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Posted: |
May 21, 2016 - 10:22 AM
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By: |
Metryq
(Member)
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it is all greek to me.
QuickTime is a "container" or "wrapper" for streaming media (video, audio) and is denoted by the extension ".mov". Like other containers, QuickTime can use a variety of different "codecs" (compress-decompress) to compress the media. Obviously, you are missing a codec. This may be an older file using a codec that is no longer distributed. If the file is recent and was given to you for "sweetening" (audio improvements), perhaps the author used one of Apple's "pro" codecs, like ProRes. The pro codecs are included with Apple's editing and graphics software (Final Cut Pro X, Motion). A free decoder is available here:
https://www.aja.com/en/support/prores
NOTE: the decoder software will play ProRes files, but it cannot encode them. I mention this because if you wish to edit the audio and save it back to the original file, that may not be possible.
Now that I've gone off on a tangent, let me also recommend MediaInfo, a multi-platform FOSS (free, open source software) app that will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about any given media file—including its codec:
http://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo
For what it's worth, QuickTime Player should tell you what codecs may be missing. Other apps that use QuickTime frameworks may not support that function. In any case, MediaInfo should do the trick.
You mentioned "VCL" which I am assuming is VLC (VideoLAN Client from videolan.org). Obviously that didn't help. Before I confuse things with more detailed info, I'll let you try MediaInfo. I may be able to offer further guidance from there.
Now the bad news:
Apple is ending QuickTime support for Windows just when two vulnerabilities are announced:
http://9to5mac.com/2016/04/14/quicktime-for-windows-update/
I don't know why Apple is doing this. Perhaps it is taking too much support time away from other projects, and perhaps they see Windows as declining in media production. I really don't know. You can continue to use the last available version, but do it with your eyes open.
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Posted: |
May 21, 2016 - 11:29 AM
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By: |
DeputyRiley
(Member)
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DeputyRiley, if you're driving around Pro Tools, you're not a complete technophobe. Keep us posted, and we'll see if we can help you survive this. Good luck.
Well, I just started with Pro Tools, and this is the first time I'm trying to import video. As far as I can tell you have to import Quick Time video, but maybe it's the .avi extension that's the problem and once I convert it to .mov it doesn't matter if it's quicktime and Pro Tools can convert it within the program. Not sure yet. I guess it seems the main trick right now is to convert it to .mov which seems to be causing all of my main problems.
I can view the video fine in Windows Media Player and the Windows Video app but I can't view any video on Quick Time. When I try to import the video into Pro Tools, I get an error telling me that there are not video frames to import, leading me to believe it needs to be quicktime-related, or quicktime-ready, since it's having trouble there too.
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If you after converting between formats try Freemake converter;
http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/
Use it all the time at work for jumping between formats. It's simple and straight forward. Just be careful when installing and read the options so you can uncheck the annoying toolbars etc that it wants to try and install...
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Posted: |
May 21, 2016 - 5:07 PM
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By: |
Metryq
(Member)
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DeputyRiley wrote: but maybe it's the .avi extension that's the problem
Okay, I missed that on the original post. I thought you had a QuickTime file. Obviously, you cannot import an .avi as QuickTime. I'll spare you the details, but .avi is an antiquated container format, and the missing video is most likely a missing codec.
Pro Tools will accept certain codecs in either a QuickTime container, or MXF. I'm primarily a Mac user, but neil-d recommended one video converter. A similar app is MPEG Streamclip: http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-win.html
Although Freemake Video Converter looks newer.
According to the Avid knowledge base, here are the supported codecs for both QuickTime and MXF:
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/compatibility/Avid-Qualified-video-CODECS-for-Pro-Tools-11
* DNxHD is the codec used by Avid video editing systems, so naturally it is preferred.
* DV25 is the most obvious choice. It is a "symmetrical" codec that puts the least strain on your system. But a file that is already 1 GB will become quite large when converted.
* H.264 is MPEG4, and note the warning that "performance may vary." If you have a fairly beefy system, don't worry about that.
You can find out more about DNxHD by checking the rest of the Avid site. I'm not sure if a full version of the codec is available for free, or whether one must buy Avid video software to get it. I would suspect that it is not included with Pro Tools, as that is purely an audio tool.
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Posted: |
May 22, 2016 - 8:05 AM
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By: |
DeputyRiley
(Member)
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DeputyRiley wrote: but maybe it's the .avi extension that's the problem
Okay, I missed that on the original post. I thought you had a QuickTime file. Obviously, you cannot import an .avi as QuickTime. I'll spare you the details, but .avi is an antiquated container format, and the missing video is most likely a missing codec.
That was my fault. I've since learned correctly, but originally I thought that if I was playing a file with Quicktime, than it was a Quicktime file. Now of course I know I was opening an .avi file with quicktime. Looking back, it seems obvious, but I get easily overwhelmed and frustrated and make easy mistakes and assumptions like that I guess. Sorry for the confusion.
Will be trying the converter that neil_d suggested (thanks for that!) and hope that it works, hopefully my 1gb file is not too large and that there are not any anticipated problems.
Metryq, thanks again for the detailed thoughts but again, all that codec stuff gives me a headache! So hard for me to understand. I'm doing fairly well in Pro Tools so far but I do admittedly get frustrated and overwhelmed with techspeak and am not the savviest of tech-oriented types. Quite a learning curve I'm on.
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Posted: |
May 22, 2016 - 9:01 AM
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By: |
Metryq
(Member)
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DeputyRiley, don't let the tech speak throw you. It's a learning curve, and it's always a little frustrating, but be patient. Like any other field, audio mixing and engineering has its own esoteric lingo. I've used Pro Tools, but not extensively. Many digital tools do their best to cater to the forms of the old technology they replace—"reel" numbers, "transport" controls, bouncing?
Sometimes the analogy to older tech can be helpful—like "desktops" and "folders." Other times it can confuse things for newbies, who must then learn the way things were done in the old days just to understand the new controls in front of them. Maybe sometime later we'll have a rousing discussion about interface design.
I know one thing that may be confusing you about codecs. As noted above, QuickTime and AVI and Windows Media (WMV) are "containers" or "wrappers," while ProRes and DNxHD are codecs. You can think of a container like QuickTime as a truck and the codec as the color it is painted. So, a QuickTime file might be one of many different colors. There are special "colors" designed for professional use, consumer use, mobile device use, etc., yet they are all delivered in the same kind of container.
Then we get to things like MPEG-2 or MPEG-4, which are containers and codecs at the same time. They're package deals. For example, the ubiquitous MP3 sound file is actually an audio compression codec that is part of MPEG-2. And H.264 is a compression codec that is part of the MPEG-4 specification, but the terms are used interchangeably.
That QuickTime Player (or some app that uses QuickTime frameworks) can play an AVI is not all that confusing. After all, VLC is just one of many multi-format players that will play many different kinds of files.
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Posted: |
May 22, 2016 - 11:47 AM
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By: |
Metryq
(Member)
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Solium, in your case changing the extension only tells the OS to open the file with a different app. I'm guessing you use Windows, like DeputyRiley. On Unix systems, like Linux and Mac OS X, file extensions are optional, as the systems have other ways of identifying the type/creator of a file.
The problem for DeputyRiley remains the same. He has an AVI, and Pro Tools can recognize the audio stream within it, but it cannot decode the video. (That's why I recommended MediaInfo to identify the video codec as a first step to solving the problem.)
For that matter, he might just as easily have a QuickTime file with a codec Pro Tools does not recognize. Pro Tools has a very short list (see link above). I'm guessing that has more to do with timecode, as any app that uses QuickTime should recognize any codec QuickTime Player includes. (Take Adobe Premiere as an example. It is a video editing app that can use QuickTime if the system running Premiere has QuickTime installed.)
Since Pro Tools is an audio app, and it recognizes the audio stream already, DeputyRiley should be all set, right? If he were simply extracting the audio for the sake of the music, say, he wouldn't need to worry about the video. But I'm guessing he might be adding sound effects—in which case he needs to see the action to cue the sounds—or perhaps this is part of a training exercise in using Pro Tools. And it was just his luck to select an incompatible file.
If DeputyRiley merely wanted to play the file, changing the extension might help—assuming the associated player was installed. And there are lots of "universal" player apps and codec libraries out there.
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Posted: |
May 23, 2016 - 1:30 AM
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By: |
DeputyRiley
(Member)
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Okay, so I downloaded the freemake video converter that neil_d suggested. Confusion:
First of all, when I right click on the video and go to properties, the file extension does say .avi --
Now, when in the freemake program, the video is listed however as MPEG4. What's more, among all of the formats I can convert to, .mov is not one of them. Isn't that the main format destination I'm looking for in order to be able to play in Quicktime? My video conversion options are avi, wmv, apple (aac), dvd, mpeg, mp4, mp3, etc.
So if the option .mov is not available, what option should I choose in order to convert my .avi file to (showing up here as MPEG4?) in order for it to play video (as well as previousy playing audio) in quicktime, thus allowing it to import into Pro Tools?
Thanks for your continued help on this, folks. Neil_d in particular, since you use this program a lot, any thoughts? Metryq too, you seem to always have ideas!
EDIT: Well, on a whim I tried to convert to mp4, and it is showing both video (finally!) and audio in Quicktime. Now I will try to import into Pro Tools (my main goal) and see if that works. If it does, success is had and all is well. Fingers crossed...
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