# .MTS video files



## someothername (Jul 2, 2010)

I was amazed and gratified when I told LR 3 to synchronize and it brought in most all the video files that I have been placing in parallel folders for some years now.

Unfortunately, my latest video camera produces files that are tagged .MTS. (AVCHD video) Vista didn't know what to do with them, but Sony Vegas Studio was perfectly happy with them. Win7 also knows what they are and even will play them. LR3 apparently doesn't even recognize them as video files.

I've poked around the menu system, but don't see anything. Any suggestions on how I can import them?


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## djdd (Jul 2, 2010)

Simply change the extention to .m2ts works with me when I use Squeeze to encode .mts files.


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## someothername (Jul 2, 2010)

[quote author=djdd link=topic=1'286.msg69626#msg69626 date=1278'68919]
Simply change the extention to .m2ts works with me when I use Squeeze to encode .mts files.
[/quote]

Squeeze? Are you changing the original file to something else using whatever Squeeze is? I'd really prefer not to change the file I download from the camera...


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## sizzlingbadger (Jul 2, 2010)

It me be better just to wait a while as I expect these newer formats will be included in an update.


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## someothername (Jul 2, 2010)

[quote author=sizzlingbadger link=topic=1'286.msg69653#msg69653 date=12781''16']
It me be better just to wait a while as I expect these newer formats will be included in an update.
[/quote]

AVCHD was introduced in 2''6, though I don't think there are any still cameras that use it for their video mode. I get mine from a Sony HDR-SR11, and often at events I will shoot stills with one hand and videos with the other.


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## djdd (Jul 5, 2010)

for uploading to web yes, squeeze wont open .mts unless I change them to .m2ts
just give it a try.


[quote author=someothername link=topic=1'286.msg6963'#msg6963' date=1278'795'4]
[quote author=djdd link=topic=1'286.msg69626#msg69626 date=1278'68919]
Simply change the extention to .m2ts works with me when I use Squeeze to encode .mts files.
[/quote]

Squeeze? Are you changing the original file to something else using whatever Squeeze is? I'd really prefer not to change the file I download from the camera...
[/quote]


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## someothername (Jul 5, 2010)

I still don't understand what squeeze is. Google search yields a lot of things for squeeze, but nothing that makes sense in this context.


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## ukbrown (Jul 5, 2010)

I think what other people are saying is that LR3 will recognise m2ts as video and that this will still play with your default player.

1. Take a video 
2. Rename it to xxxxx.m2ts
3. Will lightroom see it as a video file

Note none of the contents change just the file extension, if it does not work properly and your player will no longer play it, then it is not the solution for you.


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## someothername (Jul 5, 2010)

Changing the extension from MTS to M2TS does not make LR3 recognize it as an importable file. Win 7 still recognizes it as a video file and plays it fine.

Is there someplace where i can find a list of the video files recognized by LR3


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## dave_bass5 (Jul 5, 2010)

[quote author=someothername link=topic=1'286.msg69655#msg69655 date=12781'1595]
[quote author=sizzlingbadger link=topic=1'286.msg69653#msg69653 date=12781''16']
It me be better just to wait a while as I expect these newer formats will be included in an update.
[/quote]

AVCHD was introduced in 2''6, though I don't think there are any still cameras that use it for their video mode. I get mine from a Sony HDR-SR11, and often at events I will shoot stills with one hand and videos with the other.
[/quote]

Have a look at the Panasonic Lumix range (to name but one). They use AVCHDlite and have done for well over a year now. Ive had two (a TZ7 and FZ38) and the video is very good.

Like you say, AVCHD has been around for a few years now, its not a new format but some apps still dont work with it.


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## ukbrown (Jul 5, 2010)

http://download.cnet.com/Adobe-Photoshop-Lightroom/3'''-2193_4-1'563'39.html mentions mts as being unsupported and the writer share similar frustrations as you do.


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## ww927bin (Jul 15, 2010)

[quote author=someothername link=topic=1'286.msg69617#msg69617 date=1278'431'4]
I was amazed and gratified when I told LR 3 to synchronize and it brought in most all the video files that I have been placing in parallel folders for some years now.

Unfortunately, my latest video camera produces files that are tagged .MTS. (AVCHD video) Vista didn't know what to do with them, but Sony Vegas Studio was perfectly happy with them. Win7 also knows what they are and even will play them. LR3 apparently doesn't even recognize them as video files.

I've poked around the menu system, but don't see anything. Any suggestions on how I can import them?
[/quote]

Software that may help you a lot on video conversions is MTS Video Converter, which can easily convert AVCHD files to another friendlier format.
I'm using Pavtube to convert the HD video taken from Sony Handycam. So far I like how the software has been performed. The user interface is friendly. I like it tells me how long it will take so I can walk away and come back later. I've had good results converting the .mts files to .mpg, with the settings mpeg2, 12'''kbps, 128'*72', 25fps, aac.
http://www.pavtube.com/mts-converter/


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## someothername (Jul 16, 2010)

[quote author=ww927bin link=topic=1'286.msg7'4'1#msg7'4'1 date=1279171'97]
Software that may help you a lot on video conversions is MTS Video Converter, which can easily convert AVCHD files to another friendlier format.
I'm using Pavtube to convert the HD video taken from Sony Handycam. So far I like how the software has been performed. The user interface is friendly. I like it tells me how long it will take so I can walk away and come back later. I've had good results converting the .mts files to .mpg, with the settings mpeg2, 12'''kbps, 128'*72', 25fps, aac.
http://www.pavtube.com/mts-converter/ 
[/quote]

I'd prefer not to change the original file, keeping in the spirit of LR. I already have Sony Vegas Studio and can use it to convert them to mpg and edit them along the way...


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## Victoria Bampton (Jul 16, 2010)

Julie Kmoch (LR QE) said over at the U2U a while back:

_"One issue, as Lee Jay indicates, is that the folder structure of AVCHD is a bit of a puzzle for us. The other is that we're using OS calls (QuickTime, DirectShow) to play the videos & pull thumbnails from them, and I don't think AVCHD is supported by them."_

_"We have to do it right."_

_"So AVCHD had 3 strikes when we evaluated it: not common from DSLRs (yet), limited OS support, and a complex file structure."_

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/655774?tstart='

So they're aware and considering it carefully.


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## someothername (Jul 16, 2010)

[quote author=Victoria Bampton link=topic=1'286.msg7'467#msg7'467 date=1279254423]
Julie Kmoch (LR QE) said over at the U2U a while back:

_"One issue, as Lee Jay indicates, is that the folder structure of AVCHD is a bit of a puzzle for us. The other is that we're using OS calls (QuickTime, DirectShow) to play the videos & pull thumbnails from them, and I don't think AVCHD is supported by them."_

_"We have to do it right."_

_"So AVCHD had 3 strikes when we evaluated it: not common from DSLRs (yet), limited OS support, and a complex file structure."_

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/655774?tstart='

So they're aware and considering it carefully.
[/quote]

That's quite a discussion on the adobe forum! 

I very much agree that modern photographers are looking for a DAM solution that handles all the files they work with. For example, I often work events and it would be a great benefit to me to be able to include the pdf flyer for the event right in there with my photos of the event instead of taking a photograph of the the paper flyer. The fact that it is not editable or even viewable within LR would not bother me as long as I had an "Edit/View In" option to work with.


Specifically with regard to AVCHD, I don't care about the metadata that might be lurking somewhere else in the file structure. Once I discovered that the .mts files had the video I needed, that's all I copy. I have to look at each one and rename them anyway and at that point I can add any metadata I need to the LR database. There must be a thumbanail or something in the .mts files, since they show up in windows 7 explorer when all i have in the folder is the .mts files.


As for viewing, well, it seems to me that simply passing the file off to the operating system ought to do the trick. As mentioned in the adobe thread, if a user can't play the .mts files on his or her computer, LR shouldn't either.


I applaud the intention to "make it right." But there should also be the goal to provide a workable solution. I think the LR team needs to do some serious thinking about what solution it is trying to provide.


As a photographer, I'm looking for a photographer's digital asset management system as well as a digital darkroom. My primary focus is the digital image files, my photographs. In support of that what I really want is a central place where I can organize the various pieces related to that. A number of those pieces are not photographs, but are other kinds of files. I want to manage them just like I do the photographs, but I have no problem with having only an icon show up in grid view with a badge saying "unsupported" and an "edit/view in" context item where I can specify how I want to deal with that file.

(I cross posted this to the adobe forum also)


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## Photographe (May 2, 2011)

Have you looked at IdImager?  It looks promising.  www.idimager.com


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