AVCHD file Rewrapped to .mp4 in Shutter Encoder Jitters badly in FCP 12

[Devrim Akteke]

Hi,

Just wandering, did you make the timeline setting the same as the video clip?

And the FCP viewer may not show correctly all the time on the computer screen, especially if it is not fit to 100% and Better Quality is selected.

And can you try an export to see if the exported master seems bad, too?

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Ian,

MTS is likely to be a Long Gop format. And depending on the encoding, that might be the same with the MP4 files. And FCP is notourious for wanting to dominate what file formats works, and what doesn’t. It can be helpful, until it is not.

On import to FCP, have you tried to transcode to ProRes?

Although it will “cost” more in storage, that would be my starting point to resolve the issue.

Hope that this helps?

Atb

Mads

[Ian Brown]

Thanks Devrim but I tried all those before posting . . . many times.

[Ian Brown]

I think that might work Mads but the whole point of my experiment was to see if I could keep the files small and in a more compatible format.

It’s not a problem as such because I am quite content with the way I have been storing them for the past few years but I thought I might try rewrapping them. It was just an experiment which has unfortunately failed.

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Ian,

Just as a test, it is worth a try.

If it works, you can always revert to MP4 for the final output.

Atb
Mads

[Ian Brown]

I just tried to send a reply but it was blocked and considered as Spam!

I transcoded to ProRes 422 but the jitters were the same.

It does not matter as it was just an experiment to see if I could find a better way.

For the last few years I have been shooting 1080p50 on my Panasonic SD800 which seems immune to the problem so it looks as though the interlacing on the old footage is upsetting FCP and iMovie.

Strange that other playback apps and NLEs are immune.

[Mads Nybo jørgensen]

Hey Ian,

Yes, the COW SPAM filter can be infuriating – I too have been in that “jail”.
But without that filter, there would only be spam on the COW – I reported 4 spammers yesterday.

To get out of jail, you can email the COW, and they will post it for you, or identify the offending text.

However, back to your issue:

MTS is an unloved format by many of the pro-sumer/professional NLEs.
I don’t know whether it is a licensing thing, or stability.

A couple of ideas for you:

What happens when you transcode the MTS Interlaced footage to Progressive file format?

Have you tried to import the video in to Davinci or similar?

Another trick, which I seem to think that I used back in the day:
Make a copy of one of the *.mts files.
Then change the file format from .MTS to .MP4, and then see what happens.

Atb
Mads

[Ian Brown]

It works perfectly in DaVinci, QT Player, VLC and Quick Look.

Anyway, as I said I am not really bothered as I don’t need to do it . . . I just hate being beaten!

I have uploaded one AVCHD file from 2012 that has been converted to .mp4 in Shutter Encoder.

Maybe you or someone else could download it and see what happens?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1errpZqrFaAy4nbb9FueltnhpQb7Xxoq2/view?usp=sharing

drive.google.com

00057.mp4

00057.mp4

[Ian Brown]

Just noticed the file plays awfully online but seems OK once downloaded.

[Ian Brown]

I have just CONVERTED the .mts file to H.265 in Shutter Encoder and it plays perfectly in FCP . . . BUT that is not the point.

I always knew it would work that way as a progressive file but it should also work as a rewrapped interlaced file. FCP is crazy but I have always known that as well. 🧐

I wonder if earlier versions of FCP X would be able to deal with it? ❓