AVCHD - how can I extract and save separate clips?

[Ken Nielsen]

My first go around with AVCHD which I know nothing about except that after buying a nice new Sony video camera I have as a result on my first try-out, a single file called AVCHD even though I took several separate clips. When I click on that file on my computer, it opens up and shows thumbnails of each of the separate clips. When I click on one of the clips it opens in QuickTime and from there I can export the file to save it as a separate clip on my computer.

Is there an easier way to batch save the separate clips or do I need to go through this process of opening each one separately in QuickTime and exporting it in order to save it?

Any information on how I should approach working with this AVCHD format would also be greatly appreciated.

TIA,

Ken

[trvlbum]

I have been skimming through these responses and my mind is thinking, get rid of this new sony camera...lol...however. I have just had my first day of shooting and yeah...this is a very different way to see my files and I have to do somethingnew..... I put the whole file onto my drive and was going to do just that...open it in permier 2020 as see what happens. Sounds like it's going to be fine. Here I go.....hehehehhe

[KenFlight4]

If you want to access the files directly, use this method on osx: hold down the Control key and click on the PRIVATE file. In the popup menu, select Show Contents and repeat through the files until you reach your original .mts files, which can then be dragged to the desktop

[dreamdiva]

Thank you so much!!!! Worked beautifully!

[CarlosNZ]

I had this issue as well. Very annoying. I managed to work it out. I even wrote a step-by-step article on how to extract the video clips and convert them to a more usable format. http://bronami.video/avchd-files-extract-files/

[SammyT303]

There are a couple ways that I've been using that made it really simple for me to download specific clips without having to export them or unpackage everything I've laid it out how I've done it on my mac.  Now keep in mind it does export the files as a .mts format so if that is not favorable for you then you may want to use the cannon software as well but here are the screen shots of the process I use. I am also using a Macbook Pro 2013 I7

1. Right click on the private folder and click 'Show Package Contents'

2. Right click again on the BDMV and click 'Show Package Contents'

3. This will bring up all the files on the SD card. Goto 'Stream' and download the files that you need. 

Hope that was helpful.

[HarleyTDavis]

Open the BDMV file in quicktime.  You'll get a box asking which to open, pick one, then file and SHARE to another format, you'll get a proper video file.  Takes some time with a lot of clips, but it works every time.

[BruceWayneKramer]

After reading the whole stream, if you don't want to do the paradigm shift (since it is only worth about 20 cents anyway), you can follow the first four steps in this article (https://bronami.video/avchd-files-extract-files/ ) and for step five select all the tagged files and right click and copy.  Then move to the folder you want to manage your project footage in and right click paste.  And you are done.

[Ithyle]

I think instead of finding all these workarounds, the easy answer is to go to the original problem which is the AVCHD format. On the Sony, you can just select XAVC S HD instead and you will just have individual clips. problem solved.

[HarleyTDavis]

You can also rip them out through prelude and Adobe media encoder now.  The AVCHD format is well documented and has a large user base.  Originally, as with many codecs, it did not.  However, it's format has become the standard for digital video in the consumer market at the very least, and in some cases, with lower priced prosumer cameras that offer the ability to alter the compression ratio and frame handling.

XAVC S HD is similar in structure from what I've seen and read, but it's file wrapper format is just a little different.  It's a later format, and capitalizes on clip structure so you can select by clip a little faster with a computer.  However, this has also created some laziness and introduced a few new problems like VFR frame-drops that don't get fixed.  The older wrapper uses an outer wrapper with a tagging format that allows those frames to be handled by programs like adobe media encoder, without sacrificing the quality of the rest of the file, and preventing the "HEY!  Why is my sound out of sync?!!" problem.