I got caught with a forced upgrade to Windows 11 H24 which Microsoft removed the AC-3 (Dolby Surround Sound) codec from Windows OS. This causes MTS files not to be "heard" in Preview in Power Director 2025. According to Cyberlink Support the work-around is using Handbrake. I loaded it but I am having issues converting. First, it is difficult to understand. I'm not sure how to do settings that would maintain consistent quality (I shoot as 60 frames per second) and I do a lot of close-up work. Conversion seems to be a very long process even for relatively small files. Plus when I bring the MP4s into PD25, I have encounter lots of issues. Like. A clip is running really well and then the last few seconds (5-10 seconds), the audio continues but the video freezes. I thought this might just be a glitch in the preview but not so. The "freeze" carries over when the video is exported (produced) to the final MP4 file.

I also noticed that close editing of the audio is difficult...perhaps because the MP4 is now at 30 frames instead of 60.

Any suggestions for what settings to use when using Handbrake so it maintains quality of the video would be greatly appreciated. Sound is not quite as important for my use since I only record voices.

All in all, I would prefer to have Cyberlink include the AC-3 Codec so using MTS files works right out of the box.

I also discovered my camera should be able to create MP4 files with 30 frames per second but haven't been able to create one yet. I'm even looking at new cameras that may be able to capture in MP4 files with 60 frames but don't even know if that is even an option.