Camcorder MTS - quick import

relaxvideo wrote on 9/17/2023, 12:40 PM

When working with long recordings where i have several 2GB MTS files, i always have to merge these to one file with the free Avidemux or Vegas own "import files from your camera" method.
When i don't do this, i will miss a few frames or audio cut at every 2GB segment end.
Yes, merging is a simple copy but despite my card reader and port is USB3 and target folder is a very fast M2 SSD, a 1 hour sport game still need 3-4 minutes just for joining. Do we really need this? No other "smart" method in 2023/Vegas21 which can handle these files as "one" recording on the timeline, so no gaps, no missing frames?

And for me, it's often needless to copy the video to a new drive (need space, etc), i can work, edit and render from the fast memorycard.

Vegas import command see automatically which files should be handled as one - so i hope...

Comments

DMT3 wrote on 9/17/2023, 12:49 PM

I would NEVER edit from my original footage memory card. If your computer crashes or otherwise goes wonky, it could easily corrupt the memory card and your original footage is gone. Rather take the 3 minutes to transfer than the 10 hours or more to reshoot.

relaxvideo wrote on 9/17/2023, 1:09 PM

Thanks, but my technical question is still remain: why do we need merge in first place? Why is not possible to handle from the card correctly? With shorter recording, where no 2GB files exist, i often edit from the card since 10+ years. Never had any issue.. If its a very important event (wedding, etc) of course i copy to hdd, for having a backup on the card. BUT sometimes there are events, which does not need this precision, caution. Instead a very fast workflow :)

mark-y wrote on 9/17/2023, 4:19 PM

Your 2GB files are not split exactly on I-frames, yet MTS is a closed GOP structure. That's why Windows Explorer or simple cocantenation usually doesn't work.

set wrote on 9/17/2023, 4:37 PM

I always copy them from memory to computer drive using Sony Catalyst Browse

https://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/catalystbrowse

mark-y wrote on 9/17/2023, 5:16 PM

@set My goodness, I didn't even know that was still available. Thank you for the link!

set wrote on 9/17/2023, 5:19 PM

Besides of Sony Catalyst Browse, older version of Sony Playmemories still can do the job as well:

https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/www/disoft/int/download/playmemories-home/win/en/index.html

As my elder brother still depends with this one. But for newer feature, where you may need to apply the gyro-stabilized function from Sony's camera data... better using Sony Catalyst Browse.

mark-y wrote on 9/17/2023, 6:41 PM

@relaxvideo If you can reformat your cards to NTFS, and your camera will accept them, you may be able to get 4GB files before they split. Check your documentation.

Howard-Vigorita wrote on 9/17/2023, 7:40 PM

When working with long recordings where i have several 2GB MTS files, i always have to merge these to one file with the free Avidemux or Vegas own "import files from your camera" method.
When i don't do this, i will miss a few frames or audio cut at every 2GB segment end.

I use a pair of ffmpeg scripts to do the joining and it's lightning fast. But I only do this with footage from cameras that do not drop frames between segments. Unfortunately many cameras that save segmented clips as mts files do drop frames. So to use those clips together with externally recorded audio or as multicam with other cameras, they should not be joined and the gaps between segments need to be there for proper alignment. This is a big stumbling block for Mac FinalCut users who do not know how to turn off its default behavior of automatically joining clips on import.

relaxvideo wrote on 9/18/2023, 12:14 AM

All right, i know how to join, use this way since years with free avidemux, and its fast. So thanks, but i dont need recommendation for merging app. I like to skip that part entirely!

mark-y: despite files are not split by I-frames (why cameras arent that smart is another question), but Vegas could be smart (especially in these AI days), that it can handle correctly the corresponding files on the timeline without joining first. My camera doesnt format cards to NTFS and it is always recommended to format the card with the used camera.. But if i format to NTFS in pc, and splitting will be at 4GB, thats still not a solution, because part will be 20 min instead of 10. So i still have to merge a 1 hour sport game for example. What i like to skip! Just trim here and there and render as quick as possible! Easy from the card, and yes merging need only a few minutes, but many time * few minutes = long time in life :)

FayFen wrote on 9/18/2023, 1:56 AM

No need for any extra apps, just cmd

In Windows at a CMD prompt:
copy /b "file1"+"file2"+"file3" "CombinedFile"

I copied files from SD to my system and then run CMD from their folder.

example:

copy/b 00000.mts+00001.mts Dory1.mts

5sec for 3Gb file.

relaxvideo wrote on 9/18/2023, 4:21 AM

have you read:

"thanks, but i dont need recommendation for merging app. I like to skip that part entirely!" 😀

mark-y wrote on 9/18/2023, 10:03 AM

Oh I agree it would be nice if Vegas added a remuxing engine in addition to editing and encoding, but right now it is done with separate applications, like Catalyst, VideoRedo, and TMPGENC.