HELP, need to convert Sony ".MTS" video to a format universally readable at less than

RovingEyePhotoRovingEyePhoto Registered Users Posts: 314 Major grins
edited December 23, 2011 in Video
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> Help, please. I just completed a video interview of my mom, 96 years old, using my daughter's recent-model Sony video cam (about the size of a soft drink can with a flip out screen, fine quality device). Based on replay over the cam's screen and speaker, the interview went great! I downloaded results onto my WIN-XP PC through USB connection. Resulting files are .MTS (5 of them totaling about 7GB); .JPEG (44 of them totaling about 46MB); and .BDM, .MPL and .CPI (several of them totaling very little). My problem is that I can open only the JPEGs, which are of no interest, seem to be randomly drawn from throughout the recording session. My goal is to burn DVDs for my siblings, their children and grand children, so all can share in the irreplaceable family history in what my mom had to say and the visual of seeing her saying it. My needs, of course, are to convert the Sony HD files into some universally readable language (MP3, etc), and hopefully into a lower res allowing the whole thing to fit onto single 4.7GB DVDs. When I tried to open the .MTS files, a popup directed me to download FreeFileViewer, which I did (I hope not a scam, I'll run Kaspersky Anti-Virus as soon as done posting here), but all it could do was open to a long-scrolling screen of numbers/symbols in 3-column format. So PLEASE, if anyone here can get me to where I want to be, sure would appreciate the guidance. Many thanks in advance ...
See my work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/26525400@N04/sets/. Policy is to initially upload 10-20 images from each shoot, then a few from various of the in-process shoots each time I log on, until a shoot is completely uploaded.

Comments

  • angevin1angevin1 Registered Users Posts: 3,403 Major grins
    edited December 18, 2011
    RovingEyePhoto wrote: »
    <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> Help, please. I just completed a video interview of my mom, 96 years old, using my daughter's recent-model Sony video cam (about the size of a soft drink can with a flip out screen, fine quality device). Based on replay over the cam's screen and speaker, the interview went great! I downloaded results onto my WIN-XP PC through USB connection. Resulting files are .MTS (5 of them totaling about 7GB); .JPEG (44 of them totaling about 46MB); and .BDM, .MPL and .CPI (several of them totaling very little). My problem is that I can open only the JPEGs, which are of no interest, seem to be randomly drawn from throughout the recording session. My goal is to burn DVDs for my siblings, their children and grand children, so all can share in the irreplaceable family history in what my mom had to say and the visual of seeing her saying it. My needs, of course, are to convert the Sony HD files into some universally readable language (MP3, etc), and hopefully into a lower res allowing the whole thing to fit onto single 4.7GB DVDs. When I tried to open the .MTS files, a popup directed me to download FreeFileViewer, which I did (I hope not a scam, I'll run Kaspersky Anti-Virus as soon as done posting here), but all it could do was open to a long-scrolling screen of numbers/symbols in 3-column format. So PLEASE, if anyone here can get me to where I want to be, sure would appreciate the guidance. Many thanks in advance ...


    You just need to google what it is you want to convert to. ie: .mts to Mp4 converter, etc. you'll have plenty to choose from.
    tom wise
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited December 18, 2011
    MPEG Streamclip should be able to do whatever you need for conversion.
    Moderator Emeritus
    Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
  • angevin1angevin1 Registered Users Posts: 3,403 Major grins
    edited December 18, 2011
    DavidTO wrote: »
    MPEG Streamclip should be able to do whatever you need for conversion.


    Doesn't take .MTS when I looked
    tom wise
  • DavidTODavidTO Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 19,160 Major grins
    edited December 18, 2011
    angevin1 wrote: »
    Doesn't take .MTS when I looked

    True, the site doesn't list it, but the Mac version lists it in the help doc.
    Moderator Emeritus
    Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,127 moderator
    edited December 19, 2011
    "MTS" is just a file wrapper, and does not specify the actual contents specifications. Often the file can be renamed with a suffix of "mp4" and they will load and play.

    The following freeware can tell you the exact contents of the file, so you can know better what to rename the files.

    You may be able to load the renamed files on Windows MovieMaker, but I highly recommend against it. Windows MovieMaker tends to create as many problems as it solves.

    Avidemux may be able to load and edit the file, and save it as a more universally recognized video type, especially if you intend to post the video on SmugMug. Avidemux is also freeware.

    If you don't have any video codecs installed, you may also need to load a free codec pack:

    While the above will certainly get you started, if you want more stability and control, it would be better to purchase better software specific to editing video files. What I finally chose was Corel's VideoStudio Pro X4. It is very complete and has both a simple, basic edit mode, and a more comprehensive editing mode for advanced work. It will also create files suitable for DVD production.

    You can get it for $40USD.

    http://www.corel.com/corel/product/index.jsp?pid=prod3910160&skuId=ESDVSPRX4ENUG&storeKey=us&trkid=SHOP&kw={keyword}&source=product-ads&adtype=pla

    Understand that for full-high-definition video files you really need a very fast and modern computer. An older XP machine is perfectly capable of DV/SD-DVD quality video, so hopefully that's the quality you're heading for.
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited December 20, 2011
    iSkysoft is a good converter...I use a friends at times....think there is a free version as well as the paid for one.
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

  • RovingEyePhotoRovingEyePhoto Registered Users Posts: 314 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2011
    angevin1 wrote: »
    You just need to google what it is you want to convert to. ie: .mts to Mp4 converter, etc. you'll have plenty to choose from.
    Sounds like an easy answer. Many thanks ...
    See my work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/26525400@N04/sets/. Policy is to initially upload 10-20 images from each shoot, then a few from various of the in-process shoots each time I log on, until a shoot is completely uploaded.
  • RovingEyePhotoRovingEyePhoto Registered Users Posts: 314 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2011
    DavidTO wrote: »
    MPEG Streamclip should be able to do whatever you need for conversion.
    I'll give it a try, thanks ...
    See my work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/26525400@N04/sets/. Policy is to initially upload 10-20 images from each shoot, then a few from various of the in-process shoots each time I log on, until a shoot is completely uploaded.
  • RovingEyePhotoRovingEyePhoto Registered Users Posts: 314 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2011
    ziggy53 wrote: »
    "MTS" is just a file wrapper, and does not specify the actual contents specifications. Often the file can be renamed with a suffix of "mp4" and they will load and play.

    The following freeware can tell you the exact contents of the file, so you can know better what to rename the files. You may be able to load the renamed files on Windows MovieMaker, but I highly recommend against it. Windows MovieMaker tends to create as many problems as it solves.

    Avidemux may be able to load and edit the file, and save it as a more universally recognized video type, especially if you intend to post the video on SmugMug. Avidemux is also freeware. If you don't have any video codecs installed, you may also need to load a free codec pack:

    While the above will certainly get you started, if you want more stability and control, it would be better to purchase better software specific to editing video files. What I finally chose was Corel's VideoStudio Pro X4. It is very complete and has both a simple, basic edit mode, and a more comprehensive editing mode for advanced work. It will also create files suitable for DVD production.

    You can get it for $40USD.

    http://www.corel.com/corel/product/index.jsp?pid=prod3910160&skuId=ESDVSPRX4ENUG&storeKey=us&trkid=SHOP&kw={keyword}&source=product-ads&adtype=pla

    Understand that for full-high-definition video files you really need a very fast and modern computer. An older XP machine is perfectly capable of DV/SD-DVD quality video, so hopefully that's the quality you're heading for.
    Many thanks, Ziggy, I'll follow-up on all this. Regarding newer/older machines, I guess it's always a problem knowing what so many family members might be using. Probably nothing older than my XP, though, so I'll take to heart what you say about the DVD quality. And as busy as I seem to be and at the rate I move on such things, might be a new iMac sitting here by the time I get around to working this out. Interview was grand, though, I'll get the job done ...
    See my work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/26525400@N04/sets/. Policy is to initially upload 10-20 images from each shoot, then a few from various of the in-process shoots each time I log on, until a shoot is completely uploaded.
  • RovingEyePhotoRovingEyePhoto Registered Users Posts: 314 Major grins
    edited December 23, 2011
    Art Scott wrote: »
    iSkysoft is a good converter...I use a friends at times....think there is a free version as well as the paid for one.
    Many thanks, Art, I'll consider along with other responses received here ...
    See my work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/26525400@N04/sets/. Policy is to initially upload 10-20 images from each shoot, then a few from various of the in-process shoots each time I log on, until a shoot is completely uploaded.
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