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Import of PAL DV AVI fails

Hello forum,

I have DV AVIs which were captured on a Windows XP PC with the Miro DV500 capture card (with OpenDML option, PAL format, interlaced). When trying to import a given AVI file into Final Cut Pro X 10.0.1 (latest available update) I get an error message:

"No importable media - None of the selected files or folders could be imported. Change your selection and try again"

(I have the german version, so the above is just a rough translation)

I tried also with unchecking all import dialog checkboxes, to no avail. The same import failure happens on an iMac running 10.6.8 Snow Leopard and FCP X 10.0.1 (latest update) and on a MacBook Pro running 10.7.1 Lion with the original FCP X 10.0.

I copied the files onto the Mac harddisk. The size is nothing extraordinary, the smallest file is just about 172 MBytes.

The files import just fine into my Final Cut Express 4.0 version! They also play fine with QuickTime or any other application such as VLC on my Mac.

I found this entry here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3152268?start=0&tstart=0 which talks about (large) MJPEG AVIS from a Pentax K-7 camera. The same workaround described there works with my DV AVI files as well: I open the AVI with Quick Time 7 Player (on my Snow Leopard), "Save as" and then "Save as reference" ("Als Referenz sichern" in my german QT). This produces a very small *.mov file which I then can import into FCP X!

(Unfortunatelly I haven't figured out yet how that works on Lion with QT 10.1, since the "Save as" has gone (bummer!) and the Export doesn't seem to provide a "Save as reference" anymore - unlike the original post claims: "...and save the file as a movie with the media in the same format." - how?)

Anyone else is having trouble importing DV AVIs into FCP X?

Final Cut Pro X-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Sep 26, 2011 2:46 PM

Best reply

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,058 points

Posted on Sep 26, 2011 2:58 PM

Use MPEG Streamclip or Compressor to convert the media.

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34 replies

Mar 10, 2012 2:35 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Tom, you suggested that because something "is made by Apple, runs on a Mac, and is based on AV Foundation and QuickTime [...] I don't think it's going to support an obsolete Microsoft framework anytime soon."

Well, the Finder is made by Apple, runs on every modern Mac, comes free with OS X, and supports DV files in AVI containers.

Incidentally, QuickTime Player versions 7.6.6 and 10.0 can both open these files, too, and version 10.0 can also trim them.

If Apple's "professional" video editing app can't even open industry standard video files that several free Apple apps can handle, then that "professional" app is defective. Whether the defect lies within FCPX itself or within AV Foundation, the net result, as far as FCPX is concerned, is the same.

You may not care, but please don't be so arrogant as to pretend you speak for everyone.

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

151,058 points

Mar 10, 2012 2:42 PM in response to sampablokuper

Either the Finder nor any version of QuickTime has to do what FCP is required to do with the media. None of them play multiple streams of video and audio with everything else FCP does, transitions, titles, generators, blend modes, transformations, effects for video and audio in realtime. I'm sorry, but FCP will just not do it, and has never done it without rendering the media, which is recompressing it.

You have a simple solution. Use any one of the many available software conversion tools like Compressor or MPEG Streamclip to batch convert your media.

Whether I care or not is completely irrelevant, what matters is that Apple does not care, which seems pretty clear, as they have never made any effort to integrate AVI into FCP. I cannot see that they will start now after 12 years.

Mar 10, 2012 3:06 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

*facepalm

till213 Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 26, 2012 1:32 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

"Whether I care or not is completely irrelevant, what matters is that Apple does not care, which seems pretty clear, as they have never made any effort to integrate AVI into FCP. I cannot see that they will start now after 12 years."

I am glad to report that Tom, spreading FUD all the time, is so wrong here: Apple cared very much and finally fixed that issue in the latest 10.0.6 update: I can confirm that I am now able to successfully import my DV AVIs (as produced by an old Pinnacle DV500 capture/video editing card on PC)! Hooray 🙂

As a sidenote: I even was able to import those AVIs from a simple NAS (USB drive connected to a home VDSL modem/router, shared via Samba), directly from within the new video import dialog of FCP X. Not sure whether that was possible before: I never tried that before 10.0.6, but read in other forums that FCP X would ignore NAS drives shared via AFP or Samba (or NFS...).

Thanks Apple!

Import of PAL DV AVI fails