Convert MTS to OGG — Free Online Tool
Convert MTS camcorder footage (AVCHD, H.264/AC-3) to OGG audio using the Vorbis codec — extracting and re-encoding only the audio track while discarding the video. Ideal for pulling speech, narration, or ambient sound from Sony or Panasonic camcorder recordings into an open, royalty-free audio format.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your MTS file here
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Settings
Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
MTS files are AVCHD recordings that bundle H.264 video with AC-3 or AAC audio inside an MPEG-2 Transport Stream container. OGG is a purely audio container (in this context) with no video support, so during this conversion the H.264 video stream is completely dropped — no video re-encoding occurs. The AC-3 or AAC audio stream is decoded from the MTS file and then re-encoded using the Vorbis codec (libvorbis) at the specified quality level, then wrapped in the OGG container. The result is a compact, open-format audio file containing only the sound from your camcorder footage.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg command-line tool. In the browser version of this tool, the same FFmpeg engine runs via WebAssembly (FFmpeg.wasm) without any file upload to a server. |
-i input.mts
|
Specifies the input AVCHD MTS file from your Sony or Panasonic camcorder. FFmpeg reads the MPEG-2 Transport Stream container and identifies the H.264 video and AC-3/AAC audio streams inside. |
-c:a libvorbis
|
Sets the audio codec to libvorbis, encoding the extracted audio as Ogg Vorbis — a royalty-free, open-source lossy audio format developed by Xiph.Org. The H.264 video stream is implicitly dropped because the OGG output container does not support video. |
-q:a 4
|
Sets the Vorbis variable bitrate quality level to 4 on a scale of 0–10, targeting approximately 128 kbps. This default balances file size and audio fidelity well for typical camcorder recordings including speech and ambient sound from AVCHD footage. |
output.ogg
|
Defines the output filename and tells FFmpeg to use the OGG container format. The .ogg extension signals that the file will hold only audio streams — in this case, the Vorbis-encoded audio extracted from the MTS camcorder file. |
Common Use Cases
- Extract narration or voice commentary recorded on a Sony or Panasonic camcorder to use in a podcast or audiobook production workflow
- Pull ambient sound or field recordings captured in AVCHD format for use in a music production or sound design project that requires open-format audio files
- Archive spoken-word event recordings (lectures, ceremonies, speeches) from camcorder MTS files as lightweight OGG audio for long-term storage or web streaming
- Convert MTS interview footage from a camcorder into OGG audio files for transcription tools or speech-to-text services that accept open audio formats
- Extract background music or audio captured during an event on a camcorder and share it via platforms (like Bandcamp or open-source media libraries) that prefer royalty-free OGG/Vorbis files
- Reduce storage footprint of large MTS camcorder archives by stripping video and keeping only the audio track as a compressed Vorbis OGG file
Frequently Asked Questions
No — OGG is an audio-only container in this context and cannot hold a video stream. The H.264 video from your AVCHD/MTS file is completely discarded during conversion. Only the audio track is decoded and re-encoded as Vorbis inside the OGG file. If you need to keep the video, you should convert to a format like MP4 or MKV instead.
Yes, this is a lossy-to-lossy conversion. The AC-3 or AAC audio inside the MTS file is first decoded to uncompressed PCM, then re-encoded with the Vorbis codec. Each generation of lossy encoding introduces some quality loss. At the default quality setting (-q:a 4), Vorbis produces very good results around 128 kbps, which is transparent for most speech content, though audiophiles may notice subtle differences in musical content compared to the original AC-3 or AAC source.
The -q:a flag controls the Vorbis encoder's variable bitrate quality scale, which runs from 0 (lowest, around 64 kbps) to 10 (highest, around 500 kbps). A value of 4 targets roughly 128 kbps and is a solid default for speech and general audio from camcorder recordings. To increase quality, raise the value — for example, replace '4' with '6' or '8' in the command. For camcorder narration or voice, values between 3 and 5 are typically sufficient; for music-heavy recordings, consider 6 or higher.
Yes. Opus is a more modern codec than Vorbis and can achieve better quality at lower bitrates, which is especially useful for speech content from camcorder recordings. To use Opus instead of Vorbis, change the command to: ffmpeg -i input.mts -c:a libopus -b:a 96k output.ogg. Note that Opus uses a bitrate-based flag (-b:a) rather than the Vorbis quality scale (-q:a), and the output file will still use the .ogg extension. Opus in OGG is widely supported by modern players and browsers.
Partially. FFmpeg will attempt to copy standard metadata tags (such as title or date) from the MTS container to the OGG file, but AVCHD-specific metadata embedded in the MPEG-2 Transport Stream — such as GPS coordinates, camera model, or scene information — is typically not mapped to OGG tags and will be lost. The OGG format does support chapter markers and standard text tags (artist, album, etc.), but the camcorder-specific binary metadata from the MTS file does not transfer.
On Linux or macOS, you can use a shell loop: for f in *.mts; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:a libvorbis -q:a 4 "${f%.mts}.ogg"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.mts) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:a libvorbis -q:a 4 "%~nf.ogg". This processes each MTS file in the current directory and outputs a matching OGG file. Note that the browser-based tool on this page handles one file at a time; the FFmpeg command displayed is intended for local desktop use when batch processing or handling files over 1GB.
Technical Notes
AVCHD MTS files typically contain one or two audio tracks encoded in AC-3 (Dolby Digital) at 48 kHz, or occasionally AAC, depending on the camcorder model and recording settings. When converting to OGG with Vorbis, FFmpeg decodes only the first audio track by default — if your MTS file has multiple audio tracks (e.g., a main mic and a line input), the secondary tracks will not be included unless you explicitly map them with -map flags. The Vorbis encoder produces variable bitrate output, so file size will depend on audio complexity rather than being fixed. OGG Vorbis is broadly supported on Linux and in modern browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Edge) but has limited native support on Apple platforms — iOS and macOS do not support OGG natively, so use Opus or AAC if Apple device playback is a priority. The OGG format supports chapter markers, but chapter data from the MTS source is not preserved since AVCHD does not use a compatible chapter structure. For archival use cases, consider using the FLAC codec inside OGG (-c:a flac) for lossless audio extraction from the MTS source.