Converting MTS files to MOV

[Shane Ross]

[kevin brown] ” Then took these high quality .mov files and convert them into low quality mov files.”

How did you do this conversion…from high quality to low quality? External application? Most external apps, when converting, won’t retain anything that is similar to the originals…any metadata that links them, so if you bring in the low res, and then try to relink to the high res, Avid won’t, as it has no metadata linking to those full res.

The typical workflow is to LINK to the high res files in Avid, via the Source Browser…and then TRANSCODE in Avid to a low res file…edit, and then relink to the full res links. THis way Avid knows the file path, knows where the originals are. If you made proxies outside of Avid, it cannot link to the masters, as it has no reference to them. And as I said, most converter apps will destroy the metadata of the full res, making them unlinkable….at least by Avid.

[kevin brown] “I did this same process with my iPhones 8 plus 4k, 24fps footage. The only difference is these files were already .MOV files so i just converted them into low quality .MOV, did a cut then relink to normal!”

What was your process here? Again, what app did you use to convert to low res?

Shane
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[Kevin Brown]

Thanks for your reply. I use Sorenson Squeeze 10, handbrake, and MPEG STREAMCLIP.

[Shane Ross]

All of those destroy any metadata linking the low res to the full res…other than clip name (if you remove the extension all those add) and timecode (if it starts at 00:00:00:00). Yeah, that’s not the way to make low res proxies for editing…sorry

Shane
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[Kevin Brown]

Thanks for your reply, what app do you recommend to use?

[Kevin Brown]

Thanks!
What way you suggest on to make these files low res for editing?

[Glenn Sakatch]

If you want to take the high res down to low res, (and then back) you should transcode in either Avid or Resolve.
Resolve will work, but i always recommend you do a round trip test first to make sure your timecode and file names are set properly in Resolve.

Avid is really simple for this.

If your high res is a difficult format, or is a codec that won’t come in to Avid (or Resolve) then you may need to create new high quality files, which would become your new master files. You would then take these into avid for the low res transcode.

One example of me doing this workflow is when i am presented with files that are spread over several days of shooting, but all have the same file name and start timecode (0:00:00:00) That is a disaster waiting to happen when you try to relink at the online stage.

There are programs that will take these mp4 files, add a time stamp from the record time, and rewrap them as .mov files. At the same time many of these programs will allow you to rename the files- adding shoot day or something else into the mix – to help you differentiate the files when you go to online.

I always say…if you can’t look at two files on your desktop…inspect their name and timecode, and tell me which one belongs in the timeline based solely on that information…then how is your editing program supposed to know?
Your NLE can’t say “well it’s the wide shot I need” all it can say is I need a file called 01.mp4 at timecode 00:00:03:03, and i’m presenting it with 5 files that match that description…ofcourse it is confused.

Glenn