, reformat the camera to clear it out for the next shoot.

Advice on using .m2ts files in FCP 6.0.6

Hi All,
A client just handed me a usb hard drive with a bunch of files transferred from a sony hdr-sr5. Each folder has a 3 files with .m2ts, .modd, and .moff extensions. I'm not sure how they did the transfer, but I'm guessing it wasn't with video editing in mind. I need to use the footage in a normal SD project to go on a DVD. I had originally thought that I could use the Log and Transfer window to bring the footage in, but trying to do that brings up an error dialog - something about incorrect format for the media...
I've seen some other posts about using mpegstreamclip, but everytime I open up the .m2ts files the program crashes right after it puts up the window of the video. I also saw posts about using Toast 9 to convert and I did a quick test and was able to convert one of the files. I selected DV/DVPRO and the export format and did get a usable file, obviously squeezed though.
So I guess my question is - is there a better way than using Toast to get this footage ingested in a format I can use? Or if Toast is the best method what settings should I use? When Toast opens up the .m2ts file it indicates that it is H.264/1440x1080 29.97fps.
I would appreciate any guidance anyone could provide.
Thanks,
Chris

This topic could be clarified by MXF4mac support. It was a normal restriction from the demo version.
Please use the support contact form on our website whenever possible: http://mxf4mac.com/services/support/

Can anyone explain how I go from a Sony HD camcorder .m2ts file to viewing the video in HD on either DVD or Blu-Ray?

I have recently started to edit footage taken on a Sony HD Camcorder using iMove 11.
Uploading the .m2ts file was no problem straight from the camera to iMovie, but I (stupidly) assumed that I could burn an HD DVD from iMovie/iDVD to view on a DVD player. I've done a bit of internet research to find out why the quality of the DVD is so bad i.e. SD rather than HD and I think I understand it. Just.
Further searching to find out our to convert AVCHD/.m2ts to either HD DVD or Blu-ray has boiled my brain. So much stuff I read was a couple of years old so I wasn't sure what is possible.
Can anyone tell me how I get to the point where I can upload the .m2ts to the iMac, edit the footage and burn a Blu-Ray or HD DVD?
Cheers!

Booted the Mac this morning and it now works. I tried Alchroma's solution but whether the stereo is Plain or Matrix, it works both ways. I don't think that this was the solution as a result, but thanks for the suggestion. To confirm, my Easy set up is HD / AVCHD Apple 1920 x1080i60, the only thing I can think I did differently compared to yesterday is that I shut my Mac down having changed the Easy setup. Previously, I only changed the easy setup then closed FCE4 down.

M2t files in Adobe Bridge

Is there any way to preview .m2t files in Adobe Bridge?
Note that if i rename the .m2t to .mpg or.avi the preview is ok.
Thanks in advance

Hello Curt and Charlie
Thank you both for taking the time to help me with my tif file problem. Unfortunately none of the sugestions worked and consequently I decided to reinstall the Photoshop suite without removing the existing programme. I did this hoping it would repair any corrupted files and because I took fright at the deactivate message not knowing what the implications would be for installing on other computers or in the event of a hard drive failure.
Anyway, the result was that I still could not see my tifs as picture thumbnails in Bridge. I hit on the idea of trying the original RAW files and converting them into fresh tifs in Photoshop CS3. Hey presto, I can see these fresh tifs as picture thumbnails in Adobe Bridge, so I can go back to my original workflow if I want with any new photographs.
I then reinstalled lightroom 2 and it happily shows all the tifs I possess as picture thumnails. By some trickery I don't understand I used the edit as a copy function in Lightroom for one of the tifs I can't see in Bridge. I was surprised to find the new copy created in Lightroom is viewable as a picture thumbnail tif in Bridge. So I now have a workaround to see some of my old heavily-processed tifs as picture thumbnails in Bridge. I'm still completely mystified why my original tifs won't show as picture thumbnails in Bridge.
The irony is that after this amount of playing around in Lightroom I have begun to get used to it and found it can do what I was trying to do in Bridge i.e. quickly identify and compare different versions of the same image after differing Photoshop post-processing regimes. Instead, I'm now wondering if I will ever need to bother with Bridge again - is there anything that Bridge can do that Lightroom can't?
Thanks again for your help
Regards
Steve

Is there a plug-in available to use .m2t files in AE?

Hi. I'm pretty disheartened about what I have learned about AE CS4 not working well, at all, with my HDV footage. I have spent a lot of money to be able to shoot, edit and add Effects to HDV footage. Everything works well accept the Effects. Can anyone suggest a solution to this depressing problem? Is there something I can download so AE can work with .m2t files? Will Adobe be addressing this major problem in the future? Besides, isn't HD or HDV THE FUTURE? How do Hollywood and the networks use AE "The industry Standard" to add effects to their HD footage? This seems to be a question that nobody seems to want to answer or can. If all hope is lost with this and I do have to convert the .m2t files can someone suggest quality conversion software and what files type I can convert it to that will look half desent? I have tried MP4, AVI and WMV and they all look bad when I bring them into AE. I'm sorry for my tone as I am quite disapointed.
If anyone could shed any light on this problem it would be much appreciated, thanks.
Ryan

OK here are the rest of the specs:
Motherboard: INTEL DP35DPM, Socket 775
Processor: INTEL CORE2 QUAD @ 3GHz, 1333FSB, 12MB CACHE
RAM:        KINGSTON 8GB KIT (2 X 4GB) DDR2 800MHz (maunf. model# KVR800D2N6K2/8G)
VIDEO CARD: PNY NVIDIA QUADRO FX 570 256MB PCI-E (manuf. Model# VCQFX570-PCIEPB)
O/S:         MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA BUSINESS 64BIT
I did update AE to 9.02 and that fixed all of the freezing problems while I was work on a project but I am still having problems rendering out a quicktime movie that will work in Avid.
I finally got a quicktime animation to render out of AE but my computer crashes when I try and import to avid.
Then I have tryed the Avid Codec Selections with Quicktime Movie including Avid 1X1, Avid DNxHD, Avid Meridien Compressed, Avid Meridien Uncompressed, Avid MPEG 2 -50, Avid Packed Codec and none of those even started to render out. I says that it is queued but not started and it just stays like that until I click my mouse again. Then the screen goes white and it says that AE is not responding. I tried to render out a Quicktime Animation again and this same problem occured.
What is the Open GL renderer? I did try to render with the Open GL selected but I had the same results.
What is compression?   Should I render compressed or un-compressed?
I have updated my NVIDIA drivers aswell.
So basically my computer crashes when exporting from AE and when importing to Avid. Do you have any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.
Thanks,
Ryan

Batch renaming of m2t files from compact flash card

I just upgraded from FCE to FCP. I wonder if there is a way to rename m2t files captured from a CF card, either in the log&capture window or directly after that, in the browser? Now I have different cards with the same file name beginning (e.g. 00_) and that makes it impossible to sort them logically in a bin, even when I chose recording time and date as a criterium.

Update, I hooked up an external Powered USB port and plugged my card reader into it. When I run it this way, it works fine. It seams that I am having a power problem with my USb port when hooking up the non-powered device to the ports. What would cause my ports not to power my non-powered devices....software....hardware...? Profiler shows USB ports as 500 power.

Problems capturing the sound layer when importing m2ts files

Hi all, I'm new to the whole video editing side of things and so would appreciate some help.
I've just acquired a Canon HF200 HD camcorder, and a Sony Vaio notebook which came with Premiere Elements 7.0 pre-installed.
For the last month I've been shooting footage, and just getting down to trying to edit everything and put a DVD together.
The problem I have at the moment (and I've just started using the program, so everything is new to me) is that while I seem to be able to import the m2ts file format in which my camera records, only the video is imported into Premiere - not the audio (it reads the file ok, and no errors appear, but when I go to review the footage there is video but no sound).
I can play all my videos in Windows Media Player just fine, with both video and audio. So it seems my machine is able to read the files correctly in this program. However, the audio seems to drop out when I import the file into Premiere. The program was pre-installed in my machine, and when I go in to have a look at the audio settings, there doesn't seem to be an ability to change the settings to something different.
So far I've spent a long time googling and trying to find a solution, but with no joy just yet.
Appreciate any assistance the anyone can offer. Is there just a simple setting that I need to change? Or do I need to somehow convert the files into another format before Elements 7.0 can read them?
Thanks.
Jeff

the machine I have seems to comply with the specs required by PE7 (and given that it came with PE7 pre-installed that should be the case).
There are two things to consider:
1.) editing most footage, especially SD material
2.) editing AVCHD, currently the most demanding of all common video formats to edit. This is what you have.
Now, when you launch PrE, you get a splash screen. There you can Open New (create a new Project), Open an existing Project that has been opened recently, or Open a Project by navigating to it. One can also Exit.
In your case, you will go to New and when that dialog box opens, choose the Preset for AVCHD w/ DD 5.1 SS Audio.
Also note, that when in the Edit Mode, there are two View Modes (accessed via two icons to the left of the lower Panel), Timeline View Mode and Sceneline View Mode. For DD 5.1 SS Audio Clips, you will find Timeline View Mode to be the best. Now, you can switch back and forth, but Timeline View Mode will give you infinite control. It is the view that most editing programs use, and that most editors use.
Good luck,
Hunt
PS - I strongly recommend Steve Grisetti's book, The Muvipix.com Guide to Adobe Premiere Elements 7.

Import .m2ts files to imovie11

I have a sony HDR-SR1. I used PC and sony picture utility to save the .m2ts file in the external hard disk. Now I have a new macbook air and imovie11. How can I directly import the .m2ts files into imovie11?? I don't want to convert the .m2ts files to other format for importing. Thank you.

Why are AVCHD files copied and re-wrapped?
Because they're .mts files and are complete crap for editing. Try to edit them in Premiere. It is truly awful. It's a camera manufacturer's solution with total disregard for the production process. What's so bad about rewrapping?
To where?
To your Final Cut Events folder.
If I already have a external drive with those files on it why would I make yet another copy of those files?
See 1.
Still calling it "Optinize" really isn't what's happening is it?
Seems like it to me. It's taking a truly horrible video format and making it into something useable for production in very high quality. What's not optimization about that?
I guess the users should read the manual or get a good book or training DVD.

Export as MPEG2 results in M2t file

Hi,
when I try to export my video as a MPEG2 (regardingless which resolution) I always get a M2T file.
When I started the export first I got a prompt that asked for administration rights. Because the regeidtor asked for this rights I was a little bit confused and denied the request.
What do I have to do to get a real MPEG2 export?
Thanks

akraemer030
Let us cut to the core of the matter.
What is your definition of a real "MPEG2 export"?
Under Publish+Share/Computer/MPEG, what you set for Presets determines what you get for video compression, file extension, and the rest of the
properties of the export file.
If you select
MPEG2 1440 x 1080i25
MPEG2 1440 x 1080i30
MPEG2 1920 x 1080i25
MPEG2 1920 x 1080i30
You get a video file which uses MPEG2 video compression with a .m2t file extension and a companion instructional file with the file extension .xmpses.
This File Type is described as MPEG2 Blu-ray.
You can customize the preset under the Advanced Button/Video Tab and Audio Tab.
The specific video codec that it uses is named MainConcept MPEG Video.
If you select
HDTV 1080i25 High Quality
HDTV 1080p24 High Quality
HDTV 1080p25 High Quality
HDTV 1080p30 High Quality
You get only a file which uses MPEG2 video compression with a .mpg file extension.
This File Type is described as MPEG2.
You can customize the preset under the Advanced Button/Video Tab and Audio Tab.
The specific video codec that it uses is named MainConcept MPEG Video.
These choices do not include a companion instructional file.
If you select
NTSC DVD Standard
NTSC DVD Widescreen
PAL DVD Standard
PAL DVD Widescreen
You get only a file which uses MPEG2 video compression with a .mpg file extension.
This File Type is described as MPEG2 DVD.
You can customize the preset under the Advanced Button/Video Tab and Audio Tab.
The specific video codec that it uses is named MainConcept MPEG Video.
These choices do not include a companion instructional file.
There are a few other presets under Publish+Share/Computer/MPEG that I have not defined as above. I will leave that for you to check out in the
scheme that I have provided.
All of the above being written, I believe the matter resolves to the question that I asked at the beginning
What is your definition of a real "MPEG2 export"?
If you need any help in selecting project settings for your Premiere Elements project, please supply details of
a. project preset
b. properties of source media
c. intended export description and intended type of use
Thank you.
ATR
Add On...All this applies if
a. You are running the program from a User Account with Administrative Privileges
and
b. Have latest version of QuickTime installed on computer with Premiere Elements.

Adobe premiere pro 1.5.1 -working on m2t files

I use adobe premiere pro 1.5 for editing. Recently I installed plug-in to edit HDV. So now its version adobe premiere pro 1.5.1
I am converting m2t files using HDLink to AVI and importing them to pro 1.5.1
Everything is fine on the source monitor. However, when I edit a sequence on timeline and render it, its a black video.
What could be the problem and how to fix it? Thanks!

Now Jim, I don't chide you THAT much...
I do agree about populating the "toolbox" with the necessary tools for the job. That might mean convertion programs, utilities and even other NLE's. At the end of the day, it is about "getting the job out of the door." Now, one may like Snap-On, or Craftsman, or MAC (the tools, not the computer/OS), and knowing the various options is good. Some want only freeware solutions, or something that is already on their systems, while others think nothing of spending 100's of $'s for a tool.
The more choices open to a poster, to solve the problem at hand, the better, IMHO.
For most of my conversions, I use a particular program. It is not freeware, but works for me in 99% of my instances. Still, it would not be the first choice of someone looking for a freeware solution.
It is also nice when a program does everything one wants from it, with everything that they throw at it. Unfortunately, we live in the real world, so workarounds, with other software, will likely come into play - whether with WMM, PE (in my case), or others. I think that the forum regulars do a good job of offering the posters those options, and would not want to see it any other way.
Keep up the good work everyone!
Hunt

Importing m2ts files in Premiere Elements

Just got myself a new SONY HD Camcorder - HDR-CX520V. Came back from vacation and I have around 300 short video clips that I have taken. All clips are in m2ts format which is AVCHD 1080i format.
When loaded in SONY's PMB, a utility that came with the camcorder, all the files are OK, look great in HD quality with the widescreen format, ...
So now that I want to edit those videos and make a movie out of them, I loaded them in Premiere Elements 8.0. No problems, or errors. Now in the organizer, the thumbnails look distorted. Their aspect ratio has changed, and the quality looks much more inferior. When I double click a clip, it plays with the distorded aspect ratio - almost like a 4:3 aspect ratio - and the quality is far far from what I see in Sony's PMB. As if it was downgraded from HD to SD and from 16:9 aspect ratio to a 4:3.
Before I embark on my video editiing journey, am I doing anything wrong? Do I need to do anything before loading my m2ts files in PRE 8?

First, ensure that your Premiere Elements project is using the AVCHD project settings. (And, if your camcorder records in 5.1 audio, that you have that selected to.) Otherwise, nothing else will work.
Second, you should use Premiere Elements to download the video from the camcorder to your computer. Go to Get Media/AVCHD Camcorder.
The fact that you're using a different utility may well be why the video looks distorted in the Organizer.

M2t files in FCP X?

Hello Tom or Other,
We are using a Data Video HD production kit with hard drives and it records to M2t files. FCP X will not see these files. We would like to be able to join the clips from the hard drive and then import them into FCP X. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Jordan

Data Video HD production kit with hard drive
What is this exactly? Maybe a link to somewhere that shows tech specs. Are you talking about this
http://www.datavideo.us/datavideo-product-families/datavideo-switchers/datavideo -se-2000-switcher-switcher-kit/

M2T files in FCE3.5?

How can I handle M2T files in FCE 3.5?
Will version 4 recognize them?....Is there an easy way to convert them to the Qucktime intermediate codec?....I understand that in this form they take up way more space?
thanks
Len

The m2t file is what my firestore4hd stores the HD clips in....(I know that the firestore people have a download that will let their FSPro units store in the intermediate HD Quicktime format)
I just thought that if I could edit in HD and output to HD tape, I'd have a compledted HD project for the future when it would be easier to make HD dvds....
In the meantime, I can just have my camcorder down-convert the footage to standard DV where the firestore can save in SD quicktime format....but of course I'd just be editing and outputing in SD....

What is an M2TS file?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for