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theabortionator
April, 2025

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Got me a mac and now i need some help

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openmindportrait
Posts: 1157 - Karma: 818
alright so i have been a longtime PC user and recently made the switch to the dark side... with that im wanting to change up my workflow a touch. ive been looking at different options to transcode my .MTS files to prores and have had some shitty luck... Ive been told MPEG streamclip is the shit but im unsure on how to make that work as its telling me I need the MPEG2 quicktime bullshit. now im on the newest version of OSX and i shouldnt need that plugin as its already installed? Any advice for a mac noob who needs to get his shit together for clients?
11 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,485
Edit MTS in premiere.
11 years ago
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plorr
Posts: 3131 - Karma: 520
This, or get 5DtoRGB Batch.
11 years ago
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,392
I can't edit MTS in premiere. I have to transcode to prores.

I use 5dtoRGB Batch
11 years ago
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openmindportrait
Posts: 1157 - Karma: 818
I'm grading in resolve plus editing MTS is meh
11 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,485
Editing/grading MTS is fine, converting to ProRes doesn't magically make it easier to grade.

And unless you're using a computer from 2006 you can edit mts in premiere just fine, it runs natively with any file format so that you don't have to transcode.

if you REALLY want prores still (huge waste of space and time IMO) I used to use clipwrap and transcoded to 422 LT
11 years ago
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gravel
Posts: 5524 - Karma: 42,379
OP (and Heath a little)

I'm on a mac and I use MPEG streamclip to convert all of my files to ProRes 422 LT before editing.
Evan was right when he said that ProRes doesn't make any difference for grading, BUT I have noticed from experience that Premiere (and any other software) can handle ProRes much more efficiently. When I just use H.264 from the camera, sometimes it lags, I have to render more, etc., but with ProRes, it works flawlessly every time, no rendering.

Another thing I like about MPEG Streamclip is that I can trim my clips. When I'm going through all of my shots in one day, I drag one into MPEG, click Batch List, set in and out points, then click export. Then I name the file as per what kind of content it has (My way of naming is: trickname1-cameraangle), so that when I've converted all of my files to ProRes, I don't have to sort through them when editing and can just find a file by trick name.
11 years ago
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gravel
Posts: 5524 - Karma: 42,379
So in response, I WOULD recommend using MPEG to transcode to ProRes.
11 years ago
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openmindportrait
Posts: 1157 - Karma: 818
the only reason I need prores is because resolve doesn't currently support .MTS. I could of course just stick with magic bullet but resolve is on another level...
11 years ago
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openmindportrait
Posts: 1157 - Karma: 818
NVM boys... 5d to rgb works excellent. and i got workflow all dialed... thanks for the help
11 years ago
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lIllI
Posts: 1255 - Karma: 1,986
You might be the only person I know who has actually gotten MTS to run smoothly in Premiere. Every single person I know otherwise gave up and transcodes instead.
11 years ago
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erikK
Posts: 3245 - Karma: 2,329
i know lots of people who edit MTS, myself included
11 years ago
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openmindportrait
Posts: 1157 - Karma: 818
editing mts is a very meh thing to do..
11 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,485
How is it a "meh" thing to do?
11 years ago
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openmindportrait
Posts: 1157 - Karma: 818
because its harder on the system to edit mts, because mts isn't necessarily designed to be edited.
11 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,485
Have you ever done it?

I literally do it every day, it works just fine. Like I said before unless you're using a computer from 2007 you should be okay. MTS works better than h264-MOV from dslrs and people edit those files all of the time.

I used to be super against using raw shots for awhile and that was mostly because I was using FCP and FCP has a hard time with anything thats not prores. Now that I've been using adobe for a few years and yes I have a very powerful computer but still, prores takes up a ton of space and if I can edit files straight from my camera fuck it. Using prores doesn't automatically make your clips any easier to edit or grade, you're just wasting time transcoding and wasting hard drive space for something as meaningless as 'you need prores to color grade'.
11 years ago
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lIllI
Posts: 1255 - Karma: 1,986
Not that it really matters, but the transcoding workflow can affect how responsive certain CC/grading adjustments are. Adjusting the luma curve on a Log curve "feels" different from adjusting the luma on a rec. 709 curve, for instance.

11 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,485
....

I'm not sure where you get that "feeling" maybe just a placebo effect because you're using prores but just because you change the bit rate from 24mbps to 100mbps doesn't mean you're creating a more flexable clip to grade.

If we could just add as much info as we wanted to an image by just transcoding to prores, why would anyone shoot raw?
11 years ago
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openmindportrait
Posts: 1157 - Karma: 818
power isnt the issue at all haha. if you took the time to read the thread title it would become apparent i just bought an imac with an i7, 32gb of ram, and a gtx 780... i've already done tests with 5k red raw and it isnt handles that like a champion. prores does take a lot of space but i only prores for a specific project, back up the MTS and delete the prores when i am done with the work.. I really dont have a choice as i prefer to grade on resolve where MTS isnt an option at all...
11 years ago
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eheath
Posts: 61937 - Karma: 126,485
I know this whole story, but you're still trying to tell me that mts isnt good for editing and i'm arguing its just fine. You work flow is your own but I'm just saying, mts is just fine for editing.
11 years ago
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lIllI
Posts: 1255 - Karma: 1,986
I'm not saying it creates a more flexible clip to grade, I'm saying that transcoding provides the option to change how the clip's luma values are affected by the NLE's processing algorithms. It has nothing to do with bitrate.

Again, it doesn't really matter pragmatically speaking (if that's holding you back, you've got bigger problems). But saying that ProRes doesn't make it any easier to CC footage isn't exactly right.

Technically correct: the best kind of correct!
11 years ago
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