CODEC FAILS

k-n9808 wrote on 1/5/2024, 5:53 PM

I'm new to Vegas Pro (I have version 19) but I don't understand why I am encountering problems already just trying to load in a video file (AVI). I've loaded others and I will admit this one is larger than others (736 MB). The error states that Vegas failed while opening a codec. The details of this error are simply, file couldn't be opened. There's no error number, not hint of why I can't open this file. If I try and play it in Media Player it plays fine. Never had this issue with a video editor before. Is this program just that much garbage that it can't do the simplest things? I don't know where to even start on trying to remedy this.

Any help or suggestions is welcome. Thank you.

Comments

set wrote on 1/5/2024, 6:33 PM

Need more info with the AVI file you are dealing with

In short, Where this AVI file coming from or how is it made?

More detailed info can be helpful:

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/faq-how-to-post-mediainfo-and-vegas-pro-file-properties--104561/

EricLNZ wrote on 1/5/2024, 7:43 PM

736 MB for a file isn't large. As set says more detailed info from Mediainfo would be helpful. For a start we can then confirm that you have a problem with an AVI file and not an AV1 file?

RealLorenzS wrote on 5/14/2025, 12:43 PM

I've had similar issues with Vegas before, especially with AVI files. Sometimes it's not the file size but the specific codec used during encoding. Vegas can be pretty picky about codecs, and if the right one isn’t installed on your system, it just won't open, even if it plays fine in a media player. What I usually do is run the file through a video converter to re-encode it into something more editor-friendly like MP4 with H.264. That solved it for me a few times. If you’re stuck, it might be easier to convert the file using tools like these before editing, and here's a helpful guide on how to add countdown timer to video if you're planning to include that kind of element too, https://www.movavi.com/support/how-to/how-to-add-countdown-timer-to-video.html.

EricLNZ wrote on 5/14/2025, 5:47 PM

Vegas can be pretty picky about codecs, and if the right one isn’t installed on your system, it just won't open, even if it plays fine in a media player

I don't know that "picky" is really a correct description. It depends whether the media players makes their codecs available to other software or not. If they don't then obviously VP cannot use them.

If a AVI file won't open in VP the first thing to do is use MediaInfo to determine what codec was used.