When avi is not avi

BerkleeDude wrote on 8/22/2002, 6:28 AM

Apparently, there is avi and then there is SF avi, and rarely do they meet? When I create an animation with Flash and export it as Windows Media (avi), then add it to my Vegas Media Pool, Vegas displays only the first frame, sans any transparent layers, for the entire duration of the clip. When I export the same Flash animation as Quicktime (mov), Vegas Video sees all the frames of the underlying video (i.e., it plays with motion), but again loses the transparent overlays (layers) from my Flash animation.

So here's the thing. Windows Media Player can play the avi complete and intact, with all motion and transparent layers (titles) and everything. So why can't Vegas play an avi that Windows Media Player plays perfectly? Is it the case that Vegas can only import and play avi's that Vegas created? If so, that's hardly "avi" at all, but rather more like "a Sonic Foundry spin-off of avi that isn't really avi at all, so using the name is deceptive and possibly even fradulent." It looks like everyone else in the world is in agreement about what an avi is and isn't, but maybe SF has their own interpretation?

Unless there is some trick that I haven't discovered.....?

Comments

EW wrote on 8/22/2002, 7:40 AM

Maybe it's the other way around. Maybe those other exported files (Flash to AVI for example) don't use a standard AVI format.

SonyEPM wrote on 8/22/2002, 9:24 AM

Vegas does not support Flash files, no matter what they are wrapped in (QT, .avi etc).

flashlight wrote on 8/22/2002, 9:47 AM

I exported a swish file to .avi and it worked fine in Veagas. I know Swish can import Flash movies. Maybe you can try importing the flash file into swish and export as an .avi from there.

Just a thought!

BerkleeDude wrote on 8/22/2002, 3:02 PM

Thanks to alfalaschi for the suggestion about Swish. I'll try that. It's clear that Vegas does not like an "avi" file as produced by Flash, and it's certainly possible that different applications might have a different interpretation about what is and is not an avi. My consumer-grade assumption was that anything that Microsoft regards as a valid avi and is willing and able to play in Windows Media Player ... is by definition an avi. So my problem is that files that play swimmingly well in Windows Media Player do not, necessarily, import and play in Vegas. Sad but true.