Lightroom won't import 4K 10 bit 4:2:2 video from a Sony A7iv

[Fredrik266205518dxt]

As the subject suggests, this is what happens. The thumbnail for the video gets imported alright but the video file is just a gray square and impossible to play.

I import via the MacOS app (version 7.5) and I am running Mac OS Sonoma 14.6.1.

I have been able to import videos with the same settings through the web interface to Lightroom and I have also been able to do it on the app on a Windows OS.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Please share a sample video that fails to import properly so that we can examine it. 

Thanks

[Fredrik266205518dxt]

The file is too big to upload, but here is a link to where it is stored in Lightroom (only audio works) and perhaps you can download it from there and examine it. If this doesn't work, perhaps you have another sharing method?

https://adobe.ly/3Uiuj7h

Thanks!

Fred

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Thank you for the video sample file. 

I have no issues importing, playing, editing, or exporting this video using Lightroom Desktop 7.5 on Mac 14.6.1. 

A good first step would be to

• restart your App
• restart your computer
• reset your Preferences

in that order, check after each to see if the video becomes available. 

[Fredrik266205518dxt]

Thanks for the quick response!

I have done all of that with no change. When I try to play the video, I hear the sound, but only see a black screen and get the message (in blue) "C7512.MP4 appears to be a video but does not contain valid video data".

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

The next step in troubleshooting is to perform a clean reinstall of Lightroom. 

Clean Lightroom Install Procedure

Close Lightroom

Restart the computer

Use the Adobe Creative Cloud App to uninstall Lightroom

Restart the computer

Install Lightroom via the Creative Cloud App without launching any other programs.

Restart the computer

Launch Lightroom

Wait 5 minutes

[Fredrik266205518dxt]

Okay, I will try that as well. I should also mention that I can see the video fine on the Windows version of Lightroom and also on the browser version (Safari, Edge) so it must somehow be local to the installation on my Mac. Will get back once I have followed your suggestions.

[Fredrik266205518dxt]

Followed the procedure exactly but result is the same. I can also see the clip on my iDevices. Issue seems to be limited to my Mac Mini. Any other suggestions, other than upgrading... (the Mini is from 2018).

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

As a test, you could temporarily disable GPU and see if the problem goes away. If so, I am betting the older hardware is at issue. 

[Fredrik266205518dxt]

I'm sorry, but I don't know how to do that. Googled it and it seems less than intuitive on a Mac. I did run a test though. I tried filming in XAVC-HS 4K (.265), XAVC-S 4K (.264) and XAVC-S HD (.264) and I uploaded them all to Lightroom. The only one that is possible to upload/play/edit is the first one. This is strange to me as the .265 codec is not as established as the .264 ones (that apply in the second and third case)....

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Preferences>Performance 

[Fredrik266205518dxt]

Tried but no change. I am currently stuck with importing the above video formats via the web interface. Mac OS simply won't work. Windows even stranger as it works intermittently. Out of a batch of video clips, some will import correctly, some will just be grey thumbnails, black screen but with sound when played.

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

I am curious if the 8.0 release changes the behavior you are seeing?

[Fredrik266205518dxt]

Hello Rikk,

I ran some quick tests now after upgrading (was previously on 7.5).

4K 10 bit: Won't upload throught the Apple OS app but does upload through the browswer interface and is then playable through the app.

HD 10 bit: Same behaviour as the 4K

4K and HD 8 bit works fine.

So, the issue seems to be isolated to 10 bit video, based on my quick and limited testing.

Thanks.

Fredrik

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

Thanks for the update. I am conferring with one of our devs on this. 

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

The Intel Mac Mini is likely the weak link here.  I  would expect the Silicon Macs to handle the file better. 
From the engineer: "LrD Mac is also correctly prohibiting the user from ingesting the 4:2:2 videos into the ecosystem in this scenario, as LrD is detecting that the given videos are unsupported on his machine. "

You can upload the file via LrWeb, and the synced video plays because the file you are receiving from the cloud is an 8-bit 4:2:0 proxy instead of a 10-bit 4:2:2. 

[Fredrik266205518dxt]

Thanks. Ran a test where I uploaded the same four videos (4K 10 bit/8bit and HD 10bit/8 bit) via the Windows app (also version 8, running on Windows 11, 13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1365U 1.80 GHz).

All of them imported but the 10 bit versions wouldn't play. At least I have a work around, using the web interface. Would be nice if in some future updates the apps will actually work but no big deal as of now thanks to the work around.