I really don't understand why it's so difficult to just make a damn program that will open a file. I use Sony Vegas Pro 10.0. You'd think a pro program for video editing would be able to just open a damn video file. Well, you'd be wrong. Not sure what the idiots that programmed this were thinking.
I have an .avi file that plays fine on my computer, but vegas won't open it at all.
I checked it out in MediaInfo. Says it's a MPEG-4 Visual on the video of the file. Seems like a pretty standard format...not sure why the idiots at Sony can't program something to open up a standard file, but there ya go.
I clicked on the link on mediainfo to go to the web site of the video codec, figuring, ok, maybe I need to install a codec just for this....maybe it's some new type of mpeg4 I don't have a codec for, although I can play it fine. It takes me to download a version of ffdshow, which I'm pretty sure I've installed several times before. I install it, close and open vegas pro 10....still won't let me do it.]
Just what in the heck do I gotta do to get this crappy program to let me work on this damn file...and what the hell will it take for people in the video editing industry to start taking this stuff seriously, and stop dicking around with half assed programming? Just make the thing be able to open the damn file...I mean, a program is pretty useless if it can't even open a file to work on.
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@JonG, I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that what you are trying to use is, in actuality, a non-professional (and possibly non-standard) file. Don't really know yet, since you didn't give us more than "AVI" and "MPEG4 Visual" to work with. YOU checked it out, but it has been clear from previous threads that you have some areas of the video arena where your knowledge needs to be improved. So it would make sense to do as Baldrick mentioned and post the MediaInfo for all to view (and comment on).
However, what I truly don't understand is that you have consistently had problems (most of which seem to have been addressed by us here) with Vegas before: in April '13, and again in October and again in November and again in December. All those times, you have first blamed and castigated the Ferschluginer programmers of Vegas, only to find later on that there were fairly simple/straightforward reasons for why it works the way it does (which just doesn't happen to be the way YOU want it to work).
I know Vegas isn't perfect by any means, and I've seen it crash on occasion (mostly due to hardware/driver incompatibilities), though I have encountered NO problems of the sort you seem to encounter regularly. But if the software really doesn't work for you the way you want it to, why are you sticking with it?
And, as has been mentioned before, Vegas Pro is a pro-type app. That does NOT mean it is a universal, swiss-army-knife, idiot-proof app. Pro apps, by and large, expect a certain understanding by their clientele. And they expect the files brought into them to STRICTLY conform to Pro/Broadcast-quality standards. Most of the griping about "this app won't work with my file", done by you and many others, nearly always reveals that the file(s) in question are not what one would consider pro/broadcast, nor expected SOURCE files. So it is no surprise at all that they would be rejected.
If you have files like that, the idea is to pre-process them in something like AVISynth, Virtualdub, ffmpeg, QTPro, etc., or possibly a commercial batch converter app to massage them into compliance, where they can THEN be easily imported into the "Pro" NLEs. And this is what Pros accept as part of using those non-standard files, and they do this regularly, with no problems.
Which makes me ask? Might not the problem be in your workflow & expectations?
Not trying to point blame or make fun. Sometimes one just has to take a step back and look at the big picture.
Scott -
Also, no real pro would use an avi with mpeg4 codec......
Got my retirement plans all set. Looks like I only have to work another 5 years after I die........ -
General
Complete name : M:\Music Videos\I Want My MTV - 80s Music Video Collection\Music Videos\Julian Lennon - Too Late For Goodbyes.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 66.6 MiB
Duration : 3mn 31s
Overall bit rate : 2 641 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf54.6.100
Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Simple@L1
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : FMP4
Duration : 3mn 31s
Bit rate : 2 307 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.223
Stream size : 58.1 MiB (87%)
Writing library : Lavc54.23.100
Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 3mn 31s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 320 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 8.07 MiB (12%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 24 ms (0.72 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 24 ms
Writing library : LAME3.98.4
I just don't understand, how come VLC can make a player that will play anything you throw at it, but Sony can't make an editor that does the same? -
Looks like you have an fmp4 stream. Don't know much about it, but here's a whitepaper:
http://184.168.176.117/reports-public/Adobe/20111116-fMP4-Adobe-Microsoft.pdf
So just edit your file in VLC.
Ok, that's snarky, but the point is they are made for different purposes and have different requirements. Vegas isn't expecting every half-assed downloaded file, VLC is designed for EXACTLY that. Why can't a screwdriver hammer a nail? -
In some versions of vegas, installing ffdshow is enough to open these types of files. "other mpeg4" must be enabled in the ffdshow vfw configuration, which includes the fourcc "FMP4" . But it wouldn' t hurt to enable xvid, divx 4/5/6 as well
Otherwise you can use vdub and encode to a lossless codec like lagarith, ut video codec for import into vegas. (There will be no compression lossess, but negligible colorspace losses as vegas doesn't handle these as YUV, certainly nothing you can see with your eyes) -
Look in the start menu for something like FFDShow VFW Interface . There should be a puke yellow icon , not red icon (the red icon is for the directshow interface, not what you want) . Under the decoder tab, codecs, look for "other mpeg 4", and the select dropdown to "enabled" instead of "disabled". I would do the same for the other 2 categories (xvid, divx 4/5/6)
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I don't seem to have that, I have the video decoder, audio decoder, and DXVA video decoder, but no VFW interface.
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Try a different version . Some versions of ffdshow might not have the VFW component (VFW required to be used in vegas)
Or you might be able to use a fourcc changer to "xvid" and xvidvfw.dll should work (standard xvid install)
Or try the lossless intermediate route
You don't have these problems or need to use workarounds when you use vegas with "pro" formats. They work consistently out of the box without issues. That's why they are "pro" formats. That's why vegas is a "pro"fessional editor. MPEG4 visual is an end delivery format, not ideal for editing. -
I'm trying to make the best version possible of music videos with the materials available to me. If the studios would open up the vaults and allow me access to high quality copies of their material, I'd be all over those pro formats. But....while many things are available on dvd, so many things aren't, and I'm forced to the web to find various sources of various quality. And then even the stuff that is on dvd...the sound quality of the music is almost always inferior to the released CD....whatever audio happens to be on the video source they used, just dump it on there, even though it's god knows how many generations removed from the master, so I usually need to grab the CD and sync it up to the video to render a new version. So...ultimately...I have to deal with a variety of formats from a variety of sources to compile the collection I'm looking to compile. Now, if the video industry would get it's act together and agree on standards instead of a mountain load of various formats, maybe this wouldn't have to be so complicated...
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If you can open and play it in vlc, you are halfway done. Media>convert/save.... In many cases, just changing the encapsulation (container) without transcoding is enough.
For the nth time, with the possible exception of certain Intel processors, I don't have/ever owned anything whose name starts with "i".