Converting AVI to import into Premiere Pro

[JayNewWeb]

An experienced digital video person (who used to even help with the Premiere Pro forum for a while, and did beta testing for Adobe) created a short AVI for me ten years ago that I now want to post into Premiere Pro, but Premiere Pro is saying it can't import the format. It plays okay in VLC, but even VLC has issues with converting it to a compatible format for me. (He just had a death in the family and can't help today.)

(Note that I'm on a slightly outdated version of CC/PP since I'm still on Windows 7, FWIW, though I doubt that has anything to do with it. I'm running PP v 12.1.)

I actually have six files from him to convert, though the two that are the priority right now are the ones that look like an atom and a molecule in this zip:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uH2lObj58fD2dztJrzFI73PLUOhNc44C/view?usp=sharing

I have AVS4YOU for converting video, which has worked well for me in the past, but it also says it doesn't have the codec support it needs (it says 'LAGS").

Any suggestions on a converter I can grab to take care of this?

Thanks!

[Ann Bens · Accepted solution]

All files have the Lagarith codec.

You need to install this codec in order to edit the files.

https://lags.leetcode.net/codec.html

The images are of excellent quality.

[Peru Bob]

Try either Handbrake or ShutterEncoder:

https://handbrake.fr/downloads.php
https://www.shutterencoder.com/en/

[JayNewWeb]

Thank you both!

So, should I first install LAGS and then use AVS4YOU or VLC, or first install LAGS and then try Handbrake or ShutterEncoder, or just try Handbrake or ShutterEncoder and assume they'll already have LAGS? (Sorry, novice here.)

[Peru Bob]

Install the codec and then try to play in Premiere Pro.

If it still doesn't play, try each converter and use the one that works best.

[Ann Bens]

Thank you both!

So, should I first install LAGS and then use AVS4YOU or VLC, or first install LAGS and then try Handbrake or ShutterEncoder, or just try Handbrake or ShutterEncoder and assume they'll already have LAGS? (Sorry, novice here.)

By @JayNewWeb

No. You dont need Handbrake or Shutter Encoder or AVS4You. You have Premiere to do the conversion. VLC is just a player. You can however convert with VLC but would not use that.

[JayNewWeb]

I installed the LAGS codec and that's all it took. Premiere Pro was able to import the original file and it plays fine, even after placing the 24-fps file onto a 30-fps sequence and enlarging from 720p to 1080p with Scale to Frame size.

I'd still like to download and install Handbrake or ShutterEncoder, though, for future situations where I want to manually convert videos. Handbrake seems simpler, and my needs (read "skills") are certainly simple, so that should be good for me.  However, since I'm still on Windows 7, I have to go with v 1.3.3 and I don't know which file to download. I'm running Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. These are the choices -- see the Version 1.3.3 section (again, I just need the simplest approach and results):

https://handbrake.fr/old.php

Unless you tell me I may as well install ShutterEncoder so I'm good for when my video guru is back and we have the need to do anything that looks good (though by then I'll have a new Windows 11 machine for video editing). I guess the question is if I'll ever need the advanced features of SE and, more importantly, if SE will be as easy for me to use for very simple things as HB.

Thanks again!