How to import AVI video files in Adobe Premiere Pro?

May 31, 2009 10:41 PM

When I import an AVI video file I recorded on a Canon digital camera to Adobe Premiere Pro, it only shows up as a still picture with audio. Why does it do this and how can it be solved?

We are creating a music video as a school project and we need Premiere to add effects. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

posted by meta.mark to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Best answer: Your camera is probably using a codec that is not installed on your machine. With Canon cameras it is often the mJPG (or: Motion JPEG) codec. The easiest way to get the codec on your machine is to install the software that came with your camera.
posted by Mitheral at 11:01 PM on May 31, 2009

You could also use a program to encode it in a friendlier format before importing. VLC can decode anything and has a transcoding option. I don't know offhand what codecs Premier accepts, but I bet it would take MPEG2 (what dvds use).
posted by cj_ at 11:13 PM on May 31, 2009

The problem with transcoding is that every time the video is recoded, noise accumulates and the video degrades. It would be better to get the proper codec.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:33 PM on May 31, 2009

I have a Canon Ixus 750 and generally what I do is use VirtualDub (free: http://www.virtualdub.org/), open the file and save it as an Uncompressed AVI. It takes up loads of space but there is no more generational loss (at this stage) and is flexible to any scenario.

If you do want to save a bit of space, you could look at a lossless video compression codec like HuffyUV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huffyuv), which can retain the quality and save a bit of space (make sure you do not change the colourspace though. I think defaults should be fine).

You could also consider CorePNG (http://www.jory.info/serendipity/archives/28-CorePNG-v0.8.2.html) - but this is more suited to RGB(A) video, if you need compressed lossless video.

If this is all a bit too complicated, just stick to uncompressed and make sure you have LOTS of hard drive space. :)
posted by rc55 at 2:23 AM on June 1, 2009

I had to install the XviD codec on my dad's new laptop for him last week when video he was taking with his camera played only the audio, with no video.

You can look at the troublesome AVI (or whatever filetype the video is) with GSpot and it'll tell you what codec is missing.
posted by aught at 6:40 AM on June 1, 2009

> The problem with transcoding is that every time the video is recoded, noise accumulates and the video degrades. It would be better to get the proper codec.

Yeah no doubt, just throwing that out there. Codec problems can be difficult to overcome for some people.

With the right encoding options, loss can be kept at a minimum. If it's critical, dumping to raw YUV frames is always an option (if you have the space) -- any professional video editing software can handle raw video + pcm sound, I doubt Premiere is an exception. I personally use MPlayer to do this if the need arises.
posted by cj_ at 1:53 PM on June 1, 2009