No sound for certain mp4 clips?

[robert_chelson]

Hey guys. I had a previous project that was created in cs3.  I imported the project to cs5 and everything seems to be ok with the exception of 3 files.  For some reason these 3 (mp4) files do not have any sound.  They do have sound when playing in winamp or windows media player.  Unfortunately when I put import into premiere pro cs5 they show no sound.  I have other mp4 files which work perfectly fine.  I even tried to delete these files and reimport then. No such luck.

Anyone have any info on this? Perhaps some workarounds?

thanks,

Rob

ps - i even tried a new blank project and imported the file. same result, yet other files work fine.

[John T Smith]

Use the free http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ to examine the files that work -vs- the files that don't to see what may be different

Also where/how did you get these clips?

As far as I know SOME cameras allow you to copy individual clips from memory to hard drive and they work (like the MTS files from my Canon Vixia) while other cameras require you to copy the entire folder to your hard drive, since some "metadata" to make the clips work properly is imbedded in the folder structure

[the_wine_snob]

I would also try to Import those problem files into the Project, and make sure to let them Conform again. This ARTICLE will address Conforming, Indexing and the generation of the PEK (Waveform Display) files.

Good luck,

Hunt

[josephallannz]

Thanks!  Helped me.

[robert_chelson]

hey guys...i haven't been able to give this any attention due to excessive work load and vacation.

the recommendations you guys gave me basically went over my head. it was a little hard to comprehend the information contained in the article.

nonetheless i tried creating a new empty project and imported one of the problem files.  no sound at all.

it does play via windows media player.

is there anyway i can try simple remedies or perhaps a step by step tutorial?

thanks again!

[Colin Brougham]

Download MediaInfo, and use it to analyze each file. Set the View mode to "Text" and then copy and paste the results here. If all the files are from the same source, just the results of one of them is enough.

[excited_Genie16B8]

We can start with a simple answer.  Where exactly did you get the various clips?

[robert_chelson]

hey guys, thanks for the prompt reply.  the videos were taken by myself with a flip mino cam.

here's the text info on the file:

General
Complete name                    : F:\Videos\gc_matt_host_streetwalk.MP4
Format                           : MPEG-4
Format profile                   : Sony PSP
Codec ID                         : MSNV
File size                        : 92.6 MiB
Duration                         : 1mn 25s
Overall bit rate                 : 9 094 Kbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2009-12-03 07:19:51
Tagged date                      : UTC 2009-12-03 07:19:51

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : Main@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 1 frame
Codec ID                         : avc1
Codec ID/Info                    : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                         : 1mn 25s
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 8 955 Kbps
Nominal bit rate                 : 16.0 Mbps
Width                            : 1 280 pixels
Height                           : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate mode                  : Constant
Frame rate                       : 30.000 fps
Original frame rate              : 29.970 fps
Color space                      : YUV
Chroma subsampling               : 4:2:0
Bit depth                        : 8 bits
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.324
Stream size                      : 91.2 MiB (98%)
Language                         : Japanese
Encoded date                     : UTC 2009-12-03 07:19:51
Tagged date                      : UTC 2009-12-03 07:19:51

Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : AAC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile                   : LC
Codec ID                         : 40
Duration                         : 1mn 25s
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 132.3 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 2 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L R
Sampling rate                    : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 1.33 MiB (1%)
Language                         : Japanese
Encoded date                     : UTC 2009-12-03 07:19:51
Tagged date                      : UTC 2009-12-03 07:19:51

[Colin Brougham · Accepted solution]

With Premiere closed, go into the folder where these MP4s are stored. There should be some extra files in that folder, named similarly to the MP4 files; they will have CFA and PEK extensions. Delete these, and then relaunch Premiere and open your project. The audio in the MP4s will be conformed again (those are the CFA files), and once that process is completely (let the yellow bar in the bottom right stop moving), you should have audio back.

If the CFA files are not there, you might try looking in C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\Media Cache Files.

[the_wine_snob]

For a little background on the CFA and PEK (plus the Indexing) files, see this ARTICLE.

Good luck,

Hunt

[robert_chelson]

colin, i didn't see the post you made prior to making mine.  will try this and post back.

thanks for the fast replies guys.

[robert_chelson]

worked like a charm!  thanks everyone

[the_wine_snob]

Great news, and thanks for reporting your success.

Good luck,

Hunt

[earlvanze]

Helped me! The Cache folder was taking up 90GB. I emptied it and now everything works. Thanks Colin!

[flippy lumpy]

Thank you so much maan! Been looking for this solution..Thanks!

[RequisiteLeaders]

Thank you VERY MUCH! This worked perfectly. I went to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\Media Cache Files and deleted over 4,000 media cache files, reopened Premiere Pro CC 2015; reopened my project; ALLOWED Premiere Pro to fully complete loading the project files and reestablishing (conforming) the audio files (it took about 10 minutes) and ALL WORKS PERFECTLY. It appears that when you use the "Clean Media" option in Preferences, not all of the files are removed. Again, Thank You!!

[JetSkiLife]

thanks!

[xowyomingox]

YOU ROCK!!! A few years later and this worked so perfectly for me. Thank you so much!!!!

[mellshone]

Thank you! the CFA files were in the cache folder like you said, deleted those, and now my mp4 files are importing audio again!

[matth70543847]

Saved my day bro. Thanks for that. The internal clean up was not working I guess. I just blindly assumed it would.

[excited_Genie16B8]

the videos were taken by myself with a flip mino cam.

[robert_chelson]

yes i know but all the other videos have been taking using that camera and they don't have the same issue.

let me know if you guys need more info on the files.

thanks!

[Colin Brougham]

Did you try what I posted above?

[jellocup88]

Colin is the man

[keith_sutton1]

Ran into same issue of audio missing when adding MP4 to timeline. Using Premiere Pro CC and ran into this issue. As per the solution above shut down Premiere, deleted the files (a lot of them) in:

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Common\Media Cache Files

Then restarted Premiere and immediately saw in the bottom right status bar that Premiere was creating new PEAK and Conformation files. Once that was done audio came back when I added the file to the timeline.

Thanks