ClipWrap almost did the job ...
 

... but I had to use other software to finish it.

Recently started an edit job with all the source clips supplied by the client as .mts files. A peek at them revealed they were AVCHD compressed 1080i stuff and though Final Cut refused to see them I could play them with one of my alternate players -- VLC or similar.

Added ClipWrap to my bag of tricks, pointed it at the folder full of clips -- some of which were 2GB files -- and went off to bed. Morning revealed that all but one of the clips had been converted as instructed to ProRes files -- the one that wasn't converted was listed as an 'unidentifiable format' ... an odd description as a look at the content revealed it was a continuation of the file before it in the folder, likely part of a very long continuous conference shoot.

Further poking with tools I had on my system turned up complaints about the file -- missing information about dimensions, said one, lacking an indication of codec, said another ... and yet I could play the file and view the content using VLC (or maybe some other -- I forget which players are installed on that system).

So I downloaded the demo version of Shedworx' VoltaicHD and pointed it at the problem file -- voila, it immediately did as was asked and produced a conversion of the first twenty seconds of the 16 minute 2GB file (all the demo version will do). A few minutes with my credit card and the the program was good to go, and converted the entire file.

Not to make it sound quite that simple -- the Shedworx program seems much slower than Clipwrap - I haven't done a scientific test, but anecdotaly the single 2GB file took nearly three hours, Clipwrap converted all but that one file in a folder of 16GB in less than ten.

So ClipWrap will continue to be the first program I reach for when faced with AVCHD material to edit in FCP, but now VoltaicHD has demonstrated it can offer a solution where others can't and I'll keep that in mind.

Cheers,
GB

Hi GB - sorry you ran into a little trouble with clipwrap. When you have a spanned clip like that, things worst best if you can tell ClipWrap that it's a continuation. When cameras split the files, they're not very discerning - they just start a new file when they need to, and the resulting file can end up looking incomplete.

With HDV files, the filename usually hints that it's been spanned. With AVCHD, that information is stored in the metadata XML in the folder structure. If you've only got the MTS files, that info is missing. So, what you can do is highlight the spanned clips in ClipWrap, and select "join" from the "clip" menu. That way, clipwrap will reconstruct the GOP and you wont have that "unidentified file" issue.

Anyways, just a tip for future use - good luck!

-Colin
Divergent Media Support

Thanks for the help Colin. On a Sunday morning no less -- that's beyond the call!

I abbreviated my work flow a little in my earlier description -- the truth is I spent a few hours trying to sort it out before I resorted to the credit card solution.

I looked at the files in the folder and found there were three that looked to be part of the continuous shoot -- a 2GB that ClipWrap converted, followed by a 2GB it wouldn't, followed by a 760MB it would.

Acting on the assumption that they were originally one long clip, I joined all three, which created a file that ClipWrap wouldn't convert, not even the first 2GB of, I joined the first two -- same result, I joined the second two -- again ClipWrap couldn't see the format. So the first and third would convert, but as soon as the second was added into the mix, the result was unconvertable.

So I think I tried all the spanning options, to no avail. Which is not to say I wouldn't try that again next time, just that it didn't work with this problem. I also hunted around for some MTS repair utilities, on the assumption that the problem file was damaged in the first few frames and a repair that picked up the file later would do the trick -- but I couldn't find anything that would do the job.

So it is likely that my file is not just a 'span' but maybe 'damaged' as well -- but for whatever reason, the Other Guys solution did the trick.

Cheers,
GB

Ah, gotcha. Well, if you run into similar things in the future, drop us a line (dmsupport@divergentmedia.com) - we have a version of clipwrap that's a little more liberal than the shipping version about non-perfect files that we can send you.

-Colin