AVCHD Camcorder and MTS/M2TS files on Mac

The first AVCHD camcorder, Sony Handycam HDR-UX1 with 8 cm DVD media, went on sale in September, 2006.

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AVCHD includes features to improve media presentation: menu navigation, slide shows and subtitles. Because of this function improvement, AVCHD camcorder becomes increasingly popular. But people didn't acquaint themselves with AVCHD video files in MTS/M2TS extension.

AVCHD Videos: MTS/M2TS files

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AVCHD (AVC-HD, AVC HD) video is recorded using the MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video compression codec. Audio is stored in compressed form (Dolby AC-3).
The recorded file's extension is MTS on camcorder and M2TS after import to computer. If you copy the recorded video directly (command+C and command+V), you may also get MTS files.)

How to get M2TS/MTS files off AVCHD camcorder
With AVC HD camcorders, you typically need to connect the HD video camera to your Mac using a USB cable, firewire or iLink(Sony). Once connected and powered on, the camcorder should appear on the desktop as a new disk. The location of the films on the camcorders disk will vary depending on manufacturer. It is desirable that you copy the movies to your Mac harddisk before converting or editing. And there is a step by step instruction about how to http://www.iskysoft.com/article/import-camcorder-video-to-mac.html#126 (capture footage from camcorder to a Mac).

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Play AVCHD Video on Mac
M2TS/MTS files from AVCHD camcorder can be achieved with http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html (VLC Media Player) which could play back the content (as it supports H.264 video and AC3 audio directly without needing DirectShow filters). Software called the "Picture Motion Browser" is distributed with Sony camcorders and can play these kind of files.

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Edit or Convert M2TS/MTS Video on Mac

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Most recorded video need to be re-processed. For amateur, iMovie HD is nice choice to edit high-definition video, including M2TS/MTS. You can capture the footage directly to iMovie through USB, FireWire or iLink(Sony). You can follow the tutorial quoted in Part 3. But some local M2TS/MTS Videos cannot be recognized by iMovie (iMovie-compatile formats contain MP4, MOV, M4V). Then, you need a http://www.moviesmac.com/video-converter-mac/index.html#126 (M2TS/MTS video converter for Mac) and follow this guide to http://www.moviesmac.com/tutorial/mts-converter-mac.html#126 (convert AVCHD videos on Mac OS). Similarly, you can also convert M2TS/MTS to MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, iPod, iPhone, iTunes, QuickTime, etc in this way.

From: http://www.squidoo.com/avchd-mts-m2ts-mac (AVCHD Camcorder and MTS/M2TS files on Mac)