.MOD files in Premiere CS5

[Guest]

I am trying to import .MOD files into Premiere CS5, with no joy.

If I change the file extension to .MPG, Premiere can import the video, but no audio.

Can anyone advise on how I can import .MOD files successfully, with both video and audio?

Many thanks

[Ann Bens]

Run a file through Gspot and post a screendump if you please.

http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

[Keith_Clark]

Oh boy, JVCs ill fated .mod file extension. I hate this thing. Hate it. It's next to impossible to do anything with. When i first got a JVC tapeless cam in 2004 it ran this extension. All I used with it was the pack in software that worked fine. Well over the years I started using more advanced cams and more advanced software. A year ago I wanted to go back to that old cam and use some old footage for a DVD project, in PrPro cs4. It was a nightmare. I finally, FINALLY, found the answer after using several NLEs, converters, and such to get it to work in adobe. So here's what I found:

from my experience, basically all interactions with JVC tapeless media has left little to be desired. i have done many dvds in .mod format because i had gotten the very first JVC tapeless cam in 2004ish. the .mod files are.... almost imposible to work with, outside of using cyberlink. i tried sony. i tried adobe. i tried FCP and all results... were dismal. (i was filming in 16x9 the rograms that DID read .mod, which was Vegas, would not accurately flag the footage as Widescreen) the ONLY way i could get the widescreen footage to show up as widescreen other than using cyberlink software was to use
http://www.cyberlink.com/products/mediaespresso/overview_en_US.html
and convert to a straight up no strings .mpg2 file. then it worked in the other NLEs. So basically the only way I could successfully import and edit a .mod file with premierepro was to use that converter.

[Guest]

Thanks for your help, I'll have a look into the best option.

Wish I knew all this before buying the camera haha!

[medeamajic]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUnzq94iuJg

It must be a problem with CS5 being 64 bit because CS4 works just fine with MOD files if you change the file extension to mpg. I am sure we will see a 64 bit version of the MOD codec and file extension soon.

[Keith_Clark]

it must be versions of the codec.... cause the .mods i was working with, flat were useless. and i'm definately sure that was pre-cs5. i tried the little "rename trick" and all that. nothing worked. and when they DID import, either they were missing audio, or were the wrong AR or something. the only way i got the blame things to work was that converter.

[Colin-B]

AESS1981, can you post a link to a small example MOD file of yours that has this problem. I'll take a look at the file structure.

[Keith_Clark]

heres one of mine i just shot with the old cam...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xw56o7

import in prpro named as mpg, it imports with audio (which is more than it used to do)... but the video is supposed to by 16x9. so i'm guessing the rename thing is cam by cam maybe? if i had shot in 1.33:1 it woulda come out just fine. but its that widescreen flag! for some reason, it just never wants to be carried! lol. i dont even use this cam anymore, for more reasons than i care to list. but still.... i figured a clip could add to the discussion.

[Keith_Clark]

i'm thinking the AR probably has something to do with the .moi file? which is found here http://www.sendspace.com/file/10rzn0 but still...

[Ann Bens]

Nothing wrong with the file plays perfectly after changing the extention. The audio is AC3. Instal the AC3 filter codec. That will play the file.

Dont know what a MOI file is. Should read MOD.

MOD files dont have a widescreen flag. They need to be interpreted to widescreen.

http://ac3filter.net/

[Keith_Clark]

All video clips are an .mod file and an .moi. The mod is the video, Not sure what the .moi file is. I've never used em, I usually just dragged and dropped the .mod files only, then cleared the cam.

[Colin-B]

Yes, the file is just a standard 2048-byte MPEG-2 program stream. Like every other mod file I've seen. I don't know why there are sometimes reported problems with these files as they seem pretty standard. There is the problem of the widescreen flag which is never set in the mod file - I can't understand why JVC do this. But as far as I recall SDCopy "corrects" the widescreen flag if it is used to copy the files from the media.

[the_wine_snob]

Not sure how useful the links in this ARTICLE will be for PrPro CS5, but be sure to see the link to some replies from Chris at JVC.

Good luck,

Hunt

PS - CS5 should have the AC3 Audio .dll installed. Seems that Adobe added that as of about CS4.1.

Also, there are some discussions on the MOI files, with a reply from JVC, located in the PrE forum. Again, I am not sure how those might/might not apply in PrPro CS5.

[Keith_Clark]

shoot. wish i had had this wealth of knowledge years ago when i was actively using the cam. i was always jumping through serious hurdles to try to make something of the footage   thanks for the resources. hopefully the OP figures out the audio problem 😕

[the_wine_snob]

I tried to find links that would prove helpful to JVC (and some other makes of cameras), and then Chris at JVC offered some valuable resources, and observations. Hope that it helps others.

Good luck,

Hunt

PS - I cannot find the comments now (forget whether they were in one of the PrPro fora, or in the PrE forum), but JVC commented on the MOI files, and their role. IIRC, a user completely refuted the comments from JVC, but they were all that we had to go on. I just do not recall what the MOI file comments were now.

[Guest]

Excellent, thanks for the help guys.

Much appreciate

[Guest]

Not sure how or why, but by changing the file extension from .MOD, to .MPG, it seems to be importing perfectly.

Thanks again

[the_wine_snob]

Excellent! Thanks for reporting the good news.

Good luck,

Hunt

[BradCarr]

I import the .mod files into Premiere 5.5.   Then, in the project bin, I highlight all of the imported files.  Go to the Project Menu at the top, and hit "Link Media".  Go to the import folder, and choose the first file in the list, and click on "Open".  The files will now play in your timeline.  Don't know why this works, but it does.

[the_wine_snob]

Brad,

Welcome to the forum, and thank you for sharing your workflow. It will hopefully help others in the future.

Hunt

[mad*]

I also have a problem with mod-files. There was (so far) no possibility to play them - i also tried to rename the files - but: The Adobe Media Encoder was able to convert the files.

[Thommers]

I know this is old, but this may help some of you still using .MOD files. I found that I could only import ONE .MOD file as both video and audio into the sequence. Any other file would show the video in the preview, but only allow the audio to be dropped into the timeline.

The easiest way to get around this is right-click on a .MOD file and select the option to put it into a new sequence. It should show both video and audio in the new sequence. Copy and paste the video and audio into the original sequence. Repeat the process for other .MOD files. If you are mixing codecs, you may have to do this with all .MOD files if the first file dropped into the timeline was not a .MOD file.