Vegas 10: No video files show in Import

[John Rofrano]

[Nick Bucker] “When I select all files types form the drop-down menu and open a file , it’s giving me an error “file format not supported””

Do you have any codec paks installed on your PC? These can mess up Vegas’ ability to read files correctly.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Nick Bucker]

I uninstalled vegas, restarted the computer and reinstalled vegas again, that seemed to solve the problem.

However, I do have K-lite and Media Player codec packs installed. Should I uninstall them?

Thanks.

[John Rofrano]

[Nick Bucker] “However, I do have K-lite and Media Player codec packs installed. Should I uninstall them? “

Yes, I would and once you uninstall them, uninstall and re-install Vegas to re-establish the Vegas codecs. You never want to install a codec-pak on a PC to be used for video editing. If you need a codec, just download and install the one codec that you need.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Nick Bucker]

Thanks John. I’ll do a clean install of OS and video software.

While on the subject of codecs, how do you manage your codecs?

I mean:

how do you make your system to use one codec over another when playing or editing a certain video format?

and how can I know what formats of video a codec can play/edit?

I come from audio production. This codec thing in video looks very messy to me. I’d like get a grab of the fundamentals of their working.

Thanks.

[John Rofrano]

[Nick Bucker] “how do you make your system to use one codec over another when playing or editing a certain video format? “

You don’t. This is why codec-paks mess up your system. You can only have one codec registered for each video type and the last one to register wins. This is why I said to re-install Vegas after removing the codecs-paks. This makes Vegas the last one to register it’s codecs. There are utilities like ffdshow that allow you to switch codecs but I stay away from it.

[Nick Bucker] “and how can I know what formats of video a codec can play/edit? “

Usually I don’t worry about codecs until a file won’t play. Then I use a free utility called GSspot that looks inside the video file and tells me which codec it uses and if the codec is installed on my system. Then I go to the web site of the manufacturer of that codec and download it if I need it. This way I only have the codecs that I need installed.

[Nick Bucker] “I come from audio production. This codec thing in video looks very messy to me. I’d like get a grab of the fundamentals of their working.”

Each video container has a different way of telling programs what codec the video uses. For example, the Video for Windows AVI container has a code called a FOURCC. This 4 digit code at the beginning of the AVI file tells the program that opened it which codec it needs. Then the program uses the codec that is registered to that FOURCC to play the file. You can control what the codec is used by changing the codec that is registered to handle that FOURCC.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Nick Bucker]

Thanks John. That’s a good start for me.