Conversion Programs for MTS

[BRewind]

Greetings:

I have seen many of these forums, but can't quite find the answer I am looking for (which may very well be operator error).

I use a MacBook Pro (recently converted from PC) running the most updated version of Snow Leopard and iLife 09. I have purchased a Canon HF10 which records onto either a hard drive or SD card. As it is well-documented, the format saved in (.MTS) is not the most user-friendly for importing.

iMovie won't import the files. The Apple Store people told me Final Cut Express would import them (rather, ingest them), but it actually did not. After returning my software (which happened after the Mac people spent 75 minutes working on my computer) I am back at square one.

I am not a professional videographer, and have no desire to be one; but I would like to be able to make good quality videos for the family (it's a hobby of mine). I am fine with a conversion program to convert the files, but wondered which ones would be the best. In the past I have had interlacing problems when trying to convert my videos--so I need one that can de-interlace while keeping the quality as good as possible.

I have tried: Moyea, ClipWrap, Wonder Share, and a few others, but the quality drops a bit.

Suggestions? Either in what my setting should be or what I should purchase?

[Herve]

I need one that can de-interlace while keeping the quality as good as possible.

Funny sentence:
you want to preserve quality while removing half of its informations?

About conversion, the app in my sign has a free module to convert AVCHD (and others HD files from camcorders) to QuickTime files for editing.
The app is a shareware but this module is free (no need to register)
So, select the "720p output" (there is no real interest to convert your 1080i to 1080p, a lose always occurs while deinterlacing)
Advantage: QuickTime likes 720p mode, and it's easy to edit in every editing software.

An advice: shoots at 720p and not 1080i => no more interlacing ! (take a look to your camcorder manual )
Last advice: interlacing is not a pain, it's a cool feature: smoother than progressive mode and done for broadcasting (=ugly on computers and great on tv)

bye

[BRewind]

Thanks for the info (and the note on the funny sentence). What I talk about sure does give away my knowledge, doesn't it? (HA!)

So there is no value for someone shooting what I shoot to use 1080? 720 is the way to go?

Also, do all converters have a hard time with interlacing? Or is there one that may be better at handling it?

Thanks!

[Herve]

a mathematic answer:

1080i = 2 differents images (=fields) in one frame, 30 frames per second, 1920(or 1440)*1080 pixel for each frame

deinterlace = keep only one field, aka 1920*(1080/2) or 1440*(1080/2), depending on your camcorder settings
so deinterlace => keep infos from source, from 0.77M pixel to 1M pixel in the final frame

…and 720p = 1280*720 pixels = 0.9M pixel (less horizontal definition, but usually displayed correctly on TV/multimedia players, even with the badest ones )

"mathematically", there is no more quality loose, when you deinterlace or convert to 720p (a progressif format)
(Personnally I keep 1080i (1440*1080i), greatly broadcasted on my FullHD TV )

bye

[creamyhorror]

So there is no value for someone shooting what I shoot to use 1080? 720 is the way to go?

Also, do all converters have a hard time with interlacing? Or is there one that may be better at handling it?

It's not that they have a hard time, it's that few of them have very good deinterlacers. The best methods are available on PC only, but they're quite technical. Anyway, your choice of 1080i or 720p depends on what your final intended output format is. Going forward, I'd say 720p is the better choice, being progressive and thus suited for computer and online sharing. Your camera may or may not preserve enough detail to justify 1080.

I don't know what's appropriate for working with MTS files on Mac, so can't help you there. You might be able to put them through Handbrake under specific settings, which would deinterlace them and convert them to fast-decoding H.264 MP4s, and import those. But I don't know if iMovie takes H.264 in MP4.