Sony Codecs

Kat96 wrote on 12/29/2010, 2:30 PM

We have figured out that our videos from my new camcorder need to be converted in order for Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 to read it correctly.....to have the correct sound as well as video. It was a complete hassle to find the right converter and we ended up having to convert it to WMV in order for it to work. We used the Camcorders software to do this conversion.

I would rather not have to take the time to convert. Also, even if I do have to continue to convert, I need Sony Vegas to read AVI files as well. I read that Sony Vegas is supposed to read AVI files but for some reason when I converted it to AVI it had the correct sound but slow video. What AVI coverter should be used to make this work? When I tried to download Sims videos which are AVI files, Sony Vegas would not accept them. I have read many people having the same problem with Sim videos and then others did not have the problem. I am confused on why. It appears like it will "accept" the converted AVI file (but does not perform correctly) but will not accept files that are initially AVI files.....i.e. files from Sims (computer video type game where you can create videos and pictures).

Also, are there codecs that can be downloaded to where I do not have to convert so Sony Vegas can read MP4 and AVI files?

Thank you for any help on this.

Kat

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 12/29/2010, 3:54 PM

It would help us a lot if you told us what camcorder it is so that we can help you research what sort of files it produces.

"AVI" isn't a codec, it's a container/file type. It can contain many different codecs. So, just saying "AVI" doesn't identify which coded you're working with. Once we know what your camcorder is producing we can help you find the right codec.

Eugenia wrote on 12/29/2010, 4:05 PM

As Chienworks mentioned, AVI and MP4 are just containers that contain codecs, not codecs themselves. However, since you're mixing mp4 and avis, I think you're talking about XViD videos, which are MPEG4-ASP, technically-speaking. In that case, you need this codec installed: http://www.digital-digest.com/software/download.php?sid=1052&did=1

Kat96 wrote on 12/29/2010, 5:53 PM

Thanks, Chienworks. :) I do know that AVI, mp4 or wmv are not a "codecs" but just wondered why we are having problems when the program said they would support one or the other. Although, none of the programs accept the mp4, obviously.

We are wondering if there are codecs we can download to help after we convert it to AVI or WMV or whatever needed. The camcorder is a Samsung H200 Full HD with 20x Opitical Zoom.

Thanks for any additional input. :)

Kat96 wrote on 12/29/2010, 6:00 PM

Thanks Eugenia. :) Boy this sure has been a learning experience for my daughter (Katherine) and myself (her name is the user name since the software is in her name).

That makes sense regarding "mixing" mp4 and avi. I assume you say this because we are converting the mp4 to avi, right? The video recorder records in H.264 (MPEG4 part10/AVC) format in High Definition Video or Standard Definition. I have no idea what the "part10" means. I just looked up what AVC means and it said "advanced video coding".

Hopefully we can get this worked out. I need to be able to get the AVI to work because I want to dowload the videos on a picture frame which support MPEG or AVI.

Thanks so much!

Kat96 wrote on 12/29/2010, 6:00 PM

Ooops, forgot to say, thanks for the link! I will give it a try and see how it works.

Kat96 wrote on 12/29/2010, 6:03 PM

I just downloaded it and notice the name Xvid. I remember downloading this from somehwere else earlier but was not sure if it was right and something did not look right. I downloaded it to see if it would help with running AVI files in Windows Media. I ran a search and it led me to that codec. I will see what happens with this one that is downloaded. I got rid of the other one.

Kat96 wrote on 12/29/2010, 6:07 PM

Is there anything I need to do after it is downloaded? This is the part that confuses me. Is it something that automatically gets recognized when I open up a converted AVI file?

drguitar0001 wrote on 12/30/2010, 2:47 PM

Hi Kat,

I own the same camcorder (pretty nice piece of equipment isn't it?). Here's the problem, Sony VMS10 will not read the file properly and there is nothing you can do to make it read that file.

Now that we have that out of the way, here is a workaround. Sony will read the video part of the file properly. So what you need to do is strip the audio from the file, convert the audio to a format the Sony VMS can read and then re-attach the working audio to the working video in VMS. I use the program SUPER video (freeware: www.erightsoft.biz/GetFile.php?SUPERsetup.exe ) to strip the audio from the video clip and create a separate MP3 audio file that I can re-attach later in VMS to the original video.

Here are the steps:

1. Create a new audio file from the original video file by turning the audio into MP3 using SUPER video. Store this file with your other media files.

2. Open VMS 10 and drop the original video/audio file on the time line.

3. Ungroup the video and audio and delete the original audio.

4. Find the MP3 version of the audio and open it in VMS.

5. Line up the audio and video and group them once they are in sync.

6. Do the same thing for every other video file you want to edit in VMS 10.

Sony has known about this screw up since back in June 2010 and has been promising a "fix" is imminent. I contacted them last month about this "again" and the answer was essentially, "Don't hold your breath"

Sorry you got screwed like the rest of us,

Take care!

Texas Willie wrote on 1/1/2011, 6:35 PM

Wow!....I just finished reading this thread and can only say how very happy I am that I didn't buy the Samsung camera!

Instead, I spent the extra money and purchased a Canon HF M300 HD Camcorder. Videos and sound import into VSM flawlessly. I guess I can count myself as a lucky guy. ;>)

I have a number of electronics from Samsung and have always gotten exceptional equipment, so I was really leaning towards them.....I don't have a clue why I paid more, since I am a freaking cheapskate....LOL

TW

drguitar0001 wrote on 1/2/2011, 8:41 PM

The Samsung camcorder is not the problem. It seems that Sony's VMS program previously would open and use the Samsung files in earlier versions of VMS took a turn for the worse in VMS 10. You see, VMS 8 and 9 opened the Samsung files and edited them without any problem.

So folks who own these Samsung camcorders had every reason to believe that they could upgrade to VMS 10 without any problem. Who knew that Sony would change the program in a negative way so that it could no longer open and edit the very generic H.264 files that the Samsung camcorders generate.

I like my Samsung camcorder, a lot. And I used to like VMS. After all, I have supported the program with my hard earned dollars since Sonic Foundry Video Factory 1 and nearly every version since then. I just feel that Sony should spend the 10 minutes it would take to fix this problem. After all, it did not exist in the previous 2 versions of the program; it can't be that tough to make it right.