AVCHD MTS files - 1.6 GB on card, but only 8 MB readable

[moxiecat]

Today I was tasked with pulling AVCHD MTS files off a card to see what video they contain. I am trying out iSkysoft Video Converter and Pavtube MTS converter, just to get a quick look at the videos (with the intention of possibly converting them for editing).

The first few files load fine. The computer says they are 9 MB, 4 MB, etc. The programs load them and identify the same file sizes, and lengths that correspond (a few seconds, in those examples).

The fourth file then has a problem. The computer says this file is 1.6 GB in size. But when it comes into either program, the program says it is only 8 MB and only 3 seconds long. Various files after the fourth file in the sequence have the same problem.

I am guessing that something went wrong with the recording and these files are corrupted. However, there DOES appear to be 1.6 GB of data in that file--the computer interprets the file to be that large. The computer even copied over all these files to the internal hard drive without a hiccup. But apparently only 3 seconds/8 MB of video is readable by these programs. They must get 3 seconds into the video and then get stuck for some reason.

My question is: Is there any way to access the rest of that data?

Thank you for the assistance.

[Baldrick]

What have you tried open the mts with? Try vlc and avidemux.

You could also try something like CnW Data Recovery on the memory card.

[moxiecat]

I have tried iSkysoft Video Converter and Pavtube converter. VLC would not open the files for me. I'll check out those other programs--I'm not familiar with them. Thank you

[jp2000]

The last days I had BIG troubles with several Kingston SD 16GB class 10 cards. After 40 min of filmwith a Panasonc HDC-SD700 the cards becomes corrupt and the camera refuses to film. On the pc the SD ca

[jp2000]

The last days I had BIG troubles with several Kingston SD 16GB class 10 cards. After 40 min of filmwith a Panasonc HDC-SD700 the cards becomes corrupt and the camera refuses to film. On the pc the SD cards were unreadable, =corrupted.
The conains MTS and JNPG files, unreadble.
How to solve:
I searched a lot and fouind a free program that does the job.
Do not format or wathever the cards
Use testdisk-6.11.3.win : it does miracles, it recovered my 3 SD cards completely !!!!!
install, start it, and choose the right letter for your USB/SD card, then choose full and FAT32 or something right for your case.
http://www.filecluster.com/downloads/TestDisk-PhotoRec.html
http://www.4shared.com/file/Vy_URbxz/testdisk-6113win.html
http://www.filestube.com/dd6fce3e2f54cad403e9,g/testdisk-6-11-3-win.html

[jman98]

I always find it suspicious when new members join for the first time and their first post (or 2nd one in this case as the 1st one was botched) just happens to have software download links that promise to miraculously fix problems. Go to such sites and install such software at your own risk.

[jp2000]

yes, that's true. I did 30 years informatics, networking and telecom, so I understand fully!!!!
I was so happy to solve my lost 3 cards with a movie of Cambodia, that I wanted to help. And so I created a login. I read videohelp a lot of years and learned a lot !!!! Many thanks to all !!!!!
I downloaded a lot of programs, most are to be paid, and probably junk, but I found one that did it !!!!!! One was giving a virus in Avast.
Of course I don't know if it will help in other cases....
I don't remember where I downloaded it, so I did a search in Google and posted some results.
The name is testdisk-6.11.3.win.zip 1.526KB big and contains photorec_win.exe 402KB.
I don't have any link with or advantages with those posted links, I'm just so happy it worked and recovered everything!!!!
chears

[moxiecat]

Holy cow, what happened to my thread?! JP, I hope that your advice is legit and I'm glad you had luck with your project, but I will not be clicking on those links. They're not even to the websites of software manufacturers, but rather to file sharing sites. Suspicious, to say the very least.

On a different note, that CnW Data Recovery program looks incredibly promising. If it works for me, I'll post back. Thanks to all.

[jp2000]

The offical site of photorec_win.exe I mentioned is:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
works fine for corrupted SD cards 16GB Kingston class10 from Panasonic HDC-SD700 with AVCHD video in HD
it recovers MTS, JPG,...

[moxiecat]

This is a followup to this thread, which I originally started in December 2010. I debated on whether or not to start a new thread, but since my entire situation is described so well here, I just decided to follow up.

I have been working with the memory card and problem files that are described in the first post. To recap, the memory card has about 22 MTS files created by a Canon HD camcorder. The files vary in size, but most are 1 GB or more. However, for most of the files, only a few seconds of video will load. I've tried them in VLC, iSkySoft Video Converter, and Pavtube, and many of these large files only play a few seconds of stuttered, disjointed video. (But the files DO copy over to the computer without trouble.)

I have followed the advice in this thread and tried to rescue the files in both CnW Data Recovery, PhotoRec, TestDisk, and Recuva. None of these programs has been able to create video files that the three video programs listed above can read.

Another VH member, as well as a second poster "Bushranger", had my EXACT problem, as discussed in this post (in the Video Conversion forum):
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/307689-corrupt-mts-file-(incorrect-length)

Following advice in that post, I tried to load the files (.mts extension) in tsmuxer. But tsmuxer gives the following error when the file is loaded:
Unsupported format. Some tracks not recognized. This tracks was ignored.

I have PM'd the member Soopafresh, who helped Bushranger recover his files with tsmuxer, but I have not heard back (it's been a few weeks).

I'm at my wits' end with this situation. I'm not sure I can solve this problem, although I don't know why it isn't working for me when the same (or at least fundamentally similar) problem was solved in the post linked above. So I am adding to this thread to see:
1) If anyone has any additional advice or assistance
2) If anyone can recommend a data recovery service that can retrieve .mts files from a memory card. I hate not being able to figure these things out when so many good computer programs are available, but I just don't know what else to do at this point.

Argh, give me an analog tape any day. Thanks to anyone who can help--it's much appreciated!