MTS Converter

How to Convert MTS to Any Format

1. Upload Your MTS File: Drag and drop your camcorder clip or click "Add Files". The converter accepts .mts files straight from the AVCHD folder. Batch is supported — drop in a whole shoot and each clip converts in parallel, so you can grab them as one ZIP.
2. Pick an Output Format and Quality Preset: Choose the target from the Video File Extension list — MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, WMV, FLV, M2TS, TS, MPEG, GIF, and 25+ more — or extract the audio to MP3. The default Quality Preset is "Very High (Recommended)". Switch to Specific file size to cap output at an exact MB target, Constant Bitrate for predictable sizes, Variable Bitrate for smaller files at equal quality, or Constant Quality (CRF) to tune by perceptual quality (18 = visually lossless, 23 = default, 28 = noticeably smaller).
3. Resize, Trim, or Change Codec (Optional): Under Video resolution, keep original, pick a preset (2160p / 1440p / 1080p / 720p / 480p / 360p / 240p), scale by Resolution Percentage, or enter a custom Width × Height. Under Trim, choose Time Range and enter start + duration. Advanced users can set the Video Codec (H.264 keeps it native, H.265 halves the size) and Audio Codec (AAC, MP3, Opus, AC3, PCM).
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Popular MTS Conversions

• MTS to MP4 — the universal target; plays on every phone, browser, TV, and editor
• MTS to MOV — import cleanly into Final Cut Pro and Apple-centric editing
• MTS to MKV — keep multiple audio tracks for a media-server library
• MTS to WebM — smaller, royalty-free files for HTML5 web embeds
• MTS to AVI — feed older Windows editors and players that expect AVI
• MTS to MP3 — pull just the audio out of an interview or performance
• MTS to M2TS — re-wrap into the Blu-ray / AVCHD-disc twin extension

Why Convert an MTS File?

MTS is the AVCHD camcorder format — short for MPEG Transport Stream. AVCHD (Advanced Video Coding High Definition) was introduced by Sony and Panasonic in 2006 and adopted by Canon, JVC, and other brands; it wraps MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 video with Dolby Digital (AC-3) or Linear PCM audio in a transport-stream container designed for 1080i and 720p HD recording. Sony, Panasonic, and Canon HD camcorders write .mts files into an AVCHD folder structure on the SD card. The video codec inside is the same H.264 that fills most MP4s — it's the transport-stream wrapper, not the codec, that causes friction.

That friction is the whole reason people convert. Common cases:

• Playback and sharing (MP4). Many phones, browsers, and editing apps won't open a raw .mts even though they happily play the H.264 inside it. Re-wrapping the same H.264 video into an MP4 container makes the clip play everywhere with no quality loss and no re-encoding — the most common MTS conversion by far.
• Editing on a Mac (MOV). Final Cut Pro and Apple-centric workflows prefer the MOV container. Converting MTS to MOV re-wraps the file so it imports without an "incompatible media" prompt.
• Shrinking large camcorder files. AVCHD records at high bitrates, so even short clips are bulky. Re-encoding to H.265, or downscaling 1080i to 1080p/720p, cuts the size sharply for email, cloud storage, or messaging apps.
• Disc and archival (M2TS). When AVCHD footage is authored to a Blu-ray or AVCHD disc, the extension becomes .m2ts — the same transport stream, different file name. Converting MTS to M2TS prepares clips for that disc-based workflow.

MTS (AVCHD) Format at a Glance

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an MTS file and what opens it?

An MTS file is an AVCHD camcorder recording — MPEG-4 AVC / H.264 video with AC-3 or Linear PCM audio inside an MPEG transport-stream container, written by Sony, Panasonic, and Canon HD camcorders. VLC, MPC-HC, and most video editors open it directly, but many phones, web browsers, and lightweight players don't recognize the .mts extension even though they can play the H.264 it contains. Converting to MP4 is the reliable way to make a camcorder clip play everywhere.

Is converting MTS to MP4 lossless?

It can be. The video inside an MTS file is already H.264, and MP4 carries H.264 natively, so xconvert can copy the compressed video stream straight into an MP4 wrapper without re-encoding — a container remux with zero generational loss, the same -c copy operation FFmpeg performs. Re-encoding only kicks in if you change the codec (for example to H.265), the resolution, or the quality preset. The AC-3 audio is usually re-encoded to AAC for MP4 compatibility, which is the one part that isn't bit-for-bit identical.

What's the difference between MTS and M2TS?

They're the same transport stream with different file names. Camcorders write .mts to the SD card; when that AVCHD footage is authored onto a Blu-ray or AVCHD disc, the extension changes to .m2ts. M2TS is the Blu-ray/AVCHD-disc twin and is recognized by more set-top players, while MTS is the raw camcorder file. If you need the disc form, use MTS to M2TS; if you have the reverse problem — an M2TS clip that won't play on a phone — M2TS to MP4 re-wraps it.

Why are my MTS files so large, and how do I shrink them?

AVCHD records at high bitrates to preserve HD detail, so even a couple of minutes of 1080i footage can run to hundreds of megabytes. To shrink without changing what you can do with the file, switch the Quality Preset to Specific file size and enter a target in MB, or re-encode the H.264 to H.265, which cuts size roughly in half at comparable quality. Downscaling 1080i to 720p and trimming dead footage first are the highest-leverage steps on long clips. To shrink without re-wrapping, the Video Compressor is the most direct route.

Will I lose quality or metadata converting away from MTS?

If you re-wrap MTS to MP4 at default settings, the video is copied unchanged, so picture quality is identical; the audio is typically re-encoded from AC-3 to AAC, which is a small, usually inaudible change. You will lose some camcorder-specific metadata that lives in the AVCHD folder structure (the .cpi clip-info and playlist files alongside the .mts), since a standalone MP4 doesn't carry it. The picture and sound themselves come through intact. In our testing, a 1080i MTS clip re-wrapped to MP4 produced a byte-identical H.264 video track and the same runtime, with only the audio container changing.

Can I extract just the audio from an MTS file?

Yes. Pick MP3 as the output format and the converter drops the video track and encodes the AC-3 or PCM audio to MP3 — handy for pulling a performance, interview, or lecture out of camcorder footage. The dedicated MTS to MP3 page walks through the audio-extraction settings, including bitrate selection.

Is it safe to upload camcorder footage here?

Files are uploaded over an encrypted (TLS) connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, and they're never shared or made public. Conversion runs server-side, so the practical limit on a big AVCHD clip is upload size and connection speed rather than your device; multi-gigabyte shoots are routine, and you can queue several files and download them together.