Tutorial .mp4s will not import into After Effects

[taterblot]

Hi, I've had this issue for a while: no matter how many times I download Adobe's own tutorial practice files, CC2021 refuses to import them.  This includes the ones that came with the install.  I keep getting an error that "it (the .mp4s in question) cannot be opened and that it may be in an unsupported format".

When I close out of the associated dialog boxes, I see that it is now listed in the bottom-left panel but will not play (usually I just see multi-colored bars but other times, it remains blank).

I've seen other threads that say AE can't handle .mp4 and to convert these to .mov but why would Adobe staff include .mp4 in their own tutorials if they were never going to work in the first place?  If anyone has any suggestions as to how to fix this permanently, I would appreciate it.

[Mylenium]

Nothing to do with Adobe making a mess, but rather very likely an issue on your end. Either GPU acceleration is not working or you have messed up your system's CoDecs by installing some fishy "CoDec pack", alternate media players, screen capture software or anything of that sort. Anyway, check your system's graphics driver and update it, check AE's hardware acceleration preferences, get rid of potentially interfering tools, reinstall AE to fix your CoDecs. everything else will require better information, beginning with proper system info of which so far you haven't provided none.

Mylenium

[taterblot]

Wow, your reply was unnecessarily condescending and aggressive.  I never said 'Adobe made a mess'; I said it didn't make sense that there were threads saying the solution was to convert the videos to a different format, so I concluded I must be missing something.

I actually haven't installed any codecs, alternate media players, or screen capture software.  I also updated all of my video drivers prior to making this post.  As for providing system details, I don't typically provide them prior to someone requesting further info.  I think I'll wait for someone who can interact with others respectfully, so thanks!

[Mrtn Ritter]

Are those files playing in another media player or adobe app (like premiere)?

AE is capable of working with mp4 files. However, mp4 is just a container, the issue often lies in the codec. AE does support H264 and H265. Those files are most likely H264. Get MediaInfo to get a technical look into those files.

My guess is, that those files are just corrupt. 

Get some other mp4's (H264's) to check if they import and play.

*Martin

[taterblot]

Hi Martin,

Thanks so much for your reply.

Yeah, the weird thing is that when I navigate to Assets (nested within the included practice file folders labelled 2017 and 2018) directy, I can play them in Windows Media Player and import them into Premiere Pro 2021 without any problems.

When I called Adobe Support earlier, the tech simply suggested that I re-install After Effects (for the third time), which I dutifully tried - upgraded to 2022 and I'm still getting the same error.

I do also have the same issue importing other .mp4s into After Effects; my own footage, not just the Adobe practice files.

I've never used MediaInfo before; is there anything in particular I should be on the lookout for?  RE: codecs, was I supposed to download something to *help* AE know how to read the .mp4s?

[taterblot]

P.S.  In case it isn't obvious, I'm a complete AE novice, hence my struggle to troubleshoot and frustration at not being able to utilise the tutorial files.

[Mrtn Ritter]

MediaInfo is just an meta data tool for media files. You can read all the header information which often helps a lot for quick analyse a media file:

https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

If other mp4's are failing, I can only agree to Mylenium. There is something odd with the system and we need all the technical details to point you into the right direction. It can be everything from insufficient hardware to an outdated gpu driver. Provide some of the basic computer specs as a starting point.

*Martin

[taterblot]

Okay, please let me know if this does not cover everything:

Windows 10, 64-bit (1809)

16 GB RAM

Intel Core i7

Intel HD Graphics 630

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (I triple-checked that these latter two are definitely the latest versions)

AE 2022

[Mrtn Ritter]

Looks pretty normal.

Disable internal GPU (Intel HD Graphics) in Bios. This is just a guess to eleminate a potential source of errors. 

NVidia has a game driver and a studio driver. Whatever you have installed, try the other one and check which version is supported by AE. 

Install a previous version of AE. Latest versions of Adobe software tend to be buggy as hell. 

I also suggest a clean install of the OS, to eleminate even more sources of errors. I know this is a sledgehammer solution, but it should work after that if there is not a mayor bug in AE or something broken on the hardware side. 

I hope any of those get the thing running. It's worth to wait for other replies, though.

*Martin

[Mylenium]

Most likely your hardware acceleration isn't working correctly and H.264 playback is massively relying on that. So unless you provide actual system info and details about your settings, we can't really tell you more than the standard blanket advice of checking settings, updating drivers and all that. If reinstalling AE doesn't work, consider escalating user privileges by signing in as administrator or creating a secondary user account. Anything beyond that will require proper technical details.

Mylenium