Video editing: Only audio, no video...

[sanders22833020]

Hi there,

I'm new to editing video in Photoshop so I'm sorry if this is a rookie question... I've now added all the video's from my new GoPro camera into a video timeline in Photoshop. Now some clips in the timeline appear normal on my screen, but for most of them I only hear the audio of the clip and the video shows as a 'transparent'. I've tried to illustrate this in the screenshot below. What do I need to do to get all clips to show on my screen?

I hope my question is clear and someone can help me out.

Thanks in advance,

Sander

[JJMack]

When you play the audio only clips in a video player is there a visible movie?  Is the clip encoded correctly and the required codec installed on your machine? Try playing it with Photoshop out of the picture.

[sanders22833020]

Thanks JJMack for you response. When I play the file in a regular video player like Windows Media Player it works fine.

I'm not sure if the clip is encoded correctly and the required codec is installed on my computer. How can I check this? It are mp4 video files from a GoPro action camera filmed in 2.7K on 60fps. Some other files which were shot with the same camera work normal in Photoshop. The ones who work are shot in 1080p on 30fps. Could that have something to do with it?

What do you mean with Photoshop "out of the picture"?

Sorry, like I said, I'm completely new to Photoshop.

Thank you

[sanders22833020]

Dear JJMack,

Unfortunately I'm still struggling with the issue. I think the files are all correctly encoded. I've made a recording of my screen to show the problem to you. I hope you can take another look and help me with this.

As you can see some clips are visible, while others are not.

Any thoughts?

Thank you very much,

Sander

[Michael Bullo]

You could try first processing your videos through HandBrake before you bring them into Photoshop. This is a free and very easy to use program that is great for converting videos. The videos that HandBrake outputs are easily read by many programs. Even if you are starting with MP4 videos you may get a more Photoshop friendly MP4 after processing it with HandBrake.

[sanders22833020]

Thank you Michael Bullo,

I'll try this later today and let you know if it worked!

Thanks,

Sander

[Michael Bullo]

Thanks Sander. Good luck.

[sanders22833020]

Hi Michael,

I've tried HandBrake but unfortunately it didn't help. All video clips are already in mp4 format.

I've made a screen recording that shows my issue. As you can see in the recording below, some clips are visible and others are not. I hope this helps you to better understand my issue... I hope you have the time to take another look and if you know the solution to my problem.

Thank you,

Best regards,

Sander

[Michael Bullo]

I've tried HandBrake but unfortunately it didn't help. All video clips are already in mp4 format.

From your above statement I can't tell for sure if you've tried running your problematic MP4 files through HandBrake. In case you haven't, I just wanted to say again that you can put into HandBrake an MP4 file and have it output an MP4 file which may potentially be more Photoshop friendly.

Any chance you can make available to us a couple of videos to try ourselves? Could you include at least one video that works and one that doesn't. Please also label them extremely clearly so we know which files are and aren't problems for you.

[sanders22833020]

Thank you Michael. Under this link: https://we.tl/t-JJbVyMaV3v  you'll find 4 short clips.

The clips that are named "1" and "3.1" are not working for me.

The clips that are named "2" and "3" are working fine.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks again for you help!

[Michael Bullo]

I have brought all four of your clips into Photoshop and they all work without a problem. I can even hear the audio on the two clips that have it.

I've noticed that the clips that are working for you DON'T contain audio. This may be a coincidence.

I've looked at the properties for your four videos and reviewed the Codecs. The videos that work for you appear to be a conventional H.264 while the others are not. I know I'm sounding like a broken record at this point but try putting one of your failing videos through HandBrake and see if that does the trick

[sanders22833020]

Thank you. This was very helpful because now I realize that (should have realized this earlier) that the difference between the clips that are working and not working is that the ones that are working are all timewarp or timelapse clips (and therefore they dont have audio). The ones that were not working are all the regular video clips (normal speed (2.7K, 30 or 60fps)).

When I processed all the 20 clips I have through HandBrake yesterday then the timewape/lapse clips were not working anymore but the regular clips were. However, now when I use HandBrake for the regular clips and normal import the timewarp/lapse clips they both seem to work. Thanks!

I have a few questions about it though:

1. After using HandBrake the MB size of the files is reduced with about 70%. To what extent does this decrease the quality of the videos?

2. Is there a way I can shoot my videos in the future in a way that they all end up with the same codec? Or at least to have them all in codecs that are accepted by Photoshop? Something in the camera settings maybe?

Thank you,

Sander

[Michael Bullo]

Hey good to hear you're getting closer to a solution.

Answer #1

There is a Quality slider within HandBrake. I would recommend running the same video through HandBrake several times at different quality settings. Then visually review the look of the videos against the file sizes.

Answer #2

Not knowing much about what you are using to record your videos I can't give you any good advice. Perhaps you could post some details about what devices you are using to record your videos along with any relevant settings (be specific) and some video experts in this forum should be able to give you some good tips.

[sanders22833020]

Ok, thanks Michael! I'll do that.

Thanks again for your help!

[Michael Bullo]

Thank you. I appreciate that.