How can I determine a codec needed to decode a mov?

[Mylenium]

Hello,

I've run into a problem, maybe codec related. I downloaded a mov file to apply fx to, and the video portion is not showing. Audio works as it should. The supplier of the mov has no technical info they can share.
At first I assumed it was uncompressed. It is a 4 minute 1280x720 (1.212), 29.97fps mov, about 1.65gb in size. When I import it into AE7 it gives those stats and shows only white instead of video. In Premiere it shows white also, I can put it on the timeline and scrub through and hear the sound, but no video. In Quicktime it shows black video and will play through with the sound being correct, but no video.
On the first attempt to play it, Quicktime required an update, and also directed me to the Apple web page with 3rd party codecs and other things for Quicktime. After installing all of the codecs that I could, thinking it would allow AE, Premiere, or QT to see the video, there was no change.
How can I determine if I need a specific codec, or if the video in file may be corrupt? I am working on a WinXP PC with AE7 pro, Premiere Pro2, QT 7.1.6.
If you recognize the problem, advice would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Bill C.

Use Ctrl+I in QT player to bring up the movie info. It should clearly state which CoDecs the file is encoded with. If you're lucky, it uses Blackmagic or Cineform or whatever, if you're unlucky it uses and Avid (which are not freely accesible) or Final Cut CoDec (which are not available for PC)

Mylenium

[w_capozzi]

Thanks for the reply. It is DVCPRO50 - NTSC. As far as I can tell, there is no codec for QT on Windows for that. A quick search has brought up all of the complaints and a few leads to get it to work on Windows.
I do have an old Mac here with QT. I'm hoping it will be possible to play it on that and export an avi to use.

Thanks for the help,
Bill C.

[beenyweenies]

As a side note, the Avid Meridien codecs are freely available here (http://www.avid.com/onlineSupport/supportcontent.asp?browse=&productID=10&contentID=3555).

[Mylenium]

As a side note, the Avid Meridien codecs are freely available here (http://www.avid.com/onlineSupport/supportcontent.asp?browse=&productID=10&contentID=3555).

*ugghh* Is anyone even still using that old stinker?

Mylenium

[beenyweenies]

*ugghh* Is anyone even still using that old stinker?

Mylenium

Haha, totally. God help them if they are!

I just figured I should point out that they are available, occasionally I still get files from clients encoded with Meridien and I'm sure others do as well.

[w_capozzi]

Well, I installed a codec for DVCPRO. DVCPRO50 still doesn't see the video portion of the QT file. I'm guessing if the movie were a DVCPRO50 avi then everything would be good. I thought maybe Premiere or AE would be able to read the file with those codecs installed, no luck so far. I'll try the transfer on the Mac next. Quicktime 7 pro on Mac should be able to read and export it as a different format, right?

On the positive side, DVCPRO25 is fully accessible in QT format. I can hear the audio and see the video, although it appears quite lumpy. It will be a job to do a greenscreen with it. The DVCPRO50 version is probably much cleaner.

Thanks for the info everyone,
Bill C.

[Mylenium]

Haha, totally. God help them if they are!

I just figured I should point out that they are available, occasionally I still get files from clients encoded with Meridien and I'm sure others do as well.

Well, I guess in NTSC land it's okay to use it, but it never really worked for PAL (swapped fields, crooked Alpha)...

Mylenium

[Mylenium]

Well, I installed a codec for DVCPRO. DVCPRO50 still doesn't see the video portion of the QT file. I'm guessing if the movie were a DVCPRO50 avi then everything would be good. I thought maybe Premiere or AE would be able to read the file with those codecs installed, no luck so far. I'll try the transfer on the Mac next. Quicktime 7 pro on Mac should be able to read and export it as a different format, right?

On the positive side, DVCPRO25 is fully accessible in QT format. I can hear the audio and see the video, although it appears quite lumpy. It will be a job to do a greenscreen with it. The DVCPRO50 version is probably much cleaner.

Thanks for the info everyone,
Bill C.

Yes, DVCPRO 50 is not properly implemented on Windows, unfortunately. You'd have to re-capture it using a Windows based capture device.

Mylenium

[Fede]

You can use GSpot to determine what codec is used

GSpot 2.70a

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/GSpot.htm

Hope it helps

[scrimski]

Won't work with Quicktime files.

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