Hi all,
I am back to Linux video editing after a few years, and nothing much seems to have changed.
However, a few years ago in order to edit my Panasonic HDC TM900 files, I needed to use ffmpeg to convert the .MTS clips to .mp4.
These clips are: AVCHD 1980x1080p 13mbs 16:9 29.97 fps aac
Direct editing of the .MTS almost works, however, when you combine ciips, there is an akward pause where the cut takes place.
I discovered by observing the cut area magnified with monitor, that the last frame(s) of the first clip seem to freeze before the new clip begins.
It looks like there is something in the end (and maybe in the beginning) of the .MTS that makes most players briefly pause.
So, I cut off a few seconds from the beginning and end of each clip on the time line. Now I can combine them as I please and the raw cut transition from clip to clip is perfectly seamless (Kdenlive or Openshot).
At the end I render:
Destination - File Rendering
Output File - check path, file type (.mp4)
select - H.264
Scanning - Auto
Encoder threads - 12 (or whatever the machine can do)
Video - 12000
Audio - 192
select - 2 pass
everything else default (including Full Project selected)
Click - Render to File

My knowledge of the formats and video editing is superficial, so I have no idea why this works, but it does work. I decided to post this in case somebody else would find it useful by saving a lot of time. Or, maybe somebody already knows what is going on.
By the way, the Windows editor, Adobe Premiere, did not have this issue.
Thanks,
Hannu

Hi Hannu, enable proxies in the project settings. Proxies will use a low quality copy of the clip for smooth editing and the original footage for rendering.

well , if you want to direct editing MTS clips then transcode them into MP4, you can try some converters, but I am not very suggest you to do that , conversion means quality loss. But still easy and worth trying.