HEVC Video

[DClark064]

The Adobe support web site states the LrC 9.3 and later support HEVC video.  I am shooting HEVC video with my Sony A1.  The files play well on the VLC media player.  In LrC v13.2 which I am using the video shows still frames in the video clips if I drag the small button but if I click the play arrowhead it shows a bizzare greenish mess. 

Here is the file info from Sony Catalyst Browse (with incidently plays the video without any issues):

I thought I might need the addional codecs that Microsoft sells, but the Microsoft site says they are already installed.  Here is a list of the video codecs on my system:

I find it strange that other apps play the videos without issue, but LR fails.

Any suggestions??

System info:

Edition Windows 10 Home
Version 22H2
Installed on ‎9/‎30/‎2021
OS build 19045.4412
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19056.1000.0

I have an Nvidia 3090 with 24GB of memory with the latest Studio driver.

[John R Ellis]

Upload a sample problem video to Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar and post the sharing link here. We can see if the issue occurs on other LR installations or is specific to your installation.

[DClark064]

Here is a dropbox link to a MP4 video file that does not playback properly:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wcq43m2dklnhtx1/240517_140105_0866_Unknown.MP4?dl=0 

This link has been disabled, see reply below.

[John R Ellis]

Unfortunately, something's going wrong with that link:

I tried two different computers, two different networks, three browsers :-<

[DClark064]

It seems that my Dropbox is full.

Here is a OneDrive link.  I have lots of space there so it should work.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Ah6vf_RaMH_8n8U2eal1veR-VqP2vQ?e=YYsr3E 

This is not the same file as shown above, it is a smaller clip so that it will download more quickly.  It is the same codec and shows the same issue with display in LrC.

[John R Ellis]

[This post contains formatting and embedded images that don't appear in email. View the post in your Web browser.]

I see similar symptoms on my LR 13.2 / Windows 11 test machine (which is a virtual machine with no GPU):

 

It plays correctly on my LR 13.2 / Mac OS 14.4.1 (with an Apple M2 Max CPU/GPU).

I tried opening the video in Windows Media Player, and I got the error message, "We can't open 240512_092149_0833_Unknown. It uses unsupported encoding settings."

I can play other HEVC videos in Media Player without problem.  

I believe that LR depends on the Windows H.265 (HEVC) codec.

Handbrake shows the video has this H.265 format:

3840x2160, 59.9401 FPS, SDR (10-bit 4:2:2, 1-1-1)

I found a post that claims that the Windows codec can't play 10-bit 4:2:2 color sampling:

https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyAlpha/comments/150g6no/comment/js6cmkh/

I used Handbrake to re-encode the video as 10-bit 4:2:0, with the same resolution, frame rate, and bit rate,  and Media Player played it, which aligns with that post's claim.

Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to get Handbrake to encode as 4:2:2 rather than 4:2:0, to see if the issue is indeed that the Windows codec can't play 4:2:2, or if the issue is some Sony-specific incompatibility.

But this all points to workarounds:

- Set the camera to record in 4:2:0 10-bit rather than 4:2:2 10-bit.

- Use Handbrake or another app to convert the 4:2:2 video to 4:2:0.

[DClark064]

Thanks for taking the time to test the file and analyze what is happening.  I agree that some apps use the Windows codecs, but it seems that many do not.  The Windows store offers a package of additional codecs for $0.99.  I have it installed but it did not solve this issue.  I find it a bit bizarre that Microsoft is selling the codecs and provided almost no information to users.

There are a few condec packages offered, some for free, that may solve this issue but I have not tried them (yet).  I am pretty cautious about installing such stuff when I don't really know much about it.   

I have not done extensive testing but so far I find that the file type that is failing is 4:2:2 10-bit XAVC HS.  That is a high quality high compression mode I want to use but it looks like I may need to move to 4:2:0 10-bit XAVC S, which works in LrC.  I notice that when I use Sony's Catalyst Browse to stabilize the video (which is pretty amazing!) it transcodes to 4:2:0 8-bit XAVC S and the stabilized files work fine in LrC. I want to use the highest quality settings my A1 is capable of recording and am not happy that LrC cannot display the clips.  All the other apps I use, mostly Sony Catalyst, DaVinci Resolve, and VLC Media Player, work fine on anything.  I may just not use LrC for video clip management.  Put all those files in a different place and use other asset management like Catalyst to manage them. 

I wish I know more about video but I find the internet is, as per usual, full of misinformation and I have not found a good source. 

Thanks for your help.