adobe premiere cc .flv format not supported

[MaxEnrik]

Hello,

When I import .flv format file. Error: not supported.

Can I help you?

Thanks,

Max

[Wryclad]

Got exactly the same problem.

Before the latest update, .flv files worked fine.  Now they are not recognised by Premiere Pro.

Urgently need help with this...

[PSGTel]

Same here folks.

Adobe, PLEASE fix this immediately. Why would this change?

[Vinay Dwivedi · Accepted solution]

Hi MSGtel,

Welcome to the forums.

Please check the link below which is released for .flv support.

http://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/kb/premiere-pro-cannot-import-flv.html

Regards,

Vinay

[PSGTel]

Thank you for your timely response Vinay. So, is there any reason as to why this decision was made? FLV is still a very popular video format.

[Steven L. Gotz]

I would never import a FLV file into Premiere Pro, but it sounds like a bad idea to take away native support from a program that advertises its ability to edit natively.

[PSGTel]

Steven,

Just to be clear: I'm not editing FLVs for final production. It's not our standard workflow by no means. We clearly understand that FLVs are compressed video and will not provide the professional look we require if recompressed. I place FLV into Premier Pro because I like to review in that format because I can easily scrub through each final deliverable and provide the team feedback. There HAVE been times when we've had a mean deadline and I actually edited the FLV, then just republished the FLV at its original settings and it turns out fine. But I made sure the development team added the same edit to the original composition/sequence the next day.

Yep, I know there are a million different ways you can review FLVs, but why would I install a bunch of other video players when I have Premier Pro? Also, it's a lot easier to pull timecode from Premier Pro if you want to add Actionscript cue points to an FLVPlayback in Flash. Just copy and paste. Makes my life a lot easier.

I'm not liking the idea of Adobe removing functionality like this. Seems like we're going to be required to have both CC and CS6 installed on our machines. But, I guess that's been par for the course anyways, so hey...perhaps I should stop typing and get to installing.

[Stan Jones]

perhaps I should stop typing and get to installing.

There's an editor who knows the bottom line! Get to work!

An odd decision. I uusally think there's no cost to keeping an established format for import. But I assume there was a cost - something in the new PR broke flv (and I assume swf?) import, and resources would be needed to fix it. So what is the downside to dropping it? Especially given that Adobe is providing (through AME) the conversion option. As you point out, there are perfectly viable workflows that can benefit from flv import.

Still seems odd; its Adobe's own flv ...

[MaxEnrik]

.flv format file problem only on Premiere Pro CC 7.1 update!

When I update Pr CC 7.1 .flv doesn't support!

Thanks,

Max

[Steven L. Gotz]

Max,

That is correct. FLV is not supported in 7.1

[superkevkt]

Absolutely brutal decision to remove a perfectly functional file format. A few years ago, I followed the directions on this Adobe page to create brief clips with an alpha channel that I needed for producing web videos:

http://blogs.adobe.com/premierepro/2010/07/exporting_video_with_an_alpha.html

The top recommendation on that page was FLV, and I went with that because it produced very good results for this particular application.

Now that I'm in the middle of a big project that uses these FLVs heavily, I find the FLV support has been removed. How very frustrating, especially combined with feature removals in other CC applications.

I've transcoded one of my FLVs into Quicktime format. The file size jumped from 25MB to 497MB. I know I can experiment with other formats to try to find a more suitable replacement, but I wonder why I should have to spend my time doing this instead of doing the work that needs to be done? Now I feel paranoid about upgrading any of my CC apps. On one hand, I look forward to bug fixes, but on the other hand, I find myself annoyed that useful functionality is being removed in point releases.

[serenity-now]

It is  completly unethical not to notify customers of this change directly when updating through the Creative Cloud updater.

Working on a corporate project that involves using dozens of stock clips. The chosen workflow was to edit with the low-res watermarked videos from sites such as shutterstock and istock until the stock video choices were approved by the client. Most of those clips are in the FLV format. Makes sense to wait for client approval before purchasing the high-res stock which would be a few thousand dollars or so.

I restart my computer in an attempt to begin working on the Premiere project the next day. An Adobe Cloud updater initializes and I make the seeminlgy smart decision to update Premiere Pro CC. I  read the listed updates on that updater window making sure nothing is of concern before hitting update. There is nothing mentioned about dropping the support on FLV. There are notes about enhanced connectivity with SpeedGrade and other crap.

After launching Premiere of course my file is not linking to any of the FLV's. I really don't want to be forced to transcode all of the flv's to another format and relink the footage. I'm on the phone with Adobe support right now (for an hour) and I'm both ashamed and horrified about the awful things I'm capable of saying to these people as emotion pours out of me. I would be shocked if Adobe does not reimburse me financially for this waste of time.

Dropping the FLV format is fine although annoying but it is completly unethical not to write it in the actual adobe updater description box. I'm sure it's just poor inter-department communication but still.

[Steven L. Gotz]

I would be shocked if Adobe does not reimburse me financially for this waste of time.

Not that you don't have a right to be upset, but I would truly be shocked if they did reimburse you.

How would they ever calculate the value of your time? Is it worth more than mine? Less?

[serenity-now]

Well, they can provide a discount on future monthly bills for a limited time much like an internet company does when their service is shotty. I literally got transferred to 5 different people on their tech support line and each time a new person answers they ask me what the issue is over and over. The last person said he would call me back in one minute and never did. It's pretty absurd. As for an estimate of time, it's easy. I was on the phone for at least an hour. That's an hour of time that I'm not working and making money. So I'll just request one hour of discounts equal to my hourly rate. No, my time is not worth more than yours? I guess that depends on how valuable your time is to you. Shouldn't a company want to keep their customers happy? I'm confused.

[Steven L. Gotz]

I do not disagree with you, I was just curious what you had in mind.

I think that the feature removal merely got missed as far as the documentation goes. The engineers probably knew but may have failed to communicate that to the documentation team.

[serenity-now]

Gotcha. Yea, probably. Still annoying though! Adobe helped me roll back the Premiere version so back up and running for now.

[the_wine_snob]

Sorry to hear of your issue, but did see that you were able to roll-back, and get with your Project.

FLV Import support has been a bit of a mixed bag. Going back several versions of PrPro, one could purchase an inexpensive, and very good, FLV Importer plug-in from Moyea, a 3rd party supplier of many things FLV-related. Then, with PrPro CS 4, that plug-in would not function, though with about the second update to CS 4, Adobe did add FLV Import support, with just a few limitations.

Then, Apple declared war on Flash, and recently, Adobe dropped FLV Import with CC. Wonder if they are trying to "make nice" with Apple?

I sort of doubt that Moyea, or anyone else, will write an FLV Import plug-in, as CC will be constantly changing, and I am not sure that such effort will be rewarded with adequate sales.

I am also surprised by Adobe's dropping FLV Import, but that was how I felt, when I found that Encore had been dropped. Finding out the reason for Encore's demise did not diminish my sadness, but that is just how it goes in the changing world of video. Now, with streaming content being the big focus nowadays, I wonder if Adobe is sending a somewhat subliminal message about the future of Flash?

Just some thoughts, and at least I have some older versions of PrPro, and that old Moyea plug-in, should I ever need to Import FLV's.

Also, thanks for stating your workflow, regarding FLV's, as that makes perfect sense.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Jim_Simon]

Now, with streaming content being the big focus nowadays,

For who, Mark?  I mean, outside of Hollywood?  I'm not aware of any streaming solution for those of us outside of Hollywood (which I suspect is a good chunk of PP users) that can offer the quality and features of Blu-ray.

Hell, I'm aware of only one service that can do that at any price, even for Hollywood - Kaleidescape  And their players costs a highly affordable $3,995.  I'm sure that'll be a big seller this Christmas season, hitting that magic "under $4,000" price point.  But even with a Kaleidescape device, you still have to buy the physical disk first!

[Steven L. Gotz]

Geez. You guys really need to call a truce, or settle your differences, or agree to disagree, or something! Ease up. Some of the rest of us feel a little uneasy with the back and forth. Jim does what Jim does, and Rod, you do what you do. Live and let live.

Chill! 

(That ought to be easy with the current weather in Mound!)

[FrankDiNicola]

Having the same issue.  This is completely absurd that I would now have to transcode hundreds of flv lower thirds I've created... Adobe, I've had your back for 7 years, if After Effects can handle .flv (and Premiere has handled .flv) there is no reason to remove it.

[MrColby]

I have spend OVER 400 HOURS and $1,300 of my own time and money using Adobe Creative Cloud products to "flip my Physics classroom".... I had been planning on spending much more time completing the process. The .flv format (because of the alpha channel, and use in Flash professional) has been a major backbone to this project.

I am very dissapointed in this decision to remove this much-used feature from Adobe Premiere. I have been using Adobe products for 12 years and will no longer continue to support them.

Any who decide to take the time to read my blog will notice what a favorable light I have been projecting upon Adobe. And now my project is most probably ended. I will also be cancelling my Creative Cloud subscription.

[the_wine_snob]

MrColby,

For many years, there was a Premiere Pro FLV Importer plug-in, from Moyea. However, with about PrPro CS 4 (cannot recall the exact version now, think that it was CS 4.2?), Adobe added FLV Import, with a few caveats, such as no Sorenson Spark. Moyea dropped development of that plug-in, and then Adobe drops support for FLV. Wonder if Moyea will update that plug-in for CC?

Some have speculated that Adobe made that change, to satisfy Mac-users, as Jobs had waged a war on Flash - not sure if there is any truth in that, or if it's just conspiricy theorists? We will likely never know.

Sorry that your workflow has been shattered. Does a roll-back look promising for you? I know that sort of defeats one of the big selling-points of CC - frequent upgrades, but might get you back in business.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Austin Digital Art]

I know that having to transcode is unpleasant but it can be done for free by using the VLC media player...

In the newest version of VLC Media player the steps are...

Open VLC Media Player

Click Media > Convert / Save > Add

Select the file you want to convert

Click Convert / Save

Select the profile for the output file by clicking the pull down arrow in the profile box

Select the destination and name for the output file by typing the file name in the destination file box and clicking the browse button to select the location.

Click the start button.

I hope this helps someone.

[relaxnow]

This worked for me with flv downloaded from Ustream.tv. I had trouble with transcoding audio. The settings that worked for me in VLC 2.1.4 on OSX Mavericks:

File | Convert/Stream Menu

Choose Profile: H.264 + MP3 (MP4)

  Customize:

     Leave Encapsulation at MP4/MOV

     Don't touch the Video Codec Settings even though there are a lot of zeros in the default values.

     In the Audio Codec Settings check the box that says Keep Original Audio Track

  Press Apply

Make sure you pick a video file and an output destination by browsing to it. VLC hangs if the directory does not exist or if you don't let it overwrite an existing file.

You could save this as a new preset (Before the Apply Button) once it is working for you.