AVCHD to MOV Converter

Convert AVCHD to MOV: What This Tutorial Covers

This is for anyone with camcorder footage — the .mts or .m2ts files a Sony or Panasonic AVCHD camera writes — who needs it inside an Apple editing workflow such as Final Cut Pro or iMovie. By the end you will have a .mov file that opens natively on a Mac, plus the settings that avoid the two things people get wrong: re-encoding too hard, and forgetting that 1080i footage is interlaced.

How to Convert AVCHD to MOV

1. Upload Your AVCHD File: Drag and drop your .mts/.m2ts clips onto the page, or click "+ Add Files". You can queue several clips and convert them with the same settings in one batch.
2. Set the Video Codec and Quality Preset: Open Advanced Options. MOV defaults to the H.264 video codec and AAC audio. Leave File Compression on Quality Preset and keep it at Very High — AVCHD is already H.264, so this step re-encodes the picture and a low preset would visibly soften it.
3. Adjust Resolution or Trim (Optional): Leave Video resolution on Keep original to preserve the camcorder's native 1920×1080 or 1280×720. Use Trim → Time Range if you only need part of a long clip.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and download your MOV. No sign-up, no watermark.

Walk-through: Picking Codec and Quality for an Apple Editor

AVCHD already stores H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video, so there is no "lossless" path to MOV — wrapping is not enough when you also want broad compatibility, so the picture is decoded and re-encoded. That makes the Quality Preset the single most important setting. A few patterns:

• Editing in Final Cut Pro or iMovie: Keep the H.264 codec at Very High, or pick Constant Quality and set a low CRF for a near-transparent result. Final Cut imports H.264-in-MOV, though heavily compressed long-GOP H.264 is harder to scrub than an intermediate codec — if your timeline stutters, transcode to ProRes inside Final Cut after import.
• Just want a Mac-playable file: The defaults (H.264 / AAC, Very High) play in QuickTime Player and Photos with no extra steps.
• Want to shrink a long clip: Switch File Compression to Specific file size rather than dragging Quality Preset down — it lets the encoder spend bitrate where it matters.

Audio stays clean by default: AVCHD's Dolby AC-3 track is re-encoded to AAC, which every Apple app reads. If you need to feed a Final Cut audio workflow, the Audio Codec dropdown also offers PCM.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• "My footage looks combed or shows horizontal lines during motion" — Your camcorder shot 1080i (interlaced, the 60i/50i modes). The conversion keeps the original field order; deinterlace on your editor's timeline (Final Cut and iMovie do this automatically on playback, or apply a deinterlace filter for export).
• "The MOV is soft or blocky compared to the original" — Quality Preset was too low, or you targeted a small file size as a percentage. Re-run at Very High, or use Constant Quality with a low CRF.
• "Final Cut imports it but playback stutters" — Long-GOP H.264 is decode-heavy. After import, let Final Cut transcode to optimized media (ProRes), or convert with a lighter resolution if you only need a proxy.
• "Only one clip converted from my camera's folder" — AVCHD cameras split long recordings into multiple .mts files inside an AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM folder. Upload each .mts segment and convert them all in one batch; once on a Final Cut or iMovie timeline the consecutive segments line up end to end as the original recording.

When This Doesn't Work

If a clip refuses to load, it may be a partial .mts copied off the card without its index files, or a 4K/AVC-HD variant from a newer camera that isn't standard AVCHD. Copy the whole AVCHD folder off the SD card first rather than a single stream file. For footage that is actually .mts/.m2ts rather than the .avchd wrapper, use the dedicated MTS to MOV converter — same engine, file picker tuned for those extensions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does converting AVCHD to MOV lose quality?

Some, unavoidably. AVCHD is already H.264, and producing a broadly compatible MOV decodes and re-encodes that video rather than copying it byte-for-byte, so this is a generational re-encode. At the Very High preset the loss is hard to see; at low presets or aggressive file-size targets it becomes visible. There is no quality gain — the goal is Apple-workflow compatibility, not better picture.

Why does Final Cut Pro prefer ProRes over the H.264 inside my MOV?

H.264 is a long-GOP delivery codec: each frame can depend on others, so seeking and trimming force the CPU to decode neighboring frames. ProRes is an intermediate codec where frames are largely self-contained, which is why editors scrub it smoothly. Final Cut imports H.264-in-MOV fine, then can transcode to ProRes "optimized media" for a snappier timeline.

My camcorder footage is 1080i — will the MOV be interlaced too?

Yes. If the source is one of AVCHD's interlaced modes (1080 60i/50i), the MOV carries interlaced frames. Final Cut and iMovie handle this on playback, but for a clean progressive export apply a deinterlace step in your editor.

What audio codec does the MOV use, and is my Dolby track preserved?

AVCHD audio is usually Dolby AC-3. The default output re-encodes it to AAC, which every Apple app reads. AC-3 is not copied through unchanged; if you need uncompressed audio for a Final Cut mix, choose PCM in the Audio Codec dropdown.

Can I keep the original 1080p resolution and frame rate?

Yes — leave Video resolution on Keep original and the output matches the source's 1920×1080 (or 1280×720) and frame rate. AVCHD tops out at 1080p, and standard AVCHD records up to about 24 Mbit/s (28 Mbit/s for AVCHD Progressive), so there is no resolution to "upscale" past 1080.

How are my files handled, and how long do you keep them?

Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically a few hours after conversion — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public. In our testing, a 60-second 1080i AVCHD clip at the Very High H.264 preset produced a MOV within a few percent of the source file's size, since both sides use H.264.