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wmv file not found

Specific to Premiere Elements version 14

wmv file not found

Postby mikecox » Tue Apr 05, 2016 2:47 am

There are a couple wmv files on my tablet that have stopped playing for some reason so I moved them onto my HD and planned to convert them to mp4 files and maybe get them to work again.

The original wmv files were edited in version 12 but when I tried to import them into v14 the file didn't display in the folder where I put them, so I tried to drag them into my project but got an error message that said the file type was not supported, or the required codec was not installed.

How do I find the right codec
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby Steve Grisetti » Tue Apr 05, 2016 7:20 am

I sure wouldn't try to use WMVs as source files in a Premeire Elements project, Mike. Even if technically the program still supports them. As a matter of fact, I'd recommend that you never use or utter the words WMV again. They're really an obsolete format.

That said, I'd recommend you convert the files to MP4s by importing them into Windows MovieMaker or MovieMaker Live, which is probably the only program in the world that still incorporates WMVs in its workflow. You should be able to export MP4s from MovieMaker in a variety of resolutions.
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby sidd finch » Tue Apr 05, 2016 11:09 am

If Windows moviemaker is a hassle there is a free program called YouTube Downloader that can be used to convert WMV to MPEG4.

http://download.cnet.com/ytd-video-downloader/

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Re: wmv file not found

Postby Dave McElderry » Tue Apr 05, 2016 11:25 am

sidd finch wrote:If Windows moviemaker is a hassle there is a free program called YouTube Downloader that can be used to convert WMV to MPEG4.

I gave up on YTD and took it off my computer. Adware problems. Eventually Norton wouldn't allow it to be installed, even when doing a custom install and declining all the cr@p.
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby mikecox » Tue Apr 05, 2016 11:51 am

Steve Grisetti wrote:I sure wouldn't try to use WMVs as source files in a Premeire Elements project, Mike. Even if technically the program still supports them. As a matter of fact, I'd recommend that you never use or utter the words WMV again. They're really an obsolete format.
I take your point and I no longer use the outdated wmv file type, but back in v12 I created these videos so I'm stuck with them.

That said, I'd recommend you convert the files to MP4s by importing them into Windows MovieMaker or MovieMaker Live, which is probably the only program in the world that still incorporates WMVs in its workflow. You should be able to export MP4s from MovieMaker in a variety of resolutions.


I was actually planning to do that, which is why I was trying to import them. My next step, failing that, was to do as you suggested and use a program to convert them first. I will try one of the options you listed and see if I can accomplish that.

btw The latest video's I created, using the Mobile/mp4 file type with the lowest "Quality" setting were around 5Gb. Bumping the Quality to 50% increased the size x2. I also noted that the image didn't fill the screen on my tablet. While I've read chapter 21 in your latest PrE book, and while it was very though, with great charts, I am still rather overwhelmed by all the option so haven't quite figured out which option is best to create a file that isn't enormous, that fills the real estate and still has good resolution.

I have a slideshow I want to share with the friends I went whale watching with a few weeks ago but it is so large that I doubt they will want to dl it onto there phone or tablet, maybe no even their computer.
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby Bob » Tue Apr 05, 2016 12:57 pm

If the wmv is playable, there should be no problem using Premiere to convert it. The question is: is the file playable? It certainly isn't on the tablet. It could be a missing codec or possibly the files are corrupted. Can you play it on your desktop using Windows Media Player? Normally, Windows Media Player will download the wmv codec if it isn't on the system. Do you have VLC player? Does VLC play them? VLC has the codecs built-in and doesn't depend on them being on your system. If neither of those two programs can play them, the files are likely corrupted. If VLC will play them, there is a version for Android.

If you have GSpot or MediaInfo, you can determine which codecs are being used. See this Microsoft page for information about downloading wmv codecs.
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby mikecox » Thu Apr 07, 2016 8:27 pm

One of the videos plays normally in the preview pane of my "xplorer2" file manager, but in Windows Explorer it displays as a still image.

If I try to play it with the VLC player on my computer the video is very distorted and freezes after 3 seconds. But when I try to play it with the AGC player it plays normally.

The other only plays using the AGC player but only if nudged; it displays distorted initially and freezes but still image appear when I hover over the time line and if I drag the timeline off start it will clear up and play, but it's touchy and often goes into distortion or the screen turns pink and jittery with a tiny sliver of clear image in the upper left corner.

Finally I installed an Android video player and both clips play using that player, except one sometimes went into fatal error of I try to manipulate the timeline.

I don't know why these two files are so fussy or why they play on some players and not others.

If the wmv is playable, there should be no problem using Premiere to convert it.


I just can't get them into PrE to convert. With both files I get a "generic error".

I was about to install Movie Maker but the list of supported formats did not include wmv.

So I purchased a conversion program and converted the most problematic wmv file to a mp4 format and it played perfectly! It's interesting that the program that got the highest rating, from cnet, wouldn't accept the most troublesome file for conversion but the program, that was $20. cheaper, accepted it without a problem.

The only question I have now is how to get smaller files? The original wmv file was only 390k, the converted copy is 812k. The other files a 70k but after conversion it was 154k
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby Steve Grisetti » Fri Apr 08, 2016 7:14 am

Trust me. MovieMaker supports WMVs. Microsoft is pretty much the only company still clinging to this format.
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby Kent Frost » Fri Apr 08, 2016 7:46 am

Steve Grisetti wrote:Trust me. MovieMaker supports WMVs. Microsoft is pretty much the only company still clinging to this format.

Which is unfortunate, honestly. As much as I hate the WMV format for reasons like this, it's still the only format that I've found which can achieve the picture quality that it can while keeping a small file size.
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby mikecox » Fri Apr 08, 2016 10:51 am

Kent Frost wrote:
Trust me. MovieMaker supports WMVs
.


Ok, I'll take you word for it. It's odd that they didn't include it in the list of supported formats. :conf: The omission ended up costing me.

Steve Grisetti wrote:
achieve the picture quality that it can while keeping a small file size.
I guess that answers my other question. It would appear that wmv is the only option for getting the files that are half the size of the mp4 format.
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby Kent Frost » Fri Apr 08, 2016 11:29 pm

Really, whenever I go to upload a video to Youtube or Vimeo, I'll upload a nice high quality WMV for them to encode for their player. It affords you the option to have a good quality video that's small in size, so it's easy on the upload time. But then I'll create either a .mov or .mp4 as my master for archiving.
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Re: wmv file not found

Postby mikecox » Sat Apr 09, 2016 12:20 am

Kent Frost wrote:Really, whenever I go to upload a video to Youtube or Vimeo, I'll upload a nice high quality WMV for them to encode for their player. It affords you the option to have a good quality video that's small in size, so it's easy on the upload time. But then I'll create either a .mov or .mp4 as my master for archiving.
I've started doing that, loading wmv formats to the SD card on my tablet but making an mp4 archive copy in case the wmv goes south, like the two I've been struggling with.
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