Adobe Premiere 6.5 "missing codec"

[shimonmor]

Running Adobe Premiere 6.5 on a Win XP Pro SP3 machine. Trying to encode a video using the Advanced Windows Media encoder (which is built into Premiere) but after making my selections and then starting the encoding process I always getting the error "Missing Codec". I've tried all the different options in the Advanced Windows Media encoder but I always get the error. I don't have any problems encoding with the Adobe MPEG encoder.

I found this link on the Microsoft site which installs the Windows Media codec for Premiere 6.5: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/premiere/default.aspx

But that didn't help.

Then I found this link on Adobe which is supposed to fix this problem: "When you try to export video or create a custom setting using Adobe Premiere via the Advanced Windows Media exporter, no codecs appear, or you receive the error "Missing codec" and no video is exported."
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/328/328195.html

That didn't help either.

Any other ideas? I'm not sure where the codecs are stored or how to link them to Premiere. Maybe I can do this manually? Any help is appreciated.

[Baldrick]

Have you also tried install Windows Media ENcoder? And try also use it and see if it works without problems.

[shimonmor]

I installed that encoder from your link but it looks like I already had it installed so I chose "repair" from the installation window. Premiere still gives me the "missing codec" error.

I tried to run the Windows Media Encoder as a standalone program and I chose "Convert a File" from the wizard but when I chose the source file to open (a 15GB AVI output from Premiere) the program immediately crashed with a runtime error. Plus, using this standalone encoder doubles my processing time because first I have to create the AVI then I have to encode it to WMV. I would rather just encode a WMV direct from the timeline in Premiere.

I downloaded a program called InstalledCodec to show me all my codec. I don't really know what I'm looking for but I posted the results: http://shimonmor.com/TEMP/report.html

So, do I have the right codecs and if so, how do I make Premiere see them?

[filmboss80]

Hmm....that version of Premiere is real old, and I don't know if it works and plays well with Service Pack 3 for XP. On one of my home computers, I still have a copy of Premiere 6.01 on XP SP2, and it works for editing DV footage, but I don't do format conversions using Premiere's presets. Instead, I frameserve the timeline out to whatever encoder I want to have.

As a workaround, you could try to use the Debugmode FrameServer for Premiere to output the project timeline into Windows Media Encoder for the conversion. This way, you don't have to do that unnecessary step of creating a whole new AVI of the finished project. With the frameserver, it just goes through your Premiere project, encoding straight from timeline to Windows Media Encoder, creating the WMV in one pass.

Frameserving is your friend. Learn how to do it. It will save you time and headaches.

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/Debugmode_FrameServer

[shimonmor]

Frameserving is your friend. Learn how to do it. It will save you time and headaches.

I know that 6.5 is an old version but I don't really want to spend the money on a new version until I build a new computer. My current Pentium 4 (3.2G) machine is still fulfilling my needs but I figure I'll probably build a new machine next year and then I'll buy a new copy of Premiere or whatever program looks good. Until then, I'll slog through with 6.5.

I appreciate your advice about frameserving...I've heard the term but never knew what it was. I guess I'll do some studying up on that and give it a try.

Thanks for the help.

[filmboss80]

Debugmode FrameServer is free. http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/

Download and follow the specific installation instructions for Premiere. Once installed, just follow these steps:

1. From Premiere timeline, choose menu "File > Export > Movie" and choose "Debugmode FrameServer" in the list of output formats.
2. Make up a filename for the output file (like myfile.avi). This dummy file is called the "signpost" file.
3. Click "Save" and wait about a minute to allow the FrameServer to initialize the dummy avi file.
4. Leaving Premiere open, also open Windows Media Encoder.
5. In Windows Media Encoder, open the dummy avi file (myfile.avi or whatever you named it).
6. Save it as a WMV, and let it all render.

NOTE: Steps 5 and 6 are just my conjecture, as I don't use Windows Media Encoder. However, the process works with other encoders.

ADVICE: Try it first on a short video clip to see how it works. No use taking loads of rendering time to see how things go.

[shimonmor]

filmboss80:

Thanks for the help. I tried the frameserving and it's working as advertised. I've encoded some videos with TMPGEnc and it works well. However, I'm still having a heck of time with Windows Media Encoder. It still crashes with a Runtime error whenever I start encoding (whether it's in Premiere or frameserving). Over the years, I've had more problems with Microsoft software than anything else. Although Win XP is a winner.

[lordsmurf]

Export out as HUffYUV AVI, then re-encode to WMV with something else.

I've never actually had your problem. My WMV has worked from day 1. I also keep 6.5 on an old system, use it for DVD menus and quick projects. It works the same as CS3 and CS4, in that regard.

[shimonmor]

What other WMV encoder is out there that is cheap to free?

[lordsmurf]

Try SUPER
Not sure on it's quality, though.

[poisondeathray]

What other WMV encoder is out there that is cheap to free?

Free:
wmvmuxer , hdconverttox , wmnicenc (requires avisynth knowledge)

But it sounds like you're having issues with WMEncoder install. Try uninstall/reinstall or maybe premiere install is corrupted? You could try uninstall/reinstalling that too