.MT2S file extension problem! Irreplaceable wedding video!

[Crunch]

Hi everyone,

My dad just realized that he recorded the many events at my brother's wedding, which took place two days ago, in the .mt2s format with his brand new, and apparently unfamiliar new HD camcorder. From what I've been able to ascertain is that it is some kind of HD format, and not easily edited with your every day software.

He's very upset that all of his work may have potentially been for nothing. I looked into it for him a little, and I was able to find that he needs Pinnacle's Studio 12 Ultimate. At least, that's what one site claimed. Another site said it was also possible with Studio 11 Ultimate. He currently runs version 10.7 on Windows XP (as far as I can recall), but if not XP, then Vista 32-bit.

What he's trying to do is convert his recordings to the MPEG-2 format. Wikipedia, which is not always completely accurate, as we all know, suggested that it could be converted to MPEG-4 only!??

I'm no expert in graphics or video editing, so I am hoping that some of you might be able to help my poor dad out.

One thing he said that he was surprised as to how small the amount of space took up on his 8GB memory expansion card. What is this indicative of? Is there a compression mode at hand here?

The bottom line is: Will he be able to edit the tons of video he took in a meaningful way in one way or another? What kind of software would he need? I hope it will only boil down to his having to upgrading to Studio 11 Ultimate, since he's so familiar with Pinnacle.

Thanks everyone for reading this. He's waiting for me to come back to him with some good news.

Thank you again all very much!

[basketb]

The bottom line is: Will he be able to edit the tons of video he took in a meaningful way in one way or another? What kind of software would he need? I hope it will only boil down to his having to upgrading to Studio 11 Ultimate, since he's so familiar with Pinnacle.

I am not personally familiar with Pinnacle's Studio line of products but would assume that the latest version should be able to handle AVCHD (the format with the extension m2ts) as the competition can handle it as well.

Other popular products that can handle these files are
Adobe Premiere Elements 7 (the combo of Premiere Elements 7 and Photoshop Elements 7 can be had this week for $70 (after rebate) +tax if you price match the BestBuy price of $100 at Staples and send in for a $30 mail-in rebate) and Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 (free after rebate but currently sold out ).

The way these programs generally work is that you edit the files in hi-def (i.e., you need a really powerful computer for this, C2D w/2+GHz, lots of ram) and then you can burn blu-rays (i.e., it stays in the hi-def format) or you can burn DVDs (i.e., it will down-convert to standard-def) or you can simply save the files to disk.

One thing he said that he was surprised as to how small the amount of space took up on his 8GB memory expansion card. What is this indicative of? Is there a compression mode at hand here?

Not sure, but depending on the compression (read, quality) settings of the camera, 8GB can record between 1 and 3 hours (according to my Canon's user manual).

[Mike Blake]

Crunch,

I'm seeing some talk on the web that Nero 7 can work with this format.

[Troels]

RipBot264 can convert it to other formats - freely. http://www.videohelp.com/tools/RipBot264, including MPEG-4/H.264

[Crunch]

basketb, Mike, Troels...Thank you for the information!!

That's great news, and I will pass it along in a few hours.

In the meantime, he said he figured out a way to edit both audio and video with an application that was part of his camcorder purchase. This is a guess on my part, but he claims to have been able to convert it with some kind of software, which initially rejected his attempts multiple times, when all of a sudden, the program supposedly did it for him.

He wants to burn it to DVD's, not Bluray's, as he wants to be able to send several copies to everyone who were involved in the wedding. He said he figures that virtually nobody will be able to play it back if he left it in HD, as he doesn't believe that any of them have Bluray players.

He keeps talking about MPEG-2 vs. MPEG-4. I don't understand what good it is to buy an expensive camcorder like he has now, only to downgrade everything to a lesser quality "final edit" anyway.

MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Which format do you guys recommend that he use, or does he even have a choice??

I, once again, must admit that I have zero knowledge about graphics, video recording, or even using my digital camera, as I have virtually no interest in doing so. Hell, I hardly even use my BlackBerry to take pictures. lol...

Thanks again!! Every last bit of info is highly appreciated!