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Mp3 import
All these years I have been importing mp3 files with no problem.
Today I noticed that I get an error message saying ” AE error, an unspecified avi or directshow error ocurred ”Could someone tell me how this can be resolved?
Thanks a lot. -
16 Replies
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Don’t import MP3s. Use Quicktime to export the MP3 as AIFF or WAV, then import that into AE.
Steve
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Thank you for the reply, Steve.
I was able to import, but only after opening the mp3 in quicktime and saving that as .mov.
Are you saying that I need to import the mp3 in quickime to save it to .wav or .aif then import in AE?
My main concern is why suddenly I cannot import the mp3 directly (I won’t anymore after your advice.) because when occasionally getting error messages bothers me a bit. I’ve been enjoying errorfree AE for a while.
Thanks again.
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One more question, Steve.
Since mp3 is compressed, when exporting to .wav, does it decompress?
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It’s a jargon thing: Anything that is compressed has to decompress for us to hear it, or for another app to do anything with it.
However, since MP3 is a lossy compressor, when the file is decompressed, the loss remains. In other words, it cannot be returned to its original quality.
So when exporting to WAV, its quality does not improve.
So if we get audio from the recording studio, there’s no way we’d ask for MP3s. The quality loss is irreversible.
HTH
Steve -
[Y.D.] “Are you saying that I need to import the mp3 in quickime to save it to .wav or .aif then import in AE?”
Yep. Just search the COW on “MP3” and you’ll see the same advice expressed many times. 🙂
I’m not sure why you’ve been able to import MP3s directly in the past. Hmph.
Steve
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I’ve always been able to import mp3’s directly, just checked on the mac here at work and it still works. They always have a crackle and pop to them that results in Steve’s workaround but it’s nice when you just want to try a couple of tracks to find what you really want to use.
I don’t think it makes any difference whether you go to .wav, .aiff or .mov as long as it’s uncompressed audio.
It sounds like there was something fishy about your original source file, maybe it wasn’t really an mp3 but with an mp3 extension or something like that, Quicktime is usually better at sorting out discrepancies like that than after effects.
Glenn Stewart
1k studios -
As glennser mentioned, I’ve been able to import mp3’s directly. My question was basic as far as its intent is concerned (no error before and error now thing).
I realize that mp3’s cannot go back to the wave quality much like jpg can’t go back to psd or targa. I just hope that my question did not convey lack of my knowledge in file formats.
Thanks for your input, glennser. You said the mp3’s might not be genuine, but I tried dozen other mp3’s and they all resulted in same error. By the way, I am on a PC.
The basic question was more of a technical one regarding the error message.
I appreciate the feedback and the advice. -
I just tried a couple of mp3’s on my PC to see if I got any error but they came in fine, either your system is acting up or there really is something odd with the mp3’s in question (I’m really hoping that it’s not as a result of an update that’s run on your machine and not mine, usually they’re the things that mess stuff up the most).
If you figure it out let me know,
Glenn Stewart
1k Studios -
Hi Glenn,
I normally do not get errors when working in AE. I haven’t had to import mp3’s for close to a year or so.
The only thing I’m suspecting is that it could be the codec change from unified codec pack to k-lite codec pack. The reason for this change has to do with FlaskMpeg(vob to avi converter) that would only work with k-lite codec for some silly reason.
I guess I could reinstall the unified codec pack see if the problem goes away. Otherwise, I just have to live with saving the mp3s to mov or wav.
Best.
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[Y.D.] “I realize that mp3’s cannot go back to the wave quality much like jpg can’t go back to psd or targa. I just hope that my question did not convey lack of my knowledge in file formats.”
Sorry if I underestimated you, but you’ve seen the kind of questions we often get on the COW. 🙂
I guess my point in this case is this: it’s not good practice to import compressed media, particularly MP3s, MPEG-2s and Sorenson-compressed Quicktimes into After Effects. Sometimes you can get away with it in the case of JPEGs, but in the other cases, the result could be crashes, errors, or at best, recompression artifacts.
Steve
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