File format not recognised.

[sydhsydh]

I have attached a clip taken on a Pixel Pro phone which is mp4 format but when I try to import it into APE15, I get the message stating file format is not supported or the codec is missing. I have checked importing an mp4 file from my normal video cam and that works fine. I tried changing the project settings to AVCHD 1080p50 and also QFHD 16x9 50 which are the settings I usually use, but still the same error.

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with the file and how to resolve this problem please? I have dozens of similar clips that I need in a project.

[Steve Grisetti]

Open the video you want to work with in the free download MediaInfo. In MediaInfo, set View to Text and then copy the text of this report and paste it to this forum. With this detailed report we can better recommend how you proceed with this video file. Remember, "MP4" is only a container. It is not a codec or only one type of file.

[sydhsydh]

Thanks Steve. Here is the text from Mediainfo.

General
Complete name : C:\Users\syd\Desktop\1.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/mp41)
File size : 22.2 MiB
Duration : 9 s 170 ms
Overall bit rate : 20.3 Mb/s
Frame rate : 30.000 FPS
Encoded date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC
Tagged date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC
xyz : +53.2194-4.0943/

Video
ID : 3
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile : Main@L5.1@Main
Codec ID : hvc1
Codec ID/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Duration : 9 s 170 ms
Bit rate : 20.1 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 30.000 FPS
Minimum frame rate : 29.871 FPS
Maximum frame rate : 30.110 FPS
Real frame rate : 30.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.323
Stream size : 22.0 MiB (99%)
Title : VideoHandle
Language : English
Encoded date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC
Tagged date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC
Color range : Full
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Codec configuration box : hvcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 9 s 151 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel layout : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 214 KiB (1%)
Title : SoundHandle
Language : English
Encoded date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC
Tagged date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC

Other #1
ID : 1
Type : meta
Format : mett
Codec ID : mett
Duration : 9 s 170 ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Title : MetaHandle
Language : English
Encoded date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC
Tagged date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC

Other #2
ID : 4
Type : meta
Format : mett
Codec ID : mett
Bit rate mode : Constant
Title : MetaHandle
Language : English
Encoded date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC
Tagged date : 2023-10-09 10:03:46 UTC

[Bill Sprague · Accepted solution]

The codec inside your MP4 video container file is listed as "HEVC".   That is a more recent codec than PrE version 15 was built for.  The simple solution is to get into the settings of your phone and select a "most compatable" codec.  Usually it is called "H.264".   The other solution is to use the (free) program "Handbrake" to convert your HEVC video to the more compatable H.264 codec.   ("HEVC" is also called H.265.  It's primary feature is increased compression for smaller file sizes.  It also makes your computer work harder to decode those compressed files.) 

[sydhsydh]

Thanks Bill. I will convert with Handbrake and change the phone for future videos.

[alexander_6771]

I did this:

#!/bin/bash
# [20250829] (air)
# transcode H265 to H264, so that LightRoom can properly index .mp4 files
# LightRoom does not know about H265; Pixel generates H265.
# creates a copy of .mp4 for H264, but leaves H265 as is.
# note the need for sufficient disk space.
#




MI="/usr/bin/mediainfo"
HB="/usr/bin/HandBrakeCLI"
shopt -s globstar

# process ll .mp4 file in a tree
for file in `ls -1  -d JUNK/**/*.mp4`  ; do
    # get encoder ID
    codec=`$MI --Inform="Video;%InternetMediaType%" $file`

    if [ $codec = "video/H265" ] ; then
	filnam="${file%.*}"
	ext="${file##*.}"
	echo $filnam " + " $ext

# for smaller files
#       h264fil="${filnam}.h264.${ext}"
#	$HB -i $file -o $h264fil -e x264

# for faster encoding (using gpu)
	h264fil="${filnam}.nvenc.${ext}"
	$HB --verbose=0 \
	    -i $file -o $h264fil \
	    -e nvenc_h264
    fi
done


#

[Steve Grisetti]

Here's my video on how to convert your video to an editable format and codec.

[alexander_6771]

For context:

This is a bash script that I ran in Windows 11, using Ubuntu, a linux that you can download from the Windows app store.

The script was set up to automatically convert a large number of H265 .mp4's that were kept in a folder ("JUNK") with many sub-folders. The videos could have been done one-by-one using  the Handbrake app, as others have pointed out. But that would have been tedious.

Hence the script.
To use it:

• Install HandbrakeCLI and mediainfo; you can find them easily (e.g. search for "mediainfo download"). 
• copy the script above into a file (say "convert_mp4.sh") then
• change "JUNK" to point to the folder containing your .mp4 files. 
• Run "bash convert_mp4.sh" from the command line.  

This is really all you need to do.

"nvenc_h264 " uses your GPU (if you have one); it's supposedly faster. But it doesn't copy all the meta information.
This doesn't matter if all you want to do is play the files.  Otherwise, uncomment the "h264" version to get better meta-information. Use 'metainfo' to check what's there. 

Apologies, you probably want some familiarity with linux, but it's not essential. Hopefully the above instructions are enough.