Using AVI files in FCP

I started editing a documentary one year ago. It was shot on DVcam in PAL. Some of the footage was supplied to me on DVD rom as .avi files. I was able to edit the avi files in FCP. I can't exactly remember, but I may have installed a plug-in of some sort to do this.

A couple weeks ago I had a huge system crash and reinstalled the OS and upgraded to FCP 6. Now when I try to reconnect the media, it won't. And when I try to open the avi file in QT I get a error "the movie could not be opened. Mac OS error 1368"

Can anyone point help me figure out what I can do to get the avi's working again.

thanks

> I was able to edit the avi files in FCP. I can't exactly remember, but I may have installed a plug-
> in of some sort to do this.

FCP can work with the AVI format. Just not well. You'll likely get beachballing, hangups, more frequent crashes, and possibly corruptions.

AVI is just the wrapper. What is the codec?


www.derekmok.com

Mind you, I accidentally imported a WMV into FCP 6 yesterday and threw it on a 16:9 timeline, scaled it, sped it up, rendered and it played through without a hiccup. I would never have recommended that, and yet it worked. I think as the gear is getting faster and smarter, these kind of bumps are going to start to happen less and less.

I'm pretty sure the avi files are DV Pal.

They will not open in quick time, they did before.

Is there a plugin that will allow them to play?

Have you got a very small one you could send to me (or someone) to see if it can be played elsewhere? If someone else can open it, they can tell you what it is. Also, it will tell you if the clip itself is corrupt, or it's your system.

Post it somewhere and give us a path.

Koz

I am uploading the smallest file (64MB)

It will take a few minutes to complete (should be up by 4:30 eastern time)

ibackup.com

username: lafcpug
pass: lafcpug1

Actually, I am seeing this problem a bit on the web, and it's just happened to me too. All AVI's play as white screen only. If I transfer the AVI to my laptop, it plays fine and can be exported as a .mov for use in FCP.

Cracking the AVI open in mpegstreamclip - very odd - the colours are inverted. My test pieces are animations of ocean currents, depth rated by heat, so they should be shades of green and blue, but they are shades of purple and yellow.

Pretty sure it's an upgrade bug of some form. I'll be working on it today.

BTW Terry, you didn't give an address for download.

Still no joy, but to add to the pertinent factors, a couple of .avis - all cinepac ones - will play. No others will so far.

thanks for the help

BTW clip is located at

www.ibackup.com
user: lafcpug
pass: lafcpug1


I tried opening the clips in MPEG Streamclip, some of them worked others didn't.

I ended up converting all the files using ffmpegx , I downloaded it, and I think it is shareware. I originally used it to make flashvideos. But it came in very handy converting these .avi's to .dv's. I could even batch all of them and walk away.

Once the .avi's were converted to .dv and reconnected in FCP everything worked perfectly, just like before.

Terry

I only saw one file there. Downloaded and played fine in my QuickTime Player 7.2, shows up as DV PAL, 720x576. MPEG Streamclip 1.9b3 opens the clip here just fine as well.


www.derekmok.com

Thanks for the help everyone.

Derek, I don't know why the original clips will not play on my computer, and play on yours. I guess I might never find the answer, but I have worked around it and thing are working fine for me. And I hope they will continue to.

This is one of the hazards of a project taking longer than a year to complete and having a major system crash and up-grade .

cheers