How to get and play AVCHD M2TS files off HD Video camera/camcorder on Mac OS X?

What is M2TS?

M2TS is Sony high definition video file type. M2TS files are raw AVCHD videos recorded using Sony’s camcorders, such as the HDR-SR1 and HDR-SR5 models. Panasonic, Canon and other brands of AVCHD camcorders also record in M2TS format.

Currently, M2TS files can be played using the Picture Motion Browser, which is an application video player provided with Sony AVCHD camcorders. M2TS files can also be played with Mplayer, Windows Media Player and other media players if there is a codec for DVD playing installed. But the file type M2TS is not always automatically associated with the player, so it may be necessary to open it from the player. That’s to say, it’s not convenient to play and enjoy your M2TS video.
How to get AVCHD M2TS files off HD Video camera/camcorder?

With AVCHD camcorders, you typically need to connect the HD video camera to your PC or Mac using a USB cable. Once connected and powered on, the camcorder should appear on the desktop as a new disk. The location of the films on the camcorders disk will vary depending on manufacturer. It is necessary that you copy the movies to your hard-drive before converting or editing it.
How to Play AVCHD M2TS Files?

AVCHD camcorders are shipped with software designed to playback the files on your computer. Sony’s HDR-SR1 and the newer HDR-SR5 both record video in AVCHD format and they are shipped with the Picture Motion Browser, which plays back AVCHD files on most computers. If you purchased one of the Panasonic AVCHD camcorders, the included HD Writer should allow you to playback video recorded with your camcorder.
How to use M2TS converter to convert M2TS to AVI, MPEG, MOV, MP4, etc.

How to convert M2TS files to popular video formats such as AVI, MPEG, MP4, etc.? You need an M2TS Video Converter (Windows Version / Mac Version) to convert M2TS to AVI, convert M2TS to WMV, convert M2TS to MPEG, convert M2TS to MP4 so that you can put them on your Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, iPod, iPhone, and other potable players?

Tips: Which AVCHD video camera/camcorders are supported now by Video Converter?
HD Video Cameras AVCHD Format Notes
Canon HR10 1440x1080i Mini-DVD, CMOS
Canon HG10 1440x1080i Hard drive, CMOS
Canon HF10 1920x1080i/p Memory card, CMOS
Panasonic AG-HSC1U 1440x1080i SD memory card, 40Gb hard drive, 3CCD, Professional features
Panasonic HDC-DX1 1440x1080i Mini-DVD, 3CCD
Panasonic HDC-DX3 1920x1080i Mini-DVD, 3CCD
Panasonic HDC-SD1 1440x1080i SD memory card, 3CCD
Panasonic HDC-SD3 1920x1080i SD memory card, 3CCD
Panasonic HDC-SD5 1920x1080i SD memory card, 3CCD
Panasonic HDC-SD9 1920x1080i SD memory card, 3CCD
Sony HDR-CX6, CX7 1440x1080i MemoryStick, CMOS
Sony HDR-SR1, SR5, SR7, SR8 1440x1080i Hard drive, CMOS
Sony HDR-SR11, SR12 1920x1080i Hard drive, CMOS
Sony HDR-UX5, UX7 1440x1080i Mini-DVD, CMOS
Please follow this step-by-step guide to convert M2TS to AVI, MPEG, MOV, MP4, etc.
1. Download M2TS Video Converter for Mac:

We recommend you iSkysoft Video Converter (Windows Version / Mac Version) which can convert all regular video formats (including M2TS format) from one to another perfectly (works well on the newest Mac OS X Snow Leopard). Compared with other video converters, this M2TS Video Converter for Mac provides you with better output quality, more advanced editting functions and higher conversion speed.

Note: Video converter has Mac (including Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard) version and windows version, which have the same functions and settings, just designed for different platforms. We’ll take Video Converter for Mac as an example in this guide, the steps are the same for Video Converter for Windows.
2. Load the M2TS files you want to convert



Drag & drop M2TS files to the program. Or go to “File” menu, choose “Add Video” to locate the M2TS files you want to add.
Batch conversion is also supported by this M2TS Mac Video Converter, so you can load several M2TS files at one time.
3. Output settings

After you added M2TS files, you can select an output format for each video file and specify a directory on your computer to save the output files.

iSkysoft Video Converter supports comprehensive video formats including AVI, MPEG, WMV, MP4, MOV, XviD, 3GP, FLV, etc.

If you don’t know what formats your device supports, you can just select the format according to the device name. For exapmle, you can select ‘MOV-QuickTime(*.MOV)’ when you want to rip DVD to QuickTime on Mac. The default setting works well. Of course, if you don’t want to use the default video and audio encoding settings, just click the “Settings” button to customize these settings.


4. Edit your M2TS files

Video Converter can help you set video brightness, contrast, saturation, crop video, trim video and even merge multiple files into one single file.

1. Capture a clip from your video file

Click ‘Trim‘ button to open the Trim window, and set the starting time and ending time by dragging the slider then you can convert a clip from M2TS footage on Mac OS X.

2. Crop M2TS footage

If you want to remove the black borders or just convert part of the video area from your video file, you can click the Crop button to crop the video of the current video file by dragging the frame around the video.

3. Video effect

Click the Effect button and drag each effect adjustment slider to set the video brightness, contrast, saturation and audio volume. You can also choose to flip the video and apply a special video effect to your video file by selecting a special effect from: Gray, Emboss, Old Film and Negative.

4. Start the M2TS conversion

Click the “Convert” button to start the M2TS conversion on Mac and then you can just go out for a walk or take a nap, and the conversion may have been finished when you come back.

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