One Solution for Editing AVCHD
This Christmas, I got the coolest gift ever; a Sony HDR-SR1
It’s amazing.
Only one problem…it’s from Sony.
Why is this a problem? Because Sony is notorious for using propriety hardware and software in their equipment and their latest entry into the HD camcorder market is no different.
It records footage in the Advanced Video Codec High Definition (AVCHD) format which was created by Sony and Panasonic. The most significant benefit of this new format is that it’s more efficient than MPEG-2, which is typically found in HDV cameras. It also supports 5.1 encoded audio. (So with home movies you can actually hear your dad behind you as he shoots)
What’s the catch?
Currently… there is NO EDITING SOFTWARE THAT SUPPORTS THE NEW CODEC!!
Okay, that’s not entirely true. Sony does package some very low-end editing software that can trim AVCHD (.mts) files. But what if you want to make something useful?
Adobe Premiere Pro
By installing PowerDVD 7, you install support for the AVCHD codec. This means that, unlike before, you can now play AVCHD files in Windows Media Player (or whatever player you prefer). Now TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress steps in to finish the job.
This latest release from Pegasys Inc. allows you to decode, and re-encode, any file readable by Windows Media Player. That’s good news.
Now you can take each AVCHD file and do a batch encode to a Windows Media file using its latest HD codec. If you have Divx support, you can also encode to its HD standard.
Either way it’s a win. The result will be a file you can edit with any mainstream production suite.
So good luck all you early adopters and welcome to the pains of being one of the first people to break into the world of high definition recording!
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December 28th, 2006 at 8:34 pm
I currently have Powerdvd 7 and i cant play AVCHD in powerdvd or WMP. any Ideas that could help me would be amazing? Thanks for the guide.
January 2nd, 2007 at 1:12 am
I got the camcorder too–any tips on how to transcode the clips so I can use them with my Mac?
January 2nd, 2007 at 10:07 am
Jeff -
From what I’ve gathered, AVCHD support for Mac is almost nonexistent. However, I’m hopeful that the major video editing software providers will support the codec soon.
January 9th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Where can a beginner find reliable content on video editing without being in over their head?
January 9th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Cherubin,
Depends on what you’re looking to do. What are you getting into?
March 6th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Hey your post was excellent, any ideas on where the best place to get Cyberlink powerDvd 7 and Tmpgenc 4.0 xpress is? thanks
March 7th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
J2,
You can buy Cyberlink PowerDVD 7
at Amazon.com and can buy the TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress software from Pegasys Inc.
March 17th, 2007 at 2:08 am
I just Installed PowerDVD 7 and When I try to play avchd files, I only got the audio. I uninstall+reinstall , I tried to install the latest release of FFMPEG, Still no luck.
Any idea aside from returning this camera where it came from?
March 19th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Lange,
My first question is, are you running a PC or Mac? If PC, what type of hardware are you using (Processor / RAM)? After I installed PowerDVD 7 and AVCHD files play, but it’s very choppy. Not ideal. If you’re running a Mac… it might be time to return the camera.
I don’t believe Mac supports AVCHD yet.
Good luck!
June 7th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Sony’s VEGAS software now has an update for editing AVCHD. The downside is that it supports only up to 720p while the camera produces 1080i (at only 1440 horizontal instead of the full 1920). Doubtless it’s a copy protection thing that Sony and other movie studios require. After all, it’s not your videos that you’re capturing; it’s probably commercial movies, and they must not let you produce those at full resolution, so you can’t produce your own either. If you want full resolution out, you must use the camera as your playback unit. Indeed, there is no video input option on the camera; so it can’t be used for duping.
On the other hand, NERO has recently introduced an update for its video software that permits up to 1080i encoding of AVCHD files (m2ts). I’ve no BluRay burner, so I’ve only used NERO to make letterboxed 480i DVDs of AVCHD materials, but it works credibly for that. So if you own NERO 7, update your software now. IN THEORY, it will burn 1080i to a BluRay disc. Let me know how that works for you.
June 11th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
I have tried the new Nero software without a lot of success. I’m going to try it again with my new machine, but I had issues with the codec. I can’t put my finger on it, but it seems like Nero’s support isn’t as efficient as PowerDVD’s.
Odd.
But thanks for the info!
June 26th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Hi, Brian. Here’s my problem: I have a PANASONIC AG-HSC1UP, which records into a 4GB SDHC card. I need to retrieve the video files from the SD card in order to (1) empty the card for future recordings and (2) edit the contents of my recordings for a presentation I have to do soon. None of the software I’ve downloaded seem to recognize the extension files “.MTS”. Cyberlink PowerDVD, TMPGEnc 4.0 Express, InterVideo WinDVD 8 and Panasonic’s HD Writer (which came with the camera) all read “format not recognized” (or something to that effect) when I connect the camera to my PC. Trying to connect the card, itself, to my SD reader has proven to be a waste of time, since it takes too long to “autoplay” and the autopley folder never comes up. Do you have any suggestions for a software which could read my SD cards (with the .MTS extensions) and then allow me to edit the contents for a sales presentation?
BTW, Thanks for your great page!
June 28th, 2007 at 11:41 am
Hi Mike,
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. My server’s SMTP is apparently not sending messages again, so I didn’t receive your comments until I recently logged in.
Regarding your issues with your SD card, that’s a toughie. I haven’t had any experience with these types of camcorders (though they sound pretty handy). I’m sure this is a ridiculous idea since I’m positive you’ve already thought of this… but is there a USB or Firewire connection that could transfer the SD data? It’s a shame your reader won’t do it for you.
Concerning PowerDVD, the latest version (v7) does install a codec that allows you to open .mts files. The strange thing is, I can’t get the file to PLAY in PowerDVD. Instead, I used Windows Media Player and they play fine… usually.
I’ve heard that the latest version of Nero and Pinnacle Studio v11 both have AVCHD support. I have tried Nero, and it works, but given the different types of AVCHD (I don’t fully understand, but apparently there are differences between AVCHD files depending on how you encode them?), Nero’s codec didn’t play back as well as PowerDVD’s.
I also need to try Adobe’s new version of Premiere. I’ve heard mixed information about AVCHD support… so… I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Thanks for the comment!
July 7th, 2007 at 4:34 am
I just installed Power DVD 7 but still am unable to view the .mts files in my Windows Media Player 11.
Any ideas?
Cheers
Nils
August 10th, 2007 at 2:56 am
Thanks for your posting.
It solved my problem.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:29 am
hello. My solution so far is to use edius (canopus)….. in it is a little converter which takes you mts up to avi. Thereafter i go into premier, or canopus where I need to render and finally edit and consolidate for output. Inelegant as all hell and time consuming beyond belief but so far its the best I can do. Obviously I am using dual core everything and video cards from hell! But I am more or less getting results. PLEASE let me know if you have anything better. I am the only current owner in SOuth Africa and last week in SIngapore I received nothing but goldfish responses to my queries. best regards.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:32 am
Hi Jonathan. I don’t know if this would work any better than your current solution, but Pinnacle’s Studio 11 works well for conversion.
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:35 pm
hi Brian, thanks: I have been a pinnacle owner for some time but disinclined to continue with them on account of poor representation out here in SA. Hopefully Premier will come up with something soon.kind regards from Cape Town
September 25th, 2007 at 3:08 am
AMD Athlon ™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600
2.40 GHz, 1.00 GB RAM
Cyberlink PowerDVD 7.0
=======
PowerDVD could not play my *.MTS files.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:44 am
Hi Mhac,
Have you tried opening it with Windows Media Player? It will give you a warning that it’s not meant to handle .mts files, but it should work.
September 27th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Still no dice with Windows Media player. All I get is a choppy sound. Anyways, I’ll keep trying with other players. ;-P Thanks.
October 26th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Hi Brian, I’m a complete beginner and am awaiting delivery of an HDR-SR7. I have Muvee Autoproducer 6 (for Dummies
and am wondering what I might be able to do to make AVCHD material editable in that. Or is there a way I can convert it to a usable format first? Or do I have to shoot in low-def? Good wishes, Rob Weston
October 28th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Hi Rob,
I’m jealous. Wish I had the SR7 coming!
I’ve been using my “old” SR1 and am sorry to say, I’ve been a bit disappointed. Adobe Premiere is being really difficult concerning AVCHD support, which is the HD format you’ll be recording in. AVCHD is great, but it’s essentially uneditable. (Yes, Pinnacle Studio can do it as well as some others, but I don’t like those programs, I want Premiere!)
Lately, I’ve been just recording in SD mode. It sucks, because the HD is sooo much nicer, but you’ll spend a lot of time converting your HD footage to SD anyway… so why not cut out the middle man?
Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, if you do shoot HD and edit it (you can, read some of the comments above) you’ll need to invest in a Blu-Ray or HDDVD recorder and player if you want to view it on your high def TV.
One more piece of bad news… both formats are being a pain in the ass. Like the great VHS / Beta wars. Who loses? We do. So, personally, I’m waiting until HD gets its act together.
I want a standard recording format and DVD format.
Sorry for the rant… but I’ve been very frustrated with HD lately. Unless you have $$$, you’ll always be wanting for more.
But it’s just so damn goregous!!!
Hope this helped.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:44 am
Hi Brian and Buddies, many thanks for that - you may have confirmed all my worst fears but at least I know it’s not just my ignorance suggesting that this is a chewy problem
Since I posted my question I’ve been doing more homework and one possible solution has presented itself (unless there’s a caveat I’m unaware of): All 8/8 customer reviews on Amazon seem to be saying that Sony’s own Vegas Movie Studio 8 - IF YOU GET THE PLATINUM EDITION - handles HD generally and AVCHD specifically. Is there something I’m missing here or do we have a potential solution? Best regards, Rob
November 1st, 2007 at 5:18 pm
Rob, welcome to AVCHD hell.
It’s very frustrating. My solution uses Pinnacle Studio 11. It supports AVCHD.
What drives me crazy is Adobe doesn’t support AVCHD, nor does it look like they will be anytime soon.
November 11th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
AVCHD is indeed HELL.
I have Vegas movie studio platinum edition 8.0. On holiday in Rome earlier this year i recorded movie on Sony HDR -SR8. There is some traffic noise i want to edit out and replace with some background music but no way can you do it. You cannot split the audio from the video. Even using Sound Forge as an external edit application is difficult.
Any ideas?
BIRI
November 12th, 2007 at 9:32 am
December 30th, 2007 at 9:09 am ???
Someone got a time machine here?!
November 16th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
Looks like we are all having fun with our AVCHD format. I have a Panasonic HDC-SD1 that uses the SDHC 4 GB card. I looked at this chat to see if anyone recommended any of the leading AVCHD Editing software (Ulead, Pinnacle or Vegas) But I dont see an overwhelming endorsement on any of them. To share some knowledge from this venture, I found that to transfer files from the SDHC card to the HD writer software (Provided with the Camera) you need to have an inexpensive SDHC card reader ($14). Since most SD readers do not support SDHC format. Once the card is in the reader and inserted into the USB port the HD Writer will recognize the files on the card. Once the files finish transfering, HD Writer prompts if you want to format the card.
Good Luck All.
December 30th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Brian -
One thing I noticed about playback is it’s choppy. If I use the software Sony provides, playback is fine. But when you try viewing AVCHD with the method I describe, even with a 3.8 Ghz processor with 2 gigs of RAM, playback is still poor. Not to knock your system, I’m sure if you’re into video editing it’s top of the line, but I wanted to toss out the possibility that the files may be too much for your system given this less than optimal solution.
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Brian,
Ulead VideoStudia 11 Pluss can handle my Panasonic AG-HSC1UE that use SDHC 4GB Card. This Ulead can handle the .mts file produced by Camcorder smoothly. You can edit your footage as Ulead capabilities. If you want to edit under Premier CS3, you can export your footage using HDV 1080i (50) converter build-in under Ulead share menu.
February 16th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
I have a new computer with Windows Media Player and I have have downloaded PowerDVD 7.0 and I still can’t plan any .mts files that I have copy/pasted off of my Sony HDR-SR1. I don’t know what to do.
February 17th, 2008 at 7:55 am
Hi Steve,
If you’ve installed PowerDVD 7, you *should* be able to view .mts files. If not, you may want to try Pinnacle Studio 11. They have some great AVCHD support.
I’m amazed though… how many people have to beg Adobe to support AVCHD?
February 17th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I don’t know what to think. I installed the PowerDVD 7 and then when I “Select Source” on the main menu and then choose “open media files” I can see the .MTS files that I manually copied from the video camera, but when I try to choose them, nothing happens. Before I go out and get another software package, I just want to make sure I’m using the software correctly.
April 2nd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I have a Sony HDR-SR1 and have been using Cyberlink PowerDVD successfully since I got it. It should be noted you need the “ultra” version in order to play M2TS (AVCHD) files. Activate PowerDVD and look at the screen. It should have .H264 on the screen. If you don’t have it, you have the standard edition which won’t play AVCHD files. You can go to Cyberlink and upgrade from standard to ultra. I have Ulead Video Studio 11 plus,
Sony Movie Studio 8 Platinum, and Premiere CS3. I use all three to edit, but I have to transcode the M2TS files to MPEG-4 HDV in order to use CS3. I don’t know what’s taking Adobe so long. I expect they’ll start with a M2TS patch, but who knows when.
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:39 pm
::Smacks head:: doh!
Great call on the need for PowerDVD Ultra. Thank you for pointing that out diz.
April 25th, 2008 at 5:40 am
core professional is also uselful. its a great h264 decoder and very cheap.
May 12th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Just stumbled across this very useful page.
Like Krazy Kirvits, I’ve just bought a Panasonic HDC-SD1 and am having a drama retrieving the data from the SDHC card to the PC. The HD-Writer editing software that is supplied with it is so simple to the point that there seems to be no help or support at all when you have a problem. It’s driving me mad!
I will definately invest in a SDHC card reader.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge guys.
May 21st, 2008 at 12:28 am
Well, thought I would check in. Since my system crashed late last year I was forced to get a new PC. It was a god send in disguise. I Grabbed one of the new AMD Phenom systems with a terabyte of HDD and a BlueRay/HD combo RW drive. I put Pinnacle studio plus on. Pinnalce runs well enough and no more drag with the MTS files in pinnacle. The nice thing is that once in Pinnacle I can change the format to anything I need for my DVD productions. The clarity of the video on regular DVDs is great and I still have the option for Bluy RAY or HD. If you have the bucks and are serious about Hi Def video editing this is one way to go.
Have fun with your cameras
May 21st, 2008 at 5:47 am
I’m with you Krazy. I too have been using Studio Plus to transcode AVCHD. I just can’t believe that there STILL isn’t a Premiere plugin of some sort yet.
May 27th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I have noticed that you have great experience in dealing with AVCHD files so I thought about asking your help please, well, I have sony camcorder with AVCHD files and with extension .m2ts, I tried to play them with PowerDVD ( version 5 ) but no way, so do they work with powerDVD ultra 8, besides there is a feature in powerDVD 5 and it is capturing the scenes by pressing “C” so can I do the same while the video is playing with powerDVD ultra 8. I hope that you will reply me please becasue I depend on your great knowledge
June 8th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Hi Brian,
I didnt realize the can of worms i was opening when i decided to join the AVCHD hell world. After much research, I decided to purchase the canon hf100 AVCHD camera. Its a great camera and the HD 1920 X 1080 in cinema mode looks fantastic. The problem is finding something to edit with. I did some research on editing programs and decided to go with Sony Vegas Pro 8. I was under the impression that they supported Canon. They do not support canon cameras. I know some computer experts are indeed editing their canon AVCHD on sony vegas pro 8., but cant get a hold of them. I had an old Hp compaq pressario with 1 gig of ram and 1.3 ghrz processor speed and some how managed to import files from my sandisk memory stick and capture them onto sony vegas pro 8. The problem was the play back was horrible and choppy. I assumed that it was my weak CPU and my low memory. So i went out and purchased a new computer. For some reason though my new computer a ( gateway intel Core 2 Quad 64 bit processor with 4 gigs of ram / giant hard drive and windows vista) will not import my memory stick files and or does not recognize mts files . i know there is a way to get vegas to work, but cant figure it out. I must of had a codec on that old computer. Sony will not providede tech support, because they only endorse their stuff and panasonic. The crappy pixma software that came with the camera wont work either. Pixma was bought up by Targetsoft Inc and they do not provide tech support. At this point im desperate and need some help. If you have any ideas brian i would love see them. thanks again.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
http://forum.videohelp.com/topic347139.html
July 13th, 2008 at 3:22 am
To shadrach:
I think if you do the follwoing you will be fine:
- Install PowerDVD 7 or higher (commercial)
- Install Mega Codec Pack (free) (http://www.free-codecs.com/download/k_lite_Mega_Codec_Pack.htm)
- Install Media Player Classic (free) seperately (http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Media_Player_Classic.htm)
- Install HD-DVDRom.UDF.Reader (free)(http://www.uploading.com/files/ZU326SNR/XBOX360.HD_DVDRom.UDF.Reader.v2.5.WindowsXP_BluePrint.rar.html)
Maybe installing MPC seperately is not necessary anymore. Previously the version which came in the Mega Codec Pack did not play MKV files.
Good luck
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 am
My 6yr old computer was useless with my new SD9 Cam equipment. I was told by both Panasonic and Pinnacle Support that my system was not good enought o run the new equipment or software and I need a new computer to use Pinnacle Ultimate version 11 properly and to download from my new camcorder.
So I bought a new computer for £600 then the Pinnacle Ultimate version 11 £70 and not forgetting the wonderful Panasonic SD9 Camcorder £600 only to find now that there is no codec available to make the movies from this HD Cam. AAAAARRRRGGGH! I could kill at the moment, how dare these companies get you to buy things without giving you the real facts about the products you are buying…they really make me mad…now I have to wait for the codec before I can use them, no point having them on the SDHC cards if they cant be written to DVD is there????!!!!***
I have spent days trying to access my files for the SD9 to make a video thinking its me and hey ho its the flaming suppliers of the new age of technology that are at fault. Does make you mad. I am really trying hard not to swear at the moment.
Thanks anyway BRAINSHOFF.com for your info which explains a lot about my problems. Those idiots at Panasonic and Pinnacle Studio havent got a clue!!!!, Thank the Lord you know what you are talking about.Wont waste anymore time on it.