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1. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Dec 27, 2010 3:23 PM (in response to Jhvegas)Use MediaInfo to analyze the file and post the details of it; Tree view is convenient.
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2. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Bill Hunt Dec 27, 2010 4:07 PM (in response to Jhvegas)The format, AVI, is but a wrapper. This ARTICLE will give you some background, and explain how to "peek inside that wrapper."
Good luck,
Hunt
PS - post the info from MediaInfo, or a screen-cap from G-Spot (PC-only), and someone will tell you how to handle that material. My vote is first: DivX/Xvid, and second MJPEG, but there are other CODEC's, that can cause what you describe. For some additional reading, this ARTICLE might be useful, regarding CODEC's.
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3. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
John T Smith Dec 27, 2010 6:33 PM (in response to Jhvegas)See if the instructions in the 2nd post for NEW ITEM pointer
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/770072?tstart=0 will work for you -
5. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Dec 28, 2010 4:24 AM (in response to Jhvegas)Looks like pretty standard MPEG2 video; almost DVD compliant MPEG2. Premiere works just fine with most flavors of MPEG2, so it's like a container issue. For giggles, try changing the AVI extension to MPG; that may force Premiere into using the MPEG splitter. If that doesn't work, post back--there are ways to demux (demultiplex) AVIs into their elementary streams.
The drag-to-the-new-item-button thing is not going to help; that's a shortcut to setting up a sequence, not a way to force Premiere into playing back a video file. Premiere doesn't care what sequence you use with a particular video file--that's why you can put AVCHD footage in a DV sequence, for example--it's format-agnostic with the formats it accepts. If it doesn't import, or doesn't playback properly from the Project Panel/Source Monitor, then the New Item button isn't going to do a thing--which is what you discovered.
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6. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Bill Hunt Dec 28, 2010 8:13 AM (in response to Colin Brougham)Colin,
Glad that your "young eyes" confirmed what I was seeing, or not seeing - nothing wrong with the file, other than the "wrapper," AVI. I would also follow your suggestion to just change the format/file extension and try again. I was going blind, trying to see something else wrong with the file.
Hunt
PS - I also did not "guess" correctly on the problem - there appears to be no DivX/Xvid, or MJPEG involved. Guess no one owes me a beer in The Lounge. Hey, it was worth a guess...
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7. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Jhvegas Dec 28, 2010 8:51 AM (in response to Colin Brougham)Colin,
Changing the extension to mpg was it. Works perfect now (except there's 73 files to change extensions on just today).
I probably would've tried that originally (because in older versions, changing vob to mpg worked about 1/2 the time), but now with Win7 the extensions are hidden by default and I was too lazy to go set them to appear....
Thanks all!
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8. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Dec 28, 2010 9:00 AM (in response to Jhvegas)That's why we make the computer do the hard work
Very handy tool for this sort of thing, amongst other file renaming activities.
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9. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Bill Hunt Dec 28, 2010 9:21 AM (in response to Jhvegas)Have not used Colin's suggested renamer (no pun intended), but I trust his recs.
I use ThumbsPlus, SuperExplorer, or NaMo (latter two freeware, IIRC) for batch renaming. Will download Colin's program too.
Glad that did it for you, and thanks for reporting.
Good luck,
Hunt
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10. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Jhvegas Jan 6, 2011 10:12 AM (in response to Bill Hunt)Ok,
Sorry to resurrect this - but having the same problem again with a different batch of files.
Tried renaming (and got creative with extensions) - nothings working.
If I import as AVI - I get audio only.
If I change the extension to anything else - I get an error.
If I try to bring it into AME I get black video.
Any ideas?
Here's the MediaInfo grab from the new files:
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11. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 6, 2011 10:15 AM (in response to Jhvegas)Did you try an extension of .MP4?
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12. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Jhvegas Jan 6, 2011 10:21 AM (in response to Colin Brougham)That's one I didn't try - but it's still not working.
The error is "Unsupported format or damaged file."
And to re-iterate, they still open/play fine in WMP.
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13. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Bill Hunt Jan 6, 2011 10:58 AM (in response to Jhvegas)How about MOV?
If that doesn't work directly, perhaps Open in QT Player, and test. Also, QT Pro (US$29 upgrade/unlock) can do some good Exports with H.264 material.
Good luck,
Hunt
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14. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 6, 2011 11:51 AM (in response to Jhvegas)Well, I think I figured out what these files are--they're from a Toshiba camcorder. As we can see, it records H.264 video and ADPCM audio to an AVI container--hardly a standard practice, and that's the reason these are causing so much trouble.
I found a sample clip from another Toshiba camera, and was able to get it into Premiere through some artful subterfuge. Let me just say--it ain't pretty or easy. How many of these do you have to do? I guess if you really need to edit this stuff, it doesn't much matter
Let me know if you're interested in the workaround...
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15. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Jhvegas Jan 6, 2011 12:15 PM (in response to Colin Brougham)Colin,
I've got a good handful of them. However, I'd still like to know your secret! Unfortunately, I do need to use them.
Thanks in advance,
Jonathan
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16. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Bill Hunt Jan 6, 2011 12:17 PM (in response to Colin Brougham)was able to get it into Premiere through some artful subterfuge...
What a phrase. It conjures up all sorts of images in my feeble mind, but made me laugh at the same time.
If you have nailed it, then great detective work! Hope that the OP doesn't have 30 hours of these.
Hunt
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17. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 6, 2011 12:47 PM (in response to Jhvegas)Jonathan,
Do you have a short sample of one of these you can upload somewhere? I might have found an easier workaround--I was working on a sample clip that uses a different audio compression than what your clips use. Shoot me a PM if you can put one somewhere.
Thanks!
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18. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 6, 2011 2:27 PM (in response to Jhvegas)OK, I had a fancy workaround for these, but I just stumbled upon something that I can't quite figure out... but I'm not complaining. This works on my system, and I don't think I have anything installed to make this work, but here goes...
First of all, I tried importing the files into Premiere--only audio comes in. The same goes for AME. Then, I tried After Effects--it's sort of a Swiss Army knife when it comes to weird files, at times--but it wouldn't import even the audio.
I then used a demux tool to break the AVI into its elementary streams--H264 video and what I thought was going to be AAC audio. However, the audio came out in a raw format, and I couldn't get it remuxed to an MP4 file.
Usually, Audacity with the ffmpeg components will open stuff like this; it imported the audio from the AVI (I was going to re-export as AAC), but it was all garbled. Audacity also lets you open raw audio data, and that works occasionally--but not this time.
Finally, I decided to try the AVI in Soundbooth--I figured that since Premiere would at least recognize the audio, Soundbooth would too. I was in for a shock, though: Soundbooth recognized both the audio AND the video!
So, at this point, we're at a fork in the road: export just AAC audio and remux with the video, or export a new AVI file. If you want to remux and use the original H.264 video, let me know and I'll walk you through the steps for that. Or, you can just download a good intermediate codec like Lagarith or Ut (you might already have these), and export from SB to an AVI using one of these codecs. They're visually lossless (though the files will end up being much larger, of course), but you can drop them in Premiere and edit away.
Let me know how that works out for you, or if you want any more detail. As mentioned, I can walk your through the demux/re-encode/remux if you like, but this will probably get you rolling in short order.
One note: when doing this, Soundbooth seems to mute the last second or so of audio (at least in test file you sent me). If this is an issue, you can always import the originals into Premiere, and use the audio from those; then you'll just have to sync up the video and audio in Premiere.
Let us know how it goes!
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19. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Jhvegas Jan 6, 2011 2:56 PM (in response to Colin Brougham)Colin,
Now I'm really baffled - because my SoundBooth (3.0) is only opening the audio on this file.
???
Thanks so much for the time you've invested!
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20. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Jhvegas Jan 6, 2011 3:16 PM (in response to Jhvegas)Maybe this will help (at least with these files) - but in going through my current project, I probably won't need audio from these clips. If I can get just the video stream I would be a happy camper.
Jonathan
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21. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 6, 2011 8:24 PM (in response to Jhvegas)Hmm... interesting... Soundbooth, that is. I had installed a splitter that I thought maybe was letting me open the files (and then use the Windows 7 built-in H264 decoder), but uninstalling the splitter still lets me open the files in SB. I don't have many other things installed that would let me open the file, so this is indeed a mystery.
Well... let's take a different tactic, at least to get you rolling with the video:
- Download and install My MP4Box GUI
- Launch MMG, and click the "Demux" tab
- Click the "Open" button, and navigate to/select one of the AVI files; hit OK
- Back at the "Demux" tab, hit the "Demux" button; this will split the AVI into two new files. One will be the video track (filename_video.h264) and the other the audio track (filename_audio.raw). Continue with this process until you've demuxed all the files.
- Just to be tidy, go ahead and trash the audio tracks (.raw files); I can't figure out how to convert them right now. There is surely some way, but I've tried everything that I immediately know, and nothing worked. I'll keep after it, though
- Now click over to the "Mux" tab; hit the "Add" button and navigate to one of your .h264 files and select it
- At this point, you can either click the "Mux" button and a new .mp4 file will be created, or use the "Add to Queue" button and then mux them all in one shot. Annoyingly, the "Add" button asks every time if you want to mux with one stream--you do, but it's a nag that you can't turn off. The "Mux" button doesn't do this, but then you need to hit the "Clear" button before adding the next .h264 file. Pick your poison
- After all this, you'll have a pile of MP4 files which will import and edit just fine in Premiere; they haven't been transcoded (that's what my earlier "solution" involved), but just rewrapped in a container that Premiere can split open and the contents of which it can decode.
Anyway, it's a little clunky...
OK, scratch that... just figured out an easier way
- Download VLC
- In VLC, select Media > Convert/Save; "Add" an AVI file and hit the Convert/Save button
- Specify your destination, and select the profile "Video - H.264 + AAC (MP4);" click the "tools" button next to it
- In the dialog that appears, make sure that both the "Video codec" and "Audio codec" tabs are set to "Keep original video/audio track"
- Finally, hit Start; a few moments later, a new MP4 file should appear in the specified destination. Nothing is transcoded--just rewrapped into an MP4 container--and Premiere will open this.
Geez... wish I'd tried that earlier I'm sure there is a way to commandline/batch this so you wouldn't have to do it manually. That's beyond me at the moment though--but this will get you rockin'.
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22. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Jhvegas Jan 6, 2011 8:54 PM (in response to Colin Brougham)Colin,
Thanks so much! Works like a charm.
You've been an amazing help - thanks again for spending so much time! Hate to say it, but you couldn't pay for that kind of tech support...
Again, thanks a million - saved my bacon.
Let me know when you're in the New Mexico region and I'll buy you dinner!
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23. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 6, 2011 9:01 PM (in response to Jhvegas)Good to hear We all have to have each other's backs when it comes to this madness. Ain't no Geek Squad to come to the rescue
(...although, I suppose we sort of ARE the real Geek Squad...)
And careful what you wish for: chances are good I'll be out in ABQ sometime later this year for one of the documentary projects I'm working on. Green chili isn't too easy to find in the snowy confines of northern Michigan
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24. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Jhvegas Jan 6, 2011 9:51 PM (in response to Colin Brougham)You've got my email - drop me a line when you feel like a feast!
-Jonathan
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25. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Todd_Kopriva Jan 6, 2011 11:00 PM (in response to Colin Brougham)(...although, I suppose we sort of ARE the real Geek Squad...)
...and one of the best darned geek squads I've seen.
> Green chili isn't too easy to find in the snowy confines of northern Michigan
Where in northern Michigan? I, too, will buy you dinner next time I'm there.
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26. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 7, 2011 5:58 AM (in response to Todd_Kopriva)You guys really need to be careful when it comes to offers of food--I never turn down a meal
I'm practically in the shadows of the south tower of the Mighty Mac--the Mackinac Bridge, for the uninitiated. I'm about a 20-minute drive from entering into Yooper Land, if that gives you an idea. There's a small but growing production and post-production community up here (partly due to the film tax credits), but it can still be a bit isolated. I'm doing my part to spread the Premiere gospel around the neighborhood--already brought one over from the Dark Side
Drop me a line the next time you visit--though I'd wait for summer if I were you!
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27. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Bill Hunt Jan 7, 2011 7:19 AM (in response to Colin Brougham)already brought one over from the Dark Side
Did you have to offer a free meal?
Stay warm,
Hunt
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28. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 7, 2011 7:32 AM (in response to Bill Hunt)Nope--sometimes, all you have to do is let them see the light. Just a little peek, though...
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29. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Todd_Kopriva Jan 7, 2011 8:25 AM (in response to Colin Brougham)> Drop me a line the next time you visit--though I'd wait for summer if I were you!
I'm in Petoskey somewhat often.
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30. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 7, 2011 8:50 AM (in response to Todd_Kopriva)I'm in Petoskey somewhat often.
Ah... well... in that case, we'll meet at the City Park Grill Hangin' Frank on draft is excellent...
(Darn. Now you've outted me. My cloak of mystery has been taken away.)
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31. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Colin Brougham Jan 7, 2011 7:44 PM (in response to Jhvegas)Alright, I'm sure you're already done converting all these files manually (poor guy), but I finally figured out how to cook up a super-simple batch file to rewrap a whole folder of these AVIs into MP4s automagically!
Since we can't attach files any more, you'll have to do a little work yourself, but don't worry--it's worth it
- In the folder containing your AVI files, create a new text document called "avi2mp4.bat" (without the quote marks). Be sure it has the .BAT extension.
- Paste the following into the batch file:
@ECHO OFF for %%a in (*.avi) do "C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc" -I dummy "%%a" --sout=#:file{dst="%%~na".mp4} vlc://quit - If VLC is installed in the Program Files folder and not the Program Files (x86) folder, remove the " (x86)" from this line, and save the file.
- To run the batch, simply double-click it, or you can drag and drop AVI files onto it, and they will be rewrapped as MP4s with the same filename as the original. If you use the drag and drop approach, you can save this file anywhere on your hard drive, and any files dropped onto it will be converted and placed in the same folder as the original.
How easy is that?
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32. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
deathsia Jun 17, 2011 5:28 PM (in response to Colin Brougham)you solution is sound in theroy except for one small issue. when trying to select a destination file it forces me to create a new one and saves it in a .ps format. when i attempt to rename this to .mp4 it saves it as such a format buit adobe preime will STILL not recongnize it. so in other words you VCL coversion idea either is bogus or needs to be refined. sorrhy if i sound tactless and rude but i have been running through these danged forums for days in my spare time and i have YET to find a solution that WORKS when it comes to coverting an avi-type 1 into a format that adobe will understand. any and all solution i have come a crossed have been dead ends. since you seem like the brainy type regarding how adobe words i would ask that you provide a refined solution. since the one above with VCL does not work.
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33. Re: Avi files play correctly in Windows Media, open as Audio Only in Premiere and AME
Bill Hunt Jun 17, 2011 6:21 PM (in response to deathsia)Welcome to the forum.
I have converted many DV-AVI Type I files to DV-Type II's with DigitalMedia Converter 2.7 (shareware from Deskshare), though that is an older version, and I have NOT tried the newer ones, including the DMC Pro version.
To date, I have had zero problems with the DMC 2.7 converted DV-AVI II's.
Not sure if that helps, but it works perfectly for me.
I have only used VLC Player as a player, so cannot comment on the recommendation to use it for conversion.
Good luck,
Hunt






