Problem Saving AVI

[mcp6453]

I have read and followed almost all of the recommendations at Papa
John's wonderful site. However, I am having some problems saving a movie
as an AVI.

Since I can save a 45 minute video downloaded from my DV camera, the
problem is not memory or unregistered DLLs. The movie I'm trying to save
is 14 minutes.

All of the source files are present and accounted for. They were all
moved into a single folder and then copied to several computers for
testing. All computers exhibit the same problem.

If I delete everything but a single AVI file and a title, the movie will
not save. If I delete the AVI source file, the title will save as an AVI
movie.

The present movie, as edited, saves has a High Quality NTSC with no
problem. The movie plays perfectly in WMM. The only problem is that it
will not save as an AVI.

Is it possible that there is something unusual about the encoding of the
(uncompressed) AVI file? I'm presently using AVS File Converter to
convert from AVI to AVI, thinking that something is not up to spec.
Before I waste any MORE hours chasing the problem, I thought I would ask
here.

Assuming that I do not get this problem solved, what is the next best
format to AVI? NTSC High Quality WMV? The ultimate destination is a DVD.
The movie is my daughter's school project, so there is a hard deadline.

Thanks!

 

[mcp6453]

I have read and followed almost all of the recommendations at Papa
John's wonderful site. However, I am having some problems saving a movie
as an AVI.

Since I can save a 45 minute video downloaded from my DV camera, the
problem is not memory or unregistered DLLs. The movie I'm trying to save
is 14 minutes.

All of the source files are present and accounted for. They were all
moved into a single folder and then copied to several computers for
testing. All computers exhibit the same problem.

If I delete everything but a single AVI file and a title, the movie will
not save. If I delete the AVI source file, the title will save as an AVI
movie.

The present movie, as edited, saves has a High Quality NTSC with no
problem. The movie plays perfectly in WMM. The only problem is that it
will not save as an AVI.

Is it possible that there is something unusual about the encoding of the
(uncompressed) AVI file? I'm presently using AVS File Converter to
convert from AVI to AVI, thinking that something is not up to spec.
Before I waste any MORE hours chasing the problem, I thought I would ask
here.

Assuming that I do not get this problem solved, what is the next best
format to AVI? NTSC High Quality WMV? The ultimate destination is a DVD.
The movie is my daughter's school project, so there is a hard deadline.

Thanks!

Recall that if I delete all of the content from the movie except for a
single AVI segment, the movie will not save as an AVI. For testing, I
just loaded the source AVI file, and it will save as an AVI movie with
no problem, so the issue is not an incompatible AVI file. There is
something wrong with the movie as it exists in WMM. Since all of the
audio, transitions, titles, narration, and video (except for a single
segment) have been deleted, I do not know where else to look for a
solution. If the source AVI file were corrupt or the wrong format, it
wold not load by itself into WMM and save.

 

[Mac]

Not sure ...but...

You could try saving the AVI as a HQ WMV and then reimport it to the movie
sequence before saving as AVI again...

Mac

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Maybe the project file has a corruption... try rendering a new project file
with a couple clips from the same source file to a DV-AVI movie

 

[mcp6453]

Maybe the project file has a corruption... try rendering a new project file
with a couple clips from the same source file to a DV-AVI movie

I think you are correct. What is the best way to create a new project
file without starting the project over from scratch? Is there a way to
transfer the work to a new project file?

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Yes, you can copy/paste the clips from the project into a new one...

Open the problem project... use the timeline view... select any of the video
clips on it... then do Control-A keys to select them all at once > then
Control-C to copy them to the clipboard

Start a new project > File > Project > New.... go to the timeline view,
click on the video track > use Control-V keys to paste the clips from the
clipboard into it.... save the project to a new name.

Re-open the problem project and do the same for the audio and title overlay
tracks... and you'll have everything in the new project file, hopefully
without the corruption.

 

[mcp6453]

Yes, you can copy/paste the clips from the project into a new one...

Open the problem project... use the timeline view... select any of the video
clips on it... then do Control-A keys to select them all at once > then
Control-C to copy them to the clipboard

Start a new project > File > Project > New.... go to the timeline view,
click on the video track > use Control-V keys to paste the clips from the
clipboard into it.... save the project to a new name.

Re-open the problem project and do the same for the audio and title overlay
tracks... and you'll have everything in the new project file, hopefully
without the corruption.

Awesome. I'll try that. I went back to an earlier project file, and
everything works fine. This technique should help save the work she did
last night. Thanks.
--

 

[mcp6453]

Yes, you can copy/paste the clips from the project into a new one...

Open the problem project... use the timeline view... select any of the video
clips on it... then do Control-A keys to select them all at once > then
Control-C to copy them to the clipboard

Start a new project > File > Project > New.... go to the timeline view,
click on the video track > use Control-V keys to paste the clips from the
clipboard into it.... save the project to a new name.

Re-open the problem project and do the same for the audio and title overlay
tracks... and you'll have everything in the new project file, hopefully
without the corruption.

Copying everything into a new profile allowed the movie to start saving
as an AVI file. However, the error came back somewhere between 5% and
100% saved. The computer is 512 Meg memory, so maybe there is a memory
problem, even though the Commit Charge in Task Manager showed that the
Peak never go close to the Limit.

My daughter is putting the finishing touches on the project to turn in
at school tomorrow, so I hope that 1) I can save it as a WMV and convert
it to MPEG-2 for DVD playback without too much loss of quality, and/or
2) I can save it as an AVI on the other computer that has more memory
and just saved an earlier version as an AVI.

WMM is neat, but there is no way that I can put up with these kinds of
problems. I was here posting problems the LAST time she tried to use WMM
for a school project.

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

if it's a memory issue, upping your virtual memory setting might get you
over the hurdle... the Problem Solving > Can's Save a Movie page of my site
has info.

 

[JohnO]

WMM is neat, but there is no way that I can put up with these kinds of

problems. I was here posting problems the LAST time she tried to use WMM
for a school project.

I'm in the exact same boat. My kid got a one-day reprieve. And the kids with
Macs are laughing at us. <vbg>

-John O

 

[mcp6453]

I'm in the exact same boat. My kid got a one-day reprieve. And the kids with
Macs are laughing at us. <vbg>

It's strange that you should mention Macs. If she is committed to
learning video production, I'm probably going to get her a Mac...and
THAT'S a big concession on my part.

 

[mcp6453]

if it's a memory issue, upping your virtual memory setting might get you
over the hurdle... the Problem Solving > Can's Save a Movie page of my site
has info.

To wrap up this thread, copying the contents of the project into a new
project solved the missing file problem, but I was unable to save the
movie file past about 40%. A new stick of 1GB of memory solved that
problem. She left for school this morning with DVD in hand. Thanks for
the assistance.

We're now looking for recommendations for a commercial, supported
editing package. What should we consider, beyond Adobe Premiere (if that?)

 

[JohnO]

It's strange that you should mention Macs. If she is committed to learning
video production, I'm probably going to get her a Mac...and THAT'S a big
concession on my part.

Apparently Macs are great for the type of stuff you and I are doing right
now. But at the next level, apps like Adobe Premiere run on both, as do all
the other important tools, and you can build up a supercharged Win box
easier/cheaper than a supercharged G5. The next generation of G5s (w/ Intel
CPUs) will run both OSX and Win XP, so maybe that's an option too.

Have fun with that, either way.

-John O

 

[JohnO]

We're now looking for recommendations for a commercial, supported editing
package. What should we consider, beyond Adobe Premiere (if that?)

Check out the Adobe forums for Premiere, both Windows and Mac. If they are
anything like the other Adobe forums I visit regularly, there will be a lot
of people who can give good advice. Also, expect the Mac forum to be
arrogant about OSX and the Windows forum to be much more open-minded. Big
surprise, eh? ;-)

-John O