Canno=t import some MP4 files: "your system needs to be configured to import HEVC or HEIF"

[David_F]

I am using Adobe Premiere Elements 2020 Version 18.0 (20201207.daily.2234367).  I am using Windows 10 with current upgrades.  My graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce GTx 1050 Ti with updated driver version 560.7

When I try to import some MP4 files into Premiere it says your system needs to be configured to import HEVC or HEIF type of media.

All MP4 files display properly in Windows Media Player. on the compter with Adobe Premier  

I have followed the instructions at https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-elements/using/hevc-decoding-on-windows.html.  In other words:  1) load HEIF image extension; 2) load HEVC video extension; and 3) delete media cache. However, the problem persists.

I have also viewed the permissions issue video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTSDm7WWUNs. The persmissions appear properly configured except there are two versions of the extensions (see attached screen shot). Is this a possible source of the peoblem?

There are a lot of threads on this issue in the Adobe Community but none of the ones I viewed seem to offer a definitive solution to the problem.   Is there a know fix for this problem?

[John T Smith]

I have v2021 and based on a SMALL test using downloaded files my version works

That old version MAY not work with those files at all

-HEVC https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-elements-discussions/import-hevc/td-p/13235249
-H.265 https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-elements-discussions/ape2021-problem-with-h-265-files/td-p/1...

[David_F]

Thank you  John.  Most of the steps I had tried previously without success.  

In tried the advice about deleting some "driver" files (BadDrivers.txt, CurrentDisplayDriver.txt, LocalBadDriver.txt) from the directory
%SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Adobe\Premiere Elements
but this does not work for me. 

There are dozens, perhaps a hundred or more, posts in the Adobe Community related to  this problem. They span over 4 years.  Some solutions  have worked in ad hoc situations (like a storage space problem) but almost all of them remain unesolved. Why doesn't  Adobe address this issue?  Is it just Elements? Or does Premier Pro have similar issues?  You would think a company that makes a video editing application would be concerned when users cannot import videos into the application. 

[David_F]

John. do you think the duplicate extension files are part of the problem.  See screenshot in original post. 

[John T Smith · Accepted solution]

Hevc/H.265 is a problem... try https://handbrake.fr/ open source transcoder/converter to convert to H.264
Handbrake tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlvxgVREX-Y&t=34s

[David_F]

Thank you John.  I agree, it appears to be a  video compression standard problem.  It apparently is associated with Apple MOV files and in my case with newer versions video files created with GoPro cameras.  Video that I shot on an old Hero5 uses the older standard H264 and it displays without any problems in Premiere Elements.  However a GoPro Hero7 uses H265 (HEVC) by default and these files will not load into Premiere Elements.  

You mentioned the Handbrake conversion program.  GoPro has an excellent guide with screenshots on how to use Handbrake (https://handbrake.fr/)  to convert from H.265 to the H.264 Codec form:
https://community.gopro.com/s/article/how-to-convert-gopro-hevc-videos-to-h-264-using-handbrake?lang...

Still, I am  angery at Adobe for not addressing what is obviuosly a very  serious problem that affects many users and has persisted for about 4 years.  Their video editing software has not kept pace with video industry standards and instead  they require users to convert files before they can be loaded.  Tell me if I'm wrong but this seems to be clearly an Adobe problem.  Is it just with Premier Elements or is it with the Premiere Pro as well?