Free online MTS to AMV converter

What the MTS format is

MTS is the filename extension commonly used for AVCHD video recorded by Sony, Panasonic, Canon, and other camcorders. It normally contains H.264/AVC video, AC-3 or LPCM audio, and metadata inside an MPEG-2 transport stream. You commonly encounter .mts clips copied from a camera’s PRIVATE/AVCHD folder or exported by camera-management software.

VLC, MPC-HC, Windows Media Player with suitable codecs, DaVinci Resolve, Adobe Premiere Pro, and FFmpeg can read many MTS files. The extension alone does not guarantee identical video settings: recordings may be interlaced, 1080p or 1080i, and recorded at different frame rates and bitrates.

What the AMV format is

AMV is a low-resolution video format associated mainly with inexpensive or older Chinese portable media players. It was designed for limited hardware rather than high-quality playback, and support is usually restricted to particular frame sizes, frame rates, audio settings, and file-size limits specified by the device manufacturer.

AMV files are useful when the target player requires an .amv file. They can be much smaller and easier for that hardware to decode than an AVCHD recording, but the conversion usually reduces resolution, detail, frame rate, and audio quality substantially. Modern phones, televisions, and desktop players generally do not need AMV.

How to convert MTS to AMV

The simplest option is the converter available on 101convert.com, which can convert the file for free without installing software:

1. Open the MTS-to-AMV conversion page on 101convert.com.
2. Upload the camera file, such as 00001.MTS.
3. Select AMV as the output format and start the conversion.
4. Download the resulting .amv file and copy it to the player according to the device manual.

For a device-specific result, check its manual before converting and set the supported AMV resolution, frame rate, and audio mode if the converter provides those controls. Do not select the original MTS dimensions automatically: AMV players often accept only a few small frame sizes.

Desktop fallback for incompatible MTS files

Some AMV encoders accept AVI or MPEG input but cannot open AVCHD transport streams. In that case, create a compatible intermediate AVI with FFmpeg, then open that file in the AMV encoder supplied with the player or available for its chipset:

ffmpeg -i input.mts -vf "yadif,scale=160:120:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=160:120:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2" -c:v mpeg4 -q:v 4 -c:a mp3 -ar 22050 -ac 2 intermediate.avi

Replace 160:120 with a frame size supported by the target player; common devices use small 4:3 sizes such as 160×120 or 176×144, but there is no universal AMV specification. Open intermediate.avi in the device’s AMV conversion utility, choose the player model or matching preset, and export output.amv.

Quality and compatibility limits

Use the yadif filter when the MTS recording is interlaced; otherwise moving subjects may show comb-shaped artifacts after resizing. Keep the original MTS as the archival copy because AMV is a lossy delivery format and cannot preserve the camera’s HD detail.

Test a short AMV clip on the actual player before converting a long recording. AMV implementations vary, and a file that has the correct extension may still fail because of unsupported dimensions, frame rate, audio sampling rate, bitrate, maximum duration, or filename rules. If the device expects a proprietary AMV variant, its bundled encoder is generally more compatible than a generic converter.