Canon VIXIA HF M 31 records in .MTS - Can that be changed?

[Maineman]

I have a Canon VIXIA HF M 31 that seems to only record in .MTS format. Can that be changed to .MP4?

Photoshop Elements doesn't recognize the .MTS format and needs to be converted to .MP4.

Couldn't find a way to change recording format and guess the answer is no.

[Tim]

Maineman, 

The footage shot with this camera are MPEG-4 video compression with an AVCHD codec.  

[Maineman]

Thank you, Knowing that is a step in the right direction.

When video is uploaded to a laptop the format is .mts, not .mp4. Photoshop Elements recognizes .mp4 files but not .mts files.

Right now I have to convert the .mts files to the .mp4 format to edit them in Photoshop Essentials.

Is there a setting to change so video files uploaded to a computer are in the .mp4 format?

Thanks

[Mark35mmF2]

Hi There,

The .MTS format is a playlist file that keeps associated clips together so it is necessary to be in this format until it is being edited or organized on the computer. Unfortunately there is not a way to change this in the camera.

[Maineman]

Thanks,

OK, I am good with that - The .MTS format is a playlist file that keeps associated clips together so it is necessary to be in this format --  UNTIL --  it is being edited or organized on the computer. 

My question is what format does the file need to be in so it  can be edited or organized on the computer?

There were two files available for download, .MTS and something else. As I recall that other file was at the top of the copy/upload to computer list or whatever it is called. Tried that other file, didn't work, tried the .MTS file, it worked but have to convert to .mp4 before it can be edited in Photoshop Elements.

This works but is time consuming. Just need to know how to upload a file from the camcorder that can be edited in PE. If the camcorder records in .mp4, how can that file be uploaded to the computer? 

[Mark35mmF2 · Accepted solution]

The format needed to edit will depend on the editor you are using. Most editors can already read the .MTS playlist file and pull the .MP4 files from it once it has been imported and dropped into your video timeline, but if yours is not able to do that then the .MTS playlist file would need to be converted into a more acceptable format for your editor.

[Maineman]

Thank you,

The key here is :Most editors can already read the .MTS playlist file and pull the .MP4 files from it ONCE IT HAS BEEN IMPORTED AND DROPPOED INTO YOU VIDEO TIMELINE.

I will try importing and dropping the video files into the video time line and see what happens. (Never did that. After uploading files to the computer tried to open the file with PE but it wouldn't open it)

Guess I need to ask if and how PE can be used to edit ,MTS files.

Thanks

[BurnUnit]

Wasn't aware that Photoshop Elements could be used for video editing. By chance do you mean Adobe Premiere Elements?

It looks like the camera originally shipped with a copy of Canon ImageMixer 3 SE which should allow you to do at least some basic editing without having to first convert your videos. If necessary you can probably still download a copy of this software from the Canon website.

http://downloads.canon.com/cpr/software/video/Canon_VIXIA_ImageMixer.pdf

[Maineman]

Thanks,

I discovered the 16 min video segments are normal. In playback the entire video runs.

Problem with converting was viewing camera video on the laptop top and trying to edit those file.

Once downloaded Adobe Premiere Elements worked fine.

Thanks