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M
Mark-West
Inspiring
January 20, 2018
Answered

Elements 11 will not allow me to import an mpg file

  • January 20, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 1391 views

I have an old pre file that worked over the course of several years with PE 11. I now need to re-export the piece I created, but for some reason it will not recognize an mpg file (created on an iPhone 4) that is part of the project. I know the file is good, because I can play it separately with variety of programs.

The error message says "This type of file is not supported, or the required codec is not installed." Between the last time this worked and now, I had serious computer problems and had to reformat C:. Although I had a backup, it's possible I lost some codecs in the process. I just re-installed the K-Lite Mega pack, but that made no difference. I'm 99% certain I had one or two additional codecs (not from K-Lite), but I cannot recall what they were.

I have Quicktime (7.7.9) installed.

I have looked at the file in question with GSpot, and it says it's an MPEG-2 and that both audio and video codecs are installed.

I've even tried opening the pre file with Premiere Pro 2018, but it says the file is damaged. It certainly does not appear to be damaged to me. When I open it in Elements I can see and play every single clip....except, of course, the MPEG-2 file.

I'm running 64-bit Windows 10 on a Dell 7910 workstation with 32 GB of RAM.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Mark-West

    Steve...

    Problem solved.

    When I reformatted my drive, I kept a backup of the C:\programs\adobe\Premiere Elements 11 folder. In all the chaos of getting this machine back on line, I forgot to reinstall PE 11. I actually was able to run it from the exe file, and the normal file association with a prel file was still working.

    It was not until I thought that perhaps a re-install might be the answer, when I went to Programs and Features. Guess what was NOT there: PE 11. That meant, I believe, that there were no registry entries to tell the program what's what. So even though it ran, it was essentially crippled.

    I simply deleted the folder, did a proper re-install followed by a re-re-install of QT, and that was it.

    Thanks for all your support in this.

    4 replies

    S
    Steve Grisetti
    Legend
    January 22, 2018

    Have you tried downloading the free trial of Premiere Elements 2018, as I suggested above, to see if the issue is confined to version 11?

    M
    Mark-WestAuthor
    Inspiring
    January 24, 2018

    Steve...

    I have not tried PE 18 yet. I have a subscription to Premiere Elements, which continues to work fine. I rarely use PE these days, but on occasion it's handy to go back and tweak an old file. But I will find some time to try 18. Will trying it leave my PE 11 unaffected?

    Peru Bob
    Community Expert
    Peru BobCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 24, 2018

    Mark-West  wrote

    I have a subscription to Premiere Elements,

    Premiere Elements is a perpetual license, not a subscription.

    S
    Steve Grisetti
    Legend
    January 21, 2018

    I wouldn't go messing with codecs, Mark. You can overwrite a good one with a bad one and then you're really in trouble.

    I see you've installed the K-Lite codec pack. That's about as far as I'd go. Even then, it can overwrite a good codec and mess you up, so I'd recommend you don't add any more.

    Windows includes a number of basic codecs. Premiere Elements and other video editors can install a few more. And Quicktime installs some other components. But, beyond that, you're playing with fire.

    Your issue isn't likely related to codecs. Download the free trial of the 2018 version of Premiere Elements and see if it can edit your file. It may be that version 11 just isn't capable of editing your clip and you'll need to work around that -- either by upgrading your program to a newer version or using Handbrake to turn the file into an MP4.

    Although be careful. Converting video files is another place where things can go wrong if you don't know exactly what you're doing -- or if you use the wrong program to do the conversion.

    M
    Mark-WestAuthor
    Inspiring
    January 21, 2018

    Steve...

    To clarify the codec situation: I added the K-Lite pack only after the problem cropped up. Then I realized I did not have Quicktime, so I added that. So...since the program and clip worked fine before I reformatted, and I added QT after K-lite, I'm thinking that any damage K-Lite might have done would have been overwritten by codecs from QT.

    As a test, I went back to another old PE file that uses the same mpg file, and it showed the same behavior.

    I'd appreciate your thoughts on how the program could have worked fine earlier but no longer does.

    Thanks once again.

    Ann Bens
    Community Expert
    Ann BensCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 21, 2018

    Never never never install a codec pack.

    To get rid of the codec K lite installed is a fresh windows install.

    In order to run the mpeg convert with Handbrake.

    If a file plays in a player does not mean it will in an editing program.

    S
    Steve Grisetti
    Legend
    January 20, 2018

    There's really nothing out of the ordinary about this file -- except that its frames are progressive rather than interlaced.

    I created an MPEG that has identical specs and I had no problems at all loading it into Premiere Elements 2018. So it could be a limitation of version 11 or it could be something I'm not seeing in the specs.

    M
    Mark-WestAuthor
    Inspiring
    January 21, 2018

    I appreciate your help with this.

    The odd thing is that this clip worked fine in PE 11 for over a year. All of a sudden, it's behaving badly. Do you think there is some codec out there that would help, or is this not that type of issue?

    S
    Steve Grisetti
    Legend
    January 20, 2018

    Open the file in the free download MediaInfo (much more thorough than G Spot). In MediaInfo, set View to Text and copy and paste the report it generates to this forum.

    This is clearly not a traditional MPEG.

    M
    Mark-WestAuthor
    Inspiring
    January 20, 2018

    Thanks for the suggestion. Here's what I got:

    General

    Complete name                            : D:\Videos\CGVP credit.mpg

    Format                                   : MPEG-PS

    File size                                : 6.46 MiB

    Duration                                 : 12 s 240 ms

    Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable

    Overall bit rate                         : 4 428 kb/s

    Video

    ID                                       : 224 (0xE0)

    Format                                   : MPEG Video

    Format version                           : Version 2

    Format profile                           : Main@High

    Format settings                          : BVOP

    Format settings, BVOP                    : Yes

    Format settings, Matrix                  : Default

    Format settings, GOP                     : M=3, N=15

    Duration                                 : 12 s 179 ms

    Bit rate mode                            : Variable

    Bit rate                                 : 3 956 kb/s

    Maximum bit rate                         : 18.5 Mb/s

    Width                                    : 1 920 pixels

    Height                                   : 1 080 pixels

    Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9

    Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS

    Standard                                 : NTSC

    Color space                              : YUV

    Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0

    Bit depth                                : 8 bits

    Scan type                                : Progressive

    Compression mode                         : Lossy

    Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.064

    Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:00;00

    Time code source                         : Group of pictures header

    GOP, Open/Closed                         : Open

    GOP, Open/Closed of first frame          : Closed

    Stream size                              : 5.74 MiB (89%)

    Color primaries                          : BT.709

    Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709

    Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

    Audio

    ID                                       : 192 (0xC0)

    Format                                   : MPEG Audio

    Format version                           : Version 1

    Format profile                           : Layer 2

    Duration                                 : 12 s 240 ms

    Bit rate mode                            : Constant

    Bit rate                                 : 384 kb/s

    Channel(s)                               : 2 channels

    Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz

    Frame rate                               : 41.667 FPS (1152 SPF)

    Compression mode                         : Lossy

    Stream size                              : 574 KiB (9%)

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