General Discussion - How to import MTS/M2TS/ MOV/ MOD/TOD/MXF recordings to Final tutubebe99 - Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:51 pm Post subject: How to import MTS/M2TS/ MOV/ MOD/TOD/MXF recordings to Final
How to import MTS/M2TS/ MOV/ MOD/TOD/MXF recordings to Final Cut Pro?
Final Cut Pro must be the first choice for video editing for Mac users. Both professional videographers and amateurs find it a helpful and amazing editing system, although most users also find it very picky about what video formats you can import---almost QuickTime only. A new hand may feel depressed when failing to import .mts recordings to FCP, while experienced users will convert (transcode) the video to a format FCP will accept and work with first.
HD camcorders (E.g. Sony Handycam series, Panasonic Lumix line, Canon Vixia and EOS cams) usually take MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec for saving video contents. The MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec, to some extent, is a delivery codec and not editable one. Wanna edit the HD MTS/M2TS/ MOV/ MOD/TOD/MXF in FCP? Convert the files into Final Cut Pro friendly codec first. As to the best codec for FCP editing, Apple ProRes 422 and Apple Intermediate Codec should be the top two codec packs. The following guide is written to help you out of such kind of importing errors.
Required software: Pavtube HD Video Converter for Mac
About the software: This Mac HD Video Converter deals with HD shootings in file extensions of (*.mts, *.m2ts, *.mov, *.mxf, *.mod, *.tod, *.avi, *.mp4) taken with Sony, Panasonic, JVC and various other camcorders. The HD Video Converter exports FCP friendly codecs including Apple ProRes family (ProRes 422, ProRes 422 LT, ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes 422 Proxy, ProRes 4444), DVCPRO, HDV, Apple Intermediate codec, etc for Final Cut Pro post-production. You may download a trial of the HD Video Converter for Mac software to try it out. Notice that the trial version puts a Pavtube logo on the screen.
Step 2. Click on “Format” bar and follow “Final Cut Pro” template to set a FCP friendly format. For Full HD 1080p AVCHD files, you are advised to Follow “Final Cut Pro” template and “Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)” format. If you prefer smaller file size, choose “Apple ProRes 422 (LT) (*.mov)” instead. The “Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy) (*.mov)” format offers file size at SD levels and is recommended for 480i/p and 576i/p shootings. The “Apple ProRes 4444(*.mov)” creates videos in lossless quality at huge file size, and is not recommended for home video making.
Step 3. Click the “Settings” button and customize proper video/ audio parameters if necessary. Video size, bitrate and fame rate are flexible and can be adjusted as you like. E.g. Set video size to 1920*1080 when you feel like to keep 1080p as the source file features. Or set smaller bitrate to further cut down export file size. You may skip this step as well.
Step 4. Click “Browse” button to set a location on your HDD for the output video file. Make sure there are enough disk space for saving generated files.
Step 5. Click “Convert” to start transferring HD MTS/M2TS/ MOV/ MOD/TOD/MXF to Apple ProRes 422 codec. The conversion process may take long time due to huge file size but trust me-- this Mac HD Video to FCP Converter is faster than most other video converter tools. After conversion just click the "Open" button to locate converted video files for importing to FCP. As Apple ProRes codecs are natively supported by FCP, the rendering time is saved as well.
Tip 1: AVCHD has a much higher compression ratio than Apple ProRes, so the ingested files are significantly larger than the original files. For example, a 2-minute native AVCHD file is about 200–300 MB. After transcoding to the Apple ProRes 422 codec, the file size can be as large as 2 GB.
Tip 2: Pavtube iMedia Converter for Mac converts HD MTS/M2TS/ MOV/ MOD/TOD/MXF videos, common videos, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc to Apple ProRes 422 codec for Final Cut Pro and to MP4, MOV, M4V videos for QuickTime player, iTunes, iPad, iPhone, iPod, etc.
Blu-ray ripping: why it takes so long?
By ripping Blu-ray to 1080p HD video clips, the Blu-ray movies can be played back freely over PC HD media players and Video DVD players as well, and are no longer restricted to play in applicable Blu-ray player only. Many movie lovers find it takes long time to rip a Blu-ray Disc to PC, especially when they choose 1080p MKV/MP4/AVI/WMV as export format. If you have a PC/laptop with Intel CORE i5/i7 processor with 6GB of RAM or above and run an effective Blu-ray ripping/converting tool exclusively, the Blu-ray ripping process could takes around an hour. Generally speaking, Blu-ray ripping process can cost 2-8 hours when working on a slower/regular PC. The higher quality you get, the longer it takes.
Time-saving solutions for ripping Blu-ray Disc to Windows 7
Is there any way to shorten the Blu-ray ripping time? Yes. Here I’d share with you some tricks for ripping Blu-ray at faster speed.
A. Rip Blu-ray to M2TS streams without en-decoding.
This is an easiest and fastest way for backing up full Blu-ray data, as it copies high-def Blu-ray M2TS to your hard drive straightly without en-decoding process. The good thing is you’ll get Blu-ray clips in the way they are made into BD, so there will not be any quality loss. All you need is Blu-ray decrypting software like Pavtube Blu-ray Disc Ripper v3.7, and the whole process takes 40min to 1 hour only on a regular PC. But there are few portable media players play M2TS streams without a hitch, so make sure your media player or PC meet the Blu-ray playing specifications first. VLC Player software is recommended for playing M2TS on PC. Learn how to copy Blu-ray Disc to lossless M2TS streams.
By processing video conversions on NVIDIA's GPU instead of your computer's CPU, Blu-ray ripping time can greatly shorted and more CPU resources can be spared for other applications, making your computer run much smoother. For instance, recently released Pavtube Blu-ray Disc Ripper v3.7, which is accelerated by CUDA (NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240), takes 90min only to rip Blu-ray Avatar to 1080p H.264 MP4 file (output size- 10GB), comparing with 270min when ripping with its previous version Pavtube Blu-ray Disc Ripper v3.6. The ripping speed can be faster when/if the GeForce GTS 240 is replaced with a more powerful CUDA enabled Graphics card. This way works only when there is an NVIDIA’s CUDA enabled Graphics card and you rip Blu-ray into H.264 encoded formats (H.264 MKV, MP4, MOV, TS, etc). Learnhow to gear up Blu-ray ripping speed with CUDA.
C. Make a concession in video quality to shorten Blu-ray ripping time.
If you do not mind losing some quality, a good way that shorten Blu-ray ripping time is setting lower output quality when ripping Blu-ray to hard drive. The smaller output video is, the short time it takes to rip Blu-ray to your computer. Again take Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper v3.7 for example; a Blu-ray movie of 20GB will be compressed to 12GB when you set “MKV HD” as output format. When you set the video “Bitrate” to “medium quality” instead of “high quality”, the file size is cut down to 8GB and the ripping time is 1/3 down meanwhile. Learn how to balance video size and quality when ripping Blu-ray movie.
D. Use a faster computer to do Blu-ray ripping.
As I mentioned above, a faster computer rips Blu-ray at faster speed. I believe that movie enthusiasts and people who intend to build a HTPC home network for sharing video contents would probably choose this ultimate solution. One of my friends told me that his newly built HTPC is able to complete the ripping of a 90min Blu-ray in half an hour, and he use 1080p HD MKV format!
Hope this post helps. More Blu-ray ripping solutions can be found at Pavtube Blu-ray Special.
Ever thought of putting your DVD collections to Apple TV? Why not? With digital backups on Apple TV, you will never have to hunt for a movie in hundreds of DVDs and then bother to place it in a DVD player. Instead, you just sit on the bed and select desired movie with a handy remote control. Be sick with the long time ripping process? Oh, in that case you should not miss the Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper v3.7, which allows you to take advantage of NVIDIA’s GPU acceleration, improving the ripping speed to 3-5 times faster.
The secret of ripping Blu-ray to Apple TV 3-4 times faster
By processing video conversions on NVIDIA's GPU instead of your computer's CPU, ripping time is greatly shorted and more CPU resources can be spared for other applications, making your computer run much smoother. CUDA based Pavtube Blu-ray Disc Ripper software helps you rip Blu-ray much faster than ever in the availability of NVIDIA’s CUDA enabled Graphics card. I have tested the CUDA enabled Blu-ray ripping process on a 1GHz Dual Corel PC with Apple TV 1280*720 MP4 video (encoded with H.264/AAC) and it takes 90min only comparing with when CUDA is disabled. Here’s what I do with the Avatar Blu-ray Disc.
Step-by-step guide of ripping Blu-ray to Apple TV with AAC 5.1 audio:
Download a free trial of Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper first. The Blu-ray Ripper and DVDs converts commercial Blu-ray Discs and DVDs to various video and audio formats for Apple TV, iPad, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 4, PS3, Wii, Android smartphones, etc.
Step 1. Load BD movie to the Pavtube Blu-Ray Ripper software
Connect an external BD drive to your PC if there is not an internal one. Place in source Blu-ray disc. Install and launch the Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper software, click “BD/DVD ROM” or “BD/DVD Folder” to load Blu-ray movie files into the app. When movie is loaded, make sure the CUDA button is activated.
Step 2. Set H.264 HD MP4 for Apple TV.
Click on “Format” bar to determine the output format. To take advantage of CUDA acceleration and k eep the best quality for Apple TV playback, I select “Apple TV H.264 1280*720 (*.mp4)”. The format creates HD MP4 with AAC 5.1 surround sound.
Step 3. Start ripping Blu-Ray to Apple TV with AAC 5.1 sound at fastest speed.
Click on “Convert”button to start Blu-Ray to Apple TV conversion. The whole process takes 96min and the generated file size is 4.73GB.
Once the ripping task is finished I click “Open” button at the bottom of the main interface to get the output MP4 files for Apple TV. The image quality turned out to be excellent:
I then click the CUDA button to turn the CUDA off, and convert Avatar Blu-ray to Apple TV H.264 1280*720 (*.mp4) format again. This time it takes 455 min to generate a 4.66GB file.
So my advice for guys that wanna backup Blu-ray movies to Apple TV is, have a try with Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper v3.7 and experience the CUDA acceleration by yourself. You’ll love it. For more info about the CUDA acceleration you can check CPU acceleration and CUDA based Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper v3.7.
