Anyone editing MTS files for home movies?

[showdoctor]

Here's what I have:

Source - MTS files (Canon Legria HF R406)
The camera records in the following modes:
50P: 1920 x 1080, 28Mbps;
MXP 50i: 1920x1080, 24Mbps;
FXP 50i: 1920x1080, 17Mbps;
LP 50i: 1440x1080, 5Mbps
Four MP4 quality recording modes
50p: 1920 x 1080, 35Mbps;
25p: 1920 x 1080, 24Mbps,
25p: 1920 x 1080, 17Mbps,
25p: 1280 x 720, 4Mbps

Software - Corel video studio 6, Sony Vegas 11, various converters.

Here's what I need:
To produce home movie video files of good quality for TV, played from a media hard drive. (multiple format capable)

Here's what I need to know:
What is the best recording format to use?
Will I need to convert the source files before editing?
What project settings do I use in either software?
What format, size, fps etc do I render to?

What is the norm for people editing camcorder home movies to store & view on TV?

Thanks,
Colin

[smrpix]

No need to double post.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/362182-Project-settings-render-settings

[Moontrash]

as far as recording format 50p is nice beyond belief but you may find it tough to edit as that bitrate/resolution is a bear to edit. You'll need a pretty strong PC and software to handle it. I would personally just use the 25p 1920x1080 24mbps setting. Can't beat that. The ".mp4" settings are for ease of use in terms of off loading them and quickly playing them on your phone or media player etc. My guess is that your camera produces .m2ts files. I just got a large batch of those from a friend to play with and that setting was 1440x1080...1080i...looks ok but you can tell it aint 1080p

you don't need to reconvert to any file format...leave it as it is. Most editing software will recognize it .m2ts

project settings - don't know

the size will depend on how well you want the vids to look. Bigger file size the higher the bitrate..the better the vid will look. The format/container can be mp4 or mkv...you can leave it as .m2ts. I'm not sure what you'll play these on but these batch of 1080i clips i got play fine on my media player in .m2ts. For all around playability .mp4 seems to be what a lot use these days. I don't but a lot do. Are you gonna make menus etc?

you could also throw Davinci Resolve Lite into the mix...it's a free amazing editor that is just fantastic...give em an email and you get their lite version of their $1000 software

[showdoctor]

Hey Moontrash,

Thanks a stack man. Top information!

[TreeTops]

Davinci Resolve Lite requires lots of memory and fast computer

[smrpix]

Davinci Resolve Lite requires lots of memory and fast computer

And it doesn't natively support most types of .mts

[glenpinn]

Source - MTS files (Canon Legria HF R406)

The camera records in the following modes:
50P: 1920 x 1080, 28Mbps; avchd
Four MP4 quality recording modes
50p: 1920 x 1080, 35Mbps;

my suggestion is this.

if you mainly shoot in hand held mode (what i call roaming mode) where you are filming while moving the camera around, or you are filming moving objects, then shoot your video in either of the above modes.

if you shoot stuff with your cam mostly mounted on a tripod and shooting stationary scenes, or scenes where there is not a lot of panning or fast moving objects, then you could get away with shooting at 1080/25p.

both modes listed above are h264 files, the first is AVCHD (.mts) and the other is just wrapped in an MP4 container which makes the video more compatible for most playback devices, and the difference between 28Mbps and 35Mbps with h264 isnt going to be noticeable, and i personally still cant understand why these camera manufacturers makes 2 h264 formats at different Bitrates.

1080/50p is also easy to edit with many different software, and is not that much more of a strain on your pc as 25p video is.

if you prefer more of a cinematic look, shoot in 25p mode, but it will look somewhat jerky in fast moving objects or when the camera is panning a lot.

btw, that camera only has a smallish 1/4.85-inch single CMOS sensor so dont expect too many miracles.

[showdoctor]

Thanks for all your input everyone. Some great help there.

Regards,

Colin Sumner