VS 11.5 crashes on trying to open .MP4 files

[robby]

I have a Pinnacle device that creates .mp4 files from a composite or S-video input. The codec used is H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (as given by GSpot), and these video's are regularly read by most of the common video players after installing the proper codec pack. I have tried to open one such files in VS 11.0 for editing, its properties are:

File format: MPEG-4
File size: 8688 KB
Video type: H.264 Baseline Profile Video
Attributes: 24 bits, 640x480
Frame rate: 25000 f/sec
Data rate: 1199 Kbps

Audio type: MPEG AAC audio
Attributes: 48000 Hz, 16 bit, stereo
Bit rate: 1 kbps

But it does not open, and after some seconds an error message appears with the following details:
AppName: vstudio.exe - AppVer 11.0.0.0 - ModName: h264vdechpdll.dll - ModVer: 1.1.173 - Offset: 00051194

After closing the error window, another error message appears:
AppName: vstudio.exe - AppVer: 11.0.0.0 - ModName: ntdll.dll - ModVer: 5.1.2600.2180 - Offset: 00043345

and finally, VS quits.

As suggested in this Forum, I have downloaded and installed the recent VS 11 patch, then the Power Pack to upgrade to 11.5 (my version is now 11.5.0157.2 Plus), and have updated DirectX-9c to the latest available version (I work in Windows XP SP2). The error is still there. Also replacing h264vdechpdll.dll with a different, shorter version (as somebody suggested elsewhere) has no effect.

What can I do more? Thanks.

[Ron P.]

Welcome to the forums,

While the file may be read by most players being read by an NLE such as VS, is quite different. Video players can generally compensate for small corruptions in files, while the editor can not.

Pinnacle capture devices are generally proprietary to Pinnacle programs, and VS seems to dislike them. Have you tried inserting your captured video into a Pinnacle program, to see if it will accept it?

Where did you get the "shorter" (whatever that means) version of the DLL file? The h.264 dll installed by VS is designed to work with VS, a third party driver may not.

You mention "after installing the proper codec pack". Codec packs are a big no-no when it comes to video editors. While it is acceptable to install a specific codec, installing codec packs are not. Most of them contain an array of codecs, that not only conflict with each other, but will conflict with codecs already installed on your system. If you installed a codec pack, I would remove the codec pack, and hopefully it will remove all the codecs it installed.