Transcode .m2ts video files to what?

I am new here. I have spent less than 10 hours trying to learn the free version of DaVinci Resolve.
I plan to create a no-budget lego brick film. Using different technical solutions for different scenes to minimize the number of hours it takes. One of the programs I will probably use is the free version of DaVinci Resolve. Earlier I have edited with Premiere Elements, but the latest version of that program has some details which I dislike.

The problem :

My camcorder is a Canon XA-10. 14 years old but works fine. Delivers 24 Mbps 1920*1080 50i .m2ts files.
More and more software is abandoning support for .m2ts files.
So I need to transcode. How do I transcode .m2ts files without loss of information?
It is acceptable if the resulting files become a little larger.
I have the impression that DaVinci Resolve includes some possibility to do a transcode.

So what alternative should I use for exporting from DaVinci Resolve?

I imported a few of my files into DaVinci so I know it can handle this video format.
I clicked on Quick Export. First I simply chose the default option. DaVinci created a .mov file with just half the bitrate of my original files. Then I tried to export as prores with default settings. The file became 15 times larger.
After that I clicked Deliver at the bottom of the program, but the number of alternatives is large so I found it best to ask Before I try something. And if my memory is correct, in the free version of DaVinci, some of the alternatives will not work.

I understand that there are other freewares which can transcode, but since DaVinci Resolve is so competent, I guessed it would be the right tool.

A couple of questions come to mind:

1) If Davinci can read the file, why transcode?

2) As for transcoding, any ffmpeg frontend can copy the video data. I like xmediarecode, but shutter encoder is an other alternative.

3) If the reason you want to transcode is lack of responsiveness, you can encode to the mpeg4 codec (h.263), it will lose you some quality, but since Davinci can exchange the file you're editing with another, I would edit in mpeg4, then when done, change to the original m2ts.

4) If the codec in m2ts is something strange, you can convert to h.264 with CRF 15 and keyframes every 15 frames and you'll have a visually lossless, easy to edit file.

...My camcorder is a Canon XA-10. 14 years old but works fine. Delivers 24 Mbps 1920*1080 50i .m2ts files. More and more software is abandoning support for .m2ts files. So I need to transcode. How do I transcode .m2ts files without loss of information? It is acceptable if the resulting files become a little larger..

That might conceptually be a good idea. Your material is interlaced AVCHD, which is now a very old format. It is really designed to keep the .m2ts files within the AVCHD container, which, if not done, may cause some problems with certain NLEs (I don't think Resolve).

The problem with transcoding is you'd normally be going from interlaced to progressive, so therefore "baking in" a certain deinterlacing scheme. So you want that done properly. The worst case is when it's not deinterlaced properly and interlaced source material is baked into a progressive output, with the wrong metadata flags set. That prevents subsequent software from being able to deinterlace it. You see that on certain Youtube uploads.

The free version of Resolve does not have interlace processing. This is an example of how transcoding interlaced material could degrade the image. I'd be hesitant to handle interlaced material on the free version of Resolve, but maybe others could comment.

Whats the goal of the export?

Delivery formats don't have the same requirements . 265 will give you small files with good enough everything. With FHD even 264 should be okay.

If you're handing the files to people you need something most people can read and play.

If it's for yourself this doesn't matter .

Your questions.
I want to transcode so I can edit in the future when no program supports .m2ts files more.
And I want others to be able to use what I have filmed. A week ago I sent some files from 2019 to another person. And different persons have different editing software. Some cheap programs no longer can use .m2ts files.

Your questions.
I want to transcode so I can edit in the future when no program supports .m2ts files more.
And I want others to be able to use what I have filmed. A week ago I sent some files from 2019 to another person. And different persons have different editing software. Some cheap programs no longer can use .m2ts files.

Good approach. No format is eternal, not even physical ones. I would transcode to ProRes or DNxHR. Those are high quality formats with very strong industry support.

Your questions.
I want to transcode so I can edit in the future when no program supports .m2ts files more.
And I want others to be able to use what I have filmed. A week ago I sent some files from 2019 to another person. And different persons have different editing software. Some cheap programs no longer can use .m2ts files.

I was thinking you could just rewrap to MOV, that way you keep original AC3 audio and interlaced video with no loss in quality but I noticed using Shutter Encoder the frame rate changes from constant to Variable. But lets say it stayed CFR, you'd still have the problem that AC3 codec is losing mainstream support and person editing in the future may not have audio, also future person editing may not know how to deal with interlaced video. Even Warner Music Japan messed up by uploading an interlaced video to YouTube and 200 million views later it still looks awful when it shouldn't

So transcoding to progressive might be best approach for compatibility and to guard against incompetence

Dear friends, many thanks for further comments.

As I hope you understand, I am confused.
I have used my camcorder for years, and suddenly last week I realized that the videoformat is a problem.
I have about 10 hours with video files. To be preserved,
More than 100 gigabytes, so I have a reason to choose a solution which doesn't make the files gigantic.
Mostly finished projects, so I need to preserve in such a way that I can send to other people 10 years into the future.
But also some raw material for my new project.

Righ now, I suffer from such a shock that I find it hard to answer any questions.
So all advice is most welcome.
I can import my .m2ts files both in DaVinci and other editing software. But software companies are removing support for .m2ts files, so I have to find a solution before my old files become unreadable for all editing programs.
When it comes to my future filming, my present project is such that I think it best to film in 25p, which I hope will make future transcoding simpler.
For my past projects, I have thought about transcoding to 50p. Would presumably mean larger files, but if I can avoid worse problem, that is acceptable.

Taking into account what answers you have given, I have the impression that DaVinci is not the optimum program to do the transcoding.
No problem with that, I can use some other program, if I simply knows which one to choose.

I am used to working alone, since I am a no-budget filmmaker. My 3 TV-movies are preserved as .m2ts files.
Edited by myself. I have so little contact with other film workers that I don't know what software is best for transcoding.
So I ask questions. Some of you probably know what software is needed for my problem.

Before I posted, I asked AI, but AI is horribly unreliable. So I find it best to ask humans.
You have suggested both xmediarecode respectively shutter encoder.
AI suggested HandBrake, FFmpeg, VLC Media Player, Any Video Converter. I have absolutely no idea if any of those suggestions is suitable.
AI also suggested that as a file format I choose either ProRes, DNxHD, FFV1. Those would give lossless transcoding.
AI also suggested H.264 respectively HEVC (H.265), if I am willing to accept some loss of data.
And I am equally clueless about the quality of this answer, but I noticed that cheap video editing software have limited support for some video formats.

I have TB's worth of MTS. Don't stress about being able to edit them in future. FFMPEG has you covered. I just rewrap them in .MKV or mp4. You can passthrough all your data without re encoding easily or worst case just passthrough the audio, though my recommendation would be to avoid 265 it has no where near the same detail as 264 even at it's so called lossles crf values esp for 1080p content. You could use a CRF of 18 with x264/264 in ffmpeg if you wanted gq and non interlaced.

OR when you actually want to finally edit just convert the specific files to DNxHD for the files you need. For most the part open source apps should have you covered for long while still (KDENLive, FFMPEG).

When it comes to exporting I personally export to PNG and flac then mux my final video with FFMPEG to AV1 (Def not 265), I found DRS' outputs to 264/5 to be less than ideal and often suffer banding in the greens and blues. My approach will take longer but the quality is generally indistinguishable to the source footage and yet 10+ times smaller.

...I can import my .m2ts files both in DaVinci and other editing software. But software companies are removing support for .m2ts files, so I have to find a solution before my old files become unreadable for all editing programs...Taking into account what answers you have given, I have the impression that DaVinci is not the optimum program to do the transcoding....

Your .mt2s material is interlaced. Your free version of Resolve will not handle deinterlacing. If you try to transcode using that or other utilities that don't properly handle deinterlacing, it will perpetually lock in defects to your output files. If you then discard your original clips, you will have lost that quality forever.

You can transcode and deinterlace those using Handbrake. Just to get you started, try the default preset 1080p30 Fast, or whatever your original frame rate is. In the filters pane, pick Yadiff, preset: Bob.

Then play it in VLC with deinterlacing turned off (Video>Deinterlace>Off). That will prevent the player from auto-deinterlacing. The output should already be deinterlaced, but just in case, this prevents the player from trying that. Examine closely the vertical edges of moving subjects, looking for comb-type artifacts. Compare to playback of the original deinterlaced content. Does that look OK?

The above are just a first set of possible steps. Some versions of Handbrake have additional settings. Do not transcode a bunch of files until you do several test files and closely examine the quality. Use various scene types: light, dark, rapid horizontal motion, rapid vertical motion, ripples of water, etc. All those stress the encoder and deinterlacer differently. The output codec and bitrate allow trading off quality for file size.

I can't give you a single perfect setting, and even if I did, you must still test it and inspect it yourself. The original XA10 1080i .m2ts material is not very high quality by current standards, so transcoding to something like ProRes probably isn't worthwhile.

Actually, there is another (more serious?) problem with some of the old video-cam stuff. Windows 11 has dropped support for AC3 audio encoding and Resolve does not have it's own decoder, so if the AVCHD/.mts file is recoded with AC3 -> no audio. Seems it applies to new systems mainly, upgrading from a Windows 10 keeps the decoder (I hear, didn't test this yet).

So if you transcode, suggest you convert the audio as well..

[Dwaine Maggart]

It's true that the Windows 11 24H2 update removes support for AC-3 audio. And that prevents Resolve from decoding that audio as well.

However, there is a way to restore AC-3 support if that happens:

https://www.neowin.net/guides/how-to-re ... s-11-24h2/

Dear friends.

You have made me realize a few things.

When I transcode interlaced video, I should use other software than Resolve.
There is no hurry for me to transcode since there are programs which have been created for transcoding, and those programs continue to support older video formats.

But I don't know how soon I will have to deliver to somebody else.
Two weeks ago, I sent 15 minutes to another person. She uses Premiere Pro, so .m2ts should be no problem for her.
Others use other editing program. And cheap editing programs normally have limited support.
So I checked some software. For 5 cheap programs I found lists with supported video formats.
None of them appear to handle ProRes or DNxHD. So I should avoid.
Corel Videostudio and Cyberlink Powerdirector can both export .m2ts.
But neither Premiere Elements, Magix movie studio nor VSDC Video Editor.
Indeed, the lists with supported video formats for those 5 programs were surprisingly different.

So, sure, with the right transcoding program, it should be realistic for me to send ProRes or DNxHD to somebody who uses a professional video editing program.
But it is not clear for me what to choose so I can send files to somebody who uses a more trivial video editing program.
And if I need to send to such a person, that person presumably can't inform me what video format to choose. so i need to find out.

All cheap video editing software appears to support mpeg-2 compressed files. All .m2ts files are mpeg-2 compressed.
So I find it logical to transcode to another mpeg-2 codec. Unless I misunderstand.

I have the impression, that I should transcode from 50i to 50p because 50p is gradually replacing 50i.

Many people have cheap computers or smartphones.
Bandwidth for transfer and storage space are also limitations.
So I need to transcode to something which has a limited bit rate and will remain popular.

What appears intuitive would be to create a file where the empty lines in the interlaced frames are interpolated.
That would give a progressive video file which is twice as large.
That would be acceptable, but I have no idea what such a video format is called.
Neither do I know if there is any problem with this solution.

Many persons probably suffer from the same problem as I do. Is there any web page which explains?

So I need to transcode to something which has a limited bit rate and will remain popular.

What appears intuitive would be to create a file where the empty lines in the interlaced frames are interpolated.

50i to 50P is not as straight forward as 50i to 25P. Can have a look at this software
https://github.com/staxrip/staxrip/releases/tag/v2.46.5
Installation requirements/help
https://github.com/staxrip/staxrip/wiki

About 7mins in is a tutorial on how to use it, also of interest is his reasoning for overriding the default 50P output and opts for 25P. He would be talking about the 'soap opera effect' where it was once the opinion of many that the smoother movement of 50P feels cheap, filmed on video, not film. That may be an outdated phenomenon but you can check for yourself if you agree

OK, I see. Well, one possibility may be that I turn the old footage into 25p. I don't expect any of my projects to be broadcast on television again. So what remains now is uploading to the internet. Respectively sending footage to others. And my next camcorder will presumably be one which records 50p.