AVCHD import of contiguous sequence

Cleber wrote on 1/23/2013, 10:42 PM

I am sure this has been asked before but I can't find an answer here with search.

Using Pro X4 and trying to import long AVCHD takes which the camera (Canon HFM41) has split into 2 GB contiguous files due to the memory card's format limitations. Pro X4 imports the clips but there is a small space between them, which leads to audible "clicks" and a video dropout at the joint of the clips.

Is there a way to import those clips so they are joined together as one clip without the gap?

Thanks,

Cleber

Comments

emmrecs wrote on 1/24/2013, 3:52 AM

Short answer: Yes (with slight hesitation; my Canon camera does exactly the same thing although it records to internal HDD. I asked Canon whether it was possible to reformat the HDD as NTFS to remove the 2Gb file limit. Their response was, no.)

However, you need to find and download a very useful little app called "tsMuxer". On the main "Input" screen add your first file. Then click on (RHS) "Join" and add all your other files. On the Output tab choose "M2TS Muxing" (this is very important; MEP/VPX does not seem to like output produced as "TS Muxing") tell the program where to store your new file and click on "Start Muxing"! IME the resulting new file will play without noticeable video or audio glitch at the "join", though you may need to "edit" slightly at those points if you are not completely satisfied with the result of muxing these files (hence my "slight hesitation" of para 1!) In practice (admittedly limited) I have not needed to "re-edit" any of these joins so far.

HTH

Jeff

Cleber wrote on 1/24/2013, 12:10 PM

Jeff,

Thanks for the reply.

Tried tsMuxeR yesterday and couldn't get it to work right, will try again with your instructions. However, was able to do it with tssplitter 1.2 and it appears to work OK as well (and one can add several files at once unlike what I saw in tsMuxer...) It apparently just "joins" them and Pro X4 seemed OK with the import (although more testing is needed...)

I find it amazing that Pro X4 doesn't seem to be able to do this natively - surely there are loads of people out there using these cameras for long takes?

Thanks,

Cleber

emmrecs wrote on 1/25/2013, 3:43 AM

Jeff,

Thanks for the reply.

Tried tsMuxeR yesterday and couldn't get it to work right, will try again with your instructions. However, was able to do it with tssplitter 1.2 and it appears to work OK as well (and one can add several files at once unlike what I saw in tsMuxer...) It apparently just "joins" them and Pro X4 seemed OK with the import (although more testing is needed...)

I find it amazing that Pro X4 doesn't seem to be able to do this natively - surely there are loads of people out there using these cameras for long takes?

Thanks,

Cleber

Hi Cleber.

Good to hear you solved your problem, albeit with a different software, one that seem by its name to do the opposite of what you needed!! Perhaps your "problem" with tsMuxer was caused, when I re-read my previous reply, by somewhat imprecise instructions! When you have added your first file to the screen you need to "Join" each additional file individually. i.e. "Join" (file 2), "Join" (file 3) etc. The files should then be listed in order on the input screen with a "+" sign by them all apart from the first. For me, in that scenario, with M2TS chosen as the output format (tsMuxer seems to "see" that as BD output) the resulting file can be imported to VPX4 without problem and without further indexing (which the MTS output option seems to cause.) However, and here I've not had opportunity to test this yet, though a multicam Wedding Video shoot later this year should give that opportunity, I'm not sure what Windows does if the resulting file is larger than 4Gb. I may conduct an experiment later today with some "dummy" files.

As for whether VPX4 should be able to import the original footage and "make" the files join smoothly: I think, for most users of such cameras, they will rarely exceed the 2Gb limit for a series of files. (On my camera, such a size equates to about 15 minutes of continuous recording. Most users will not require that length.) However, I see no reason why this facility could not be requested as a feature in future versions of the software. Since a "general" app like tsMuxer or your tssplitter can perform the task it would appear NOT to be camera/manufacturer specific.

Jeff

DNLuce wrote on 11/14/2014, 10:13 AM

Jeff,

Thanks for the reply.

Tried tsMuxeR yesterday and couldn't get it to work right, will try again with your instructions. However, was able to do it with tssplitter 1.2 and it appears to work OK as well (and one can add several files at once unlike what I saw in tsMuxer...) It apparently just "joins" them and Pro X4 seemed OK with the import (although more testing is needed...)

I find it amazing that Pro X4 doesn't seem to be able to do this natively - surely there are loads of people out there using these cameras for long takes?

Thanks,

Cleber

I agree with you on the point I highlighted. After all, isn't that why we shelled out the extra cabbage for pro? What really annoys me is that it seems that Magix recognizes that the files are meant to be joined together as the import module lists them as a movie in the same way it recognizes a group of VOB files from a DVD as belonging to a movie.

I also was helped by Jeff who pointed me in the tsMuxeR direction and I used it many times without a problem until I started using MTS files from a different camera. \

David

johnebaker wrote on 11/14/2014, 12:00 PM

. . . . Magix recognizes that the files are meant to be joined together as the import module lists them as a movie . . . .

It may do, however I suspect it does not use the extra indexing files that are generated by the camera for joining the video segments at the correct points.

Check if Canon have software for the camera to do this job for you.

HTH

John

Joe_Klein wrote on 11/21/2014, 2:44 PM

You might have proceeded past this point by now, but to join the multiple contiguous AVCHD files into one, try using DOS copy. For example (copy /b file1 + file2 + file3 newfile). This works perfectly for me when my Canon HF-M41 camcorder breaks long recordings into multiple 2GB .mts files and I want to rejoin as one file. Just make sure to do this prior to importing the files into any software package.

gmlotkow wrote on 11/22/2014, 7:27 AM

You might have proceeded past this point by now, but to join the multiple contiguous AVCHD files into one, try using DOS copy. For example (copy /b file1 + file2 + file3 newfile). This works perfectly for me when my Canon HF-M41 camcorder breaks long recordings into multiple 2GB .mts files and I want to rejoin as one file. Just make sure to do this prior to importing the files into any software package.

Joe is 100% correct about this. It can be tenious. I do it this way. Start a word document, and be prepared to use it over and over. The copy function in dos must be perfect, and it is easier to do it in word, than on a command line. it goes something like this.

copy/b 05-31-2013_184614.m2ts+05-31-2013_184614(1).m2ts+05-31-2013_184614(2).m2ts+05-31-2013_184614(3).m2ts 184614_all.m2ts

For each recording you need to join, copy paste a previous copy function, change the dates, change the frame numbers, copy, then paste into the dos command box. Enter (execute) and you will find this much easier than trying to get it right the first time in a dos window.