How to re-encode .mts 1080p (60fps) from SONY HDR-CX560V

[Umen Pich]

Hi, dear, fellows!

Just purchased a SONY HDR-CX560V camcorder after reading a lot of good reviews.
Yes, the video played by the camera (through the included component cable) on my 55" 240Hz LG TV looks nice...

BUT... How the hell can I convert/cut/merge those ???

Normally I use Avidemux to convert to x.264 in a mkv container (to play on my C-200 popcorn player)
With these clips, Avidemux (latest) crashes immediately after I click on "index a mpg file"

I still have to find out if that's:

A) a common mts problem (I never touched mts before) ?
B) a mts problem in connection with 60p ?
C) a problem with that camera model (the forum search does not find SONY HDR-CX560V discussed before) ?

Any help will be highly appreciated !
Thank you !

[poisondeathray]

Try a nightly build

They are a lot more stable with AVC transport streams

(works fine with other 1080p60 mts from other cameras)

http://avidemux.org/nightly/win32/

[turk690]

Viewing, encoding, editing AVCHD is VERY processor-intensive. Before attempting to have anything to do with these files, upgrade your Pentium/Win2k computer first. I'd say a minimum would be an Intel Corei5, an appropriate chipset, 6GB of system memory, and Win7-64.
These are musts, NOT optional.

[Umen Pich]

@poisondeathray
Thanks, friend, I will give it a try.
@turk690:
I just forgot to update my profile. Nowadays, yes, i5-760 mildly OCed to 3.3Ghz, 4Gb RAM, Win7-64 on OCZ Vertex SSD, etc...

[edDV]

Hi, dear, fellows!

Just purchased a SONY HDR-CX560V camcorder after reading a lot of good reviews.
Yes, the video played by the camera (through the included component cable) on my 55" 240Hz LG TV looks nice...

BUT... How the hell can I convert/cut/merge those ???

Normally I use Avidemux to convert to x.264 in a mkv container (to play on my C-200 popcorn player)
With these clips, Avidemux (latest) crashes immediately after I click on "index a mpg file"

I still have to find out if that's:

A) a common mts problem (I never touched mts before) ?
B) a mts problem in connection with 60p ?
C) a problem with that camera model (the forum search does not find SONY HDR-CX560V discussed before) ?

Any help will be highly appreciated !
Thank you !

Looked at the SONY HDR-CX560V site and saw no claim to being AVCHD v2.0 compliant.

A) m2t is a linear transport stream (TS) container similar to an ATSC broadcast or HDV format camcorder. AVCHD and Blu-Ray use an m2ts "random access" TS container. The three letter Windows extension for both is often mts. Your software needs to be compatible or you need to convert mts to an elementary mpg or mp4 container.

B) AVCHD version 1.x does not support 60p. Version 2.0 does. Most software is just coming up to speed with version 1.x.

C) The SONY HDR-CX560V in 60p mode is clearly not version 1.x compliant.

BUT... How the hell can I convert/cut/merge those ???

It can be done in Sony Vegas Pro and with Vegas Movie Studio Platinum if you create an undocumented AVCHD 60p project template. Start with a standard 60i project template, then change 60i (upper field first @29.97 fps) to 60p (progressive @ 59.94 fps).

I'd expect future versions of editing software to be AVCHD version 2.0 compliant with 60p and "AVCHD Lite" 30p support.

[turk690]

@Umen Pich, then update your PC specs so we all know where we are.

I own ancient (in HD terms) Sony HDR-CX12E and CX12. I was going to upgrade to CX550V, but by the time I was ready to buy it was discontinued and replaced by the CX560V. After inspecting it at Sony showroom, I decided against getting it. One reason is the LCD became smaller (3.5" was reduced to 3"), and the menu (for me) became more toylike than it is in the CX12 (or the CX550 for that matter). Detailed comparisons can be found in camcorderinfo.com. While CX550 was highly regarded, CX560 less so. Lastly, Sony removed the "R" in the AV/R; that is, custom connectors that simultaneously allow the use of video output AND LANC cannot now be used with the CX560 and its brethren, the way it was in ALL previous Sony camcorders that used the half-moon-shaped AV connector. I was still ready to get CX550V (or its pro version HXR-MC50, which I rented), but the Canon XA10 was introduced, which I eventually ended up buying.
All the *.mts clips shot on the camcorder models I mentioned above open properly and play (with 70-80% processor utilization, re-task manager) in Windows 7-64, with windows media player. The very first thing you have to do when you have AVCHD *.mts files is ascertain whether or not they play properly, either on WMP, MPC, etc. EVEN before contemplating editing, cutting, or converting them. Do they on your i5 PC?? What I prescribe is: get a dedicated local HDD (SATA, no USB) to save the *.mts files in (a video editing must), physically separate from the system and program drive C:. Uninstall ALL codec packs (which for me just proved bothersome), or better yet, re-format C: and re-install Windows 7-64. DO NOT install Nero or any of its parts. On a clean Win7-64 computer with appropriate hardware and drivers, an *.mts AVCHD file should play properly with the built-in WMP that came with Win7-64. The degree with which an AVCHD file will satisfactorily play on any setup is a good indicator of how much horsepower you have--or require--to further tangle with it.
Lastly, the 60p part of AVCHD is ver2, which many NLE programs do not recognize yet, as edDV pointed out. I have tinkered with 60p, 24p, 30p, 60i that the Canon XA10 is capable of and I always winded down to using good ole 60i (or 30P) because it's the most predictable, stable, widely used, and immediately recognized by Premiere Pro CS5, which I use. In this video I made, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcSZbk4KvnI, the moving cuts are Canon XA10 and the center and back ones are Sony CX12.

[beammeup]

checkout http://www.cineform.com/neoscene/

[Umen Pich]

Thanks, once again to poisondeathray !

The nighly build of Avidemux has things to be finished but overall behaves much better (up to a useful level) than the stable release.
I don't know why they abandoned the XML format for saving settings. The nightly build cannot read the settings saved by the stable.
Anyway, overall it's a gem !!!

I would never expect heavy products like those of Adobe to "catch the train" in time or at least before the free products developed by enthusiasts.

So I am not surprised that turk690 is having problems with Premiere handling 60p

BTW the Freemake Video Converter which I saw recommended in another thread works well with my mts files, converts with a good speed and quality (I liked the quality even in Auto mode i.e. bitrate automatically decided (by what criteria - I don't know)). The only disadvantage - not having control over the encoding parameters is crucial to me, just because I cannot make those files playable by C-200 NMT.
If somebody is going to play the stuff on their computer then Freemake Video Converter is a good choice.

Turk690, I looked what's that Canon like and I believe it surpasses my Sony (which I bought for $900 from Futureshop). The Canon is not in my price range though.

As to whether the mts files play on my computer - Yes they do, otherwise I would mention the problem. The CPU load is 28% (while played by VLC player). I don't have codec packs (and why should I, provided that VLC player and Avidemux do not rely on windows codecs) installed and I don't reinstall my Windows every once in a while (Honestly I think the frequency of Windows re-installs is reverse proportional to the level the user understands Windows).

[poisondeathray]

Ohh I had the impression that you were doing some minor editing like cutting...


If you just wanted to convert it, there are many free programs that will work IF you have the proper splitter and decoders installed

e.g. ripbot264, megui, xvid4psp just to name a few . They allow tweaking of encoding parameters

You need haali media splitter, ffdshow installed and preferred filter tweaker to select ffdshow on windows 7



Also ,the nightly avidemux builds are being actively developed. (A new one comes out almost weekly , not quite "nightly"). So if you have feature requests, bugs, you can post them in the forum
http://www.avidemux.org/smf/index.php?board=23.0

[Umen Pich]

Yes, actually I meant simple stuff, typically including cut, merge, brightness/contrast, denoise, in most cases only cut/merge


If filming was done in good light conditions, no denoise is needed, no brightness/contrast either, I would just append all raw material in avidemux, cut a few scenes that are unnecessary (boring) and encode.