Mac mini C2D 2GHz 2GB - 1080i AVCHD playback?

[Courtaj]

If anyone is managing to play 1080i raw AVCHD-format .mts video files on a 2GHz C2D mini, I'd like to hear how.

I'm having limited success playing .mts files on a firewire external (FW400) in VLC. I'd like to be able to do it without dropping frames, and thought it was possible. I can play 1080 Quicktime smoothly, but not .mts at the moment.

Andrew.

 

[Cave Man]

Get Plex, man. Get Plex.

 

[zmttoxics]

Did you try copying it to the internal disk? SATA > FW400.

 

[Courtaj]

Get Plex, man. Get Plex.

I had a feeling you were going to say that. And here was me thinking there might be a solution where I can just double-click the file without opening up an entire HT app!

So it's not a limitation of my hardware then? Merely a matter of choosing the right software, and Plex succeeds where VLC fails?

Did you try copying it to the internal disk? SATA > FW400.

If anything, playing from the internal is worse.

Andrew.

 

[Courtaj]

Well, I tried Plex. So far I've not successfully played an AVCHD .mts clip with it, unless "success" includes a grey screen with some garbled junk running in the top 100 lines.

Any other suggestions?

Andrew.

 

[Cave Man]

Sorry about that - I interpreted your file format as AVC HD (advanced video codec for high def), and not AVCHD - my fault.

It sounds like you need a software app that can open that format. Final Cut Express/Pro can open AVCHD from some cameras, but not all. Do you know the original camera source of that file? Have you tried opening the file In Handbrake to see if it can handle it? It was listed as an item in this timeline and may have been incorporated since then (i.e., 0.9.3). If HB can open it, then you should be able to export it to another format.

 

[Courtaj]

The files are from my Panasonic SD9 camcorder and usually I import them straight into FCE for editing but I'd like to just be able to play the raw files sometimes. VLC will play them, but not without dropping frames. I'm going to assume - given that VLC is pretty stripped down - that even if Plex supported this particular implementation of H.264, the mini would still choke on it.

Andrew.

 

[Cave Man]

My 2 gHz Mini plays 30 mbps AVC H.264 Blu-ray rips just fine, and those are pretty high bit rates, whereas VLC chokes on them.

 

[Courtaj]

Interesting - well, just a matter of waiting for Plex AVCHD support then . . .

Even Windows Media Player will play .mts with the right codec. Urrrrrgh - I feel so dirty having typed that!