My camera segments the video into 2GB .MTS files. When I bring them to the timeline they assemble in the correct order.
I get audio dropouts between segments, even on the final render. What is the fix for this?
combine them into one file first:
copy /b file1.mts + file2.mts + file3.mts outputfile.mts
It's a command line action? Using a DOS prompt in Windows?
What does the /b switch do?
I'm not up on this. How do I select the origin folder and the destination folder?
Is there a tutorial? Is there an existing thread in the forum that has discussed this in the past?
Yes it is. The /b means "binary copy" - it just copies the files concatenating them into a single file. Once that process is done, there will be no gaps in the audio anymore.
What I typically do is open a command prompt and then browse to the correct folder using the CD command to get to where the source files are located. Make it simple on yourself and make a folder something like c:\Video then you only have to do a CD C:\Video to get to where the source files are located. Then use the command above to combine them and move the "outputfile" wherever you want the source file to really be.
Yes it is. The /b means "binary copy" - it just copies the files concatenating them into a single file. Once that process is done, there will be no gaps in the audio anymore.
What I typically do is open a command prompt and then browse to the correct folder using the CD command to get to where the source files are located. Make it simple on yourself and make a folder something like c:\Video then you only have to do a CD C:\Video to get to where the source files are located. Then use the command above to combine them and move the "outputfile" wherever you want the source file to really be.
This worked!
copy /b 00053.mts + 00054.mts outputfile.mts
But when I pull the combined file onto the timeline, the audio channel shows no level after the stitch point, even though the audio is playing normally. Importing the file again produces the same results. What is missing in the stitched file that makes Vegas show a flat line in the joined segment?
I've always seen the waveform fine all the way through the combined file.
It's working now! Excellent -- and thank you truly for your help.
I just joined 8 files of ~2GB each -- no seams!
The only trick was doing a refresher on how to navigate in DOS...
If you want a GUI program to concatenate (link together in a chain) a series of files regardless of content, then try the free Igorware File Joiner.
https://www.igorware.com/file-joiner
If you have a Sony camera, you can use Play Memories Home to transfer and automatically join AVCHD files that have been split into 2 GB chunks (or less for the last one) because of the limitations of the file system used on SD cards. Panasonic cameras split long AVCHD recordings into 4 GB or less chunks, but their corresponding program HD Writer does not join them, so you will have to concatenate them yourself.
If your camera records a long recording session as a series of MP4 files, you will probably find that simple concatenation is inappropriate. You should therefore use Vegas or some other video aware software to join them.
You could also use the Device Explorer to import the files.
You could also use the Device Explorer to import the files.
This will also join several 4GB files without any frame drop, audio drop, etc?
And the process is as quick as possible, only copy to new drive, right? Just like mtsmerger.exe what i use, but like to eliminate it, and do everything in Vegas.
I think this is simply a must have function for a video editor in 2023.
I use Device Explorer (part of Vegas) to import my video files from a Canon Vixia camera. It connects the segments seamlessly with no audio or frame drops. You can select where the file is stored.
@Doovie If you are getting gaps when you drop multiple adjacent clips onto the timeline (across time), it's probably due to enabling Quantize to Frames in the Options menu during the drop. Personally, I wish it didn't do that since I like to keep that option enabled while editing.
If after you abut the clips on the timeline without gaps, you hear audio glitches going from one segment to another, it means your camera is probably dropping frames between segments. You can zoom in on boundary between segments and see if there's a discontinuity in the audio waveform there. If there is, physically joining those clips will make it harder to find and fix. The easy fix if you only have 1 camera and no concurrently recorded external audio mixed in, is a setting in Editing Prefs: check the box for Automatically overlap multiple selected media when added. Then the setting below it for Cut to overlap conversion will crossfade the clips by that amount... 0.500 for a half second crossfade.
If you record with multiple cameras or with external audio, you definitely do not want to join clips with missing frames in between or cross-fade/overlap them. It'll throw everything else out of alignment. I just align to the audio, leave the gaps in, and cut to a different camera to cover the missing frames.