Join/Convert Sony PJ10 AVCHD to Windows Movie Maker and Burn to DVD/Blu-Ray

I recently got Sony HDR-PJ10, which is the 2011 new HD camcorder with projector. It is easy to project the recorded videos on the go wherever I like. There are five HD video recording modes for saving 1080 videos: PS at 28Mbps like Panasonic TM700, FX and FH for 1920x1080/60p and 1920x1080/60i, HQ and LP for 1440x1080/60i.

The bundled software Picture Motion Browse (PMB) is great to sort the clips by date. But there is no option to import or join all the clips as one movie. When I tried to use PMB to create and burn DVD disc, I got error message, not to say for burning to Blu-ray disc. I searched and got to know that there is chapter limit in PMB, e.g. 255 for burning to blu-ray, and 99 for burning to DVD.

So before burning the AVCHD files to DVD or Blu-ray disc, I need to merge the MTS files from PJ10 into one movie. I find Aunsoft Final Mate as the recommended MPEG4-AVC/H.264 AVCHD joiner for Sony HDR-PJ10. It can join the PJ10 AVCHD footage as lossless movie, keeping the original format as .mts. Aunsoft Final Mate also provide video conversion for DVD burning software that does not support AVCHD input.

I tried the lossless joining function on Aunsoft Final Mate without re-encoding, but the final movie could not be imported to PMB for burning. So I need third party DVD burning software. ImgBurn and Windows DVD Maker are the free tools on Windows.

Below is the quick step-by-step guide for joining PJ10 AVCHD videos into one for burning to DVD, getting rid of PMB chapter burning limit.

Step 1. Import Sony PJ10 AVCHD footage to Aunsoft Final Mate.
You can import videos from camcorder or PC hard drive. For videos from camcorder, just connect the HDcam to PC via USB cable, and follow the camcorder wizard to import AVCHD footage. For videos from computer hard drive, just click the "Add Path" button and browse the folder.

Step 2. Merge MTS files into one.
Click the drop-down button of the "Create a New Movie" button, choose "For Conversion", select the AVCHD files on the above window, drag and drop to the new movie ID. The Sony PJ10 AVCHD joiner will merge the files quickly.


Step 3. Export the joined movie to WMV for Windows DVD Maker.
Click the "Export" button, go to the "Editor" button. Choose Windows Movie Maker > Windows Movie Maker WMV (VC-1) (*.wmv) and then click OK to start merging AVCHD files into one for burning to DVD.


Step 4. Burn Sony HDR-PJ10 video to DVD.
When the processing is finished, just put the file to Windows DVD Maker or ImgBurn to create and author DVD disc video.

Hope you enjoy the solution, and fix picture motion browser problem chapter limit for burning to DVD/Blu-ray.

Tips:
1. If you would like to burn the joined movie to Blu-ray, just create a lossless movie output, drag and drop the clips for merging.

2. There is also saying about authoring AVCHD video to DVD disc, which would play with Blu-ray Disc players, but not standard DVD player. I have not tried it yet. I would like more ideas and try it when possible.

3. For more info about Sony HDR-PJ10 or other camcorders, just go to the Aunsoft Sony column page.