Converting MTS to ??? for YouTube Videos

[fdates]

Greetings!

I'm not too up on video techie stuff, but can speak tech. I could really use some help/advice.

I have a JVC camcorder that (obviously) makes MTS files.

I've been using Camtasia 8 to edit and post on YouTube.

Unfortunately, the MTS preview very choppy making editing difficult.

I've tried some conversions to MP4, like using Movavi Video Converter 16, Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate.

Yet, the MP4 convert file doesn't seem to preview any better in Camtasia 8.

I thought I'd try rendering in Camtasia 8 first and then use the MP4 it produces, but converting this way takes so so much time!

So I thought I'd pop into this forum and ask the experts.

Q. Is MP4 the best format to convert MTS to for what I am doing, or is there a better format?

Q. What should I use to do the conversion that is fast, preferably free, and not filled with malware/viruses? (hard to know what download to trust).

TIA

[LigH.de]

To upload to YouTube, it will probably be convenient not to convert the video stream at all, to retain its quality best, and just remultiplex the MTS to MKV using the mkvtoolnix package (that's just a matter of minutes). YouTube will recode everything anyway (to optimize rather for smooth streaming instead of top quality, and to certainly avoid evildoers uploading malware inside video containers).

Optimizing the quality by upscaling to at least FullHD, if not even UHD, requires a bit more experience, much more conversion time, and a much higher upstream bitrate to get it uploaded in a sensible time.

But if your main concern is to have an intermediate format for a specific video editor, because you don't want to upload the video straight from the camera but need to cut and filter and whatnot, I can't help you well because I don't know Camtasia.

[manono]

Does YouTube even accept MKV?

https://support.google.com/youtube/troubleshooter/2888402?hl=en

[LigH.de]

Absolutely, it probably supports everything ffmpeg can convert. I already uploaded MKV, and YouTube generated different scales inside MP4, WebM or FLV containers out of it, depending on the resolutions and contained video formats. According to filenames not being prettified, people often upload WMV too.

[fdates]

However, the problem I have is that I need to EDIT my videos before they up to Youtube.

When I load them into Camtasia Studio 8.6, the preview is terrible. This makes editing difficult.

So what I'm looking for is the quickest way to convert these MTS videos into a format that I can then easily edit BEFORE uploading to YouTube.

What I meant by "malware and viruses" is that just going around and downloading every converter software out there is going to get me in trouble. So I thought that someone here on a video forum could tell me what application I need to download that is known not to also contain malware/viruses.

Ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks for all the comments.

[smrpix]

Sounds like you have an underpowered computer for the job at hand. Though I don't know how efficient Camtasia is with system resources.

Q. Is MP4 the best format to convert MTS to for what I am doing, or is there a better format?

No. "Standard" mp4 is long-gop AVC video similar to what the camera produces. You aren't increasing efficiency at all. You can try going to a less lossy intermediate such as Cineform, Edius, ProRes or DNxHD. the files will be considerably larger, but the computer should have an easier time managing them.

Q. What should I use to do the conversion that is fast, preferably free, and not filled with malware/viruses? (hard to know what download to trust).

ffmpeg will spit out DNxHD and ProRes natively.