Mp4 files suddenly turned black in Adobe After Effects CC 2018

[thevisualianick]

Hi!

I opened up AE today to do some quick editing in a project I've been working on for the past month or so. I am currently at the point where I've exported most of my work to mp4s with AME to allow me to juggle the clips around without having to load all the FXs every single time- so my project is basically just mp4-clips with light FXs added.

Then, today, when I added the clip I wanted to work with, it had suddenly stopped working. AE doesn't preview the clip in the top left corner, and it only shows black in the previewer. In the composition, it also looks like it hasn't loaded any video at all, only audio.

I have tried opening old projects, with mp4 files that used to work, only to discover that these clips also now only show black screens - identical to the one in the picture below. I also tried emptying disc cache and database, and I tried updating AE after I saw there was an update available- none of this helped with the issue. I also updated my graphics card driver to the latest one.

Other stuff shows up just fine in the previewer, like Trapcode Mir, for example.

I do see that I could transcode the clips to a format that would work, as I'm fairly certain it's an mp4-issue, but that would be a lot of clips to transcode, and I would very much like to keep using the mp4s I render from AME.

Anyone got any ideas?

Best regards

Jahn C Gran

[P.M.B]

Do the mp4s work in other applications?  Media players?

[thevisualianick]

Yes, they play fine in VLC. They all worked in After Effects also up until today.

[P.M.B]

thevisualianick  wrote

They all worked in After Effects also up until today.

If you've made no changes plugins/scripts/updates to AE then it makes no sense.

The mp4s are not corrupted because they work elsewhere.

You have no visibility checkbox in AE which means AE is not recognizing that there is any visual information in the file.

But why/how could after effects suddenly change so drastically all on it's own?

Maybe your preferences file has become corrupted?

Have you installed/uninstalled/updated anything?

This maybe a case for one of Adobes' remote taker-overers

[thevisualianick]

Maybe your preferences file has become corrupted? - I have yet to refresh preferences, as I have not researched what "damage" that may do - I have three "high stakes" projects going, but would you give refreshing this a go?

Have you installed/uninstalled/updated anything? - the only thing I can think of is that I accidentally deleted my "Public" folder (for Windows) on my C disk. I just tried opening Premiere Pro and it gives me an error message reading: "Could not find the shared documents directory". Maybe this has something to do with the sudden blackout for mp4-clips?

I've been trying to find a solution to fix the Public folders deal for a couple of days without any luck.

[P.M.B]

thevisualianick  wrote

I accidentally deleted my "Public" folder (for Windows) on my C disk. I just tried opening Premiere Pro and it gives me an error message reading: "Could not find the shared documents directory".

Yah, that's probably not good.  I guess asking if it might still be in trash would a dumb question.

My super sleuth Spidey senses are nagging me though.....If you didn't notice doing it when you did it...which would have let you simply restore it...how did you become aware that you deleted it?

Because obviously you emptied your trash BEFORE you realized you deleted it.

Which makes me wonder if you have deleted other important folders and not noticed?

There is a sub folder in that directory for installed codecs so that could be something.  However mine is empty so maybe not.

But then Premier is throwing you an error that seems to be related to it, so.

It is an odd problem.

[thevisualianick · Accepted solution]

It was, in fact, not good.

What happened was that I deleted it, and then emptied the recycling bin about 10 minutes later. Not immediate problems ensued, because the errors it would cause were somewhat hidden - like AE suddenly not playing mp4s, and Premiere Pro not opening. I did not delete any other important folders, though. I just really did not know - until now - that the Public folder contains a lot of important information that several apps use to communicate.

I did solve the problem yesterday! I run Windows 10, so I ran a repair install of windows by downloading the latest .iso file for Windows from the Microsoft website.

Last ned Windows 10  (it might pop up in Norwegian - it just says "Download Windows 10".

Just download the media creation tool and create an .iso file. Run it, and keep personal data and files. It will install the latest Windows 10 over your current one, while keeping all data (including app information) intact. That reinstated the Public folder with all information needed.

Now AE plays the mp4-files again, without issue, and Premiere Pro is opening up without an error message!

Thanks for the help, people. Much appreciated.

[Byron Cortez]

Hi

Select the .mp4 file and show us the info like the screenshot please.

[thevisualianick]

Here's a screenshot of the clip info.

[Dave_LaRonde]

AE can't see that clip AT ALL.  Notice that the eyeball icon is missing on the clip in the timeline.

I'd use something like Handbrake to transcode it.  Sure, it'll result in a huge file size, but what's preferable -- a big file that's visible, or a small file that's invisible?

[thevisualianick]

Thanks! I do get that there's an option to transcode all the mp4s, but the question remains: why? Why is AE suddenly not playing ball with mp4s (specific mp4s) that it recognized and played perfectly last week?

[Dave_LaRonde]

thevisualianick  wrote

Why is AE suddenly not playing ball with mp4s (specific mp4s) that it recognized and played perfectly last week?

Sorry, no clue.  But it happens to a lot of people running CC 2018 -- one day, things are fine.... next day, a train wreck.

Personally, I'm running the final update to CC 2017, and grateful for it.  No big problems.  I like to let OTHER people find the bugs -- if they want all the new shiny, sparkly features that's their choice.  I like stuff that works.

[thevisualianick]

Sure, Dave! I'm sure there are some issues with CC 2018, but this time, that wasn't the problem. The problem was me being somewhat ignorant with deleting my Public folder (I'm on a Windows OS).

[Byron Cortez]

I do not see any code in the information of your video file as in my screenshot so it tells me something is wrong, I think it is best to transcode a video and make sure it is compatible because some codecs left to work with the latest update of AE. Your MP4 should use the H.264 codec that is in the list of compatible but can not see it in your information panel. It also occurs to me to do a test by downloading the 2017 version.

[thevisualianick]

It is H.264, yes, encoded that way from AME. I'll try some other codec to ensure it can preview that.