method to convert Sony m2ts?

[ChancyRat]

Okay, sorry about that, didn't know links were prohibited.
Yes, I definitely want to know how to convert AVCHD m2ts files to HD quality formats.
At this point as WMV or FLV?
I am happy with my camcorder and happy with PE7 and have been thrown for a loop with this conversion problem.
I eagerly await Paul's input.

[Chuck Engels]

It's not that links aren't permitted but we get a lot of people coming here posting spam.
So we are just careful that's all. If you want to post one link to a site that is one thing, when you post it 3 or 4 times in the same topic I get suspicious
We have done a good job keeping this site spam free

[Paul LS]

Yes, you can export as HD directly from Premiere Elements in either WMV or Flash format (as well as MPEG2 and H.264).

For WMV just go to Share>Personal Computer>Windows Media. NOTE... you need to scroll down the options to see Windows Media. Then in the presets you can choose HD 1080i or HD 720p. If you are posting on the internet it is probably better to export as HD 720p.

There are no presets in PE7 to export as HD Flash. You could try to do a custom preset. Select Adobe Flash Video as your export option. Then select a Flash Video 8 preset. Then click Advanced and you can go in and set the frame size, you could use 1280x720. then up the bit rate to give the file size/quality that you would like. try a few exports to determine the right setting... try 3000kb/s

[ChancyRat]

I will check the WMV settings.
For the FLV, I think I understand what you're saying - will have to try it tonight. When you say "select a Flash Video 8 preset," do you mean select one of these two, 8.4 or 8.7? From the dropdown list:
7.256
7.400
8.400
8.700?

Which one 8.4 or 8.7? Or if this isn't what you mean, please clarify.
Thank you!

[Chuck Engels]

Select the Share tab, then Personal Computer.
From the drop down select Flash Video 8 700k
Click on the Advanced Button to change the size and bit rate.

If you select the MPEG option you can also select 720p or many other HD options.
Same goes for WMV, you have the option to select HD resolution exports.

[Chuck Engels]

Here is a sample of an FLV export from a 1080i project.
I exported as Flash 8 700k and only changed the size to 1280 x 720
http://muvipix.com/cpg/displayimage.php?pos=-3005

With some tweaking I think this would work out just fine.

[Chuck Engels]

Here is a sample of the 1080i WMV export from a 1080i project in Premiere Elements
http://muvipix.com/cpg/displayimage.php?pos=-3006

The WMV is pretty awesome actually as you can see. And you can also see that HDV (including WMV) can be easily played on our gallery here at Muvipix

[ChancyRat]

Everyone, I'm getting confused again. These are 3 different problems, right?
I can't find it now but I believe I saw that PE7 can only import AVCHD, not export it.
Some dialogue on the problem:
http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/ ... 52847.html
except I cannot interpret what it's saying - that PE7 cannot do this?

From Adobe forum:

Enyone know how convert from SONY HD camera m2ts files for Premiere Pro CS3 HD editing?

If you are referring to AVCHD which is what I believe m2ts is, then you would have to use Cineform intermediate as Premiere doesnt currently support AVCHD.

So, to what I've tried: On WMV conversion, I did that, and SmugMug would not upload the file (20 tries), and then I found their site says WMV is not an accepted format, but one of you mentioned choosing the right codex with WMV, but I don't know how to do that.
The SmugMug video format list: http://wiki.smugmug.net/display/SmugMug/Video+Formats
If you can tell me what specialized settings to try, so that Smugmug will accept the WMF format, I will do that.

On MPEGs, this:

If you select the MPEG option you can also select 720p or many other HD options.

does not apply to AVCHD m2ts files, correct? Multiple searches on the web say the Sony format cannot be coverted to mpegs. On my several tries, I failed to get audio. That was a symptom I confirmed in my web searches on the problem.

On FLV, that is the one method I have not tried yet. Will do so pronto tonight, trying this:

Select the Share tab, then Personal Computer.
From the drop down select Flash Video 8 700k
Click on the Advanced Button to change the size and bit rate.
...
Then click Advanced and you can go in and set the frame size, you could use 1280x720. then up the bit rate to give the file size/quality that you would like. try a few exports to determine the right setting... try 3000kb/s

Thanks.

[Chuck Engels]

Chancy, Have you even tried exporting from your current project?
The post about Premiere Elements not supporting AVCHD is at least a year old, version 7 works with AVCHD files just fine.
if you can import the file into Premiere Elements you can export it in any format available, that's just the way it is.
You don't need another tool to convert AVCHD to WMV, MOV, MPEG, FLV or any other format supported by Premiere Elements

[ChancyRat]

Chancy, Have you even tried exporting from your current project?
The post about Premiere Elements not supporting AVCHD is at least a year old, version 7 works with AVCHD files just fine.
if you can import the file into Premiere Elements you can export it in any format available, that's just the way it is.
You don't need another tool to convert AVCHD to WMV, MOV, MPEG, FLV or any other format supported by Premiere Elements

I'm pretty darn sure I don't know what I'm doing, including explaining myself properly here.
I'll try and try till I get it right! Yes, I have tried exporting, with the goal of keeping the HD - and is that the problem, that I cannot keep the HD? I have tried:

- multiple MPEG conversions - I fail to keep the audio. Web searches indicate this is a symptom, that I can't produce the HD file from m2ts AVCHD, that I will lose the audio.

- WMV - which I was able to upload into youtube - but SmugMug doesn't accept this format - except they might if I know the codex to use? I don't know how to adjust the settings to get the WMV conversion that will work in SmugMug.

- FLV - this is the type I haven't tried and will tonight.

If the file is supposed to convert to MPEG, why do I lose the audio? I am choosing the 1081i, to keep the HD.
So far I have found only the WMV, but that did not work in SmugMug.
Please bear with me as I try to explain myself.

[Chuck Engels]

No worries Chancy, we are happy to help you get to the bottom of this.

Do you know what type of audio you have your camcorder set for?
Are you recording in surround sound, dolby, or something else?

Paul might have some insight as to why you are losing the audio when you export to HD MPEG.
Just the fact that you can export to HD WMV should tell you that Premiere doesn't have any problems converting the AVCHD video.
It is probably just a wrong audio setting or something simple.

[ChancyRat]

On the WMV problem, from SmugMug:

WMV files may contain some form of Windows Media Video, which we do not support. However WMV is a container. It can contain a number of different codecs (both audio and video), some of which we can support, others we can't. Plenty of WMVs are being uploaded just fine. The same is also true of .MOV files.

So how do I convert to WMV that SmugMug can accept? This is from their list of accepted codex:

Codec Supported
wmav1 Audio
wmav2 Audio
wmv1 Video
wmv2 Video
wmv3 Video

Except, I pulled these from their list - but don't know if they are talking about for WMV format?
I'm in a total guessing game here.

[ChancyRat]

No worries Chancy, we are happy to help you get to the bottom of this.

Do you know what type of audio you have your camcorder set for?
Are you recording in surround sound, dolby, or something else?

Paul might have some insight as to why you are losing the audio when you export to HD MPEG.
Just the fact that you can export to HD WMV should tell you that Premiere doesn't have any problems converting the AVCHD video.
It is probably just a wrong audio setting or something simple.

Thank you for your patience. I will have to check tonight for the audio setting.
If it's supposed to be only one type, in order to export to HD MPEG, hopefully someone can let me know what that should be.
And if it's too late for the files I have already recorded, hopefully I can identify what WMV or FLV formats will work (with SmugMug).

[Chuck Engels]

From what I can tell the SD export of WMV files is in WMV3 and audio is WMAV2. According to the Codec Tool GSpot the HD WMV is the same.
Based on what you quoted from the SmugMug site the files should work just fine.

Maybe your problem is really with SmugMug and not the video files ?

[ChancyRat]

From what I can tell the SD export of WMV files is in WMV3 and audio is WMAV2. According to the Codec Tool GSpot the HD WMV is the same.
Based on what you quoted from the SmugMug site the files should work just fine.

Maybe your problem is really with SmugMug and not the video files ?

Please explain?
SmugMug says WMV is not supported.

WMV files may contain some form of Windows Media Video, which we do not support.

Doesn't that mean the WMV format I converted to, will not upload?
Wouldn't that explain why it did not upload?
So why do you say based on what I quoted from SmugMug the file should work?

Or, what do you mean,

From what I can tell the SD export of WMV files is in WMV3 and audio is WMAV2

This sentence, I'm sorry to report, is gobbledegook to me.
The only thing I can pull out of it is your reference to SD - and I'm working for HD, right?

I'm sorry I'm such a beginner. I write technical sentences but maybe you should assume I have no idea what I'm saying.