Batch Convert .MTS files to .MP4?

[rocketman778]

I have a ton of large MTS files that I'd like to convert to MP4 without losing the original quality (if possible). I have sony vegas 10.0 pro which is currently the only option that produced a perfect conversion without any noticeable quality difference and the file was a lot smaller. Only thing is I don't know if it's possible to batch convert a ton of .MTS files.

Can anyone tell me if there's a way in sony vegas, or do you know of another program that can handle batch conversions for .MTS files?

[MilesAhead]

I would give TEncoder a try. It's a Gui for either Mencoder or FFMPeg. It's very configurable. But the man point of interest in your case, it's designed to process in batch. The author has a thread on videohelp where you can ask questions if you have problems. Just search TEncoder using videohelp search.

[aedipuss]

vidcoder maybe. you'd have to set it up and find the output quality setting you want, but yes it can batch encode.

[rocketman778]

thanks for the fast replies. This problem has plagued me for a while. i'll try out those 2 now and report back

[rocketman778]

Okay I used TEncoder and it seems to be working so i didn't mess with vidcoder. So far I like it but Im trying to figure out how to get the best quality. Like what bitrate would be the best? 2500 or 4000 or something higher? Going to create a few different examples and see what's better. Not sure if i should try 2 pass encoding as well.

Any ideas? I'm going to delete the original files so have to make sure the converted file is the best it can be without being too big.

[MilesAhead]

Trial and error is my advice. My HDTV is a CRT type. It's a Sony 27". Since it's not 5 feet wide I can get by with 1 pass mode for just about everything if I have a quality source. I don't remember the last time I used 2 pass mode. But if you blow it up big across the wall then you probably need to get out all the artifacts.

[rocketman778]

5000 bitrate seems to do the trick. I spent a lot of time analyzing every pixel and comparing etc lol.

[MilesAhead]

5000 bitrate seems to do the trick. I spent a lot of time analyzing every pixel and comparing etc lol.

Right!!! Now I know you!! You're the guy with the jeweler's glass in one eye all the time!!

[BobP2013]

You can losslessly convert a single file with ffmpeg, using a command like

ffmpeg -i 00000.mts -vcodec copy -acodec copy converted.mp4

And then a windows batch file (.cmd) to handle doing a bunch of files in one command.

I could help you with the batch file, what's the structure/naming convention of your MTS files?

--BobP

[racer-x]

.......Yes but I think the OP wants to re-encode to a lossy and smaller mp4. Typical rookie dumb move, but I wont judge....

Anyway if he really wanted a batch lossless remux into mp4 container, he could use FFMpeg. I use FFmbc and you can use this script:

for %%a in ("*.mts") do ffmbc -i %%a -vcodec copy -acodec copy %%~na.mp4

Copy the above code into Notepad and rename as Remux.bat. Now copy the "Remux.bat" and ffmbc.exe into the folder containing all the MTS files you want to convert and run the Bat file.

[RainerW70]

I just tested today very fast and working ffmpeg settings on my MacBook to remux an (Panasonic Lumix) MTS Video File to QT compatible MP4:

ffmpeg -i input.MTS -y -map 0:0 -c:0 copy -map 0:1 -c:1 aac -b:1 128k -ac:1 2 -cutoff 19000 -strict experimental -sn output.MP4

Just try out.... I was not able to find such an easy solution anywhere in the web...

Cheers
Rainer

[Selur]

@RainerW70: Why is the '-strict experimental' needed?

[vid.user]

because of the aac encoder (experimental)

[Selur]

Thanks for clearing that up.