Using .M2T (M2TS) files on Mac - how?

[LethalWolfe]

Lethal: Do you happen to have a link to that utility so we could see if it'd solve the OP's problem, or is it a "distributed only with Sony cameras" kind of thing?

I was finally able to dig it up. Sony Plugin for M2T. Once it is installed use the Log & Transfer function in FCP.

Now, I don't know if this will work w/M2T files not generated by Sony's HDD or CF recorder. Also, there is a specific folder structure the M2T files need to be in for the utility to see them. The M2T files need to be inside a folder called "HVR" and that folder needs to be inside a folder called "VIDEO" (both folders should be in caps). So, for example. If you had the footage on your desktop the folder structure would look like Desktop->VIDEO->HVR->BlahBlahBlah.M2T


Lethal

 

[ArthurDaley]

killmoms - I'd figured that people don't see much of a diff with AIC becuase they use small screens but I plan to play the family vids on the 1080i 42" living room LCD and knowing future trends it will be 60" with triple that res in 5 years so guessed you may notice the AIC. But then again you make me wonder if so?

All new stuff I've started importing via iMovies which sticks it into a .mov wrapper. If it's not too important I just let it do 900 instead of 1800 res import as it states that the difference is not that noticable.

But for the important stuff, the family stuff which I already have terabytes of in .M2TS, I guess I have to find a way to convert that to a wrapper which Apple software supports. Or, I can wait and pray that .M2TS support will come within the next year or so.

So all in all maybe importing new stuff say via iMovies which uses AIC may not be that bad but I wonder if conversions on the old stuff (.M2TS) will loose quality that I can notice (and what should I convert with that does not take up 4 times the disk space and all that and need convoluted ways).

 

[LethalWolfe]

killmoms - I'd figured that people don't see much of a diff with AIC becuase they use small screens but I plan to play the family vids on the 1080i 42" living room LCD and knowing future trends it will be 60" with triple that res in 5 years so guessed you may notice the AIC. But then again you make me wonder if so?

If AIC is good enough for paying corporate and broadcast TV clients I'm sure it's good enough for your home movies.

But for the important stuff, the family stuff which I already have terabytes of in .M2TS, I guess I have to find a way to convert that to a wrapper which Apple software supports. Or, I can wait and pray that .M2TS support will come within the next year or so.

I doubt it will ever come from Apple as that's not they way they've designed any of their apps to work.

So all in all maybe importing new stuff say via iMovies which uses AIC may not be that bad but I wonder if conversions on the old stuff (.M2TS) will loose quality that I can notice (and what should I convert with that does not take up 4 times the disk space and all that and need convoluted ways).

The choices are simple, you are just making the process difficult than it has to be.

Or if you don't want to do any of that just load-up Windows on your Mac and keep using Vegas if that would be easier for you. Pick what software, what tool, is right for you.


Lethal

 

[tttulio]

This could sink FCP

No support for M2P is a real bummer, native MPEG2 editing is very important. We want to be able to edit AND archive on the native format of the cameras we use.
(ha you tried storing 3000 hours of footage as AIC?)

With DV it was great, now with HDV and Apple Intermidiate CoDec it is a pain and continuous quality loss every step. If simple programs like Womble on the PC can cut an MPEG2 and export WITHOUT recompression, you would imagine Apple could do it.

Now we are just waiting for FInal Cut 7 to come out, if it still do not offer it, We will be moving our 5 edit suits to a PC based solution. (Pity, I quite like Apple stuff)
Anyone knows when is FCP7 coming out, and will it offer it?
Please, let me know.

TTT

 

[trudd]

No support for M2P is a real bummer, native MPEG2 editing is very important. We want to be able to edit AND archive on the native format of the cameras we use.
(ha you tried storing 3000 hours of footage as AIC?)

With DV it was great, now with HDV and Apple Intermidiate CoDec it is a pain and continuous quality loss every step. If simple programs like Womble on the PC can cut an MPEG2 and export WITHOUT recompression, you would imagine Apple could do it.

Now we are just waiting for FInal Cut 7 to come out, if it still do not offer it, We will be moving our 5 edit suits to a PC based solution. (Pity, I quite like Apple stuff)
Anyone knows when is FCP7 coming out, and will it offer it?
Please, let me know.

TTT

Since we're reviving dead threads and all, has anybody tried ClipWrap? (www.clipwrap.com). Looks like a MUCH better option than MPEGStreamclip because it retains timecode.

 

[harveydean]

I think I have a similar problem?

I have a Sony HD cam which I have been saving from the Cam's hard drive/memory to my pc. Using the sony free included download/import software.

I have now switched to imac.

I can't move my video files to the mac - or I can't get mac to recognise them using final cut express.

I'm a little tech underdeveloped so will ask the forum to go gently with advice.

Do I now need to convert these pc HDvideo files to something the mac will recognise? Prefereably without loss of quality.

Hoping someone out there knows what I should do

 

[tttulio]

ClipWrap works

Yes, we tried ClipWrap2 and it works a beauty, even on AVCHD camcorders. now Apple should buy it and add to FCP.but saving the files still going to be a problem.

 

[Fat Fatster]

Yes, it is stunningly, amazingly, incomprehensibly STUPID of Apple that iMovie, FC, etc do not handle simple .m2t files. IT IS AMAZINGLY **STUPID**.

I am a Mac developer and regularly take part in Windoze bonfires - but in this case it is just dead, plain, dirt stupidity. There is absolutely no reason for it.

By the way it is FRANKLY ANNOYING when people blah blah that you can hardly tell the difference.

The analogy is this: If Safari could not open JPGs, for hell's sake, "but don't worry! you can convert it to something else! hardly any loss!" that would be absurdist. And the video situation is absurdist. It's annoying. It's crazy.

You can use DVHSCap to properly capture video from MiniDV avchd cameras, and save it as a .m2t file. This is the EXACT SAME output iMovieCrap, FCCrap etc are reading when you plug in the camera.

But there is really no way to directly open those files in FCs/iMovies. It's silly.

ClipWrap (clipwrp.com) may or may not work; the Sony solution mentioned (you need FCP) may or may not work. There does not seem to be any other solutions. It's all madness.

It's probably the single most stupid ridiculous flaw in the whole Apple milieu. Consider that every single breathing human being for five years there had a tape MiniDV camera, and they ALL want to losslessly save - obviously - the damn files from the tape. It's way silly.

it's an absurd idiocy on the part of Apple. The only thing that approaches this in terms of sheer stupidity is that it is difficult to swap the hard drive in the new (Aug 2010) iMacs. So silly. SO annoying.

 

[kev6677]

Good luck pal we have all complained however it falls on deaf ears or post complaining about this issue magically disappear from Apple's online forums... Apple is to busy pushing there inferior Itv download service which is not even close to the true resolution of Bluray...All this nonsense about aic,mov, fce, fcp none of it works it only produces video that is horrible and does not look like the original. Funny thing is every consumer camcorder on the market records to This format (avchd) .The apple fangroup just don't get it and probally never will.. stick with windows untill apple resolves this issue.

 

[martinX]

You can use DVHSCap to properly capture video from MiniDV avchd cameras

What is a MiniDV AVCHD camera?

 

[DCstewieG]

10 years later...

I had .m2t files captured from a Canon HV20 with HDVSplit on Windows. After renaming the extensions to .m2ts I was able to use a free app in the Mac App Store to convert them to .mov files losslessly using the Wrap preset:

‎AVCHD to Mov Lite

‎AVCHD to Mov Lite is a powerful free tool, designed to convert AVCHD, MTS, M2TS videos to popular video or audio formats. After conversion, you can also play the completed files on popular devices (iMovie, FCPX, Premiere, iPhone, iPod, iPad, Tablette, AndroPhone, Apple TV, WD TV, ...) 1...

apps.apple.com

I also had to add a flag to the video settings in the "Append to command" field: -copy_unknown