Unable to open AVI file

[socalmagic]

I opened a previously saved project and all the AVI files have blank spaces. When I click properties it says the file is unreadable. When I try to open the file it says unable to open file, catastrophic failure. These are the same files that I used to edit and render a video a few months ago, and I was able to successfully open the same file in Windows Media Player. I am using VSX4 on a Windows 7 laptop. I'm not sure what updates are installed. The video file is DV AVI file (720 x 480, 28854 kbps data rate, 298788 kbps total bitrate, and 29 FPS). Please let me know how to resolve this issue. Thanks.

[Ken Berry]

Your project file is not a video file. It is a text file telling the program what video is included, where the videos are stored and what editing has been done to them.

The fact that your open project has blank spaces indicates that the program can no longer find where the original video clips in the project are now. So have you moved them from their original spot, or have you erased them?

If the original clips are no longer available, but you have the new video you made from the project originally, then the only way of retrieving parts of that video is to open that new clip and cut out the parts you are after.

[socalmagic]

Ken,
Thanks for the quick reply. The files that are linked to the blank spaces are indeed in the exact same place as when I edited them. They are also in the VSX4 library. When I try to import the file to the library, it gives the error, "File Format Mismatch". Similarly, when I try to import the video file into the timeline, it gives me the message, "Unable to open file, catastrophic error". Again, these are the exact video files that I originally used to edit and render the file in VSX4. They have not been moved, renamed, re-rendered, etc. I have not even attempted to open the VS file since rendering it a few months ago.
Brock

[Ken Berry]

Have you right clicked on one of the blank spaces and then chosen 'Relink'? Normally this should re-establish the link with the original clips. What happens in your case?

[socalmagic]

Relink isn't an option. Again, I am 99% sure that this isn't due to a missing file. The file is there. All of a sudden VS can't read the file.