Sudden unexpected change - cannot import .avi files

[Black Lab]

No, your lack of answers are what is unproductive.

so when he asks something like "... how are you capturing these files" I didn't know exactly what he meant

THEN SAY "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?". DON'T JUST IGNORE THE QUESTION!

I will stop now before I alienate more people.

Good luck in finding a solution to your problem, as I resign from this topic.

[skier-hughes]

We'll await your tests with your canon software and then perhaps if you are not sorted, start afresh

[mitchell65]

johnmillspa
This just might help if all else fails. Try using a video converter to convert your files to a format VS is happy with. There are many good free ones. In particular I would try this one:
http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index. ... 4wodgC64pA

[joosuna]

JohnMillSpa I noticed you referred to a canon camera. A similar thing happened to me, my Vista system on my x2pro program stop recognizing my cannon gl2 camcorder. I hope it was not caused by a new update or new downloaded program. Every thing was working fine, then the laptop stopped recognizing the canon gl2

[johnmillspa]

Joosuna - yes, that may be similar but I don't think it's the same thing.

Graham and whoever might help - I reinstalled my Canon PowerShot support software for transferring files from the camera - then used it to move a new .avi file to the laptop. Still have the same problem. I also completely uninistalled VS and reinstalled it. I also tried a system restore to the oldest restore point which was only about 3 weeks ago and the problem had already occurred by that time.

I'm not sure what to do next but I don't think it has to do with my camera or the avi files it generates. I have the same VS running on another computer (same Windows XP) and it that version still can handle avi files. Something has happened to this laptop to cause this problem though I'm not sure what, nor how to go about fixing it.

Someone suggested converting my avi files to something VS likes - that would work but is an extra step that would require more time and effort - I really want to recover the previous state of VS 11+ with which I have made many, many great videos comprised of still and avi files.

If anyone has any other ideas, I'd appreciate hearing.

Thanks

[sjj1805]

....It's an AVI file ......

Sorry but that doesn't help much.
There are a small handful of file extensions that describe that a computer file is a video. These include
avi, mpeg, mov, rm, wmv, qt, swf
Plus a few others.
Think of these as groups of a certain form of video, within those groups are lots of individuals. Liken this to animals, there are dogs, cats, snakes, birds, rodents and so on.
Within these groups are several types. For instance a dog can be a Poodle, Jack Russell, Alsatian, King Charles, Greyhound etc.

The term avi can mean any one of perhaps a hundred different types such as DV, MPEG4, uncompressed, MJPEG, DivX, Xvid, RLE, YUV, Cinepak and lots more.

You need to be more specific.
__________________________________

Something HAS changed on your computer if it worked before and does not work now - possibly it could be one of those Microsoft Updates that you have turned on to install automatically.
You can try following our Troubleshooting guide
__________________________________
Please click here --> so that we can then view your system specifications.

[skier-hughes]

The GL2 is a video camera that will be connected to the pc via firewire and will be a totally different problem.

Unfortunately your problem is a conflict somewhere with software, and is one of the hardest to try and remotely fix without access to the pc.

Since it last worked, can you rembver what changes you have made to the pc?
What programmes you have installed or removed?

The other options are;

Faulty memory card so that it isn't writing all the info to it and this cannot be read properly. I just bought an 8gb card for my camera and took 450 pics on a week away with some kids to find that the card was faulty and it took me 4 days to recover all the pics.
Can you play the file ok in wmp once transferred over to your pc?
A change in settings in the camera, so that the file is somewhat different. Not sure if this is possible, I don't use a still camera for video.

[mitchell65]

I thought the camera was a Powershot S3 IS. According to the spec I read it is connected to the PC via USB. But I think it stores to removable cards. Am I being daft of if this is the case could one not just take the card from the camera and use a card reader to transfer to the PC?

[Ken Berry]

I think Graham was referring to joosuna's question (repeated in another thread), and not johnmillspa's...

[David Ellis]

Just to add to the mix...I am having exactly the same issue. AVI files from my stills camera that had previously been perfectly readable and playable on VS no longer work on my computer. The camera is a Fuji, so different make but exactly the same issue.

I had previously been able to use these AVI files on VS as I have hosted a number of videos on Youtube using VS as the editor. However I am not sure the problem is actually directly related to VS, but something bigger...as I also cannot play those files on other players.

For example, if I try to import the files into VS I get the message "filename...is not accessible".

If I try to play the file in Windows Media Player I get the following error "Windows Media Player Error Message Help
You've encountered error message C00D11B1 while using Windows Media Player"

In Real Player it opens up but simply refuses to play when I hit the play button...just nothing happens.

In Nero Showtime it says "cannot play this media file. the file is either corrupt or the application does not support the format you are trying to play"

Oddly, the file will play in Quicktime!

To me, it seems that the error is a wider issue than just a VS problem, and this may also be the issue with johnmillspa's files. John, have you tried to play the AVI files on other players and come up with similar results to mine?

Basically all of a sudden a file format that has been playable and readable in both VS and Windows Media Player now just won't work on my computer. I have recently moved to Windows Media Player 11, and I wonder if, as part of that update, some other files may have been deleted that previously allowed those files to play?

FYI - The AVI format from my camera is :
640 x 480 pixels
audio bitrate 128kbps
Audio 8 bit PCM
video frame rate 30 fps
24 bit DVCodec

My camcorder footage, which works fine, has the following AVI format:
720 x 576 pixels
audio bitrate 1024kbps
Audio 16 bit PCM
video frame rate 25 fps
24 bit DVCodec

Both played before, but now only the camcorder footage plays on VS and Windows Media Player.

Does anyone have any ideas? Sorry to "hijack" this thread but it may be the exact same issue!

Cheers.

David.

[mitchell65]

Hi David
Tis a bit windy in your neck of the woods I think! We had it yesterday!
Is it possible to upload one of your files to a website so that we could download it it to try to open in VS?

[Ron P.]

I think your camera uses MJPEG (Motion JPEG) for the codec. There are tons of Digital Still Cameras that use this codec and will wrap it in some form of AVI, or MOV container. VS is capable of handling MJPEG, however you must install the codec from a CD that came with your camera, or download it from the internet.

You may also have problems with the sound, as it uses an 8-bit audio instead of the more common 16-bit. You may need to re-code it to 16-bit. I have some short clips made in my Kodak P-880, that also uses the MJPEG codec, and records the audio in 8-bit. However they are wrapped in the MOV container, not AVI. VS Pro would not play the audio well, so I recoded them, changing just the audio.

[sjj1805]

Just to add to the mix...I am having exactly the same issue. AVI files from my stills camera that had previously been perfectly readable and playable on VS no longer work on my computer. The camera is a Fuji, so different make but exactly the same issue.......

Sorry David but you are confusing he issue rather than helping it.
Please see my earlier post which has not yet been responded to:

....It's an AVI file ......

Sorry but that doesn't help much.
There are a small handful of file extensions that describe that a computer file is a video. These include
avi, mpeg, mov, rm, wmv, qt, swf
Plus a few others.
Think of these as groups of a certain form of video, within those groups are lots of individuals. Liken this to animals, there are dogs, cats, snakes, birds, rodents and so on.
Within these groups are several types. For instance a dog can be a Poodle, Jack Russell, Alsatian, King Charles, Greyhound etc.

The term avi can mean any one of perhaps a hundred different types such as DV, MPEG4, uncompressed, MJPEG, DivX, Xvid, RLE, YUV, Cinepak and lots more.

You need to be more specific.
__________________________________

Something HAS changed on your computer if it worked before and does not work now - possibly it could be one of those Microsoft Updates that you have turned on to install automatically.
You can try following our Troubleshooting guide
__________________________________
Please click here --> so that we can then view your system specifications.

Unless of course YOU know what HIS form of "AVI" file is which no doubt is different to yours which you have identified as "24 bit DVCodec"

Please re-submit your problem in a separate thread.
Thank you

[David Ellis]

Oddly enough my problem sorted itself out...waited a week, tried it again and all works fine again...one of those unsolved yet resolved IT mysteries I guess! Sorry to have confused things.
David.

[michelb]

Look at the Canon software that was provided with the camera and see if you can play the files using that. If you can't then you might need to re-install the Canon drivers and codecs.

It sounds to me like the codec is missing. Why, I couldn't tell you.

Good luck