Converting Sony Alpha 7R MTS clips into FCP/iMovie/FCE

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Sony Alpha 7R – may be the most exciting products to come out of the Sony labs in some time and it is favored by videographers. When you got a Sony 7R and captured a lot of videos with it, what you will do next? Most of us would like to make some editing with MTS footage from Sony Alpha 7R, but problems came up. While importing Sony 7R MTS to FCP, iMovie or FCE for editing on Mac OS X, there are many video, audio issues.

The reason why we found that it is difficult to play and edit the Sony Alpha 7R AVCHD videos with Final Cut Pro, iMovie, FCE on Mac is due to its high rate compression and special codec. In order to make the AVCHD videos from Sony 7R compatible with Mac, the easy workaround is to convert Sony MTS files. For this purpose, this article mainly shows you how to transcode Sony 7R videos for editing, playing in FCP, iMovie, FCE in detail. Below is how.

Converting Sony Alpha 7R MTS to Mac FCP, iMovie, FCE compatible video

1. First, connect Sony 7R to Mac via usb cable, firewire, or a/v cable, turn on the camcorder and copy video files from Sony 7R to Mac hard disk.

2. Download and install Brorsoft MTS/M2TS Converter for Mac

It works as a best Sony MTS Converter under OS X Leopard (10.5), Snow Leopard (10.6), Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.8). With it, you can effortlessly transcode Sony Alpha 7R MTS files to ProRes for FCP (X), AIC for iMovie/FCE. Plus, it can also help you to convert MTS/M2TS to MP4, MOV, FLV, AVI etc. videos for different uses.

3. Launch the Sony MTS Converter Mac and click add button to import 1080p MTS clips to the program for converting.

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4. Click “format” bar to choose the output format. You can freely choose Final Cut Pro > Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov) for FCP, or iMovie and Final Cut Express > Apple InterMediate Codec (AIC) (*.mov) for working with iMovie/FCE

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Tip: Click the Settings button; you can recommended to set the video size, bit rate, fame rate, etc.

5. Hit the Convert button to start the conversion; it will convert Sony AVCHD to iMovie/FCE/FCP friendly format on Mac OS X.

After the conversion, you can transfer the converted Sony Alpha 7R videos to Mac for further editing with FCP, FCE, iMovie smoothly.

Transcoding MTS to ProRes 422 on Mavericks 10.9

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You may have some MTS files from Sony, Canon or Panasonic full HD camcorders and need to bring these MTS files to Final Cut Pro for editing on Mac Mavericks. However, when you import the MTS video files, sometimes Final Cut Pro(even the latest FCP X) can’t ingest MTS footage correctly. In this article, I will give you some helpful tips to import MTS to FCP easily; if it still doesn’t work I will share an easy workaround- converting MTS to ProRes on Maveicks for with working with FCP flawlessly.

If you’re working with AVCHD files then these helpful tips should assist with any kinks in your workflow. The most important thing to remember with any digital card format is to copy the entire card, as this will maintain the folder/file structure that a lot of non-linear editing applications need to work with the files.

IMPORTING .MTS FILES INTO FCP X

When importing .MTS files into FCPX it’s important to remember to go to “Import from Camera > Open Archive” rather than going straight to “Import”.

IMPORTING .MTS FILES INTO FCP 7

It is pretty straight forward to work with AVCHD files in FCP 7 – just copy the card structure to your hard drive and then ingest via Log and Transfer. Set the transcode codec in the preferences cog of Log and Transfer.

What happens when you don’t have the whole card structure to work with or Final Cut Pro can’t recognize your AVCHD footage from your camcorder? Well Brorsoft MTS Converter for Mac will convert standalone .MTS files to ProRes, Final Cut Pro most likely format for you.

I have look at various convertors but tricky to choose which one top go for. After multiple testing, the most suitable one has come out. The quick workaround is to use the easy-to-use yet professional app called Brorosft MTS/M2TS Converter for Mac which can be used as the best MTS to ProRes Converter under Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.7 Lion, Snow Leopard 10.6, etc. It is free, clean and safe to install and use. With it, you can effortlessly transcode MTS to Apple ProRes 422, ProRes 422 HD, ProRes 422 LT, ProRes 4444 for FCP 6/7 or Final Cut Pro X.

Converting MTS files to ProRes for Editing in Final Cut Pro

1. Install and launch the MTS to ProRes Converter, and then click “Add Video” button to import .MTS files.

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2. Click on the “Format”bar and get the dropdown menu, then move your pointer to choose “Final Cut Pro> Apple PreRes 422″ or “Apple ProRes 422 HQ” or “Apple ProRes 4444” as the output format

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Tips: In case the default settings do not fit your requirement, you can click “Settings” button and enter “Profile Settings” panel to adjust video size, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate and audio channels.

3. Click Convert button to start transcoding MTS to ProRes for Final Cut Pro on Mavericks.

Once the conversion completes, you can click “Open” to find the .MOV videos which can be directly imported to FCP 6/7/X. You’ve done.

Editor’s Note: For FCP X users, before you try to do MTS to ProRes conversion, don’t forget to make sure that you have installed the Apple ProRes Codec manually since the FCP X asks users to install it by themselves.