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pierret18811376
Inspiring
October 11, 2026
Answered

unable to play an MP4 file

Hello,

I am unable to play an MP4 video file inside Premiere : I can hear the sound and I see that the counter is playing, but the image is freezed.

I give you the details of my source video :

 

Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 88.1 MiB
Duration                                 : 5 min 35 s
Overall bit rate                         : 2 206 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 22.093 FPS
Writing application                      : Lavf61.1.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L3.2
Format settings                          : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 3 frames
Format settings, Slice count             : 11 slices per frame
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 5 min 35 s
Source duration                          : 5 min 34 s
Bit rate                                 : 2 004 kb/s
Width                                    : 1 312 pixels
Height                                   : 734 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Variable
Frame rate                               : 22.093 FPS
Minimum frame rate                       : 10.971 FPS
Maximum frame rate                       : 33.851 FPS
Original frame rate                      : 24.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.094
Stream size                              : 80.0 MiB (91%)
Source stream size                       : 80.0 MiB (91%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 164 r3190 7ed753b

 

Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=11 / lookahead_threads=11 / sliced_threads=1 / slices=11 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc=crf / mbtree=0 / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

 

Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

    pierret18811376Correct answer
    Inspiring
    October 12, 2026

    Hello ​@Amy the Stuv 

    Here are the specifications I have :

    Adobe Premiere 26.5.2

    Windows 11 26H2

    RAM : 16 GB  3200 MT/s

    Processor : Intel (R) Core (TM) i5  - 1335 U  - 1.3 Ghz

    Graphic card : Intel Iris Xe Graphics 128 MB   version   32.0.101.7085

     

    I had this problem after going from Premiere version 25 to version 26 directly.

    About the MP4 I was trying to play : it is coming from a screen recorder (EaseUS Rec expert). The play of this file was OK in VLC and NCH VideoPad, but not in Premiere.

    I had noticed 3 other strange things :

    1. the path indicated by Premiere at the top of the Premiere window (begining by “C/user/username ...” was ending by “Documents\Adobe\Premiere Pro\25.0” (but we should end by 26.0 (instead of 25.0).
    2. I had an error message all the time (but I did not remembered the type of error as I had deleted the error message).
    3. in the import panel the folder icons at the center of the screen where not completely displayed.

    I have solved all these problems by resetting the preferences in Premiere. But sometimes I continue to have problems with the Vu-meter that is sometimes displaying anything (I see that A1 is blue, but nothing is displayed in the Vu-meter). My workaround is to deselect and reselect A1 to solve the problem.

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    4 replies

    John T Smith
    Community Expert
    John T SmithCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 12, 2026

    What happens if you change that VFR (variable frame rate) to CBR?

    You may use https://handbrake.fr/ open source transcoder/converter  to convert to Constant Frame Rate
    Handbrake tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlvxgVREX-Y&t=34s

     

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    pierret18811376Author
    Inspiring
    October 12, 2026

    ​@John T Smith 

    I had tried Handbrake by converting the MP4 from variable to constant, but it did not solved the problem. Then I have solved the problem by resetting the Premiere Preferences.

    Translate
      Amy the Stuv
      Community Manager
      Amy the StuvCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      October 12, 2026

      Hello ​@pierret18811376 

      Welcome back to the Premiere Forums. Thank you for providing the specs of the clip, but with playback issues it can really help to know the system specs too. Could you please let us know your current system information?

      • Premiere Version: Use About Premiere to find the exact version of Premiere you're using.
      • Operating System: Specify Windows or macOS, along with the version.
      • Chip (Mac Only): Specify which M-series Chip or CPU/GPU combo.
      • GPU and Driver (Windows only): Please let us know your video card and driver version. We recommend updating to the most recent version; for NVIDIA users, we strongly recommend the Studio version of the driver.

      When you say “an MP4” is it one specific MP4 file? Can you play other MP4 files from other sources? Is there anything else different about this MP4 than the others, such as the type of Camera it was filmed on?

      Thank you for posting. Hopefully we can help,

      Amy

      Translate
      pierret18811376AuthorCorrect answer
      Inspiring
      October 12, 2026

      Hello ​@Amy the Stuv 

      Here are the specifications I have :

      Adobe Premiere 26.5.2

      Windows 11 26H2

      RAM : 16 GB  3200 MT/s

      Processor : Intel (R) Core (TM) i5  - 1335 U  - 1.3 Ghz

      Graphic card : Intel Iris Xe Graphics 128 MB   version   32.0.101.7085

       

      I had this problem after going from Premiere version 25 to version 26 directly.

      About the MP4 I was trying to play : it is coming from a screen recorder (EaseUS Rec expert). The play of this file was OK in VLC and NCH VideoPad, but not in Premiere.

      I had noticed 3 other strange things :

      1. the path indicated by Premiere at the top of the Premiere window (begining by “C/user/username ...” was ending by “Documents\Adobe\Premiere Pro\25.0” (but we should end by 26.0 (instead of 25.0).
      2. I had an error message all the time (but I did not remembered the type of error as I had deleted the error message).
      3. in the import panel the folder icons at the center of the screen where not completely displayed.

      I have solved all these problems by resetting the preferences in Premiere. But sometimes I continue to have problems with the Vu-meter that is sometimes displaying anything (I see that A1 is blue, but nothing is displayed in the Vu-meter). My workaround is to deselect and reselect A1 to solve the problem.

      Translate
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