AVI Problems in Vegas 4.0

Sakuya wrote on 4/2/2005, 2:30 PM
I have some AVI files I want to edit and when I selected one AVI in the Explorer window, this message appears:

"Stream attributes could not be determined."

All of my AVIs have that message. For those that can be dragged onto the timeline, the frames are all black. The only media file that worked successfully in Vegas was this WMV I happened to have.

The codecs I use is FFDSHOW and XVID (I use XVID due to VFW errors in Virtualdub in the past and having XVID solves that problem). All the AVI files play properly in Windows Media Player 6.4. I do not have any new versions of Windows Media Player because I prefer that old version. My AVI files are using XVID or DIVX codecs. Any help is appreciated!

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 4/2/2005, 3:12 PM
Search the forum for Xvid and Divx, you'll find dozens of responses.
Sakuya wrote on 4/2/2005, 7:21 PM
I replied to the other thread but since I don't want to double post, here's another question.

After re-rendering using Virtualdub and then creating my project in Vegas 4, I selected to Render As and then save as an AVI. I chose Best quality of course. The video is only 1 minute but the encode time is 30 minutes! Why is it this long?
BillyBoy wrote on 4/2/2005, 7:30 PM
" I chose Best quality of course"

That's usually a mistake and only increased rendering times. Try good quality and I bet you'll be happy with the results. Only use Best for special situtaitons like when you have lots of stills. In other words "best" doesn't really mean better.
Sakuya wrote on 4/3/2005, 7:57 PM
Thanks, I'll try that next time. As for the XVID/DIVX AVI in Vegas 4, I did a search and finally found a possibly good solution.

Originally, I had FFDSHOW and XVID. I decided to uninstall XVID to see what would happen. No changes except that you can now drag the XVID video onto the timeline but it still has black frames. So I'm now converting the AVI using Virtualdub to a different codec. For people who have come upon this thread searching for answers, I suggest you try this (remember to have FFDSHOW installed and in Vegas, uncheck "Ignore 3rd party DV codecs" in preferences):

1. Open Virtualdub
2. Video > Compression
3. Select FFDSHOW Video Codec
4. Click Configure
5. Select MJPEG (recommended) or HuffYUV on the Encode dropdown list.
6. Manually go to your FFDSHOW VFW Configuration menu
7. Enable MJPEG and/or HuffYUV depending on what you used.
8. File > Save As

I'd assume this will work. If you have a fast computer, I'd say it is a fast process. For me, it's currently encoding a 1 hour AVI and it will take about 35 minutes. I guess it's much better than before. If anybody has an even faster solution, I would be glad to hear it! :)
BillyBoy wrote on 4/3/2005, 8:20 PM
The reason is XVID/DIVX are typically so compressed when you transcode to AVI the file size will bloat, sometimes a great deal without any gain in quality. Still you're on the right track. Once you have it in AVI format Vegas will be able to work on it easily (most of the time) then just delete that monster szied source files created with VirtualDub when you are done editing, rendering in Vegas. Its a pain to do the extra step, but probably the best method if you use XVID/DIVX as your source.
Sakuya wrote on 4/3/2005, 9:46 PM
Oh no! The MJPEG AVI doesn't work! How can this be!? The original AVI uses the codec XviD MPEG-4. I also tried installing the newest build of FFDSHOW which is March 28, 2005. But it still won't work. This is so frustrating.

And as for the video I created in Vegas yesterday, I noticed that it has horizontal lines during fast motion/panning scenes. I take it it's interlaced? It wasn't like this in the AVI sources. How can I get rid of the lines? And if I want to burn this to DVD using TMPGEnc, how do I get rid of the lines?
B_JM wrote on 4/5/2005, 7:08 AM
xvid works fine in vegas - i have posted how to do so several times here ...

just change the 4CC to DiVX and get rid of ffdshow, install the xvid codec and select decode other formats OR install the divx codec and decode other formats.

vegas will work with simple and advanced profile xvid files this way ..

just re-encoding is a way to decrease quality and time consumming ..
Kanst wrote on 4/5/2005, 10:42 AM
Another and better way k-litecodecpack (http://rundex.net/downloads/downloads_14.html)
And more. For better opening MPEG4 AVIs in Vegas (without mistakes, first of all in video) try split it to separate streams: AVI with video only and along MP3s
B_JM wrote on 4/5/2005, 11:42 AM
that is terrible and incorrect advice ... and will not work anyway ...

codec packs are terrible advice to give someone.... plus it doesnt fix the issue ...

Do NOT do this ...

there is also no need to seperate streams unless you are using ac3 audio - - or VBR MP3 , in either of those cases - you will have to convert the audio anyway ...

Kanst wrote on 4/5/2005, 12:03 PM
Well working of codecpack depends from your two "devices" : brain & hands.
About splitting...
The most commercial and homemade DivX/XviD videos, that I ever see, were with VBR/ABR Lame MP3 sound. While opening such AVIs Vegas (first of all Vegas 4) insert "black dropped" frames in video on timeline. And most DivX/XviD videos, converted from DVDs, have more then 1 audiostream. This is another trouble for Vegas.
B_JM wrote on 4/5/2005, 12:19 PM
you mean to say "downloaded avi's", "homemade divx/xvids do not use VBR audio for the most part as most people dont know how to do so. Plus the commercial divx/xvid encoders do not do VBR mp3 also ..

You will find more ac3 and CBR mp3 audio than multistream mp3 (or VBR) .... in legitimate divx/xvid - in fact multistream audio very rare in N. America (more in asia)


No black frames from or because of the audio ... only for other reasons (like bad frames) and field interpolation issues.



point is - codec packs are bad ... most people know this, some have to be taught.
and
it will not fix the issue raised above by just going ahead and installing a bunch of codecs you dont need ...


Sakuya wrote on 4/5/2005, 10:35 PM
I'm ignoring the audio because I only want to edit video at this point. So video-only streams all the way! As for uninstalling ffdshow, I did that. I installed Koepi's latest XviD codec and enabled it to decode all supported formats. Then I changed the 4CC to DivX but it still won't work. Does Vegas support DV codecs for importing? If only I can compress using DV but Virtualdub doesn't have that codec listed.

And a sort of off-topic question. What video size should I output to in Vegas? My AVI files were 640x480. If I output to 720x480, won't that cause some sort of aspect ratio problem? I'm burning these to DVD by the way.

Also is it possible to open VOBs? I don't want to have to compress for every single thing. :(
Kanst wrote on 4/6/2005, 6:34 AM
Set Vegas project properties to 720x480 and insert your video with keep aspect ratio checked
If you can see vobs with WMplayer, Vegas can see video from vobs too.
B_JM wrote on 4/6/2005, 8:36 AM
use divx codec (play all mpeg4 formats) then if you cant get xvid to work (in vegas playback) .


you need to instal the panasonc or mainconcept dv codec to be able to use dv codecs in virtualdub




Sakuya wrote on 4/7/2005, 11:05 AM
I thought ffdshow included all of those codecs? Where do I get the Panasonc or Mainconcept DV codec? As for the VOBs, WMPlayer occasionally opens them. Sometimes, it takes a long time to load. Media Player Classic has a better time opening them. I inserted my DVD-R and browed to the folder in Vegas but Vegas does not consider them as media files (the VIDEO_TS folder is empty when browsed in Vegas).
B_JM wrote on 4/7/2005, 11:57 AM
http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Panasonic_DV_Codec

http://www.mainconcept.com

Sakuya wrote on 4/8/2005, 8:09 PM
The project properties is already at 720x480. The pixel aspect ratio is 0.9091 (NTSC DV). Is that used correctly? I downloaded DivX 5.2.1, disabled DivX in ffdshow and all the DivX AVIs I have works now!

For the XviD AVIs I have, I used the AVI4CCChanger mentioned before. I opened the AVI first. Then I found that there is no "DIVX" option. So I selected the closest which was DIV4 for the first one, and DIV3 for the second one. It did work in Vegas but however, the colors are all messed up and is showing a mess of rainbow blocks instead of the original video.