No MPEG preview or playback in Bridge CS5

[rickg1949]

After doing a clean install of CS5, everything seems to work well except for Bridge.

HDV mpeg clips will not display a visual thumbnail

or playback in preview window of Bridge.  When double-click

ing icon, I get an error "Windows

cannot find '%ProgramFiles(x86

)%Windows Media Player

\wmplayer.exe'.

When I double-click an AVI file, Bridge finds and uses Windows Media Player just fine.

Need MPEG preview badly!!!!

MPEG clips are working fine in Premiere Pro CS5 and AME rendering is awesome!!!

Thanks, rg

[rickg1949]

TT,

Thanks for your news.  I still can't get mpeg playback inside Bridge for HDV .mpeg clips which were captured in either Premiere CS4 or CS5 on my Win7 laptop workstation.  Did the 3rd party CODEC thing on my main workstation (Vista64bit) and got clips to play in Bridge but I am nervous.  Today when logging and loading in Premiere I had no video on the desktop for the first time ever.

Used monitor to view clips and they loaded but each one produced an error message saying that  "The file is busy, and unable to be updated."  That seems to be new and the saving and process seemed to be about 4 times longer after each clip was captured.

Anyone have any thoughts?  Would love to purge those 3rd party CODECs.

rg

[Todd_Kopriva]

In a recent thread on the Premiere Pro user-to-user forum, a user's problem was traced back to an installation of K-Lite, and it was indicated that installation of K-Lite was recommended on this thread.

So, here I am to make this clear:

The K-Lite codec pack severely impairs the functioning of many video applications, including Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Adobe Media Encoder.

Note the warning on the K-Lite download here:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/codec-packs

"Warning! If you install all the included codecs/decoders you might get problem with other video software on your computer."

Heed that warning.

[Jon-M-Spear]

Hi Todd.

Warning heeded.  I removed K-lite some time ago as I was unhappy with 3rd party codecs...

But rather than telling us what we shouldn't do, does Adobe have any advice on what we should do?  I remain unable to preview mpeg files (Z1 HDV) in Bridge on both my main editing PC and my laptop.

[rickg1949]

Same here, no HDV preview in CS5,  worked like a charm

in CS3 and CS4, plug n played.

rg

[Guest]

The problem I was having was with .m2ts files which is a Sony AVCHD wrapper for HD mpeg files. I would double click on the thumbnail in Bridge and get the same error message you reported. If I go into Bridge preferences and point to the Windows Media Player in it's default location, I get the same error. But, if I point to the copy of media player that I moved to a new location, a media player window pops up and plays the file. I have no clue as to why this worked for me, but it did. Navigate to C:\Users\Your user name\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Bridge CS5 and find a file named Adobe Bridge Opener Preferences.xml. Open it in Notepad and look for a line that looks something like this:

<item description="$$

$/Bridge/OpenersXML/Description/MPEGMedia=MPEG Media" extensions="mpeg mpg m2ts" app_name="OS" app_path="D:\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe">. (They're in alphabetical order by description.) The app_path here is the location where I placed an exact copy of the Windows Media Player folder that is located in C:\Program Files (x86). The m2ts, I added myself.

As far as the CODEC Pack goes, I assume that there's no entry in Control Panel->Programs and Features (Win7) or Add/Remove Programs on earlier releases. If that's the case, you'll need to restore from a backup that's as close as possible to right before you installed the pack. Make sure you backup any files that you want to keep that you've produced or saved since then. If no backup is available, you may need to reinstall the system and CS5.

[Guest]

I found this thread at Major Geeks that may be helpful http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=148496

[rickg1949]

Well, I have totally clean system now after 18 hours of cleansing.  Problem is I'm back to square one with the "no MPEG previewing in either Bridge or even Windows Media Player.  Premiere seems back to normal, all video (HDV) displayed while logging.

Can anyone from Adobe HQ offer any help on getting HDV footage, captured using Premiere to play in Bridge??????  Please??

Come on, this is amazing to have to put up with after my annual $1,000 pledge to the Adobe Mother Church.  I am such an advocate of the product line but this is like driving the Indy 500 with a front wheel locked up.

(also posted in Premiere Forum.)

Thanks to Adobe in advance.  rg

[Guest]

Have you checked your file associations settings for mpeg files? In Windows 7, go to Control Panel->Programs->Default Programs->Set Associations. I don't have a Vista machine handy, but it shouldn't be too hard to find. Scroll down to the file extension you're having a problem with and make sure current default is set to Windows Media Player. Aside from that, I'm pretty much out of suggestions.

[Jon-M-Spear]

Nope TTweite, no amount of associating files in either Windows 7 or Bridge will make Mpegs play in the preview panel.

Both my laptop and my main PC have had Windows 7 and Adobe Production Bundle CS5 reinstalled at least one, so whatever is causing the problem is neither random nor inconsistent.

Come on Adobe!

[Guest]

This is a novice question to you but "why do you need to play video files

in Bridge"?

[rickg1949]

Adobe2418,

  To me, Bridge is my media manager tool and a wonderful part of my workflow.  I have several TB's of stock video, still, and graphics that I work with over and over again for various clients.  Bridge allows me to go into a RAID and find "that old shot we used on such-and-such a spot" and bring it into a new project quickly.  I worked that way in CS3 and CS4 for years and clients loved it.  AVID has that kind of clip preview function in there basic system if I remember right.  Being a visual person, it's so quick to "paint" a new video by looking at clips then trying to remember names.  Making Bridge play its role to me is why I've loved having "suite" software.

Still a devoted user (albeit: tested),

Rick

[Guest]

Rick,

Thanks for your explanation. My video projects and still work are pretty

much separate entities; your work seems to be more multimedia.

Very interesting. I hope you get the issue resolved.

CC

[rickg1949]

While trying to solve my problem I noticed that Windows Media Player does not have MainConcept (Adobe2) listed as one of the installed video codecs.  That always was included in CS3 and 4 wan't it?  I see it as an encoding option using AME but not on the list for Win Media Player in either my Win7 laptop or Vista64bit edit station.

I have to think that the disconnect between Win Media Player and CS5 Bridge is where my problem lies.  How can WE patch it????

rg

[Todd_Kopriva]

FWIW, I'm currently trying to find a resolution to this issue. My normal job is technical support for Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Adobe Media Encoder, but I thought that I should try to help out on this Bridge issue---if only because it may keep more people from installing damaging third-party codec packs that make my life h*** when trying to support those video applications.

[xzhao]

Bridge Dev is investigating on this issue. We will try to find out a possible workaround so that it will not break your workflow.

- Xiaofeng

[Ann Bens]

This is good news, this has been a pita for me ever since CS4, although it did work at the beginning.

The Bridge is also part of my workflow.

As a workaround i use Cineform avi's which play just fine.

[Guest]

Thanks, Todd!

I'm subscribed to this thread and will be interested to see how it turns out.

[rickg1949]

I wonder if I am still the only one who misses this feature in Bridge?  I spent a couple hours on the phone with Adobe Tech support with no positive results.

Today, Apple issued a Quicktime update, I got all excited, installed it (maybe the missing 64bit CODEC was an early holiday present), but no playback of HDV files in Quicktime or Bridge on the Win7 machine! 

Am I alone?  I have a break in editing for a few days so I might uninstall/reinstall Master Suite yet one more time.  And do the same for Quicktime (the only suggestion made by Adobe Tech support.

If I knew Marty McFly I'd have him drive me back to my days in CS4 and stay there.  rg

[sittinghair]

I am also having this problem. Clean install on brand new PC.

Windows 7 Ultimate - 64bit

The .mpg thumbnails display correctly in the 'Content' panel. However the 'Preview' panel simply displays the MPEG icon and preview is not available.

Double clicking the thumbnail in 'Content' correctly opens the selected .mpg in my video player... So looks like that is how I will be previewing my videos.

I have tried the File Association > Cache Purge tip mentioned earlier... no difference.

Extremely frustrating as 90% of all my video files are in .mpg format.

[Jon-M-Spear]

It clearly is a bug and, as of last month, it looks as though Adobe has finally recognised the issue.  Thanks, Todd.  Let's hope to see the fruits of your labour soon!

[rickg1949]

J-MS,

Hope you're right!  I have been corresponding with the Adobe Support Portal.  They have had me try the same solutions over again without any success.  Even asked me to run the "Content Disk" in the installation package but the only thing on that disk are the PDF's in every language, no CODECs or player programs of course.

Misery loves company, sorry you guys are in the same boat and just hope we find a solution soon without going outside the Adobe box (that was not a good experience.)  rg

[Todd_Kopriva]

> Hope you're right!  I have been corresponding with the Adobe Support Portal.  They have had me try the same solutions over again without any success.  Even asked me to run the "Content Disk" in the installation package but the only thing on that disk are the PDF's in every language, no CODECs or player programs of course.

Please email me the case number for this conversation (to kopriva -at- adobe -dot- com).

The support agents shouldn't be sending you around in circles like this.

Here's what's going on:

Previous versions of After Effects and Premiere Pro installed both DLLs and ActiveX controls for codecs licensed from a third party. After Effects CS5 and Premiere Pro CS5 only install the DLLs, because we don't need the ActiveX controls, and they were just causing problems. Unknown to us, Bridge was relying on those ActiveX controls being installed. So, Bridge CS5---not having these codecs---can't play some kinds of files.

Windows 7 installs some of the required codecs as part of the operating system; Windows Vista doesn't. That's why you're seeing different behavior between Vista and Windows 7.

The long-term solution would be to have Bridge install its own codecs.

[Jon-M-Spear]

Thanks for the clarification Todd.

However, I have Win 7 64 installed, and I am unable to

view MPEGs in Bridge.  Which version of Win 7 installs the codecs that Bridge requires?

[Todd_Kopriva]

> However, I have Win 7 64 installed, and I am unable to

view MPEGs in Bridge.  Which version of Win 7 installs the codecs that Bridge requires?

I said "some of". Some things work; some don't. I'm not certain of what codecs Windows 7 installs that Bridge is using.

My detailed and certain knowledge ends at After Effects and Premiere Pro. I'm just sticking my nose into this Bridge stuff far enough to make sure that people stop installing damaging freeware codecs packs that make After Effects and Premiere Pro stop working.

[Guest]

Can you tell us which ActiveX controls might solve the problem? I still run CS4 on my laptop because it's a 32-bit machine. If I knew which files I need, it would be simple enough to copy and paste them into the CS5 install on my production machine.