How to convert AVCHD (MTS/M2TS) to MP4 losslessly.

[FakeOutdoorsman]

You can use FFmpeg directly to copy the video and audio into a MP4 container:

ffmpeg -i 00031.MTS -vcodec copy -acodec copy output.mp4

You can then combine this with find to do a batch type conversion:

Linux Basics: A gentle introduction to 'find'

Or you could make a new WinFF preset based on my example.

[webdevelopment]

here is the mpeg4 preset in WinFF

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<presets>
<x264HQWS>
<label>MP4 Widescreen</label>
<params>-f mp4 -r 29.97 -vcodec libx264 -s 704x384 -b 1000kb -aspect 16:9 -flags +loop -cmp +chroma -deblockalpha 0 -deblockbeta 0 -b 1250k -maxrate 1500k -bufsize 4M -bt 256k -refs 1 -bf 3 -coder 1 -me_method umh -me_range 16 -subq 7 -partitions +parti4x4+parti8x8+partp8x8+partb8x8 -g 250 -keyint_min 25 -level 30 -qmin 10 -qmax 51 -qcomp 0.6 -trellis 2 -sc_threshold 40 -i_qfactor 0.71 -acodec libfaac -ab 112kb -ar 48000 -ac 2</params>
<extension>mp4</extension>
<category>MPEG4</category>
</x264HQWS>
</presets>

where can i find one that is for 1080p HD MPEG4?

[control_guy]

Very good post. Very useful. It solved one of my problems. Now my question is how do you include the text stream as well, the PGS?

Thanks

I'll start with the end:

mencoder infile.mts -demuxer lavf -oac copy -ovc copy -of lavf=mp4 -o outfile.mp4

..

[whytenoiz]

How would you adapt your command for a media info output such as :

$ mediainfo 00047.MTS
General
ID : 0 (0x0)
Complete name : 00047.MTS
Format : BDAV
Format/Info : Blu-ray Video
File size : 25.8 MiB
Duration : 20s 974ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 10.3 Mbps
Maximum Overall bit rate : 18.0 Mbps

Video
ID : 4113 (0x1011)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=2, N=15
Codec ID : 27
Duration : 20s 954ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 9 432 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 16.0 Mbps
Width : 1 440 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.202
Stream size : 23.6 MiB (91%)

Audio
ID : 4352 (0x1100)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Codec ID : 129
Duration : 21s 24ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : -67ms
Stream size : 1.12 MiB (4%)

Text
ID : 4608 (0x1200)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : PGS
Codec ID : 144
Duration : 20s 455ms
Delay relative to video : -67ms

[alvgarci]

Hi:

This is indeed a very useful thread. I was working a lot on a smooth way to convert MTS to a more useful mp4 container without recompress it (loosely). I use for it ffmpeg.. and I correct timestamp issues.. but I couldn't fix the issue on converting to mp4 AC3 5.1..

let's take video 1 (MTS format). This is what mediainfo says:

General
ID : 0 (0x0)
Complete name : 1.MTS
Format : BDAV
Format/Info : Blu-ray Video
File size : 96.3 MiB
Duration : 47s 287ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 17.1 Mbps
Maximum Overall bit rate : 18.0 Mbps

Video
ID : 4113 (0x1011)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=2, N=15
Codec ID : 27
Duration : 46s 480ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 16.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.257
Stream size : 88.3 MiB (92%)

Audio
ID : 4352 (0x1100)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : 129
Duration : 46s 560ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 2.49 MiB (3%)

Text
ID : 4608 (0x1200)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : PGS
Codec ID : 144
Duration : 45s 981ms

ok.. 6 channels..

so I run my ffmpeg command on a batch:

for f in *.MTS

do

DATE=$(exiftool-5.12 -d "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" "$f" | grep Date.*Original | awk '{print $4, $5;}')


ffmpeg -i "$f" -y -acodec copy -vcodec copy -f mp4 -metadata creation_time="$DATE" "./original/${f%.MTS}.MP4"


done


Here is the mediainfo output of the MP4...

General
Complete name : 1.MP4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 91.2 MiB
Duration : 46s 560ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 16.4 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2012-10-27 11:07:24
Tagged date : UTC 2012-10-27 11:07:24
Writing application : Lavf54.29.104

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=2, N=15
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 46s 547ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 16.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 59.940 fps
Original frame rate : 29.970 fps
Minimum frame rate : 59.920 fps
Maximum frame rate : 59.960 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.129
Stream size : 88.6 MiB (97%)
Encoded date : UTC 2012-10-27 11:07:24
Tagged date : UTC 2012-10-27 11:07:24

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : ac-3
Duration : 46s 560ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 2.49 MiB (3%)
Encoded date : UTC 2012-10-27 11:07:24
Tagged date : UTC 2012-10-27 11:07:24

but Exiftool said:

ExifTool Version Number : 9.06
File Name : 1.MP4
Directory : .
File Size : 91 MB
File Modification Date/Time : 2012:12:10 02:12:46+01:00
File Access Date/Time : 2012:12:10 02:14:25+01:00
File Permissions : rw-r--r--
File Type : MP4
MIME Type : video/mp4
Major Brand : MP4 Base Media v1 [IS0 14496-12:2003]
Minor Version : 0.2.0
Compatible Brands : isom, iso2, avc1, mp41
Movie Data Size : 95557281
Movie Header Version : 0
Create Date : 2012:10:27 11:07:24
Modify Date : 2012:10:27 11:07:24
Time Scale : 1000
Duration : 0:00:46
Preferred Rate : 1
Preferred Volume : 100.00%
Preview Time : 0 s
Preview Duration : 0 s
Poster Time : 0 s
Selection Time : 0 s
Selection Duration : 0 s
Current Time : 0 s
Next Track ID : 3
Track Header Version : 0
Track Create Date : 2012:10:27 11:07:24
Track Modify Date : 2012:10:27 11:07:24
Track ID : 1
Track Duration : 0:00:46
Track Layer : 0
Track Volume : 0.00%
Image Width : 1920
Image Height : 1080
Graphics Mode : srcCopy
Op Color : 0 0 0
Compressor ID : avc1
Source Image Width : 1920
Source Image Height : 1080
X Resolution : 72
Y Resolution : 72
Bit Depth : 24
Video Frame Rate : 59.94
Matrix Structure : 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Media Header Version : 0
Media Create Date : 2012:10:27 11:07:24
Media Modify Date : 2012:10:27 11:07:24
Media Time Scale : 48000
Media Duration : 0:00:46
Media Language Code : und
Handler Description : SoundHandler
Balance : 0
Audio Channels : 2
Audio Bits Per Sample : 16
Audio Sample Rate : 48000
Handler Type : Metadata
Handler Vendor ID : Apple
Encoder : Lavf54.29.104
Avg Bitrate : 16.4 Mbps
Image Size : 1920x1080
Rotation : 0

So... I lost 3 audio channels .. on exiftool but mediainfo gaves me a perfect conversion...

how can I be sure that I have a loosely audio and video MP4 file? which of them lies?


Any help?

Thanks

[Merrattic]

My problem on converting mts files and re-encoding them (say for example I have 4 x 4gb MTS files with a 1.5 hour runtime in total, and these need to be encoded to fit on a DVD). All attempts whether directly using ffmpeg (compiled) or WinFF or on W7 DVD Flick or winff result in an audio delay.

Now I normally get an a/v delay if I try to encode ts files from my dvb stick. I get round this by demuxing them using ProjectX then encdoing the video and audio separately before muxing them back together. However ProjectX won't demux my mts files

Is there a fix in ffmpeg for this a/v delay (Video is running slightly behind audio, at the same gap throughout the encode - e.g. it doesn't get worse as time progresses.....

[BicyclerBoy]

m2ts & mpeg-ts files have PTS presentation time stamps for all streams.
It is normal for dvb OTA mpegts to have 2 seconds delay between video & audio so the decoder can handle out-of-order video encoding & post process video.

I don't have any a/v sync problems using ffmpeg on with mpegts files for selective stream transcoding/removal. I just use mpeg(2)-ts output container
-f mpegts

If you convert these to a deprecated container like AVI then you get a/v sync problems.
I believe you have to fine-tune the a/v sync with ‘-delay[:stream_specifier] integer ()’ to find a solution for your DVD player & use constant bitrate & packed B frames etc.

If you are remuxing into mkv or mpeg4 container then this could help:
-vsync passthrough -copyts

[Merrattic]

Thanks Bicycler Boy, useful info.

Using -f mpegts as an output will mean no encoding or reduction in filesize I am guessing? (Hence no problem with A/V sync )

I've got to get from 16GB of video down to 4.3Gb

[BicyclerBoy]

Most of what I just posted is of little use here..

The transport stream formats have 10%-20% overhead (over PS) but can be cut & joined & seeked at random.

The PS & TS & mkv containers have audio & video packet timing info.

Problems start when trying to stuff modern video codecs into AVI container as it does not have adequate timing info. It needs constant frame rate & bitrates & lots of stuffing tricks to allow out-of-order frames.

Are you trying to make a DVD-video (mpeg2 PS VOB) or *.avi (DVD data)?

The AVI method could let you to use DivX compression.

[Merrattic]

Seems OK now, found that outputting to -target pal-dvd gives good a/v sync and the right file size