Premiere CS4 can't import AVCHD

[cheerful]

When I tried to import the MTS file, it gave "File format not supported" error message.

The .MTS file is not in the supported format list in the file chooser.

Do I need a codec? Or did I miss something during installation?

Thanks!

[poisondeathray]

Do you have all updates?

Is this the trial? Some formats are not supported with the trial version, like AVCHD

[edDV]

What is your project setting? AVCHD at correct resolution?

Try renaming *.mts to *.m2ts

[aedipuss]

.mts is in the second line of mpeg listed as file types. you can't see it as it's off the right of the open box screen.

Supported file formats in Premiere Pro CS4

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Ratings:5 of 7 people found this helpful

This table lists the file formats that Adobe Premiere Pro can import and export. For more information about importing and exporting files, see Adobe Premiere Pro Help.
Video file formats
Format Import/Export support Format Details
3GPP Movie (.3gp) Import and Export QuickTime player required on Windows
Advanced Video Codec (.mts) Import only
AVCHD (.m2ts, .mts) Import only
DV stream (.dv) Import and Export
Flash Video (.flv, .f4v) Import and Export
Microsoft AVI (.avi) Import and Export Export Windows only
Microsoft NetShow (.asf) Import only Windows only
MPEG-1 (.mpg) Import and Export Export Windows only
MPEG-2 (.m2v, .mpg) Import and Export
MPEG-4 (.m4v) Import and Export
Panasonic P2 (.mxf) Import and Export
QuickTime Movie (.mov) Import and Export QuickTime player required on Windows
Shockwave Flash object (.swf) Import only
Sony VDU File Format Importer (.dlx) Import only Windows only
Windows Media (.wma, .wmv) Import and Export Export Windows only
XDCam-EX movie (.mp4) Import only
XDCam-HD movie (.mxf) Import only

[Soopafresh]

+1 on the Updates.

[fitch.j]

I'm guessing your running the trial version yes? It's not supported in the trial.

[cheerful]

This is not a trial. It has been activated. Version 4.1

Same error when I drag and file and drop it on the project.

[aedipuss]

could be a damaged file. try using mediainfo on it and post the results of it's text output here.

[Turmap]

Careful : Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 is a trap ! As it does with XDCAM, which it imports without exporting except if you do buy 359 $ (plus appl. Tax) a Mainconcept plug-in, it doesn't export AVCHD after importing it except if you do buy an other Mainconcept plug-in costing 149 $ (plus appl. Tax) !

[aedipuss]

turmap - you don't seem to get it. pp is an editor/encoder. you import your source, edit it, and export it to it's final format. no one exports xdcam or avchd, as you can't write them back to the camera, which would be the only reason to do so.

[Turmap]

"no one exports xdcam or avchd"

In order to archive properly any video, you have to use the format used to shoot your film. Any format change implicates a loss. To archive anything, the original has allways been the best. No point to argue about that. That's why, unlike Premiere Pro CS4, many others professionnals videos softwares allow you to export in XDCAM and AVCHD.

Then, depending on demand and need, you can of course export a copy from these archives in any video format.

[poisondeathray]

"no one exports xdcam or avchd"

In order to archive properly any video, you have to use the format used to shoot your film. Any format change implicates a loss. To archive anything, the original has allways been the best. No point to argue about that. That's why, unlike Premiere Pro CS4, many others professionnals videos softwares allow you to export in XDCAM and AVCHD.

Then, depending on demand and need, you can of course export a copy from these archives in any video format.

It's not so much the format change , but the re-encoding with lossy format that causes the quality deterioration. For example you can re-wrap your XDCAM footage into another container losslessly, and that would be a format change, but no quality loss.

Even if you exported XDCAM or AVCHD, there would be quality loss. Both are lossy formats

It's only the case when smart render is used that unedited segments are allowed to pass through. Note there is no current editor does smart render of AVCHD properly (Vegas can only do appending, simple cuts cause the entire section to be re-rendered), and currently there is no plugin that allows you to do this.

Anyways, this has nothing to do with the original thread topic of importing AVCHD

[Turmap]

Yes for shure you can mould in clay your bronze sculpture without quality loss, but it won't be bronze sculpture anymore. Then if you mould back your clay sculpture in bronze, I debt it will be as good quality as the first one. Any format change implicates a loss.

Apart from that, it is true that the more you edit any lossy format like XDCAM and AVCHD, which are GOP based formats with hight level compression, the more your deteriorate them. This is not the case with DV format or heavy DVCPRO HD format for example, which have no GOP (all pictures are full).

Anyway, this has indeed not a lot to do with the original thread topic of importing AVCHD, even if it was important to notify it is impossible to export AVCHD with Premiere Pro CS4.

[poisondeathray]

Yes for shure you can mould in clay your bronze sculpture without quality loss, but it won't be bronze sculpture anymore. Then if you mould back your clay sculpture in bronze, I debt it will be as good quality as the first one. Any format change implicates a loss.

Apart from that, it is true that the more you edit any lossy format like XDCAM and AVCHD, which are GOP based formats with hight level compression, the more your deteriorate them. This is not the case with DV format or heavy DVCPRO HD format for example, which have no GOP (all pictures are full).

This is not entirely correct; A format change does not necessarily implicate a loss.

You can use lossless codecs like lagarith, huffyuv, UT, FFV1, etc... These are format changes. They are all lossless. Even less quality loss than smart rendering, but of course at the expense of large file size.

You can remultiplex losslessly into different containers. This is a format change. It's like putting the exact statue into a different box, but you can extract the statue back 100% losslessly.

Just to be clear when you edit DV or DVCPRO or AVC-Intra there still is loss on export of rendered segments (like transitions, fades, effects etc..), but since they are all I-frame, the loss is limited to smaller segments than for long GOP formats (the whole GOP has to be re-rendered for long GOP formats). They are still lossy formats, compared to true lossless formats such as lagarith. Again, what you want is smart rendering, to limit the quality loss to the GOP section. And no software can do this properly for AVCHD yet, so this situation is not limited to Premiere Pro.

[Turmap]

I do totally agree with your last paragraph Poisondeathray.

Otherwise, these lossless codecs like lagarith, huffyuv, etc... you're speaking about, wouldn't it be better to call them video compression files containers rather than video codecs ? In that case, using the same sculpture comparison, wouldn't it be more appropriate to call them sculpture pack rather than sculpture moulding ?

Cheerful : I am sorry not to be more helpful with my responses ! But for shure, Premiere Pro CS4 should import AVCHD without any problem (without being able to export it however, as I allready explained.)

[poisondeathray]

I do totally agree with your last paragraph Poisondeathray.

Otherwise, these lossless codecs like lagarith, huffyuv, etc... you're speaking about, wouldn't it be better to call them video compression files containers rather than video codecs ? In that case, using the same sculpture comparison, wouldn't it be more appropriate to call them sculpture pack rather than sculpture moulding ?

Lagarith, etc.. they are examples of lossless video codecs. They are intraframe like AVC-Intra, or DV etc... but no quality loss. You can mathematically derive bit for bit the exact image from lossless formats. You cannot with lossy formats such as DV, etc.. There are rounding errors and compression artifacts when you use lossy formats. The common container format for lagarith is AVI, for example. "Codec" refers to the software used for compression and decompression.

The "container" is what holds the elementary video , audio, and accessory streams like timecodes, subtitles etc.. You can have different containers like .mov, .mp4, .ts, .mxf. e.g. If you use a MAC, Final Cut will take your native XDCAM footage and put it into a .mov container, but the "stuff" inside is still the same. Swapping container formats can be a lossless process, if there is no re-encoding. - It's what is inside the container that counts (similar to the statue in a box analogy)

XDCAM video is nothing more than MPEG2 as aedipuss explained in your other thread. So if there was no smart rendering active, rendering to MPEG2 would give you essentially the same results even if you could export "XDCAM". (ie. lossy even on unrendered segments because of re-encoding)

And to Cheerful : does your .mts video play properly in a media player? Like VLC, MPCHC etc. ?

[Turmap]

Yes I know all that, but these containers you're talking about are not video formats. These are not molds but boxes... I mean : they do not modify the "stuff" like you called it. Bronze won't become clay, sculpture won't change neither shape nor quality using them.

Otherwise we do know XDCAM-EX is MPEG-2, but not the precise MPEG-2 you do have on Adobe Media Encoder CS4. That's why nobody can properly export XDCAM with Premiere Pro CS4.

By now anyway, we all begin to understand that, unlike many others professionals video editing software which, like they say, do support XDCAM formats (Final Cut, Edius, Vegas... do indeed import and export them), Adobe compel its customers, without telling them, to buy severall hundred dollars Mainconcept Plug-in to allow them to export either AVCHD or XDCAM video formats from Premiere Pro CS4. (Mainconcept plug-in about which ones you explain moreover it would be useless to get them because Premiere does not yet make smart rendering using them).

Like you wrote it ( https://forum.videohelp.com/topic372701.html ) on Sep 07, 2009 21:19 : the term "support" can have different interpretations here - and maybe it is purposely vague on Adobe's end... Let me tell you could have withdrawn "maybe" from this sentence. As well as a car with only two wheels does not support nothing, a video editing software which imports videos without exporting them does not support nothing either. To allow anybody to get in without allowing him to get out is nothing less but a trap. Such a human trap must be given an end. Humans do not deserve to be treated like milk cows.

[poisondeathray]

I understand your grievances, Turmap, because I am too a customer... but Premiere does not smart render any format except for DV - This includes all the major consumer formats HDV, MPEG2 (e.g. from SD camcorders), AVCHD.... etc...

a video editing software which imports videos without exporting them does not support nothing either

The fact is you can export dozens of different formats. The assertion that you cannot export is overstating the case.

Should they remove the term "support" from their documentation for all those formats? such as HDV, AVCHD, MPEG2, etc... ?

Should they say "only supports DV"? (because that's the only format that is smart rendered natively)

e.g. Final Cut and Edius cannot smart render AVCHD, should they remove the term "supports AVCHD" from their documentation? No where are they clear about cannot smart render...Is this a trap too? Did you write a letter to Apple and Canopus as well? Are Final Cut and Edius customers treated like "cows" as well?

[Turmap]

Within one or two mouse clicks maximum,


Vegas Pro documentation says :

Capture, Import, and Export
Vegas Pro 9 software has extensive capture, import, and export support for video and audio. With the Vegas Pro 9 collection you can efficiently edit and process DV, AVCHD, HDV, SD/HD-SDI, and all XDCAM™ formats in real time, fine-tune audio with precision, and author surround sound, dual-layer DVDs.

( http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro/io )


Edius documentation says :

Supported Video Formats

* Canopus DV
* Canopus HQ
* Canopus Lossless
* Infinity JPEG 2000
* 3GPP
* AVCHD
* AVC-Intra
* DirectShow video*
* DV25
* DVCPRO 50 (including P2)
* DVCPRO HD (including VariCam, P2)
* GFCAM
* H.246 TS*
* MPEG-1 (system or elementary** stream)
* MPEG-2 (program or elementary** stream)
* MPEG-2 (HDV)
* MXF*
* QuickTime*
* Uncompressed (AVI)
* XDCAM (SD and HD)
* XDCAM EX
* Windows Media Video

* Not all streams are supported. May require additional third-party decoders, not supplied with the software.

** Import only.

( http://desktop.grassvalley.com/products/EDIUS/index.php )


Final Cut Studio documentation says (in a chapter named Supported Formats and I/O*) :

# Native editing for HDV including 1080i 50/60, 1080p 24/25/30, 720p 24/25/30/50/60
# Sony XDCAM HD at 25-Mbps CBR, 18- and 35-Mbps VBR at 1080i 50/60 and 1080p 24/25/30/VFR with free Sony software
# Sony XDCAM HD422 1080i 50/60, 1080p 24/25/30, 720p 50/60 with free Sony software
# Sony XDCAM EX 1080p 24/25/30, 1080i 50/60, 720p 24/25/30/50/60 with free Sony plug-in
# AVCHD editing support using Apple ProRes

( http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/specs/ )


So within one or two clicks maximum, we do know precisely which video formats these professionals video editing software import, edit and export. Within two clicks, we do know for example that Edius and Vegas do export XDCAM, AVCHD and HDV formats (mpeg-2 HDV says Edius documentation), while Final Cut does export XDCAM formats but only edits AVCHD and HDV.

Nothing similar regarding Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 documentation ( http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/features/?view=topnew ), Premiere Pro CS4 which appears to be the poorest professionnal software concerning the exportation of all these differents video formats.

[racer-x]

poisondeathray wrote:

e.g. Final Cut and Edius cannot smart render AVCHD, should they remove the term "supports AVCHD" from their documentation? No where are they clear about cannot smart render...Is this a trap too? Did you write a letter to Apple and Canopus as well? Are Final Cut and Edius customers treated like "cows" as well?

They can't "Smart Render" HDV or XDCAM either....They both convert to intermediate codecs prior to editing. Any video editor can do that..............

[poisondeathray]

poisondeathray wrote:

e.g. Final Cut and Edius cannot smart render AVCHD, should they remove the term "supports AVCHD" from their documentation? No where are they clear about cannot smart render...Is this a trap too? Did you write a letter to Apple and Canopus as well? Are Final Cut and Edius customers treated like "cows" as well?

They can't "Smart Render" HDV or XDCAM either....They both convert to intermediate codecs prior to editing. Any video editor can do that..............

That's exactly my point... They were rhetorical questions, but I'm sure you understood that. I just used AVCHD as an example of "support" (since this thread was on AVCHD). Turmap makes it sound like this is something unique or special to XDCAM, which it is not.

My point is "support" does not equal "smart rendering"; and even if you export AVCHD, you are re-encoding it anyways

In PP CS4, even with the (non-functional smart rendering) Mainconcept XDCAM plugin, you are re-encoding it anyways...so you may as well just use MPEG2 35Mbps...

But I agree the Adobe documentation is poor and could be improved, but they do not claim XDCAM is supported for smart rendering or export

[aedipuss]

it may be time to stop feeding the troll. it doesn't want help of any kind. write it off as a newbie who doesn't have a clue.

[Turmap]

The best would be to open a new subject about, for example, video formats and video software documentation, in order not to "troll" this thread indeed.

[edDV]

I just don't have time for this.

[Roseman]

I had the same original problem and renamed the file as suggested to .mt2s which worked a treat.

One very strange thing though; although the file imports, and I can see the audio track below the video track just as it should be, the audio stops playing with about thirty seconds to go. After exporting the Media the audio is intact so it's no the end of the world on this occasion, it's just the Premiere refuses to play the last thirty seconds of the audio in the clip. How weird is that?

I subsequently re-imported the video I'd created and plays perfectly all the way to the end. Weird....