Premiere struggles handling Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD MTS clips

Many modern video cameras record footage in the AVCHD format, this creates MTS files that you may need to import into Adobe Premiere to edit together. In this article, we explain a way of encoding Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .MTS files to Apple ProRes or DNxHD codec for editing in Premiere Pro smoothly.

"Hello guys, are you having issues importing Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD (MTS) files directly to Premiere? I get 'The file has an unsupported compression type' message. Is there anything I can do to solve the issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in Advance."

AVCHD support is native to PPro. Premiere should import Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .MTS clips. But you need to copy the whole file structure of your memory card and then use Premiere's media browser/import function to properly import them; you can't drag and drop. If your AVCHD folder structure is lost, you have to convert the Sony Alpha a7 MTS files first. The following guide tells the detail.

• Part 1: How to transcode Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files for use in Adobe Premiere on Mac?
• Part 2: How to transcode Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files for use in Adobe Premiere on Windows?

Video Converter (It is available for Mac and Windows, simply download the proper version depending on your computer's OS.)

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Part 1. How to transcode Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files for use in Adobe Premiere on Mac?

Step 1: Import Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files Start up Video Converter for Mac and click "Add File" to load Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files that you need to convert into this program. This converter supports batch conversion, so you can import a bundle of Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files into it to do conversion at a time.

Step 2: Click "Profile" to select output format. For Mac based Premiere, we would recommend choosing "Final Cut Pro" > "Apple ProRes 422 (*.mov)" as output format. The ProRes 422 codec will ensure a good balance between file size and file quality.

Tips: If necessary, you can click "Settings" button to modify video and audio parameters like encoder, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, aspect ratio, sample rate, and audio channels. You can also "Enable 3D Settings" to add 3D effect to your source media.

Step 3: Start file conversion. Click "Convert" to start transcoding Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files for Premiere on Mac. As soon as the conversion is complete, click "Open Folder" to get the generated files for editing in Premiere Pro on your Mac with optimum performance.

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Part 2. How to transcode Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files for use in Adobe Premiere on Windows?

Step 1: Import Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files. Start up Video Converter for Windows and click "Add File" to load Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files that you need to convert into this program. This converter supports batch conversion, so you can import a bundle of Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts files into it to do conversion at a time.

Step 2: Click "Profile" to select output format. For Windows based Premiere, we would recommend choosing "Avid Media Composer" > "Avid DNxHD 1080p(*.mov)" as output format.

Tips: If necessary, you can click "Settings" button to modify video and audio parameters like encoder, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, aspect ratio, sample rate, and audio channels. You can also "Enable 3D Settings" to add 3D effect to your source media.

Step 3: Start file conversion. Click "Convert" to start transcoding Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts media for Premiere on Windows. As soon as the conversion is complete, click "Open Folder" to get the generated files for editing in Premiere Pro on your Windows PC with optimum performance. That's all. Hope this post will help those who are having issues working with Sony Alpha a7 AVCHD .mts footage in Adobe Premiere Pro.