Inserting Dropbox files into Videostudio

[garjobo]

Hello All, a reply to my request would be muchly appreciated. In a nutshell, I have Videostudio X5 ( im behind the times i know! ), i have a friend who kindly downloaded some wedding footage from their phone to dropbox.

Never used dropbox before, however, downloaded to my pc, and plays ok via windows media player.

Problem arises when come to incorporate it into videostudio. It doesnt recognise it.

A quick fix? laymans terms..how, what,where - can i fix this problem.

Says file format mismatch. I dont know what type of format ive downloaded it from dropbox, basically, just pressed downloaded key, like i say, uploads to play via windows media player ( one thing too note, unlike my other videos from camcorder etc, these dropbox ones don't appear to show a thumbnail picture, however, they do work ok. )

[Ken Berry]

The file you downloaded from Dropbox was most likely in the original format uploaded by your friend. Unfortunately, a lot of smartphones these days are using tweaked formats which even more recent versions of VS than X5 have trouble with. The main cause appears to be that these phones are increasingly using variable frame rates instead of more standard ones like 25/50 fps (PAL) or 30/60 fps (NTSC).

But we really can't offer any more suggestions without having a better idea of what we are dealing with here. Do you by any chance have VLC media player? I ask since under its Tools menu it will give you the properties of your video. That way we will at least know whether it is an .mp4, .mov or something else.

The only other thing I can suggest right now is to convert it to a standard format using a video converter. A number of us here use Format Factory which is freeware and does a good job. You just need to be careful when installing it to read each page of the installation dialogue boxes as it also offers to install adware and other programs you will not want. I would choose mp4 as the output format. Once converted, it should then be editable in X5.

[garjobo]

thanks Ken for the prompt, useful reply. I will look into properties, and also download as suggested. MP4..i suppose quality will go downhill then? or should i be ok, once converted and inserted into VS? watchable if not HD.

[Ken Berry]

Most likely the original smartphone video will be high definition mp4, though some smartphones these days produce .mov format using the h.264/mp4 properties. Format Factory, when set to high def mp4 as the output format, produces very good quality high def, so you probably would not see any degradation of quality.

[garjobo]

Using Converter as recommended. Quality does appear good, however i see on the first couple of clips Ive tried the sound is a fraction out!!! on the original works ok, just once converted. Obviously not a total nightmare as easy enough to split audio on VS..just curious...why sound is a fraction out thats all.

THANKS again for your useful advice. And yes, with dropbox there was a LOT of adverts!! thanks for the look-out.

[skier-hughes]

Did you use format factory, that is normally very good.
There is another I like Freemake, again careful on installation with all the addons.
Normally once he audio/video is out of sync, it's going to stay that way, unless you separate it in VS and nudge the audio one way of the other to get it in sync. If it's a constant 10 frames out of sync, this will work, but if it is 10 frames out at the start and 20 out at the end it won't really help, as you have to keep cutting and nudging to get a decent result.