Mts Mts Mts Files Are A Pita Help!

[jnash]

Hey guys/gays I have a sony HDR-SR11 as we all know records in .MTS

Let me give you all enough information to where I am going with this!

Final Cut 6.0 could not edit MTS files so there were many programs to convert the files to mpeg2/h.264 which was aiiight, then I found adobe premiere cs4 which edited my MTS files right off of the camera without any problems, however my MBP 2.4GHZ C2D w/ 4 gigs of ddr2 was not strong enough to edit the files (VERY SKIPPY) so I went out and purchased a new MBP 13" 2.23 GHZ with 2 GIG DDR3 ram, and it does it way better however its still very choppy. My questions are listed below

1. If I upgraded to 4 gigs of DDR3 do you think that would be enough?

2.Should I do 4 GIG ddr3 and a 7200 rpm hd?

3. Should I lose the 100 bucks on the restocking fee and just get the 2.5ghz 13" mbp?

4. Does the new Final cut 7.0 supports .MTS files and could it possibly not require as much resources as Adobe Premiere?

I know I have a lot of questions but I just want to edit my family videos and WOW this has been a PITA however I dont have tons of money but I figured getting the 2.2ghz and upgrading the ram should help any/all information would be apperciated! THANKS

 

[bearcatrp]

Try this... http://www.cineform.com/neoscene/ . They have a demo to try. Cheaper than buying another mac.

 

[LethalWolfe]

FCP 7 cannot edit MTS files native, converting them into MPEG2/h.264 is about like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire, and the choke point of editing an MTS file is the CPU (a 0.1ghz bump isn't going to make a difference). If you wanted to stick w/FCP you could use MPEGstreamclip to convert the files into a format like ProRes or DVCPro HD which are significantly easier codecs for the CPU to process.


Lethal

 

[jnash]

FCP 7 cannot edit MTS files native, converting them into MPEG2/h.264 is about like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire, and the choke point of editing an MTS file is the CPU (a 0.1ghz bump isn't going to make a difference). If you wanted to stick w/FCP you could use MPEGstreamclip to convert the files into a format like ProRes or DVCPro HD which are significantly easier codecs for the CPU to process.


Lethal

AWESOME INFORMATION! I might need a little help from you, when you say its like "jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire" does that mean its pretty stupid to convert to those formats? I just want to be able to upload the files to youtube in GREAT HD quality, I am going home now to try MPEGstreamclip will those files be in HD?

 

[jnash]

Try this... http://www.cineform.com/neoscene/ . They have a demo to try. Cheaper than buying another mac.

I agree I will try this out as well thanks!

 

[LethalWolfe]

AWESOME INFORMATION! I might need a little help from you, when you say its like "jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire" does that mean its pretty stupid to convert to those formats?

Yes, as you are taking footage in a difficult to edit format and converting it into another difficult to edit format.

I just want to be able to upload the files to youtube in GREAT HD quality, I am going home now to try MPEGstreamclip will those files be in HD?

MPEGstreamclip has a lot of options to choose from and as long as you choose the HD options your files will remain HD.


Lethal

 

[bearcatrp]

FCP, FCE and iMovie will ingest AVCHD from the SR11 and other cams. The export will be your option to save whether ProRes, AIC or other formats if you choose. Using Mpeg streamclip just adds another layer of work. I used to use mpeg streamclip before apple added support for other cams. Your either having streamclip convert, (little lose of quality), then import into FCP, cut, export. Or let FCP ingest, cut, export to h.264. Working with AVCHD and using laptops is hard. Doable but hard. I used a iMac with my SR11. Took to long so bought a refurb mac pro. Still takes awhile but not as long as my iMac or macbook. That cineform I recommended is a plugin for FCP or iMovie. Looks to be a little crisper than AIC or ProRes. The new FCS added more ProRes codecs. Here is couple good sites for amazing info...
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/

 

[LethalWolfe]

The downside to using Cineform w/FCP is that it's not a 'blessed' codec by Apple which means it doesn't get access to the RealTime rendering engine in FCP.


Lethal

 

[bearcatrp]

I tried the demo in iMovie and saved to .mov file. Also saved in AIC too. I didn't see much difference, a bit sharper though. Thats looking at it on my macbook. Maybe a little different on a big screen tv. I've been working with AVCHD for a couple years and my finished dvd looks very good using apples codecs. Don't own a blu ray player yet but would be nice if apple would upgrade all there editing software to edit AVCHD natively. The problem is when most of your customers do not have blu ray players, you make a DVD that they can watch. Would be really nice if in the NLE, you could produce both based on customer request without re encoding. Just bring it in full HD, burn to either DVD or blu ray. Apple needs to get there head out of there rear end. Otherwise, might be going to the dark side (windoze).

 

[jnash]

I tried the demo in iMovie and saved to .mov file. Also saved in AIC too. I didn't see much difference, a bit sharper though. Thats looking at it on my macbook. Maybe a little different on a big screen tv. I've been working with AVCHD for a couple years and my finished dvd looks very good using apples codecs. Don't own a blu ray player yet but would be nice if apple would upgrade all there editing software to edit AVCHD natively. The problem is when most of your customers do not have blu ray players, you make a DVD that they can watch. Would be really nice if in the NLE, you could produce both based on customer request without re encoding. Just bring it in full HD, burn to either DVD or blu ray. Apple needs to get there head out of there rear end. Otherwise, might be going to the dark side (windoze).

Well thats why I just built an awesome i7 920 machine with raptor drives running in raid and it actually edits MTS files seamless, its like a whole new world. I did this because I could not purchase afford a $3,000 Mac Pro I love adobe premiere its pretty cool. Both of you guys have gave me great information I will be sitting down this weekend to edit some family videos using all you guys advice, if all else fails looks like ill just have to edit on the pc .