how to import MTS in premiere cs6?

[Richard Herd]

Lots to discuss here first.

The proper way to deal with .mts is to copy the entire Camera Archive (all of the folders) to a media drive, and then open Premiere and using the media browser inside premiere, navigage to the camera archive and open the private folder. Then, drag them into your project pane. Then, right click and create a new sequence from media.

If the shooter simply gave you the .mts files (which is the wrong way to deliver footage), then convert them to APR 422 LT (making sure the Frame Rate is the same as the .mts) using Adobe Media Encoder.

If you do not have the APR 422 codec then you can google around for it, and learn how to install it. It’s easy enough to do, but not that straight forward.

[Darren Peister]

Im brand new to (my fourth software program) Premiere. I have a small project shot with a Canon camera. Richard, I know you rightfully stated copying over the camera files and respective folders over to a media drive. But in a test, I pulled only the handful of .MTS files that I needed for this project and then in Premiere 6 used the Media Browser to find them. Premiere was handily able to pull them up and import them. Was this a bad thing? Can I actually edit in AVCHD? This is a no-no in Final Cut Pro 7. And this process feels odd- copying the camera media over to my media drive then connecting to it. Tell me I’m doing it right?

[Ht Davis]

Hey everybody. New to the thread.

Listen up. There are many ways to deal with these files. It depends on your system and your workflow. Mine is a MBP with 4gbram 256mbgfx and core2duo. Also, I use canon vixia cameras on low budget projects or non profit. They metatag a 30p frame rate alongside the 60p, and my mac only pics up the 30p. If I import them, I only read 29.97fps, and the frames between are skipped. However, I found a workaround.

Before, I just let the drop happen and dealt with it. IF I tried to encode with AME or another program, It would guess new frames, and the quality was low. But I compared an old project, using this new workflow, and using the old one. The old way dropped the actual frames and guessed new ones when coding 59.94. The new way didn’t, I could tell by going frame by frame.

Final cut X actually has a workaround. It does well too. By importing the AVCHD, and placing it on a functional timeline that’s at 59.94 fps, it checks the file, and will check for extra frames in the feed. It has an “optimized” file (with guessed frames), but on output will use the input file, and you’ll get all the frames. However, I’ve also found that, while it’s sharper, it’s better often to use the lower rate, and have more natural motion.

Another way to deal with them is to just import into Adobe (Yes Darren, you are doing it right), and create a sequence from one of them, and then place the others. Unfortunately, with my cameras, the timecode is not placed in the right binary slot in the header. The timecode is attached to each MTS (they have a copy of the start and end code of the whole video only). Part of the problem with this method is that you will not be able to properly process timecode information with some cameras. First, I use final cut or iMovie and recode to prores, then if I want to use a smaller file, I code that in AME (drop it down to a proxy file with frame blending on just in case) and fix any broken frames etc, then line it all up. Using FCPX or iMovie, you can get each recorded clip from the AVCHD info, with proper timecode, and you can output to the right frame rate, into one file if you recorded constant, or several clips if you recorded that way. It makes it easy to edit.

For people using video from clients, I always tell mine: “Please allow an extra week for transcoding for up to 6 hours of video,” and they aren’t surprised by extra time used to make the video. I transcode their video, my video or anything other than an MP4, or other common computing format (i.E, a file that’s easily moved as one file and readily played\edited on a computer). This is because I need to be able to grade the files for color, and mix multi cam, audio etc. I also archive everything in a singular format, so reincarnating a project is easier, faster, and even more profitable.

Media Drive? WTF?
I use RAID. Firewire and ESATA. It allows faster transfer speed. I also use disk images to store sets of files. I set the maximums on them to match standard disc sizes. Then I burn each in turn. Media files all go out as soon as possible, usually to a blu-ray bdxl, but they all will fit when compressed at high bit-rates (larger files, better quality). They don’t play back fast, and need reencoding, but they encode faster, and retain quality, and can be used over and over. Projects get backed up with ACRONIS software imaging (incremental) which archives changes to 2 drives (1 main backup, and a secondary using a hub to share the port; slower but fast enough to do overnight while rendering out cache or previews). I don’t backup cache or previews. They can be rebuilt in an hour or so on a slow machine. The rest is irreplaceable. My system is backed up the same way, by the entire hard drive, incremental, and twice a month. Not a lot of changes to back up, and it is fault tolerant. This requires 8th of storage for 4 cameras using final cut output to 422proxy. 12-15 for full 422 and up to 20 for 422hq or 4444. Proxy is fast enough on a core2duo. i5 or higher can handle 422. quad core or 8core are necessary for 422hq, and add a gnu for 4444. You’ll also need more ram.