Can't see Video of a .MOV file

MichelleLee wrote on 11/15/2009, 7:43 PM
Hi Everyone,
I'm working on a project where I was given .MOV file, but when I try to add the MOV file to the project, it is only bring the audio and thats it. I get a message "Stream attributes could not be determined". My partner on the project (She uses a Mac) converted the video to mp4. If I add that version to the project, I can see the video, but NO audio. I get the same error message when I select the file in the explorer. What is going on. I don't want to have to edit the video and audio separately then try and sink it together. Any suggestions. BTW. The original video (mov) was recorded on a Canon Digital camera. Whats weird, is that the mp4 file plays fine in Quicktime player (both audio and video). Any ideas how I can get either file format to work in Vegas. Thanks
Michelle
P.S. I have Vegas Movie Studio Premium running on windows vista.

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 11/15/2009, 7:54 PM
1) Try changing (not "converting") the .mov extension to .mp4 in Windows Explorer. If you do not know how to do this, there is a video tutorial linked here.

2) If that does not work, post the file details using one of the utilities recommended in that same tutorial.

This is probably easy to fix, as others have gone before you , , ,
MichelleLee wrote on 11/15/2009, 8:42 PM
Hi Again,
Thanks for such a quick reply. No luck so far. Renaming file extension didn't help :( At the beginning it mentioned a fix, which I download, but it made it worse. It took the file offline and refused to do anything with it. I have not yet reverted back to earlier Quicktime yet, I'll work on doing that tomorrow, but for now here is the file info on the two formats I was trying to use.
MOV Files:
Aple Intermediate Codec, 960x540, Millions
16-bit Integer (Little Endian), Stereo 48,000 kHz
Movie FPS: 29.97
Playing FPS: 29.97
Data size: 52.51 mb
Data Rate: 23.19 mbits/sec
Normal Size: 960x540

MP4 Files
MPEG-4 640 x 480, Millions
AAC, Stereo (L R), 44,100 kHz
Movie FPS: 30
Playing FPS: 30
Data size: 9.38 mb
Data Rate: 1.30 mbits/sec
Normal Size: 640 x 480

What do you think?
Thank you again for the help.
Michelle
MichelleLee wrote on 11/15/2009, 9:35 PM
Where can I find the 7.6.2 version of Quicktime. I've only found itunes with that version number. I did find a 7.6 version. Will this one work?
AlanADale wrote on 11/16/2009, 1:26 AM
Hi Michelle,

First of all, I know very little about video editing in Vegas being a newcomer to it myself so this post is not so much about giving advice but more in the way of offering assurances.

QT 7.6.2 is available for download here (as well as several others places) - http://quicktime.en.softonic.com/ . I found this site by typing "Quicktime 7.6.2 download" into the Search box (Google).

Is there any possibility of you obtaining the original MOV file again i.e. the undoctored and renamed one?

I am running Windows XP2 SP3, QT 7.6.2, Sony Movie Studio Platinum version 9b (Build 92) and also have 2 Canon cameras (7D + SX1) capable of producing HD MOV files in addition to low resolution movie clips. All of these video clips import into Vegas with no problems at all with video and audio being in sync.

I wonder if Vista is playing a part in your problems?

Sorry not to be able to help further. :-)
musicvid10 wrote on 11/16/2009, 6:31 AM
Thanks for providing some relevant information about your files! It makes a huge difference. Based on that, I've got some good news and some bad news.

There is no codec available to Vegas that will open Apple Intermediate video directly, as far as I've been able to determine (It's a Mac vs. PC thing). So some form of conversion is necessary. Since your material is "essentially" HD bitrate (at SD resolution), conversion to a lossless codec that Vegas will recognize is the most elegant solution, but I don't know what your friend's options are.

Your conversion to MP4 is workable, assuming the AVC/h.264 video codec was used in the render. The "lost" audio is almost certainly a result of your Quicktime installation. The MP4 encoding parameters you gave are woefully inadequate for high quality. You should be using something along these lines. (Note that AVC preview at high bitrates is not terribly good in Vegas, but there would be a quality tradeoff from your original video at less than 10Mbs.)
MP4
H264 Codec
720x480
1.2121 Pixel Aspect Ratio
Frame Rate 29.970 NTSC
Video Bitrate 10-12 Mbs
-- Or, if your friend is only capable of 1:1 PAR, the dimensions would be about 854x480.

Sony has posted a fix for Movie Studio 9 versions running Quicktime 7.6.4. It has not been tested with other versions of Vegas.
Fix for Movie Studio 9 running Quicktime 7.6.4

Also, both 7.6.2 and 7.6 work. Both are available by doing an internet search. For your protection, only download from sites that are established and reliable (IOW, google the site name first). I have 7.6 running on my Vista laptop that I use for lots of editing.