.ogv and .webm files can't be imported into Ae, Pr or Media Encoder?

[BartonGarrett256]

The shareware VLC can play these small video files, and it does so like cutting butter with a hot knife.  I downloaded them from Wikimedia Commons, they are news clips from the 1950s. Nothing ripped, noting pirated.  Strictly legit.  This is not rocket science.  But the very expensive Adobe subscription I pay for, both faithfully and dearly, every month without fail, is confounded.  When I try to import the files are not visible, switching to All File Types I get a message saying not supported.  In Media Encoder I get an error saying not supported.

I poked around the forum and could only find suggestions that were much more work than I want to do, as I bill by the hour and work on deadline.  What gives Adobe?  How can you choke on such a simple task???

[Dave_LaRonde]

Because those files you have are in no way even CLOSE to being what professional applications expect to use!  They're final use files!

You want to use 'em anyway?  Transcode 'em.  And deal with the crummy quality.

[BartonGarrett256]

Thanks for the reply.   I guess that is one way to look at it.  My clients would toss me out on my ear if I demanded high quality input material from archives, in this case I suspect very little HD content was being produced in the 1950s outside of film. It is what it is. 

We do not all work in film or TV.  I do most of my work for corporations who make and sell things.  They use video to market to, connect and educate customers.  Something like 80% of web traffic is projected to be video in the next few years, and most of that video will be consumed on screens about the size of a playing card.  I am pretty sure this stuff will work just fine, and there is a trick or two to make it good enough, but I will tell them we won't be up for an Oscar, again.

I put it through Handbrake.

As far as feature requests to Adobe, I used to be a product manager way back when the internet was just getting started.  We would spend thousand of dollars to get engineers to conferences to meet customers, to feel their pain.  If Adobe engineers are not reading their own forums they are beyond lazy and there is no hope.

[Rick Gerard]

No matter what archival format you are given the only professional approach is to transcode it into a suitable production format before you use it in production. If you are a really good guy you'll provide the production format transcode to your client for their archives because a digital file stored 15 years ago that you can manage to transcode and use today may be impossible to use a year from now.

On the distribution end, if you have a client that thinks they want some odd format for distribution then you need to educate them. You should also have options in your contracts to provide an archival copy of the work for an extra fee so they won't get stuck with an MP4 they absolutely love but can't play or use in 2025. That's your job as a service provider.

[Alucard772]

Sure, they are in no way standard NOW. However, the .webm format has grown immensely since it's inception and has extremely useful application in the web-dev world. Sure, the quality is not great by standard productions means, however, in the world of web-dev the quality to compression ratio is quite impressive. It is open source (so it cannot be hindered by legalities as so many codecs have, ie Apple ProRes, VP8, etc..) and has become the standard format for HTML 5 using the HEVC/h.265 codec. HEVC offers about double the data compression ratio at the same level of video quality, or substantially improved video quality at the same bit rate. It supports resolutions up to 8192×4320, including 8K UHD. This will end up being on deliverable spec sheets in the very near future.

[DugleyDoright]

Don't be so rude and disrespectful. Someone needs to call you out...especially when you have no clue to how this guy is using webM.  I dare say you couldn't tell the difference watching a webM video vs mp4. I can easily see how webM would be a great format for interactive digital content created with InDesign for digital brochures, catalogues, etc. To prove my point, I just converted a 27mb mp4 video to webM (10mb) and the quality is outstanding. Certainly the best way to go for interactive content for mobile devices.  You should open your mind to newer technology.

[t_pauli]

oh, the oldschoolers are super rude, sometimes -- specially when it's about new things. but you get used to it. still, it is important to point it out to them. thanks for doing it in a respectful way.

[t_pauli]

Also, would you devote your time (as in money) to "transcode to a production format" something that your client is probably not willing to pay an extra, since he has hired you to deliver the final product only, so you can be the good guy? If they're paying that utopic extra free, of course I would, no doubt. But as the market-for-the-right-now demands - as most clients also do - there's no extra fee, there's no 'I'm gonna need to play this 15 years from now'. Most of these things are, like said before, web based. So I rather be the Nice Guy who downloads the client provided .webm and do my job in a professional way, delivering high quality work, in the format the client expected - and paid for it.

[John25973571dz6x]

"professional applications"

professional applications don't use webm? That is a mindblowingly bad and narrow perspective.

There are many"professional applications" out there that need a video playable on the web that has an alpha channel. There are not a lot of options out there for vids with alpha channels that are playable on the web, webm is one of the few.

[thatsmauri · Accepted solution]

BartonGarrett256,

try these free, open-source plugins: fnord software blog: WebM and Theora plug-ins for Premiere (beta)

You may also want to use the Feature Request form to let Adobe know: Feature Request/Bug Report Form

Kind Regards,
Maurice

[Rommel.V.]

Hi BartonGarrett256 I totally agree with you!, there is adobe encoder.. And it doesn't deal with this .webm but luckily  there is the (VLC FREE SOURCE) software which is a miracle and for FREE, so open the .webm inside VLC and click on Convert/Save inside the menu (Media) then choose where to save your new .mp4 file for example and click play it will play the video while converting it at the same time and voila!! then you can delete the .webm and import the .mp4 to your video project inside adobe. (you can also choose other formats than .mp4) check it out and good luck!