MTS to M4R Converter

MTS to M4R: Make a Ringtone from Camcorder Footage

.MTS is the file an AVCHD camcorder writes to its card or internal memory, usually in a folder such as PRIVATE/AVCHD/BDMV/STREAM/ with names like 00000.MTS and 00001.MTS. Sony and Panasonic introduced AVCHD in 2006, and Canon, JVC and others adopted it. Each clip is an MPEG-2 transport stream with H.264 video and, in most consumer models, Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio at 48 kHz in stereo or 5.1; some professional models record Linear PCM instead.

This page turns a moment from that footage into an iPhone ringtone. The video is dropped, the camera's soundtrack is decoded and encoded to AAC, and the file is written as .m4r, AAC-LC in an MPEG-4 container with the extension iOS recognises as a tone. A child's first word, a goal celebration, a dog howling along to the piano: anything the camcorder microphone caught can ring your phone, as long as it fits in the 30 seconds Apple gives for iPhone ringtones.

How to Make an iPhone Ringtone from an MTS Clip

1. Copy the Clip off the Camcorder: Connect the camera or a card reader, copy the .MTS file from the STREAM folder, then drag it onto this page or click "Add Files".
2. Trim to the Moment: Switch Trim from Unchanged to Trim, enter the Start time (seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss) and a Duration of 30 seconds or less.
3. Pick Channels and Bitrate: Choose Stereo for a 5.1 recording or Mono for a voice. Under File Compression, Constant Bitrate (8-384 kbps) gives a predictable size, with Variable Bitrate, Quality Preset, Custom Bitrate and a target file size as alternatives.
4. Convert and Set the Ringtone: Click Convert, download the .m4r, copy it to the iPhone and choose it in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone.

MTS vs M4R

Ringtone Size by Bitrate

Constant Bitrate makes the size predictable: kbps x seconds / 8 = kilobytes.

Variable Bitrate (five AAC bands labelled from 20k-32k up to 96k-112k) is an alternative when you would rather target quality than size; the labels are nominal and the finished rate follows the material.

Tips for Camcorder Audio

• Pick a clean stretch. Wind, handling noise and the camera operator's own commentary are all in the recording. Choose 30 seconds without them; there are no noise filters on this page.
• Check which file has the moment. AVCHD camcorders split long recordings across several numbered files, so the moment you want may be in 00001.MTS rather than 00000.MTS. The Trim Start time counts from the beginning of the file you upload.
• Fold 5.1 to Stereo. Surround-capable camcorders record 5.1 Dolby Digital; Stereo gives a plain two-channel ringtone.
• Leave the sample rate alone. AVCHD audio is 48 kHz and AAC handles it natively, so Audio Sample Rate can stay on Original.

Installing the Ringtone

On a Mac running macOS Catalina or later, connect the iPhone, select it in the Finder sidebar and drag the .m4r onto it. On Windows, add it with iTunes. With only the phone, save the file to Files, import it into GarageBand and use Share > Ringtone. Then choose it in Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ringtone, or per person in Contacts > Edit > Ringtone. Android phones use MP3 ringtones, so Android users should go to MTS to MP3.

Frequently Asked Questions

My computer shows .m2ts files instead of .MTS. Which page do I use?

This page accepts the .mts extension. Import software and Blu-ray tools often rename the same AVCHD stream to .m2ts; for those files use M2TS to M4R, which handles the other spelling with the same settings.

Should a voice clip be Mono?

Usually, yes. A camcorder's stereo microphone adds little to a single voice, and Mono halves the data the encoder has to spend, so 64-96 kbps Mono sounds clean. Keep Stereo for music or crowd sound where the width matters.

How long can an iPhone ringtone be?

Apple says ringtones can be up to 30 seconds long, and GarageBand shortens longer ringtones automatically on export. A 40-second figure circulates from the iTunes era, but it is not in Apple's current documentation, so set Duration to 30 or less.

Will the ringtone sound like the original recording?

Very close. Dolby Digital is already lossy, so AAC is a second lossy generation; from LPCM it is the only one. At 128 kbps or more on a 30-second clip, the camera microphone and the phone speaker limit the sound far more than the encode does.

Can I use the clip as a text tone too?

Yes. Apple's GarageBand guide says an exported ringtone can be used as a Standard Ringtone or Standard Text Tone, and an added tone can be chosen under Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Text Tone. A clip of a few seconds works best for messages.

Can I keep the full soundtrack as a music file?

Yes. MTS to M4A writes the same AAC-in-MPEG-4 format without the ringtone extension and at any length.

What happens to my footage after the conversion?

The clip is uploaded over an encrypted (TLS) connection, processed on our servers and deleted automatically after a few hours, together with the ringtone. No sign-up, no watermark, and nothing is shared or published.