Cannot import "AIVX" .MOV files (.MXFs that were rewrapped to .MOV)

[Dodgee_doo]

Our team has an expansive archive of .MOV files that playback natively in MacOS and Quicktime. Apple's FCP, Compressor, Motion, and even Davinci Resolve can handle the files, but they cannot be imported into Adobe's Premiere Pro nor transcoded with Media Encoder. 

These MOVs were created as part of a workflow to rewrap the MXF files to MOV (before Apple could natively playback MXF files).  I'm assuming since every other NLE can play them, it's a simple tagging issue within Premiere Pro that would hopefully be a software fix... 

[Mariam Hovhannesyan]

I hope this video can help you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYOy3-V-cUo&ab_channel=RemusGT

[Dodgee_doo]

Unfortunately that method involves transcoding the file, which is a non-starter because it's hundreds of terabytes of footage. These MOV files simply cannot import into Premiere Pro yet can import into Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve. The Premiere Pro error reads "File uses unsupported video compression type "aivx"." 

[R Neil Haugen]

This isn't a bug, it's an "idea", a feature request.

So if a mod could change this threads category, that would be useful. And ... pinging @Fergus H 

[Dodgee_doo]

I categorized as a bug because Davinci Resolve, Quicktime, MacOS, Final Cut Pro, and Compressor can all playback the file without issue. Seems like a bug to me. What would I call this feature?

[R Neil Haugen]

The technical explanation first ... just because X app has a capability and Y app doesn't, does not make for a "bug". A bug is a specific coding problem resulting in non-correct behavior according to the design specs of the program.

PrPro doesn't have the code to recognize a number of different formats and codecs ... but that is a design choice. They do add more over time.

So this would be an "idea" post, in Adobe-speak, with a title something like "Add AIVX MOV files to recognized format/codecs"

And of course I'd be happy to upvote that, though it's not something I do or need. I do like to support the workflows of others. And the Fergus that I "pinged" is the head of their formats/codecs work team.

[Dodgee_doo]

Since 'aivx' compression is AVC-Intra, my presumption was that this is a bug since AVC-Intra is an officially supported navtive video format for import for Premiere Pro according to the Premiere Pro Supported File Formats help page. 

[R Neil Haugen]

As far as I can tell, aivx is a specific subset with its own parameters. It isn't "just the same thing".

And there are several other apps that do not handle the specific requirements of working with aivx files also. So as secondary information, PrPro isn't the only app that doesn't recognize the format.

So yes, to get this specific thing recognized is a feature request or "Idea" post.

[RogerAtCat]

Since someone upvoted a comment today, I just wanted to share a tip after many headaches. If you're like us and in previous workflows the team imported MXF files into Final Cut Pro and now you want to switch to Premiere Pro, you'll know Premiere Pro doesn't like the container rewrap job FCPX did. Thos aivx tagged AVC-Intra .MOV files will not import into PrPro.

The good news is, it's a relatively simple extra step you'll have to impliment. We use some simple scripts to run FFmpeg and re-wrap those files back into an .MXF container. Works like a charm in Premiere Pro then.

You can use command line or a GUI app, whatever you prefer. Ours runs the scripts upon restore from our LTO archive when a file is tagged aivx.

The command is as simple as:

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c copy output.mxf

Hope this helps someone out there!

[jake865]

I'm hitting a bit of a wall with this. ffmpeg isn't mapping the audio channels correctly so the output file is without audio. Any thoughts?

[jake865]

After much tinkering, the below terminal command accomplishes the needed remux while respecting audio channels. Just replace the input and output files with the respective file names / paths:

ffmpeg -i inputfile.mov -c copy -map 0:0 -map 0:a output file.mxf

[LluisV]

I have the same 'issue' with mkv files. But if I add '.avi' as file extension premiere opens it.

I do not know if this works, but adding '.mxf' as file extension could work with no transcoding, while you wait... and wait for premiere update.