"Video: Stream attributes could not be determined" in Sony Vegas

[filmboss80]

I am absolutely stunned and appalled by the complete and total misinformation spewing from FenrirMushaka and djancak. These guys are either saboteur pranksters or clueless knaves. If anyone does not believe guns1inger, all they need to do is go to the Vegas support site and see exactly which types of avi files it is designed to edit.

If you want to edit in Vegas, all Divx / Xvid avi files should be converted to DV-AVI using VirtualDub with the Panasonic DV codec, like guns advised. The audio should be converted to a wav file also. It is as simple as that. The DV codec will make large files, but not a big as those made by Lagarith. Once you are finished editing, you can encode back to a compressed format like divx / xvid and remove the files that take up a lot of space.

If you want to avoid headaches, disregard the piss-poor advice about K-Lite and other codec packs. Although they may temporarily work for a few people, most the time they create software conflicts that cause crashes. You are playing Russian Roulette with codec packs.

If you do not believe people like me or guns1linger, please continue to do research. Vast experience is our credibility.

EDIT: Damn! Once again, I get caught up in an OLD thread. (I really need to start looking at those dates. It's getting embarrassing.) Oh well, what I said still stands.

[djancak]

Another moron heard from . . . . . .

I fouled my knickers from laughing at that sentence!

[djancak]

I am absolutely stunned and appalled by the complete and total misinformation spewing from FenrirMushaka and djancak. These guys are either saboteur pranksters or clueless knaves. If anyone does not believe guns1inger, all they need to do is go to the Vegas support site and see exactly which types of avi files it is designed to edit.

Wrong. I just finished editting another DivX video with Vegas.
If Vegas was truly not designed to work with these types of files
then obviously they wouldn't even allow you to import them.
This should be clear to even the average idiot.

If you want to edit in Vegas, all Divx / Xvid avi files should be converted to DV-AVI using VirtualDub with the Panasonic DV codec, like guns advised. The audio should be converted to a wav file also. It is as simple as that. The DV codec will make large files, but not a big as those made by Lagarith. Once you are finished editing, you can encode back to a compressed format like divx / xvid and remove the files that take up a lot of space.

Wrong again.
These files do not need to be converted.
They simply require a functional codec that will work in Vegas.
Have fun doing things the slow idiotic way.

If you want to avoid headaches, disregard the piss-poor advice about K-Lite and other codec packs. Although they may temporarily work for a few people, most the time they create software conflicts that cause crashes. You are playing Russian Roulette with codec packs.

Just because some people have problems with a codec pack
doesn't mean it isn't a functional or appropriate solution.
I've had problems from Firefox eating system resources and
crashing my computer. This does not entail that everyone else will.
The real "piss-poor advice" here is your idea that people need
to spend hours of their time transcoding files and eating hard-drive space.

If you do not believe people like me or guns1linger, please continue to do research. Vast experience is our credibility.

Nice attempt at trying to make yourself look like the benevolent authority.
But obviously your "vast experience" hasn't registered the correct solutions in your brain.

EDIT: Damn! Once again, I get caught up in an OLD thread. (I really need to start looking at those dates. It's getting embarrassing.) Oh well, what I said still stands.

EDIT: Why does it matter that the thread is OLD? Whether or not the problem in the
thread is resolved is all that matters. (You really need to start thinking about the
purpose of threads rather than submitting to common lame-brain forum etiquette.)
Oh well, the correct solution (FenrirMushaka's) still stands.

[guns1inger]

Dear Mr djancak,

Obviously you are a disgruntled previous member, probably banned because of your vile attitude, or left because you had been whipped in an argument, forgot your password, and created a new account thinking you might get payback. No sane or well-adjusted person would join a forum simply to incite a flame war 12 months after the original had died a logical death. Regardless of your motives, I will address, just once, your pointless ramblings, and then be done with you.

Wrong. I just finished editting (sic) another DivX video with Vegas.
If Vegas was truly not designed to work with these types of files
then obviously they wouldn't even allow you to import them.
This should be clear to even the average idiot.

Sony does not need to build in rules to stop you loading every inappropriate codec you feel you need to load. That would be a waste of resources and time. They simply don't support the codecs that aren't required by their target audience. The true audience for Vegas would not need to use Divx in their projects, and would convert, with image processing in most cases, any small amount of footage they may need.

And who are these Vegas users ? I see them falling into three main groups

1. Those who make a value judgment and pay their US$550 because they understand the power of the software and will make full use of it's features.
2. Those who jump in without due consideration, pay for a product far beyond their needs, and who never use it to do more than they could have achieved with the consumer Studio version
3. Pirates, who steal Vegas in the same way they steal movies

I will leave our dear readers to determine for themselves which camp you fall into. (Hint : those in camp 1. don't use codec packs)

Only a below average idiot would expect Sony to waste time putting in code to stop you loading Divx files when simply not supporting them is enough of a hint.

Wrong again.
These files do not need to be converted.
They simply require a functional codec that will work in Vegas.
Have fun doing things the slow idiotic way.

Yes, paying US$550 for Vegas, then using it to edit downloaded Divx files is definitely the actions of smart man

Just because some people have problems with a codec pack
doesn't mean it isn't a functional or appropriate solution.
I've had problems from Firefox eating system resources and
crashing my computer. This does not entail that everyone else will.
The real "piss-poor advice" here is your idea that people need
to spend hours of their time transcoding files and eating hard-drive space.

If the same % of people drinking coke suffered serious side effects at the same rate as people using codec packs get their system screwed, Coke would have been taken off the market years ago. Codec packs are designed for lazy people, and mostly promoted by lazy people, people who haven't yet had their video system destroyed (wait, it will happen) and people who download pirated videos. I am happy that you have not had any trouble wityh codec packs, just like I am happy that the little kid who plays on the road hasn't yet been hit by a car. But that does not mean I am going to tell other kids to go play on the road.

Nice attempt at trying to make yourself look like the benevolent authority.
But obviously your "vast experience" hasn't registered the correct solutions in your brain.

Yes, the obvious solutions have occurred to me (and, I suspect, my learned colleague), but that doesn't make them right, or get around the fact that there are ways to do things, and correct ways to do things.

EDIT: Why does it matter that the thread is OLD? Whether or not the problem in the
thread is resolved is all that matters. (You really need to start thinking about the
purpose of threads rather than submitting to common lame-brain forum etiquette.)
Oh well, the correct solution (FenrirMushaka's) still stands.

Again, there are ways to do things, and correct ways to do things. I would not want new members thinking your advice is anything more than it is - the ramblings of a disgruntled mind. You woke up a 12 month old thread to heap scorn and derision, not to have a carefully considered discussion. Two posts in and your credibility is less than zero. As for your "solution" . . . .

When I was growing up, there was a kid across the road who was into BMX bikes. Had several of them that he built from parts. Loved his bikes. Problem was, he only had one tool that he insisted on using for everything - a hammer. All his bikes had burred nuts from being beaten and tightened with his trusty hammer. But to him it worked, so it was the best solution. And he stuck by it, right up until he ripped open his nads when a set of forks came loose on a jump because they had been tightened with a hammer.

Yes, if you really want to, you can edit your downloaded Divx/Xvid videos in Vegas. It is possible to do.

It is not the best tool for the job, just as Divx is not the right format to store video that you are going to edit.

Yes, you can install codec packs (it's a free country - depending on where you are when you read this), and you may get lucky and not screw the pooch when you do.

Don't expect sympathy when you system starts behaving strangely, crashing when you browse folders of videos, and producing green or blue colour tinges on playback (all side effects of codec packs reported here).

As for opening a new account just to pick a fight . . . grow up and get out into the real world.

Or go home - I hear your momma calling you in for dinner.

[djancak]

Dear Mr djancak,

Obviously you are a disgruntled previous member, probably banned because of your vile attitude, or left because you had been whipped in an argument, forgot your password, and created a new account thinking you might get payback. No sane or well-adjusted person would join a forum simply to incite a flame war 12 months after the original had died a logical death. Regardless of your motives, I will address, just once, your pointless ramblings, and then be done with you.

Wrong. I just finished editting (sic) another DivX video with Vegas.
If Vegas was truly not designed to work with these types of files
then obviously they wouldn't even allow you to import them.
This should be clear to even the average idiot.

Sony does not need to build in rules to stop you loading every inappropriate codec you feel you need to load. That would be a waste of resources and time. They simply don't support the codecs that aren't required by their target audience. The true audience for Vegas would not need to use Divx in their projects, and would convert, with image processing in most cases, any small amount of footage they may need.

And who are these Vegas users ? I see them falling into three main groups

1. Those who make a value judgment and pay their US$550 because they understand the power of the software and will make full use of it's features.
2. Those who jump in without due consideration, pay for a product far beyond their needs, and who never use it to do more than they could have achieved with the consumer Studio version
3. Pirates, who steal Vegas in the same way they steal movies

I will leave our dear readers to determine for themselves which camp you fall into. (Hint : those in camp 1. don't use codec packs)

Only a below average idiot would expect Sony to waste time putting in code to stop you loading Divx files when simply not supporting them is enough of a hint.

Wrong again.
These files do not need to be converted.
They simply require a functional codec that will work in Vegas.
Have fun doing things the slow idiotic way.

Yes, paying US$550 for Vegas, then using it to edit downloaded Divx files is definitely the actions of smart man

Just because some people have problems with a codec pack
doesn't mean it isn't a functional or appropriate solution.
I've had problems from Firefox eating system resources and
crashing my computer. This does not entail that everyone else will.
The real "piss-poor advice" here is your idea that people need
to spend hours of their time transcoding files and eating hard-drive space.

If the same % of people drinking coke suffered serious side effects at the same rate as people using codec packs get their system screwed, Coke would have been taken off the market years ago. Codec packs are designed for lazy people, and mostly promoted by lazy people, people who haven't yet had their video system destroyed (wait, it will happen) and people who download pirated videos. I am happy that you have not had any trouble wityh codec packs, just like I am happy that the little kid who plays on the road hasn't yet been hit by a car. But that does not mean I am going to tell other kids to go play on the road.

Nice attempt at trying to make yourself look like the benevolent authority.
But obviously your "vast experience" hasn't registered the correct solutions in your brain.

Yes, the obvious solutions have occurred to me (and, I suspect, my learned colleague), but that doesn't make them right, or get around the fact that there are ways to do things, and correct ways to do things.

EDIT: Why does it matter that the thread is OLD? Whether or not the problem in the
thread is resolved is all that matters. (You really need to start thinking about the
purpose of threads rather than submitting to common lame-brain forum etiquette.)
Oh well, the correct solution (FenrirMushaka's) still stands.

Again, there are ways to do things, and correct ways to do things. I would not want new members thinking your advice is anything more than it is - the ramblings of a disgruntled mind. You woke up a 12 month old thread to heap scorn and derision, not to have a carefully considered discussion. Two posts in and your credibility is less than zero. As for your "solution" . . . .

When I was growing up, there was a kid across the road who was into BMX bikes. Had several of them that he built from parts. Loved his bikes. Problem was, he only had one tool that he insisted on using for everything - a hammer. All his bikes had burred nuts from being beaten and tightened with his trusty hammer. But to him it worked, so it was the best solution. And he stuck by it, right up until he ripped open his nads when a set of forks came loose on a jump because they had been tightened with a hammer.

Yes, if you really want to, you can edit your downloaded Divx/Xvid videos in Vegas. It is possible to do.

It is not the best tool for the job, just as Divx is not the right format to store video that you are going to edit.

Yes, you can install codec packs (it's a free country - depending on where you are when you read this), and you may get lucky and not screw the pooch when you do.

Don't expect sympathy when you system starts behaving strangely, crashing when you browse folders of videos, and producing green or blue colour tinges on playback (all side effects of codec packs reported here).

As for opening a new account just to pick a fight . . . grow up and get out into the real world.

Or go home - I hear your momma calling you in for dinner.

Another moron heard from . . . . . .
I'm not wasting any more time on your idiotic remarks.
You've been reported for trolling and misinformation.
Hopefully the forum moderators are not as dumb as you.

[guns1inger]

I welcome it. It will only serve to draw attention to your own posts, including the personal abuse you seem to think is a valid argument.

If you can demonstrate that anything I said in my previous post is factually incorrect I will be happy to discuss it, and if proven wrong, recant.

[Ethlred]

Happy flamewar anniversary everyone!

Dear Mr. Flameless

Your recent attempt to flame the undeserving looked much like most such attempts.

Lame, foolish, self-contradicting and generally showing all the signs of a fourteen year old hacker wannabe.

Learn a bit before you try again. THE flamewar occurred long ago on Usenet. It was childish, puerile and annoying. But it had more style than you and style is what counts in a flame war. Accuracy doesn't hurt however so I will take few of your attempts and my replies for a short lesson to the presently clueless.

I was driving myself insane with transcoding the files and even hex-editing some of them!

The insanity was probably already there you simply failed to notice it. (Don't give people ammunition in a flame war)

Some codecs are edit friendly and will work fine in Vegas.

No.

Believe it or not Vegas does work for most people without installing toxic codec packs. So 'NO' is wrong. (Never post when angry in a flame war)

guns1inger wrote:

Vegas simply isn't designed to handle high compression end user formats like Divx

Wrong.

If Gunslinger was wrong you wouldn't have need help. You would have succeeded in your very first attempt. (Don't make an ass of yourself in a flame war. No wait a minute. Do. Its entertaining to competent flame warriors)

guns1inger wrote:

Vegas is not designed to edit Divx video

Wrong.

That's why you found it so easy you didn't need any help. Excuse me, help was needed. Vegas COULDN'T edit DivX 3 without an injection of dubious codecs. (Saying a foolish thing in two different ways does get the point across that you don't know what your talking about. Thank you for that confirmation, but it wasn't really needed. We already knew that.)

guns1inger wrote:

Basically, what you are asking to do is hammer in a nail with an egg.

Wrong.

Hey you got something right. Egg is incorrect. The correct metaphor would have been water balloon.
(Humor is an asset in a flame war. Get an elbow transplant and perhaps you will manage it in the future.)

guns1inger wrote:

Your participation in the shallow end of the gene-pool won't be missed.

Neither will yours.

There is a need for originality in a flame war. That response of your's wasn't exactly original. It did however smack of pre-teens. Perhaps my earlier of estimate of 14 was much to high.

I think that is enough for now. I do hope that this advice does not fall on deaf wars as flame is fun ONLY if the person you are dueling with remembers to use a loaded squirt gun.

Ethelred

[geneaum]

Hi All,

I also had the 'stream attributes could not be determined' problem. All the solutions I tried didn't work - Vegas would not open the video component of the avi xvid file.

However, just now saw an upgrade on this website for ffdshow and thought I'd install it. voila! Vegas can now edit the file.

GA

[timtak]

I am so grateful to danjack, geneum, FenrirMushaka, and bloodshed for sharing here.

I considered installing the Mega pack recommended by FenrirMushaka and bravely defended by danjack, but I was at the same time concerned with conflicts with the Combined Community Codec Pack installed in my machine, and the ffdshow therein contained.

However, I updated ffdshow directly from the ffdsshow site as recommended by genium and not only can I open the avi that I was not able to open before but also (non pro!) video opens so much quicker (the time taken to the make the audio waveform faster).

I can also now drag and drop VOB files to the time line in Vegas, and preview playback has been improved. Wow!

Re-encoding video (using Virtual Dub, Avidemux, eRightSoft Super, and the rest) is doable but it takes time and disk space.

Sony Vegas is a nice editor. I don't think that the Studio version has only advantages over the Pro version even for the amateur user. Are we sure that Studio will deal with the DivX and other formats being discussed here? I think not. I think that Vegas Movie Studio will have issues with some file formats too.

So, telling people to re-encode or use another editor is just not answering the question.

And no, it is NOT impossible. I have been using Vegas with ffddshow and enjoying it for a long time. Now that I have updated ffdshow, I don't think that my computer is going to start crashing. If it does I will report back.

If codec packs are not the solution then a way of idenifying and obtaining the codec would be fine too.

Thanks again danjack, geneum, FenrirMushaka, and bloodshed and also to the codec pack and ffdshow makers.

[Shadarr]

Bloodshed and others looking for a real solution to this, I will fully answer your question below, but give me a moment to deal with this one:

If you can demonstrate that anything I said in my previous post is factually incorrect I will be happy to discuss it, and if proven wrong, recant.

I'll show you you're wrong, and I will enjoy doing it. I've met many people like you in my life and take pride in the fact that your kind are always the same. Pretending to help people when really, you are talking down to them and consider them lesser than yourself. Most people like you have no friends (or friends only of the same archetype) and for some reason, feel that money = intelligence, which I assure you young one, it does not. Just because you have the money to spend on items that you have become comfortable with over time for everything you do (people like you purchase those 75-piece screwdriver sets, where every type of screw has it's own actual screwdriver) and you are scared of change and of increasing efficiency by the evolving technology (did you know they have 'multi-tools' where one screwdriver has multiple bits that can fit various heads of screws and at a fraction of the cost? ASTONISHING) and you think that the ways you have become comfortable with will always be impervious to change(and possible contributions of others in your little world) but you are wrong. Things will always change and there will always come new and better and more efficient ways of doing things. You can stick to your old ways and steps and tools all you like, but you are only restricting yourself to extra steps/tools/money spent. Lastly, there will always come along more intelligent people than yourself, who wish to actually help people and will do so, showing you to be the jerk you are in the process, and you will still probably not learn your lesson or ignore the truth altogether.

Bloodshed and others via searches looking for an ACTUAL SOLUTION, don't listen to the pompous chest batterings of the likes of guns1inger (a one, seriously?) and his bootlickers that will follow him around and praise his droolings. There are small numbers of megalomaniacs like him out there, with more money than brains, and there are far far more open-minded, helpful people that are willing to help you and show you things you wish to know - many many more of us out there, than those of his ilk.


The REAL reason why Vegas Video does not by default accept a certain video, is because it is made for mainly stand-alone devices and applications (like a TV studio making videos that MUST play in other studio machines, or a person making a family video that MUST play on the family DVD player) and usually the codec a person on a personal computer at home has utilized has possible uses outside of the normal parameters that Vegas is coded to prefer.
In simple terms, Vegas is trying to make things 'simpler' by preferring to only work with 'widely-accepted' types of files, so they will be almost guaranteed to play on other devices (and noone can yell at Sony that it isn't playing on them). Because not many people know how to convert/transcode/change the video into other formats like you, it 'simplifies' things by making a user input only certain types. That way, it can basically 'guarantee to work' - but only because it is being restrictive with it's accepted formats, not because of any superiority of the application itself or it's coding.

One of the reasons why it does this, for example, is because 'modern divx' has Standards that can be seen implemented in stand-alone devices. To compare, another codec, Xvid, does not have such strict limitations/standards, and because of this, can possibly be used in a way that the resulting video can be 'out of spec' for these stand alone devices (and therefore not automatically play by default) - but for your own uses, if you know how to configure it, can look far better and of higher quality in comparison. This is just an example, but once again to reiterate, Sony is merely attempting to 'make sure things work' by using these 'standards' and one of the implementations of that is the "I only like DivX" attitude within Vegas. Vegas is a wonderful program and will actually use ANY format.
(Don't believe people that say it isn't, the application can easily rebuild the B and P frames of compressed formats like Xvid and DivX and treat them as full frames for shuttling)
In our example, XviD is not read by it by default, but it is wholly usable and editable.

The only thing you will need to do, is change the FOURCC code that is inside the video (which Vegas looks for to be 'modern "DivX"' as it has those enforcable standards for standalone MPEG4 devices!) from DIV3/XVID/etc to DIVX.

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/avi_fourcc_code_changer.htm
Here is the free FOURCC (codec code) changer

Simply open your clip and pull down the format types, changing from [in your case] DIV3 to DIVX. Then Vegas will open and handle your file just fine (especially since you have FFMPEG installed, which translates many codecs for you).

I would like to also state here that Vegas Video (like most editing applications) is akin to the AVI container of video. Inside an Audio Video Interleaved file can be MPEG4, MJPEG, HUFFY and many other codecs (compressor/decompressors). Inside Vegas, it can edit many different kinds of formats and codecs, as all video editors can. Usually, they are only coded to 'talk' to certain kinds however, to simplify things, but really they can open any that can be 'translated', if it isn't opening it by default. (There are also many other easier to use and just as functional applications out there (even for Free!), so try other ones before you purchase any of them to find one that you like, don't worry about what it can open and what it can't for now - maybe you'll find a free one you prefer anyway).

Arguments can be made about not using the full/source quality to edit and then convert to (each time it is compressed it will look worse and worse) but as already stated, you can edit any compressed types just fine. You will run into less snags for fussy programs like this if you use only 'uncompressed files' (and can afford the drive space), but you don't HAVE TO convert like some here are saying. Don't worry about people who try to tell you to do things a certain way. There are always more ways to do anything, some people just don't have the intelligence or open eyes to look for them. I'm glad you do and you asked - and now you know.

Good luck in your editing and have fun!

[lotrfrk18]

Hi All,

I also had the 'stream attributes could not be determined' problem. All the solutions I tried didn't work - Vegas would not open the video component of the avi xvid file.

However, just now saw an upgrade on this website for ffdshow and thought I'd install it. voila! Vegas can now edit the file.

GA

I seriously just registered an account on this site just to say that ffdshow fixed my problem instantly.

[timtak]

I am back again four years later.

I don't care a rats posterior for all the technical ins and outs. I want to be able to drag and drop video, every and all types of video, especially really common formats such as VOB, as easily as I drag and drop text or jpg files. I want simple, nay instant solutions. I don't want to know about anything. I just want to be able to use the stuff right now.

And thanks to all those folks danjack, geneum, FenrirMushaka, and bloodshed I achieved that aim in the past.

I can do the same now, except all I need to do is to change the ".VOB" to ".mpg"

Gosh there is so much tosh flying around. I want the video, in the video editor, right now.

Thanks again danjack, geneum, FenrirMushaka, and bloodshed and also to the codec pack and ffdshow makers - because if I install (CCC and?) ffdshow, I can drag and drop if I change the ".VOB" to ".mpg".

Tim