What is a "Generic Error"?

[edotj]

I'm not sure if this is the correct spot to post this, but I couldn't find a better spot.

I have Adobe Premiere Elements 15 and for some files refuse to be added to the timeline. I have a .MOV and a .M4A both of which prompt a "Generic Error" with no other information. These files run fine on everything else, but when it comes to Adobe they simply will not work. These are important and I need to be able to put these files in the timeline. Any ideas?

[davidarbor]

I moved this to the Premiere Elements forum.

A generic error is pretty useless, as you can see. Where did this mov file come from? What is the codec inside of the container? It's possible that Premiere Elements doesn't support whatever codec your file is encoded to. This page says m4a is supported (Supported file formats)

but MOV doesn't tell you anything about the file because it's a container (basically a box that does some stuff), but the video, which can be encoded with a myriad of codecs, sits inside of that box.

Can you convert the M4A to a WAV file? I'm sure that will import just fine.

[edotj]

I'm not sure how to find what the "codec" inside the container is/was. The .MOV file was a screen recording from my iPhone, and I have been able to import another .MOV from iMovie to Elements from my iPhone with no problem.

I don't have any kind of converting software, nor do I trust online converters. Either way, I should not have to convert anything when the file format is already supported.

Thanks for your reply.

[Peru Bob]

edotj  wrote

I'm not sure how to find what the "codec" inside the container is/was.

Download the free MediaInfo and post a screenshot of the information about your video in tree view:

MediaInfo - Download

edotj

I don't have any kind of converting software, nor do I trust online converters. Either way, I should not have to convert anything when the file format is already supported.

If it is variable frame rate or a codec which is not supported, it may not be supported, in which case you can convert it to constant frame rate with HandBrake:

https://handbrake.fr/