Elements 11 will not allow me to import an mpg file

[Mark-West]

I have an old pre file that worked over the course of several years with PE 11. I now need to re-export the piece I created, but for some reason it will not recognize an mpg file (created on an iPhone 4) that is part of the project. I know the file is good, because I can play it separately with variety of programs.

The error message says "This type of file is not supported, or the required codec is not installed." Between the last time this worked and now, I had serious computer problems and had to reformat C:. Although I had a backup, it's possible I lost some codecs in the process. I just re-installed the K-Lite Mega pack, but that made no difference. I'm 99% certain I had one or two additional codecs (not from K-Lite), but I cannot recall what they were.

I have Quicktime (7.7.9) installed.

I have looked at the file in question with GSpot, and it says it's an MPEG-2 and that both audio and video codecs are installed.

I've even tried opening the pre file with Premiere Pro 2018, but it says the file is damaged. It certainly does not appear to be damaged to me. When I open it in Elements I can see and play every single clip....except, of course, the MPEG-2 file.

I'm running 64-bit Windows 10 on a Dell 7910 workstation with 32 GB of RAM.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Steve Grisetti]

Open the file in the free download MediaInfo (much more thorough than G Spot). In MediaInfo, set View to Text and copy and paste the report it generates to this forum.

This is clearly not a traditional MPEG.

[Mark-West]

Thanks for the suggestion. Here's what I got:

General

Complete name                            : D:\Videos\CGVP credit.mpg

Format                                   : MPEG-PS

File size                                : 6.46 MiB

Duration                                 : 12 s 240 ms

Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable

Overall bit rate                         : 4 428 kb/s

Video

ID                                       : 224 (0xE0)

Format                                   : MPEG Video

Format version                           : Version 2

Format profile                           : Main@High

Format settings                          : BVOP

Format settings, BVOP                    : Yes

Format settings, Matrix                  : Default

Format settings, GOP                     : M=3, N=15

Duration                                 : 12 s 179 ms

Bit rate mode                            : Variable

Bit rate                                 : 3 956 kb/s

Maximum bit rate                         : 18.5 Mb/s

Width                                    : 1 920 pixels

Height                                   : 1 080 pixels

Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9

Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS

Standard                                 : NTSC

Color space                              : YUV

Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0

Bit depth                                : 8 bits

Scan type                                : Progressive

Compression mode                         : Lossy

Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.064

Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:00;00

Time code source                         : Group of pictures header

GOP, Open/Closed                         : Open

GOP, Open/Closed of first frame          : Closed

Stream size                              : 5.74 MiB (89%)

Color primaries                          : BT.709

Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709

Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio

ID                                       : 192 (0xC0)

Format                                   : MPEG Audio

Format version                           : Version 1

Format profile                           : Layer 2

Duration                                 : 12 s 240 ms

Bit rate mode                            : Constant

Bit rate                                 : 384 kb/s

Channel(s)                               : 2 channels

Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz

Frame rate                               : 41.667 FPS (1152 SPF)

Compression mode                         : Lossy

Stream size                              : 574 KiB (9%)

[Steve Grisetti]

There's really nothing out of the ordinary about this file -- except that its frames are progressive rather than interlaced.

I created an MPEG that has identical specs and I had no problems at all loading it into Premiere Elements 2018. So it could be a limitation of version 11 or it could be something I'm not seeing in the specs.

[Mark-West]

I appreciate your help with this.

The odd thing is that this clip worked fine in PE 11 for over a year. All of a sudden, it's behaving badly. Do you think there is some codec out there that would help, or is this not that type of issue?

[Steve Grisetti]

I wouldn't go messing with codecs, Mark. You can overwrite a good one with a bad one and then you're really in trouble.

I see you've installed the K-Lite codec pack. That's about as far as I'd go. Even then, it can overwrite a good codec and mess you up, so I'd recommend you don't add any more.

Windows includes a number of basic codecs. Premiere Elements and other video editors can install a few more. And Quicktime installs some other components. But, beyond that, you're playing with fire.

Your issue isn't likely related to codecs. Download the free trial of the 2018 version of Premiere Elements and see if it can edit your file. It may be that version 11 just isn't capable of editing your clip and you'll need to work around that -- either by upgrading your program to a newer version or using Handbrake to turn the file into an MP4.

Although be careful. Converting video files is another place where things can go wrong if you don't know exactly what you're doing -- or if you use the wrong program to do the conversion.

[Mark-West]

Steve...

To clarify the codec situation: I added the K-Lite pack only after the problem cropped up. Then I realized I did not have Quicktime, so I added that. So...since the program and clip worked fine before I reformatted, and I added QT after K-lite, I'm thinking that any damage K-Lite might have done would have been overwritten by codecs from QT.

As a test, I went back to another old PE file that uses the same mpg file, and it showed the same behavior.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on how the program could have worked fine earlier but no longer does.

Thanks once again.

[Ann Bens]

Never never never install a codec pack.

To get rid of the codec K lite installed is a fresh windows install.

In order to run the mpeg convert with Handbrake.

If a file plays in a player does not mean it will in an editing program.

[Peru Bob]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Ann+Bens  wrote

Never never never install a codec pack.

To get rid of the codec K lite installed is a fresh windows install.

I agree.  If you don't do a fresh Windows install, you may discover some time down the road that some other file types will give you problems because K-Lite overwrote a codec with an older or inferior one.

[Mark-West]

I had just done a fresh Windows install when this problem occurred. Prior to that, I had the K-Lite pack installed and everything worked fine. That's the reason I re-installed it.

Other than suggesting that was not a good idea, have you any suggestions at all about what might have caused the issue and how it might be resolved?

And one further note: After some brief testing it's apparent that the issue is not confined only to the mpg file I was attempting to use. I tried two others, and PE reacted the same way.

[Steve Grisetti]

Have you tried downloading the free trial of Premiere Elements 2018, as I suggested above, to see if the issue is confined to version 11?

[Mark-West]

Steve...

I have not tried PE 18 yet. I have a subscription to Premiere Elements, which continues to work fine. I rarely use PE these days, but on occasion it's handy to go back and tweak an old file. But I will find some time to try 18. Will trying it leave my PE 11 unaffected?

[Peru Bob]

Mark-West  wrote

I have a subscription to Premiere Elements,

Premiere Elements is a perpetual license, not a subscription.

[Mark-West · Accepted solution]

Steve...

Problem solved.

When I reformatted my drive, I kept a backup of the C:\programs\adobe\Premiere Elements 11 folder. In all the chaos of getting this machine back on line, I forgot to reinstall PE 11. I actually was able to run it from the exe file, and the normal file association with a prel file was still working.

It was not until I thought that perhaps a re-install might be the answer, when I went to Programs and Features. Guess what was NOT there: PE 11. That meant, I believe, that there were no registry entries to tell the program what's what. So even though it ran, it was essentially crippled.

I simply deleted the folder, did a proper re-install followed by a re-re-install of QT, and that was it.

Thanks for all your support in this.