I got my wife a cheap 5 megapixel (Panasonic) camera, whose native video output seems to be DIVX. It shipped with a DIVX bundled CD, and so on. I just tried to import footage to Premiere, and it just isn't right. The video is upside down (easy fix, you say) and does not run smoothly.

Have 'they' done this on purpose to make me buy the 'pro' codec? or is there some setting this noob (I) would miss in my haste?

Premiere does not work (reliably) with DivX codecs, for the simple reason that material encoded with DivX is for watching, not for editing.

Premiere does not work (reliably) with DivX codecs, for the simple reason that material encoded with DivX is for watching, not for editing.

I don't see how this helps me?

The truth is not always helpful. It is just the truth.

If you told us what camera model it is, we might have a different response, but pretty much, you are out of luck. DivX was meant to be watched, not edited.

...in other words, it means you have to convert your video in another format before editing.

I posted this earlier on another forum, but it still applies:

Look at it as taxes.

1. You earn $ 1.000 before taxes. (Uncompressed video)
2. You pay your taxes and are left with $ 200. (DV 5:1 compression)
3. You go to the casino and lose $ 170, so you end up with $ 30. (DivX compression).

Taxation is something we all like to avoid, but can't.
Going to the casino to throw your money away can be avoided.
However, once you lost it, you cannot regain it. Same with DivX or Xvid.

The moral of the story is that DivX or XVid or any other highly compressed video format just is not suitable for editing but in some case may be OK for watching. If that is your source material, bad luck. Nothing can be done about that, apart from getting a different camera.

I know this does not help you solve your problem, but you bought the camera, which is unsuitable for editing. Get some advise before buying the next one. However, you are not the only one to suffer from these mistakes. Just today a friend called me about his new computer and he was taken in by the sales talk he got, and installed worthless RAM memory, that his OS can not use. You are not alone in making mistakes, we all do that from time to time.

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience, well that comes from bad judgment.

...in other words, it means you have to convert your video in another format before editing.

This is getting closer to what I need:

Is there a way to convert the DIVX back into mpeg? I've supposedly got 30 fps data (we all know it is compressed & crappy, I'm fine with that), I just want to be able to use clips that this camera gives me and let my wife author a scrap-book/DVD.

I still suggest that you tell the exact make and model of the camera. Researching that camera may provide us with a solution that the generalities of the situation may not.

The truth is not always helpful. It is just the truth.

If you told us what camera model it is, we might have a different response, but pretty much, you are out of luck. DivX was meant to be watched, not edited.

Camera is:

http://www.polaroid.com/global/detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441764441&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302029037&bmUID=1180706215303&bmLocale=en_US

(not panasonic, that was a brain-fart in my original post. ;-) )


The link says it has MPEG-4 output, but only a DIVX player has been able to display the video. Is this where I'm missing something?

You may be in trouble. It may be DivX after all.

If you wish to send me a short clip via the email address on my web site, I can spend a few minutes trying a few ways to convert it into something useful.

>>>email address on my web site...

Done!

It is DivX, that's for sure. And it crashed my Premiere Pro 2.0 - so I will look for a way to convert it to something useful.

By the way, this video is only 320X240 at 30 frames per second.

I will get back to this thread when I solve it, or when I give up. Whichever happens first.

If the link you provided is the right one, than the native resolution is not 320x240 but 640x480. Since Steven is reporting a lower resolution, you might be using the camera at half resolution (most still cameras that also record video will have this feature, I know my Sony 828 has three different video settings).

Also, if the link provided is right, you might be able to switch to mpeg4 as recording format, instead of DivX/AVI.

There are quite a number of programs out there that will convert DivX to some other usable/editable format; some even free... just try a Google search for "divx to dvd" or divx to mpeg. And although DivX is a very good format when it comes to quality, you should not expect miracles - video recording is just something manufacturers throw in to better sell their still cameras.

OK, I finally found a method to convert the DivX to something that Premiere Pro will tolerate.

There is a program called "River Past Video Cleaner" that will convert DivX to a form of AVI. I used the Cinepak codec but there were a couple of others that might have worked as well.

There is a free trial that watermarks the video, but it should give you a warm fuzzy feeling. The cost is minimal at US$ 29.95. The Lite version won't work and the Pro version is probably overkill.

OK, I finally found a method to convert the DivX to something that Premiere Pro will tolerate.

There is a program called "River Past Video Cleaner" that will convert DivX to a form of AVI. I used the Cinepak codec but there were a couple of others that might have worked as well.

There is a free trial that watermarks the video, but it should give you a warm fuzzy feeling. The cost is minimal at US$ 29.95. The Lite version won't work and the Pro version is probably overkill.

Now you're talking. I'll check out RPVC, and note that I googled up two others (freeware from 'Zillasoft,' that crashed outright when I tried to load the program; and a $20 one from 'Desksoft' whose demo mode only allowed me to strip the audio so I 86'ed it) with much less success.

Thanks, you know, for the effort...
andy

By the way, you will want to create a custom project using the frame size of the video, in this case 320X240, using the desktop editing mode. Use square pixels and 30 fps (not 29.97).

By the way, you will want to create a custom project using the frame size of the video, in this case 320X240, using the desktop editing mode. Use square pixels and 30 fps (not 29.97).

Right, way ahead of you there. The audio is 44.1 not 48k, also, but I'm the only one who cares about that.

An odd thing happened last night: the DivX update program asked for attention, and I told it to go ahead, and now the footage looks good enough in Premiere to do an export/format-conversion. Still isn't totally right; the head of the clip is displayed as a text-warning that something is wrong, but after that first frame the image is right-side up and stable.

For posterity:
The camera has a 640x480 mode, but no output format controls. 8~(

Thanks again for the brain trust! I'm still playing with all the image conversion apps we found.

andy