Processing concert video with Shotcut

I have twelve 1.97 GB mts files out of a video camera that comprise a piano concert that I need to lightly edit with Shotcut and show in a few days on a 55 inch flat screen (LG 55LH40) with the sound run through a high end stereo receiver (Outlaw RR2160) connected to quality external speakers. I plan to load an edited video file out of Shotcut on to a USB flash drive and play it with an LG UP870 player (HDMI connection to the flat screen and optical audio connection to the receiver) with numerous file format options available. I don’t care about compressing this for the internet. I’m more concerned about maintaining quality in this particular presentation, especially the sound quality since this was a live musical concert with the sound recorded by the camera directly from the sound board for the venue.

No, I do not have access to the metadata from whatever directory the mts files existed in on the camera SD card, nor do I have access to the camera at this point. I did get into a shell in Windows and use a copy command to concatenate the 12 mts files into one roughly 24 GB mts file that appears to play normally without any discontinuities where the files were joined.

By light editing, I mean I need to delete dead time such as the intermission, copy the left channel of the two channel audio to the right channel that currently has no sound, add some text with the event info, and adjust the sound level in a few places.

File properties reported by Shotcut after loading an mts file:

Video File Codec: H.264/AVC/MPEG-4 AVC/MPEG-4 part 10
Video Resolution 1920 x 1080
Video Frame Rate 29.97
Video Format: yuv420p
Video Aspect ratio 16:9
Video Scan Mode: Progressive

Audio Codec: PCM signed 16/20/24- bit big-endian for Blu Ray media
Audio Channels: 2
Audio Sample Rate: 48000
Audio Format: s16

Three questions:

(1) Should I start in Shotcut with my consolidated mts file or bring the 12 mts files into Shotcut individually or does it matter?

(2) I’m investigating the tutorials, but is there anything on my editing list that Shotcut cannot do (I already see the audio channel copy filter, which is critical for me, yipee)?

(3) Of the myriad output options, which should I select given my goal of maintaining quality?

Sorry for asking basic stuff, but I’m new to Shotcut, have limited video editing experience, and am under a time constraint.

Thanks for any help.

EDIT: Corrected video file codec description.

I am no expert.
That said, I would:

  1. go with individual files, is safer (against crashes)
  2. shotcut can do a lot more than is on the surface visible, so yes
  3. I would go for the highest quality in that case, but you know the file size will be HUGE. So first save it with standard quality (50%?), to be safe.

This doesn’t quite match up. Are you sure it’s not H.264?

I would bring in each file one at a time.
As far as your output, what will you be playing this back on? Computer, with what software? DVD player?

Before you start this long process, test out a small 2 - 5 minute sample, then play it back on the devices you listed.

There is a lossless preset for H.264 in your Export window.
lossless%20preset

Also make sure your computer meets the minimum requirements to run Shotcut.

  • Operating system: 32- or 64-bit Windows 7 - 10, Apple macOS 10.8 - 10.10, or 64-bit Linux with at least glibc 2.19.

  • CPU: x86-64 Intel or AMD; at least one 2 GHz core for SD, 2 cores for HD, and 4 cores for 4K.

  • GPU: OpenGL 2.0 that works correctly and is compatible. On Windows, you can also use a card with good, compatible DirectX 9 or 11 drivers. We do not have a list.

  • RAM: At least 4 GB for SD, 8 GB for HD, and 16 GB for 4K.

https://shotcut.org/FAQ/#what-are-the-minimum-system-requirements

Sorry. Typo. Yes, should read H.264.

I stated in the original post what I plan to play it on, though if the file is terribly large I may use an external USB hard drive rather than the USB flash drive to which I referred in the original post.

Sorry, yes you did, I had failed to read player after the 2nd LG part number. I would try to and play your unedited files with the USB before you edit to see how they play from the USB drive. I don’t like to rely upon any USB thumb drive, so make sure you make copies to at least 3 different USB drives. I like the hard drive idea better. Just personal preference.