Hi, I have a Canon Vixia HF200 just learning how to use and 2 basic questions to start with. One is can anyone suggest a good free downloadable MTS to MP4 converter program for Windows 10? I've seen Freemake and a Windows editor and some others that all say free trial, but haven't seen anything that says how much it will cost after the free trial is over. I'd like to eventually do some simple editing also and feel there must be some fairly easy to use and free or reasonably priced basic editing software available but don't know how to figure out what would be good to get since of course they all claim to be. This is all just for personal use.

Another question is about a portable monitor. The camera has a mini HDMI out and using a mini HDMI to regular HDMI cable can use my TV as a monitor. But is there a small tablet size monitor that is easy to carry around and will run on battery power or an external power input? And reasonably priced? I see some on ebay for around $80 and they have a DC input but don't know if they will run on a battery or not.

Thank you for any suggestions!
David
Maine, USA

I have an HF11 and use edit ready to do my transcoding. some edit software can do the transcoding too and I used final cut pro in the past but also use DaVinci.

Not free but very good.

I also use an external monitor on my larger cameras and have some small rechargeable battery packs I got from e-bay.

Without a shade of doubt, you should download "Shutter Encoder". I've been using it for years. I've put many camera folks and editors onto this. It truly is an amazing set of encoding, decoding, transcoding and re-wrapping tools for almost any codec you can name. In many cases, it outstrips other expensive software in features and performance. It has great GPU support and is incredibly feature rich. Even more incredible is that it is free. Or rather donation software, and it't 100% definitely worth supporting with a small donation. It's a piece of software that I believe every editor should have in his kit. Available for both Windows and Mac. I have no connection with Shutter Encoder whatsoever, but when I see good utilities like this, I will enthusiastically spread the word.

Chris Young

Website:
Just scroll down the page to see some of the things Shutter Encoder can do
https://www.shutterencoder.com/en/

Definitely watch this:
The Best Video Converter for Windows and Mac - YouTube

I have an HF11 and use edit ready to do my transcoding. some edit software can do the transcoding too and I used final cut pro in the past but also use DaVinci.

Not free but very good.

I also use an external monitor on my larger cameras and have some small rechargeable battery packs I got from e-bay.
Final Cut and DaVinci are more complicated than I want to attempt since this is just for "fun" personal use. Someone mentioned that VSDC video editor it lightweight and easy to use. Might try that.

Can you tell me what monitor you use and how the battery packs connect to it unless they install internally? Is it HDMI to HDMI or mini-HDMI to HDMI or...?

Without a shade of doubt, you should download "Shutter Encoder". I've been using it for years. I've put many camera folks and editors onto this. It truly is an amazing set of encoding, decoding, transcoding and re-wrapping tools for almost any codec you can name. In many cases, it outstrips other expensive software in features and performance. It has great GPU support and is incredibly feature rich. Even more incredible is that it is free. Or rather donation software, and it't 100% definitely worth supporting with a small donation. It's a piece of software that I believe every editor should have in his kit. Available for both Windows and Mac. I have no connection with Shutter Encoder whatsoever, but when I see good utilities like this, I will enthusiastically spread the word.

Chris Young

Wow, thank you for that! It's so easy even I can do it. Tried with Handbrake and managed to convert a few but had to do it one by one and had to select the name for each and destination for each individually. There are probably easier ways but Shutter Encoder was super easy. Thanks to the tutorial I selected the Output folder and set GPU encoding to auto. Didn't see the mp4 option but a Google search result said select H.264 for mp4. After that I just highlighted a few clips and dragged and dropped and it did the rest putting them right where I wanted them. And I think they might even look better than before the conversion :-) After that tried it with even more and they worked great also.

Good one, David!

Yes, Shutter Encoder is quite an amazing app. The deeper you dive into it, the more surprising it becomes. Paul Pacifico is an editor and an accomplished programmer. Being an editor, he knows what we need. Shutter Encoder has matured immensely since he released back in around 2010. If you need to keep up to date with his developments, you can find them here:

Chris Young

https://twitter.com/paulpacifico?lang=en

Final Cut and DaVinci are more complicated than I want to attempt since this is just for "fun" personal use. Someone mentioned that VSDC video editor it lightweight and easy to use. Might try that.

Can you tell me what monitor you use and how the battery packs connect to it unless they install internally? Is it HDMI to HDMI or mini-HDMI to HDMI or...?
For $100 you can get a decent 5" monitor. If you need something brighter for outdoors get the Atomos Shinobi $300

Feelworld
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1762375-REG/feelworld_s55_v2_5_4k.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801 (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1762375-REG/feelworld_s55_v2_5_4k.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801)

AndyCine
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1480234-REG/andycine_a6_5_7_4k_hdmi_input.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801 (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1480234-REG/andycine_a6_5_7_4k_hdmi_input.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801)

PortKeys
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1723000-REG/portkeys_pt6_6_4k_hdmi.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801 (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1723000-REG/portkeys_pt6_6_4k_hdmi.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801)

These type of monitors generally can be powered by Sony NP batteries
The 550 are the lightest and most convenient the 750 has longer runtime
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1723000-REG/portkeys_pt6_6_4k_hdmi.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801 (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1723000-REG/portkeys_pt6_6_4k_hdmi.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801/BI/2855/KBID/3801)

I'd recommend getting an ultra thin short hdmi cable and a hot shoe to male 1/4 to mount the monitor.