Typically, the thumbnail is the first frame of the video. If the first frame of the video is black then the thumbnail image is black.

If the first image of your video is not black and is not displaying the first frame image, what is the thumbnail displaying?

Thanks for the reply. That would make sense except my rendered video file has no icon at all. (Just the VLC icon, indicating it's unable to generate or otherwise get a thumbnail)

I used to use Vegas Pro 14 until just recently, and my files rendered using that have working thumbnails within Windows, so something is different within Vegas 19 that I'm unaware of I believe.

Way back I think you could set the thumbnail of wmv. I don't think you can with mp4, what format are you using?

Way back I think you could set the thumbnail of wmv. I don't think you can with mp4, what format are you using?

MAGIX HEVC/AAC MP4. I think I've tried a couple others as well.

@NCSGeek If your rendering HEVC Windows should create a thumbnail automatically as it does with AVC MP4's, .mov & other files don't tho, you get the VLC thumbnail as you're getting,

There's an App called MediaInfo, download it, it's free & a fast download with no added adverts or any of that rubbish. https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

After downloading, right click on the media file in your Windows folder, open MediaInfo, choose Text from the options at the top, Copy & paste the information in a new comment on here, maybe that'll show why you're not getting a thumbnail,

Like this

Broken files mp4 or not don't show a thumbnail, 👍

@Dexcon I just rendered this as I'm curious about this, 1 black frame at the start but the exported files AVC & HEVC have the woman thumbnail. ?

PS, check this box isn't ticked,

Do your other MP4's create thumbnails?

Typically, the thumbnail is the first frame of the video. If the first frame of the video is black then the thumbnail image is black.

If the first image of your video is not black and is not displaying the first frame image, what is the thumbnail displaying?

Thanks for the reply. That would make sense except my rendered video file has no icon at all. (Just the VLC icon, indicating it's unable to generate or otherwise get a thumbnail)

I think this is Windows' issue rather than VP's issue.

@NCSGeek If your rendering HEVC Windows should create a thumbnail automatically as it does with AVC MP4's, .mov & other files don't tho, you get the VLC thumbnail as you're getting,

There's an App called MediaInfo, download it, it's free & a fast download with no added adverts or any of that rubbish. https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

After downloading, right click on the media file in your Windows folder, open MediaInfo, choose Text from the options at the top, Copy & paste the information in a new comment on here, maybe that'll show why you're not getting a thumbnail,

Like this

Broken files mp4 or not don't show a thumbnail, 👍

@Dexcon I just rendered this as I'm curious about this, 1 black frame at the start but the exported files AVC & HEVC have the woman thumbnail. ?

PS, check this box isn't ticked,

Do your other MP4's create thumbnails?

Thanks for the high effort reply. Only my MP4 files from Vegas 19 do not seem to create thumbnails. My ones from my previous Vegas Pro 14 do, as well as any other video files I have around.

As for MediaInfo, would an FFProbe report be as good? I have FFMPEG already setup for myself so if it's just as good then I can provide that. If not, I'll get MediaInfo.

Typically, the thumbnail is the first frame of the video. If the first frame of the video is black then the thumbnail image is black.

If the first image of your video is not black and is not displaying the first frame image, what is the thumbnail displaying?

Thanks for the reply. That would make sense except my rendered video file has no icon at all. (Just the VLC icon, indicating it's unable to generate or otherwise get a thumbnail)

I think this is Windows' issue rather than VP's issue.

Perhaps, but I dont see why none of my video files that are not rendered using Vegas 19 would be working completely fine. Only thing I can think of is if my windows has an issue with the exact format/codec Vegas 19 is rendering with and I happen to not encounter that codec until now.

I've been trying to work out what determines the image used in Windows for the thumbnail,

After @Dexcon wrote 'the first frame of the video is black then the thumbnail image is black' so I rendered a few with a 2 sec Media generator black image at the start, no black thumbnail was created,

So i rendered just the 2sec black as an mp4 & swapped the Media generator black on the timeline for this mp4, still no black thumbnail.

Even having 2sec black mp4 & reducing the woman right down to 1 sec I still got no black thumbnail 🤷‍♂️😂

I tried a different file & a white image at the start, no white thumbnail,

not even when i swapped the white image to the rear of the timeline did i get a white thumbnail 😂😂😂

@NCSGeek Do these files that don't show the thumbnail play ok? Sometimes in the past I've had a file that doesn't finish rendering properly, these types don't show a thumbnail, but they don't play in VLC or any player.

@NCSGeek Which player does Windows have associated with your problem files?

If you have HOS, there is an option in Render+ to add a Custom Video Thumbnail. Here is a screengrab along with a tooltip that describes how it works. The advantage is that you can save any frame from Vegas and use that as your thumbnail.

HOS does not use FFmpeg to accomplish this, but rather another open source app called AtomicParsley (what a name!). You can download the app and write your own command line. Or, you could download the free version of HOS which includes a host of open source tools including AtomicParsley. You'll still have to write your own command line, although it's pretty simple. It should work for any mp4 or mov file.

I've been trying to work out what determines the image used in Windows for the thumbnail,

After @Dexcon wrote 'the first frame of the video is black then the thumbnail image is black' so I rendered a few with a 2 sec Media generator black image at the start, no black thumbnail was created,

So i rendered just the 2sec black as an mp4 & swapped the Media generator black on the timeline for this mp4, still no black thumbnail.

Even having 2sec black mp4 & reducing the woman right down to 1 sec I still got no black thumbnail 🤷‍♂️😂

I tried a different file & a white image at the start, no white thumbnail,

not even when i swapped the white image to the rear of the timeline did i get a white thumbnail 😂😂😂

Yeah, in my case it definitely isnt anything to do with the visual contents of the video since I literally have no thumbnail, just the VLC logo which means it's just the file icon rather than a thumbnail from the video itself.

@NCSGeek Do these files that don't show the thumbnail play ok? Sometimes in the past I've had a file that doesn't finish rendering properly, these types don't show a thumbnail, but they don't play in VLC or any player.

 

Yep, they all play completely fine. I cant find anything wrong with them at all aside from the thumbnail issue. It isnt a huge deal but it'd be nice to figure it out.

Here's a report from MediaInfo: https://pastebin.com/VFF8h7GH

If you have HOS, there is an option in Render+ to add a Custom Video Thumbnail. Here is a screengrab along with a tooltip that describes how it works. The advantage is that you can save any frame from Vegas and use that as your thumbnail.

HOS does not use FFmpeg to accomplish this, but rather another open source app called AtomicParsley (what a name!). You can download the app and write your own command line. Or, you could download the free version of HOS which includes a host of open source tools including AtomicParsley. You'll still have to write your own command line, although it's pretty simple. It should work for any mp4 or mov file.

Alright, appreciate the info. Although if I have to manually add a thumbnail then I already wrote a quick bat script to do it for me using FFMPEG. https://pastebin.com/S85GM5i8

@NCSGeek Which player does Windows have associated with your problem files?

VLC Media Player.

VLC Media Player.

Interesting. I use MPC-HC and Win 10 V22H2 shows thumbnails for my mpg, m2ts and mp4 files. My black leaders (1 sec 15 frames long) are ignored. The exception is avc where the MPC-HC icon is shown instead of a thumbnail.

@NCSGeek Hi, can you post that MediaInfo on here using the arrow button at the top of a new comment next to the smiley, I don't want to accept that pastebin links cookies or whatever it's asking for.

@NCSGeek Hi, can you post that MediaInfo on here using the arrow button at the top of a new comment next to the smiley, I don't want to accept that pastebin links cookies or whatever it's asking for.

Pastebin does not have any weird cookies though. Just standard functionality, google analytics (which you are probably blocking already), and cloudflare.

Can you use this? It's raw.pastebin.com which has no cookie prompt if I recall.

https://pastebin.com/raw/VFF8h7GH

The reason I insist is especially because when I paste it into here, it's formatted horribly.

@NCSGeek I don't see what the problem is with pasting that mediainfo in a comment, many people just won't click on that link, quite often because they simply don't want to, they either can't be bothered or out of precaution. so you'll end up getting less help then if you directly post it on here as requested.

You could even copy it (screen grab) & paste as a pic using the arrow button like this.

This from your link, I rendered a couple of these, 1sec long with that small size, no prob with the thumbnail appearing.

@NCSGeek I don't see what the problem is with pasting that mediainfo in a comment, many people just won't click on that link, quite often because they simply don't want to, they either can't be bothered or out of precaution. so you'll end up getting less help then if you directly post it on here as requested.

I'm not trying to be difficult with it, it's just that for one, you cant copy/paste as easily if it's a screenshot. And second, if I just paste it then it isn't very readable unless you copy/paste it and beautify it yourself. It looks like this pasted:

This from your link, I rendered a couple of these, 1sec long with that small size, no prob with the thumbnail appearing.

Alright. So I assume it's somehow my Windows then? Also a curious thing is that even on cloud storage providers like Mega.nz, it has no thumbnail. (Also tried Mega.nz on my phone, same thing)

So that's the only reason I doubt it's just my Windows installation.

General
Complete name                            : C:\Users\gidjo\OneDrive\Desktop\480.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42 (isom/mp42)
File size                                : 90.4 KiB
Duration                                 : 1 s 40 ms
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 712 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2023-03-21 16:24:06
Tagged date                              : UTC 2023-03-21 16:24:06

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3.2
Format settings                          : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 3 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1 s 40 ms
Bit rate                                 : 521 kb/s
Width                                    : 480 pixels
Height                                   : 464 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 1.034
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 25.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.094
Stream size                              : 66.2 KiB (73%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2023-03-21 16:24:07
Tagged date                              : UTC 2023-03-21 16:24:07
Color range                              : Limited
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 1 s 24 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 181 kb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 190 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 22.7 KiB (25%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : UTC 2023-03-21 16:24:07
Tagged date                              : UTC 2023-03-21 16:24:07
 

@NCSGeek I don't know what you're doing but it's not hard,

Your file looks very small, you could share one & we can try it out ?

@NCSGeek I don't know what you're doing but it's not hard,

 

Your file looks very small, you could share one & we can try it out ?

Sure. This is a different one then the one I sent the mediainfo for but it's the exact same render settings so it should be comparable.

It's just a very short test render using the same preset. So the content of the video itself is more or less a dummy video.

@NCSGeek Thanks but sorry I should have said you need to load that vid into a file sharing site so it keeps it's orig properties, uploading onto here changes those properties making it useless, I use Google Drive when sharing files. I guess pastebin will do, I've just never used that site & I get a bit sick of consenting to this & that all the time 😂😂

@NCSGeek Thanks but sorry I should have said you need to load that vid into a file sharing site so it keeps it's orig properties, uploading onto here changes those properties making it useless, I use Google Drive when sharing files. I guess pastebin will do, I've just never used that site & I get a bit sick of consenting to this & that all the time 😂😂

Lol, ok. It'll have cookies though.

https://www.mediafire.com/file_premium/11836p9jgkx46em/Untitled.mp4/file