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How to convert M2T files for use on Mac?

For our MAC users, questions about the various Video Editing software products.

How to convert M2T files for use on Mac?

Postby Ron Hunter » Thu Oct 09, 2014 6:50 pm

I want to use FCPX to create a video from M2T clips, but I discovered M2T isn't a supported format for FCPX. The online help for FCPX says HDV file formats "are" supported, but for some reason I couldn't import my M2T files.

I downloaded MPEG Streamclip but that didn't work either. First, I saw a message saying I needed something called "DVHSCap" from Apple to allow HDV files to be converted, but I couldn't find that on Apple's website. Next, I saw a message saying I needed to buy a component of QuickTime Pro installed.

I read the notes on Compressor and it doesn't look like it can transcode files for import into FCPX, it seems to be made for taking a FCPX movie and exporting it into a gazillion different formats.

Does anyone know a reliable method of converting M2T (HDV) files into something FCPX can handle?
Desktop: HPE-580T, i7-950 (3.07GHz), 16GB RAM, Win'7 64-bit Home Premium, PSE12/PRE12, Lightroom 5.
Laptop: MacBook Pro (retina), 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5.
Cameras (in use): Panasonic GH4/Canon HFR400/Canon HV30, GoPro HD Hero2.
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Re: How to convert M2T files for use on Mac?

Postby Bob » Fri Oct 10, 2014 2:31 am

Are you running the Mac version of Mpegstreamclip on the fcpx system?? The mpeg-2 component of Quicktime Pro is only needed if you don't have that codec installed. FCPX should have installed the codec. I don't know why it would want DVHScap either, that's used to capture hdv from the camera. Odd.

Compressor used to be able to convert m2t, but I understand that capability was removed a while back.

HDV is supported in fcpx, but you need to have it in a .mov file. If you will be using M2T a lot, you might want to buy the ClipWrap program. Clipwrap can change the file from m2t to mov without re-encoding the video. So, it should be fast and preserve the quality.
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Re: How to convert M2T files for use on Mac?

Postby Ron Hunter » Fri Oct 10, 2014 11:39 am

Thanks Bob, that is super helpful!

Last night I learned that the MPEG-2 component from Quick Time is supposed to already be installed in the version of OSX I have on my Macbook Pro. When I visited the Apple Store and searched for it, the instructions said it could not be installed on my Mac.

I Googled "MPEG Streamclip" on my Mac last night and everything I saw on the download page led me to believe I was downloading the Mac version, but I couldn't get it to work.

I read on FCP.co that the Handbrake transcoder can be useful, so I tried it. The transcoded clips had distortion and audio sync issues so I don't want to use that.

The files originally came from my Vixia HV30 camcorder and were captured using HDVsplit, so I presume HDVSplit created the .m2t files. Could I use something like MPEG Streamclip to convert the M2T files to MOV on my Windows PC, and then move the files over to my Mac for editing??
Desktop: HPE-580T, i7-950 (3.07GHz), 16GB RAM, Win'7 64-bit Home Premium, PSE12/PRE12, Lightroom 5.
Laptop: MacBook Pro (retina), 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5.
Cameras (in use): Panasonic GH4/Canon HFR400/Canon HV30, GoPro HD Hero2.
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Re: How to convert M2T files for use on Mac?

Postby Ron Hunter » Fri Oct 10, 2014 11:57 am

I just tried using MPEG Streamclip to convert my M2T files to MP4. An error message popped up that said I need to remove QuickTime and replace it with "QuickTime Alternative". I did that and tried again, only to get another error message that said I need to buy the MPEG-2 component from the Apple store.

ClipWrap looks like a good choice, thanks for the heads-up. Hopefully it will be more straightforward to use!
Desktop: HPE-580T, i7-950 (3.07GHz), 16GB RAM, Win'7 64-bit Home Premium, PSE12/PRE12, Lightroom 5.
Laptop: MacBook Pro (retina), 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5.
Cameras (in use): Panasonic GH4/Canon HFR400/Canon HV30, GoPro HD Hero2.
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Re: How to convert M2T files for use on Mac?

Postby Bob » Fri Oct 10, 2014 1:55 pm

I've heard from a number of sources that Handbrake has quality issues with transcoding. Your experience would appear to confirm that.

Did you download Mpeg Streamclip from the Squared 5 website? They are the developers. According to them, it should work with OX X versions up to Mountain Lion. But, they had a note that Mpeg Streamclip could not use the built-in mpeg-2 component in Lion and Mountain lion. I don't recommend the use of Quicktime Alternative. That's based on an old version of the Quicktime codec libraries and player plugin and hasn't been updated since 2010. It's seriously out of date. Be sure to remove it and reinstall the current Quicktime.

I'm sorry to hear you're having so many problems with this, it should have been a simple process. Most applications will transcode and recompress the video content which is overkill as only the file wrapper needs to be changed. I would expect that ClipWrap will do the job. Let us know how it goes.

If you're comfortable with command lines in the Mac Terminal, you could try ffmpeg.
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