My AVCHD videos
I have a Sony camcorder (HDR-SR11) that records high definition (HD) videos in AVCHD (Advanced Video Coding High Definition) format. Each video clip recorded by the camcorder is stored in a separate AVCHD file. Therefore, I usually end up with a large number of AVCHD video files in one recording session. Some of the video clips may last for a few seconds while others may last for a few minutes.
Although many software video players, such as Windows Media Player and Media Player Classic, can play multiple AVCHD clips continuously, they usually exhibit a small pause when going from one clip to another. I find this to be quite annoying, especially when viewing many short clips. In order to play the video smoothly, I have to join the AVCHD files into one large file first and then play the joined video file afterwards.
There are many commercial software programs that can process AVCHD videos. The one that I have is Sony's Vegas Movie Studio 9 which is a rather good AVCHD editing tool. It can add many special effects to my videos and can also convert the AVCHD videos to a number of different formats so that I can upload them to YouTube or my iPod. However, Vegas Movie Studio 9 does take a long time to join AVCHD video clips, even without adding any special effects at all. For example, it takes Vegas Movie Studio 9 about three hours to join one hour of AVCHD video in my computer that has an Intel dual-core T9500 processor.
Very often, I just want to join the AVCHD video clips quickly without doing any video editing. I have been looking for a fast (and hopefully free) way to join the AVCHD video files. After doing some research on the web, I have found that there are indeed free tools that can join AVCHD video files much faster than Vegas Movie Studio 9. I can now join an hour of AVCHD video in minutes instead of hours. I will describe where to get these tools and how to use them in my Joining My AVCHD Videos page.
Quite often, I also want to trim an AVCHD video clip quickly without doing any additional video editing. I have also found that there are free tools that can trim AVCHD video files much faster than Vegas Movie Studio 9. I will describe where to get these tools and how to use them in my Trimming My AVCHD Videos page.
Finally, I'd like to share how I play my AVCHD videos in my Playing My AVCHD Videos page.
