Any problems you have with Vegas, you would have to ask about on the Vegas creatives forums and not here which only really covers Magix Movie Studio and Video Pro-X. You may find answers from the users on either forum biased towards the programs they support.

@ghijohansson

I'm pretty sure both programs will be able to read you video file. I suspect even Magix Movie Studio can do it. I could be wrong but if you want a quick definitive answer, just upload a 5 sec clip and we can test it for you. The video can be of anything, it doesn't really matter. It's the file format that really matters.

I highly recommend downloading trial versions of both programs and testing them yourself to determine which one you prefer. The manuals will be available with the trial versions.

@ghijohansson

Hi

. . . . But that program no longer exports .m2ts files . . . .

Do you mean AP can import the mts files video content, however the audio, which is Dolby Surround Sound (DSS) is either not imported or is imported as Stereo?

Magix Movie Studio and Video Pro X can import the DSS, as shown below, however they do not support export of DSS, it is stereo only.

The issue with DSS audio on export is a result of a licensing issue with the DSS encoder, and affected many video editor programs.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

@johnebaker @Can-Dive @ghijohansson

If what you are after as John Baker suggests then the only video format available for export supporting 5.1 surround sound in video as far as I know at present is to use the Windows Media Video WMV for export.

Whether Adobe or Resolve can do this I can't find out as information on the associated websites seems muddied.

Ray.

@ghijohansson, @CubeAce, @Can-Dive, @johnebaker

After the MVP project file has been exported as a WMV 5.1 surround file, as Ray indicates, you can use Handbrake to convert this WMV file back into an MP4 5.1 surround file.

Greetings,
Rob

@johnebaker @CubeAce @Bol @ghijohansson

Guys, where are we getting 5.1 surround sound? Reading the manual, the Canon XA-10 camcorder only supports 2 channels. It's just an HD AVCHD camcorder released in 2011. I don't think the software is going to have an issue editing these files.

@Can-Dive

My bad.

I was going by the reply from @johnebaker without checking the Canon site. You are correct, it is Dolby stereo.

It's just I have dabbled with 5.1 surround for my own amusement and have used the WMV format for exporting.

WMV colour on export used to be awful. It has improved tremendously over the years as well as the quality options for the audio output.

Dear friends,

Definitely nice with so many friendly answers.

OK, Vegas is better for audio editing.

OK, create account in order to download. I guess that is what I did yesterday, so I hope I can then dowload the manual for both programs and compare.

About posting in Vegas forum. I posted in this forum because I had the impression that it was impossible for me to post in the forum for Vegas Pro. But perhaps I misunderstood something.

About uploading a short video to check. I have realized that many video editing programs are still able to import .m2ts files. But they can't export. So I prefer a program which can do both. Because it may take a while before I know what is the best option to transcode. I didn't discover the problem until a week ago.

No, there is no 5.1 surround sound in my video files. The camcorder records sound in 2 channels. Neither have I bothered to add surround sound during editing. So it is only for the video I need to transcode. At least I hope so.
 

@ghijohansson, @CubeAce, @johnebaker, @Can-Dive,

Just a quick answer from my side. If filmed in stereo, it can never be exported as a 5.1 surround file in any film program. Personally, I can export my files that were filmed as MTS 5.1 surround on my Sony HDR-CX730E camera as AC3 surround in VDL 2016.

@ghijohansson, good luck in finding the right solution/film program for you

Greetings,
Rob

@Can-Dive

Hi

.. . . . where are we getting 5.1 surround sound . . .

From this statement from @ghijohansson

. . . . On my old laptop I used AP Elements. But that program no longer exports .m2ts files . . . .

My first part of my comment above was to clarify if the m2ts files were Dolby encoded, which they are though 2ch (stereo) only.

The only reason for AP's lack of export would have to be the lack of Dolby AC-3 encoding, which was dropped several years ago from AP and many other video editors.

To clarify, Video Pro X does support exporting to AC-3 audio, however in stereo (2 ch) only, as shown below.

Note: you do have to select the AVCHD presets for the audio AC-3 codec, not the MP4 presets which are AAC encoded for audio.

John EB

@ghijohansson

Hi.

Once downloaded the manuals should be able to be downloaded from within each program under help.

You say.

About uploading a short video to check. I have realised that many video editing programs are still able to import .m2ts files. But they can't export. So I prefer a program which can do both. Because it may take a while before I know what is the best option to transcode. I didn't discover the problem until a week ago.

Do you mean also export to m2ts? If it is a quality concern then by exporting an edited timeline you are already re-encoding and suffering further compression quality wise. Whether that degradation is perceivable or not is debatable. Unless you intended to butt join and not add any colour correction, sharpness etc and can match the files max / min bits on export and take advantage of 'Smart Copy' as mentioned within the VPX manual, which in my presonal experience would say is very hard to get the conditions correct for activation, which is automatic if the settings are correct. There are another few problems with such exports such as the GOP structure must match on the cuts which means in practice the cut may be moved by how many frames is needed to get a GOP match.

If you do want to export to m2ts, is there a specific reason for that?

Ray.

If you do want to export to m2ts, is there a specific reason for that?

Ray.

My thoughts too.

@ghijohansson I would download the trial versions of both software and see which one fits your needs and the way you edit. "Intuitive" is purely subjective based on personal experiences in the past. While I have MMS, VPX and Vegas Pro, I tend to prefer Vegas because of the way it edits video, with overlays placed over the main video track.

You can join the Vegas Pro User Forum. It isn't a closed forum, but open to everyone.

Oh, I also own Davinci Resolve Studio (paid version) 20 beta 3 right now.

Also, Premiere Elements is a 3 year rental now. If you don't renew, the program no longer works.

...and you buy the software online and download it.

Thanks for further comments.

Yes, I want to be able to export .m2ts.
When I edited on my old PC with Premiere Elements, I imported .m2ts files (bitrate 24 Mbps) from the camcorder. After editing the quality looked the same. So I exported .m2ts (bitrate 30 Mbps). I mean that the program was clever enough to visually preserve quality. For a moderate increase in the size of the files.

And one week after realizing that I have a problem, I still don't know what to edit in the future. So I want to continue editing .m2ts until I know what to replace with.

I downloaded the trial version of Vegas Pro. Imported 2 .m2ts files and put them on the timeline. The export was a disaster. My mediaplayer can't even open. And the bitrate is far too low. So what alternatives should I use when I create video with Vegas Pro?

Joining Vegas Pro forum. I have now realized that while this forum is at magix.info, the Vegas Pro forum is at vegascreativesoftware.info so I hope I can log in there with the same email address and password as here.

Yes, the 3 year licence perios is Another big reason why I no longer like Premiere Elements.
 

You do know that you can change the bitrate of your export, yes?

As for replacing .m2ts, MP4 or ProRes, or anything.

As for exporting in Vegas, I've done it with old Canon files and there never was an issue. What settings did you use?

I use the same email and p/w in both forums.

@ghijohansson

Hi.

No, it will be a separate account as Magix in its infinite wisdom chose to keep the original users site separate when it bought the program from Sony. [Edit] As @Reyfox says, you can use the same email and password.

It would be better to ask specific Vegas questions there as the user pool is in general more experienced with Vegas than here.

Vegas may be a bit too advanced in as much as the export options are more varied within a given wrapper / codec and as such much easier to get wrong. With more choice comes more of a chance of mucking it up. However, users there may be able to give you settings to improve the quality. Personally I have found both VPX and Vegas more than capable of giving indistinguishable export results but sometimes takes some manual adjustments to get there and not always rely on the presets which personally I never use.

I have never had the need to use MPEG-2 or m2ts so do not in this instance feel I can give any useful guidance.

Ray.

@ghijohansson

I should have added that a Vegas forum page link is at the base of every forum topic page on this site.

@ghijohansson I regularly export m2ts from Vegas as my AVCHD camera records 50i mts. No problems but if you are having problems please post on the Vegas forum.

But there's a bigger issue you need to be aware of which applies to many video editors and that's the AC3 audio which mts/m2ts files usually contain. If your new laptop comes with Windows 11 Build 24H2 it no longer provides the AC3 codec that Windows used to play Media Player m2ts files and which Vegas, and presumably Magix, used to decode and encode AC3 audio. There are threads on this. It's only fresh installs of Win 11 24H2 that are the problem. Updates from previous Windows Builds/Versions are okay as they still have the AC3 codec. Magix have overcome this with the last build of Vegas Pro by including its own codec and I assume something similar will become available to MMS and VPX.

@ghijohansson

As far as I can see, Magix Movie Studio doesn't handle .m2ts files at all.

I'm not sure how you came to this conclusion. Magix Movie Studio can import, edit and export .m2ts files.

If you are having some issue and want a definitive answer, as I indicated in my previous post, attach a 5 sec video clip and we'll test it on all 3 programs. You can video tape your floor, picture on a wall, garden gnome - it doesn't matter what. But with that file we can tell you how to get the best quality output with the program settings.

Post Note: As a side-rant I wish Magix would just merge the two forums with Vegas Pro in a separate tab. It would eliminate the confusion in the market (and you won't require two logins!). No one on the Vegas forum is looking for VPX or MMS but every week we get people asking Vegas questions on this forum. Vegas Pro is sold within the Magix website domain so people naturally think it's part of this forum. Acid and Sound Forge are here, so why not Vegas Pro? Probably a separate post but I thought I would bring it up now because this post demonstrates the number of hoops a new member like @ghijohansson has to jump through to get information regarding Magix products.

@ghijohansson

Hi

How and on what type of devices are you playing the .m2ts files?

The issues you appear to be having exporting to other file formats and losing quality is most likely due to incorrect export preset/settings.

In particular export to MP4 h.264, which is the most universally supported format, should not be an issue. The .m2ts file format, AVCHD encoded video, is a 'subset' of the h.264 video encoding standard.

The .m2ts file format is not a popular format for playback as 'stand-alone' files, however they are the standard format for Blu-ray disc, thus exporting as .m2ts files would mainly be for creating Blu-ray discs using 3rd party software.

If Blu-ray is the route you wish to go, then Video Pro X has no need for 3rd party software, it has a disc creation feature built in which is versatile in that the menus, both main and chapter are customisable.

@ericlnz,

Has the disc creation issue in VP 21/22 been fixed, the last comment I can find would suggest the burn disc feature is not going to be available?

John EB

Dear friends,

Thanks for further comments.

I have just tried to post at the Vegas Pro forum.

Reyfox. My settings when I tried to export. I hardly remember. The result was an .m2v file with 30 Mbps.

CubeAce. Vegas having more possibilities to confuse people, if I understand you correctly. I understand what you mean but I am one of those persons who gladly ask for helps when I don't know.

ericlnz. Please tell what settings you use when you export .m2ts from Vegas Pro.

AC3 problems with Windows 11 Build 24H2. Thanks for reminding me. I purchased my laptop with a discount so it arrived with 23H2 (or something like that). So right now that is no problem for me, but next time I buy a PC, I realize that I must take this into account.

Can-Dive. OK, I misunderstood so Magix Movie Studio can handle .m2ts. Nice that you told.

johnebaker. I play video files on my PC. Playing is no problem. But when I edit, I must be able to export to a format which preserves the quality. Without creating extremely large files. Create video files which others also can use.

My new PC has no burner, so I have no plans to create any Blu-ray discs. But my camcorder works fine so I plan to continue using it. So I will continue to record and edit .m2ts until it breaks down. 
 

@ghijohansson

Hi

Thanks for the feedback, that helps us with settings etc.

I did forget to mention that what I said in my last comment re VPX also applies to Movie Studio.

A sample of a .m2ts file from the camera, as @Can-Dive requested would help, though I would suggest make it 20 - 30 secs long.

Upload to a file sharing site such as Microsoft One Drive, Google drive or Dropbox, whichever you have an account with and put a link to the file in a comment, do ensure the file is set to accessible for any one who has the link.

John EB

@ghijohansson

Hi.

No, it's more options for those that need them and understand or have been trained how to alter the settings. The more people want to do the more complex the programs become. I am not trained but read a lot, experiment a lot. Had a lot of failures in the past but now have settings that work for me in the wrappers I use for the files my cameras produce.

Quite a bit of information on how the codecs work are in the manuals towards the end of them. Think of them as guidelines rather than absolutes although there are a few rules about the numbers you can type in like being divisible by 4. Newer versions can give the same quality of export as the older ones, normally for a smaller file size although the quality can be subjective in the eye of the person editing. This is why we talk about perceived quality and can vary from person to person.

The simpler the program the less choice you get and why sometimes the presets do not give the results an individual may want. Whenever a file goes into an editor and cut, cross faded, has sharpening or colour correction / tonal values applied the export must be re-encoded and subsequently is also recompressed in most cases. Some of that is due to a frame that may have been an I frame is changed to a B or P frame to fit the GOP structure of the new file. Even if a frame is not redesignated, an amount of additional compression will be applied if it is a P or B frame. How much will depend on the settings applied. Increasing the bits available only helps up to a point beyond which there are too many and no information gets encoded into the unneeded additional bits.

I'm not trying to put you off, just informing you of why stuff happens. The presets in Vegas and VPX are OK but if not suitable, altering them can be tricky if one is not ware of what can be touched without much harm being done and what really should be left alone unless you are 100% sure of what you are doing. VPX has less that can be altered and less that can be altered that can cause trouble.

I think the reason some may find the presets work for them is the presets are probably closer for the file types and data their cameras produce. Or it could be that different people look for different things in their exports. Difficult to say but everyone will probably have their own take on this subject.

I hope any suggested settings work for you. Good luck.

Ray.