Alfred Guzzetti

Q: Will Compressor 4 accept Avid DNxHD files?

Will Compressor 4 accept Avid DNxHD files in a QuickTime wrapper?

Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on May 8, 2013 7:16 AM

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Q: Will Compressor 4 accept Avid DNxHD files?

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  • by darbypsnm,

    darbypsnm darbypsnm May 8, 2013 9:12 AM in response to Alfred Guzzetti
    Level 3 (720 points)
    May 8, 2013 9:12 AM in response to Alfred Guzzetti

    If you have the Avid codec installed all will be well.

    If you don't have it you can get it here:

    http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/download/en423319

  • by Alfred Guzzetti,

    Alfred Guzzetti Alfred Guzzetti May 9, 2013 4:30 PM in response to darbypsnm
    Level 2 (165 points)
    May 9, 2013 4:30 PM in response to darbypsnm

    Thank you.  I've now bought a new copy of Compressor (4.0.7), downloaded the Avid LE codecs as you suggested, and installed them.  Now Compressor doesn't crash but when I "submit," I soon get a message saying that the task failed because the codec isn't installed.  If I try to open a DNxHD 145 .mov file in QT Player, I see the correct length on the timeline but get no picture or sound.  It seems that the QT applications aren't seeing the codec.  I'm not sure what to do.  Any ideas would be appreciated.

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H May 10, 2013 5:38 AM in response to Alfred Guzzetti
    Level 7 (21,865 points)
    Quicktime
    May 10, 2013 5:38 AM in response to Alfred Guzzetti

    So, just to verify that the Avid codec was installed, go to the root level of the system drive Library>Quick Time. Should be several Avid .component files showing.

     

    Or open Compressor and select one of the Quick Time presets; in the Inspector>Encoder>Video>Settings>Compression Type, see whether the codecs are on the list.

     

    Russ

  • by Alfred Guzzetti,

    Alfred Guzzetti Alfred Guzzetti May 11, 2013 6:48 AM in response to Russ H
    Level 2 (165 points)
    May 11, 2013 6:48 AM in response to Russ H

    Thank you for your help.  I did as you suggested and found only three Avid .component files, which I assume are those Media Composer needs.  I opened Compressor, navigated to the list of Compression settings, and didn't find DNxHD on it.  So, a friend provided me with the Avid LE codecs (which I had thought I had installed already using the Avid installer) and I installed the 8 that were not present manually in the Library's QT folder, making 11 in all.  Now QT Player plays DNxHD files and they show up in the list of Compressor's Compression Types.  But, when I open Compressor and drag in a DNxHD file, Compressor quits with the message that the codec is not installed.  This was all with my startup drive that runs Media Composer, Lion 10.7.5.  I tried the same procedure with my older drive, 10.6.8, which I keep to run FCP 7, and got no recognition of the codec from QT Player 7.6.6. or 10.1 or from the new Compressor 4.0.7, which tries to encode, then delivers a "failed" message because "codec is not installed."

     

    A twist in this situation is that the download of Compressor 4.0.7, done from the Apple Apps website while running the computer in 10.7.5, automatically put the application in the wrong place, the 10.6.8 startup drive, displacing the 4.0.3 version that was already there.  There is no installer or dialogue box asking the user where the application is to be put.  There seems to be no way of controlling this, and I can't keep experimenting at $50 a pop.  I resorted to copying it and putting it in the right place, though I have no way of knowing what it is failing to bring with it to the new OS.

     

    Any help would be appreciated.

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H May 11, 2013 7:56 AM in response to Alfred Guzzetti
    Level 7 (21,865 points)
    Quicktime
    May 11, 2013 7:56 AM in response to Alfred Guzzetti

    I'm afraid I don't know what's going on with this myself.

     

    I'm finding that C 3.5 will accept the Avid file and process it OK. On the other hand, a C4 job repeatedly fails with a 3X crash error message. A look-up of the error suggests a conflict with a third party codec…not what we want to hear. No idea why the earlier version processes and the other won't.

     

    Your app download question also has me scratching my head. Are you running a dual boot system or a network with the two OS versions running at the same time? Anyway, if you have a previous version of Compressor that you want to preserve, follow these updating steps. And it is a free update if you use the same Apple ID as entered for the original purchase.

     

    Russ

  • by Alfred Guzzetti,

    Alfred Guzzetti Alfred Guzzetti May 11, 2013 8:20 AM in response to Russ H
    Level 2 (165 points)
    May 11, 2013 8:20 AM in response to Russ H

    Many thanks.  I'll let you know if I figure out a solution.

     

    Yes, I'm running a dual-boot system: 10.6.8 is on the computer's original HD (for the sake of running FCP 6.0.4 as long as I can) and 10.7.5 is on a new internal HD, which I installed for the purpose of running Media Composer 6.5.2.  The two OS can't run at the same time.

     

    Alfred

  • by Alfred Guzzetti,

    Alfred Guzzetti Alfred Guzzetti May 11, 2013 8:28 AM in response to Alfred Guzzetti
    Level 2 (165 points)
    May 11, 2013 8:28 AM in response to Alfred Guzzetti

    Here's a thought: maybe the App Store regarded what I thought was my purchase of Compressor 4.0.7 as an update of 4.0.3, which I had bought last year, didn't charge me for it (I hope!), and replaced 4.0.3 with it on the drive where 4.0.3 was (the 10.6.8 startup).

     

    ALFRED

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H May 11, 2013 1:59 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti
    Level 7 (21,865 points)
    Quicktime
    May 11, 2013 1:59 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti

    Right. I doubt you were charged again. You can always check your purchase history in iTunes.

     

    A thought…if you have FCP7, you have Compressor 3.5. If that's the case, see whether C3.5 will process the DVxHD. (Even though that still wouldn't answer the question of why C4 won't.)

     

    Russ

  • by Alfred Guzzetti,

    Alfred Guzzetti Alfred Guzzetti May 11, 2013 2:05 PM in response to Russ H
    Level 2 (165 points)
    May 11, 2013 2:05 PM in response to Russ H

    Unfortunately I have only FCP 6.  I never bought 7 because it didn't seem different enough to justify the expense.

     

    Others on the discussion forums seem to say they have no trouble with Compressor 4 and DNxHD.

     

    ALFRED

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H May 11, 2013 2:08 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti
    Level 7 (21,865 points)
    Quicktime
    May 11, 2013 2:08 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti

    Then C3.0…almost no difference between 3.0 and 3.5.

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H May 11, 2013 2:15 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti
    Level 7 (21,865 points)
    Quicktime
    May 11, 2013 2:15 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti

    Alfred Guzzetti wrote:

     

    Others on the discussion forums seem to say they have no trouble with Compressor 4 and DNxHD.

    WHen I did a search all I came up with were problems.

  • by Alfred Guzzetti,

    Alfred Guzzetti Alfred Guzzetti May 11, 2013 2:20 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti
    Level 2 (165 points)
    May 11, 2013 2:20 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti

    Look at the first reply to my original question on this thread from darbypsnm

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H May 11, 2013 2:49 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti
    Level 7 (21,865 points)
    Quicktime
    May 11, 2013 2:49 PM in response to Alfred Guzzetti

    Actually my preceding post wasn't very artful. People don't tend to start threads about their compression successes.

     

    To restate, I was looking for Compressor 4 problems with the codec that had been answered satisfactorily and didn't find any.

     

    Russ

  • by Alfred Guzzetti,

    Alfred Guzzetti Alfred Guzzetti May 11, 2013 4:23 PM in response to Russ H
    Level 2 (165 points)
    May 11, 2013 4:23 PM in response to Russ H

    I see what you mean.

     

    Alfred

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