Okay guys, I’m very pleased to announce a tried and true way to get corrupt AVCHD m2ts files to convert to something editable in FCP 7. I have not tried anything other than what I will line out below, so results may vary.
1. Start ProCoder v3.00.50 (not the Wizard). Under “Source” tab click “Add” and choose your m2ts file. I’m using Windows XP, but I assume Vista and 7 would work too.
2. Click the “Target” tab, and click “Add”.
3. Twiddle down “Application Specific” and select “Editing Software”
4. In the right hand column, choose QuickTime 6 – DV for Final Cut Pro
5. After setting your output destination, you want make sure your output settings (except codec) match your source footage (Source footage details can be seen from the “Source” tab). I’m working with 720 60p footage, so I changed the following: Width: 1280, Height: 720, Frame Rate Type: Max FrameRate, Frame Rate(fps): 59.94, Interlacing: Non-interlaced, Aspect Ratio: Video [16:9] Pixel [1:1], Encoder: Apple Photo-JPEG, Bits/Pixel: Millions of colors 24 bits per pixel, Spacial Quality: High. The audio settings also need to be set as close to the source as possible. This preset is limited to 16 bit audio.
6. Click the “Convert” tab
7. Click “Convert” on the lower part of the window, next to “Pause”
8. After doing this, I transferred the new file over to compressor on my mac, and converted to ProRes for editing. The corrupted frames of the video have heavy artifacting, but the remaining bit plays back perfectly and look great.
Mac Pro 3,1
8 GB RAM
Mac OS 10.5.8
Blackmagic Intensity
FCP 7