.MTS files in video encoder

My boss recently purchased a Panasonic HDC - SD900  HD video camera and took some videos at a recent event/  I would like to use these to create a quick e-learning how to guide.

However, the video files that are saved on the SD card are .mts files and having never worked with video content before I was wondering if anyone could suggest how to convert these into a format that is compatible with video encoder?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give to me.