Sony Vegas Pro 12 video is completely green.

[Ohjuler]

I have a video file that, when opened in Sony Vegas, shows up as completely green. I suspect that this is because it's a 10 bit video, which caused the same problem in VLC some years back. Is there any way to make Sony Vegas read the file properly?

Here is the file information from Mediainfo:
General
Complete name :
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
File size : 4.21 GiB

Video
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High 10@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 10 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Writing library : x264 core 129 r2230 1cffe9f
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-2:-2 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.80:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=0 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc=crf / mbtree=0 / crf=15.9 / qcomp=0.80 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=38 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00

And here is the information for a video that DID work:
General
Complete name :
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
File size : 2.29 GiB

Video
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Writing library : x264 core 138
Encoding settings : opencl=1 / cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-2:-2 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.70:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=32 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=8 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=9 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=16.0 / qcomp=0.70 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=20 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

As you can see, the only real difference (That I can tell, at least.) is that one is 10 bit and the other isn't.
I REALLY don't want to convert, so is there anything I can do?

Bonus info: The files were originally MKV, but I used MKVToolnix and MKVcleaver to extract the video file and then changed the extension from Unknown to .264
As I said, the non-10 bit works fine, so I don't think I did anything wrong here, but I thought I should include it just in case.

 

[Ohjuler]

Will change the extension back to .264 and see if I can get it to open. In the meantime I will keep looking for a solution. Currently, just as an experiment, using Any DVD Converter Professional to convert the file to an .mp4. If that works I will try converting it to another format which would be better for editing.

All right, let me know if you need me to do anything. Also, you said it didn't work on one of you PCs; is it the same problem that I have?

No, I believe it has something to do with the codecs. On the other two computers I tried it on I couldn't get the file to open in anything. By anything I mean an editor or player. The computer the file played on has the K-lite codec pack installed and it's not installed on any of the other computers. However, during playback in Windows Media Player the file does not show the time or allow you to jump ahead in the video. I am hoping that the soon to be encoded file will be better. It may take a while as it is being done on an old laptop.

I don't have K-lite on this PC, since I've read several times that it's the cancer of editing codec packs. Also, I don't trust Media Player either. (Can't even play .mkv files.)
Yes, it doesn't allow you to jump in the video for some reason. (This problem was also in the file that DID work in SV, and since it could jump in SV, I didn't really care. The file was for editing, not viewing, after all.)

 

[kenrivers]

Will change the extension back to .264 and see if I can get it to open. In the meantime I will keep looking for a solution. Currently, just as an experiment, using Any DVD Converter Professional to convert the file to an .mp4. If that works I will try converting it to another format which would be better for editing.

All right, let me know if you need me to do anything. Also, you said it didn't work on one of you PCs; is it the same problem that I have?

No, I believe it has something to do with the codecs. On the other two computers I tried it on I couldn't get the file to open in anything. By anything I mean an editor or player. The computer the file played on has the K-lite codec pack installed and it's not installed on any of the other computers. However, during playback in Windows Media Player the file does not show the time or allow you to jump ahead in the video. I am hoping that the soon to be encoded file will be better. It may take a while as it is being done on an old laptop.

I don't have K-lite on this PC, since I've read several times that it's the cancer of editing codec packs. Also, I don't trust Media Player either. (Can't even play .mkv files.)
Yes, it doesn't allow you to jump in the video for some reason, (This problem was also in the file that DID work in SV, and since it could jump in SV, I didn't really care. The file was for editing, now viewing, after all.)

Yeah, I intentionally didn't install K-lite on any of my editing machines as I didn't want to risk messing anything up. I understand about Media Player but the odd thing is that it was the only player I could get to play the file. I got nowhere with VLC but I just installed Media Player Classic and got the file to play in it just as you had. The file is still encoding on the old laptop. May take a while but hopefully worth the wait. Do you have a preferred format? Attempting to convert on another computer to .m2ts (uses the x264 video codec).

 

[Ohjuler]

Will change the extension back to .264 and see if I can get it to open. In the meantime I will keep looking for a solution. Currently, just as an experiment, using Any DVD Converter Professional to convert the file to an .mp4. If that works I will try converting it to another format which would be better for editing.

All right, let me know if you need me to do anything. Also, you said it didn't work on one of you PCs; is it the same problem that I have?

No, I believe it has something to do with the codecs. On the other two computers I tried it on I couldn't get the file to open in anything. By anything I mean an editor or player. The computer the file played on has the K-lite codec pack installed and it's not installed on any of the other computers. However, during playback in Windows Media Player the file does not show the time or allow you to jump ahead in the video. I am hoping that the soon to be encoded file will be better. It may take a while as it is being done on an old laptop.

I don't have K-lite on this PC, since I've read several times that it's the cancer of editing codec packs. Also, I don't trust Media Player either. (Can't even play .mkv files.)
Yes, it doesn't allow you to jump in the video for some reason, (This problem was also in the file that DID work in SV, and since it could jump in SV, I didn't really care. The file was for editing, now viewing, after all.)

Yeah, I intentionally didn't install K-lite on any of my editing machines as I didn't want to risk messing anything up. I understand about Media Player but the odd thing is that it was the only player I could get to play the file. I got nowhere with VLC but I just installed Media Player Classic and got the file to play in it just as you had. The file is still encoding on the old laptop. May take a while but hopefully worth the wait. Do you have a preferred format? Attempting to convert on another computer to .m2ts (uses the x264 video codec).

Anything is fine. I've used .m2ts before. (As a matter of fact, I'm using .m2ts as I type this.)

 

[kenrivers]

Will change the extension back to .264 and see if I can get it to open. In the meantime I will keep looking for a solution. Currently, just as an experiment, using Any DVD Converter Professional to convert the file to an .mp4. If that works I will try converting it to another format which would be better for editing.

All right, let me know if you need me to do anything. Also, you said it didn't work on one of you PCs; is it the same problem that I have?

No, I believe it has something to do with the codecs. On the other two computers I tried it on I couldn't get the file to open in anything. By anything I mean an editor or player. The computer the file played on has the K-lite codec pack installed and it's not installed on any of the other computers. However, during playback in Windows Media Player the file does not show the time or allow you to jump ahead in the video. I am hoping that the soon to be encoded file will be better. It may take a while as it is being done on an old laptop.

I don't have K-lite on this PC, since I've read several times that it's the cancer of editing codec packs. Also, I don't trust Media Player either. (Can't even play .mkv files.)
Yes, it doesn't allow you to jump in the video for some reason, (This problem was also in the file that DID work in SV, and since it could jump in SV, I didn't really care. The file was for editing, now viewing, after all.)

Yeah, I intentionally didn't install K-lite on any of my editing machines as I didn't want to risk messing anything up. I understand about Media Player but the odd thing is that it was the only player I could get to play the file. I got nowhere with VLC but I just installed Media Player Classic and got the file to play in it just as you had. The file is still encoding on the old laptop. May take a while but hopefully worth the wait. Do you have a preferred format? Attempting to convert on another computer to .m2ts (uses the x264 video codec).

Anything is fine. I've used .m2ts before. (As a matter of fact, I'm using .m2ts as I type this.)

Good news! The encoding finally finished. The .mp4 file is just a hair over 1.5 GB in size and the .m2ts file is just over 800 MB in size.

 

[kenrivers]

This is what I did to get the file into an editable format.
1) Changed the extension from .264 to .mp4
2) Imported the file into Any DVD Converter Pro (latest version)
3) Chose a format (Video formats - AVCHD for the .m2ts and Customized MP4 for the .mp4)
4) Clicked on Convert Now!
Not saying this is the only way to do it but it worked.

 

[Ohjuler]

This is what I did to get the file into an editable format.
1) Changed the extension from .264 to .mp4
2) Imported the file into Any DVD Converter Pro (latest version)
3) Chose a format (Video formats - AVCHD for the .m2ts and Customized MP4 for the .mp4)
4) Clicked on Convert Now!
Not saying this is the only way to do it but it worked.

So what does this tell us? I mean, I'm aware it could be encoded into an editable format, since I previously did that with Xmedia Encode whenever I came across an 10 bit file I couldn't edit, but how does this encoded version help us?

 

[kenrivers]

It helps because I didn't have a editable version to test in any editor. Now I can test in a trial version of Vegas.

 

[Ohjuler]

It helps because I didn't have a editable version to test in any editor. Now I can test in a trial version of Vegas.

All right, fair enough. Let me know about the results.

 

[kenrivers]

It helps because I didn't have a editable version to test in any editor. Now I can test in a trial version of Vegas.

All right, fair enough. Let me know about the results.

Will do. The difference between the two files I have now and the one I used as the source file is that I can jump forward or backward and see the time remaining while the video is playing. Going to install Vegas Pro 12 trial now.

The .m2ts version opened just fine in Vegas and played as it should. Didn't notice any green video. Will try the .mp4 file later.

Just tried the .mp4 version and it worked as well. Able to playback without any green video.

 

[Ohjuler]

It helps because I didn't have a editable version to test in any editor. Now I can test in a trial version of Vegas.

All right, fair enough. Let me know about the results.

Will do. The difference between the two files I have now and the one I used as the source file is that I can jump forward or backward and see the time remaining while the video is playing. Going to install Vegas Pro 12 trial now.

The .m2ts version opened just fine in Vegas and played as it should. Didn't notice any green video. Will try the .mp4 file later.

Just tried the .mp4 version and it worked as well. Able to playback without any green video.

Might that not be because you converted it to 8 bit?
Did you try and run the original, unconverted file in Vegas?

 

[kenrivers]

Did not try to run the original in Vegas because the original wouldn't open with anything else but try I shall.

I tried the original and it shows up green. This is with the .264 extension. Trying to add the original to a timeline is pointless as Vegas Pro locks up every time. Yes, the other two files are 8 bit and not 10.

 

[Ohjuler]

It helps because I didn't have a editable version to test in any editor. Now I can test in a trial version of Vegas.

All right, fair enough. Let me know about the results.

Will do. The difference between the two files I have now and the one I used as the source file is that I can jump forward or backward and see the time remaining while the video is playing. Going to install Vegas Pro 12 trial now.

The .m2ts version opened just fine in Vegas and played as it should. Didn't notice any green video. Will try the .mp4 file later.

Just tried the .mp4 version and it worked as well. Able to playback without any green video.

Did not try to run the original in Vegas because the original wouldn't open with anything else but try I shall.

I tried the original and it shows up green. This is with the .264 extension. Trying to add the original to a timeline is pointless as Vegas Pro locks up every time. Yes, the other two files are 8 bit and not 10.

So at least now you know what my problem looks like. What now?

 

[kenrivers]

That is a good question. Seems at though I am back at square one with this problem. The file with the .264 extension is not recognized by any other editing software I have (Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Corel VideoStudio Pro x5) and is not recognized by Windows as a valid file type. The only editing software that will open it is Vegas Pro 12 and even then, as you well know, it's simply not editable. So far it seems all I've been able to do is duplicate the problem and feel no closer to solving it. Not giving up yet though as I'm trying to figure out what to do next. I know this isn't much help but I'm trying and my very limited experience with Vegas Pro 12 isn't helping. Without trying to wear this out, I take it Vegas would not work with the original .mkv file.

 

[Ohjuler]

That is a good question. Seems at though I am back at square one with this problem. The file with the .264 extension is not recognized by any other editing software I have (Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Corel VideoStudio Pro x5) and is not recognized by Windows as a valid file type. The only editing software that will open it is Vegas Pro 12 and even then, as you well know, it's simply not editable. So far it seems all I've been able to do is duplicate the problem and feel no closer to solving it. Not giving up yet though as I'm trying to figure out what to do next. I know this isn't much help but I'm trying and my very limited experience with Vegas Pro 12 isn't helping. Without trying to wear this out, I take it Vegas would not work with the original .mkv file.

Vegas doesn't support MKV files, no. (I don't think any editing program does.)
Also, .264 are editable. I had another 8 bit 264 file that opened fine and worked in Vegas and After Effects.
Haven't tried Premiere, Avid, or Corel, though.

 

[kenrivers]

That is a good question. Seems at though I am back at square one with this problem. The file with the .264 extension is not recognized by any other editing software I have (Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Corel VideoStudio Pro x5) and is not recognized by Windows as a valid file type. The only editing software that will open it is Vegas Pro 12 and even then, as you well know, it's simply not editable. So far it seems all I've been able to do is duplicate the problem and feel no closer to solving it. Not giving up yet though as I'm trying to figure out what to do next. I know this isn't much help but I'm trying and my very limited experience with Vegas Pro 12 isn't helping. Without trying to wear this out, I take it Vegas would not work with the original .mkv file.

Vegas doesn't support MKV files, no. (I don't think any editing program does.)
Also, .264 are editable. I had another 8 bit 264 file that opened fine and worked in Vegas and After Effects.
Haven't tried Premiere, Avid, or Corel, though.

I will keep searching to see if there is a way to get Vegas to handle 10-bit video .264 files. Hopefully will find something soon.

Edit: I stand corrected, I am able to open the .264 file in Premiere Pro CC. I opened to the sequence settings to see what they were after I dropped the video into a sequence and below is what I found:
Editing Mode: ARRI Cinema
Video:
Timebase: 23.976 frames/second
Frame Size 1920 horizontal 1080 vertical 16:9
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels (1.0)
Fields: No Fields (Progressive Scan)
Display Format: 24 fps Timecode
The only setting of note is the ARRI Cinema editing Mode. I am trying to render the video now to see if playback becomes smooth. The clip is not showing up as green in the sequence. I will post the result when rendering is complete. From the looks of the progress so far it is going to take a while (estimated time remaining is close to 13 hours).

 

[kenrivers]

Thought this was unusually long so I cancelled the render and deleted the file from the sequence and the project bin. I saved the project and exited. I reopened the project and reimported the clip and put it back in the sequence. I tried rendering again and this time it completed in less than 12 minutes. I double checked the source file with MediaInfo to verify I had been working with the 10-bit version and found out I was. The playback was smooth. Still trying to figure out how to get the file to work in Vegas 12. Tried one render option in Vegas but met with no satisfaction.

 

[Ohjuler]

That is a good question. Seems at though I am back at square one with this problem. The file with the .264 extension is not recognized by any other editing software I have (Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Corel VideoStudio Pro x5) and is not recognized by Windows as a valid file type. The only editing software that will open it is Vegas Pro 12 and even then, as you well know, it's simply not editable. So far it seems all I've been able to do is duplicate the problem and feel no closer to solving it. Not giving up yet though as I'm trying to figure out what to do next. I know this isn't much help but I'm trying and my very limited experience with Vegas Pro 12 isn't helping. Without trying to wear this out, I take it Vegas would not work with the original .mkv file.

Vegas doesn't support MKV files, no. (I don't think any editing program does.)
Also, .264 are editable. I had another 8 bit 264 file that opened fine and worked in Vegas and After Effects.
Haven't tried Premiere, Avid, or Corel, though.

I will keep searching to see if there is a way to get Vegas to handle 10-bit video .264 files. Hopefully will find something soon.

Edit: I stand corrected, I am able to open the .264 file in Premiere Pro CC. I opened to the sequence settings to see what they were after I dropped the video into a sequence and below is what I found:
Editing Mode: ARRI Cinema
Video:
Timebase: 23.976 frames/second
Frame Size 1920 horizontal 1080 vertical 16:9
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels (1.0)
Fields: No Fields (Progressive Scan)
Display Format: 24 fps Timecode
The only setting of note is the ARRI Cinema editing Mode. I am trying to render the video now to see if playback becomes smooth. The clip is not showing up as green in the sequence. I will post the result when rendering is complete. From the looks of the progress so far it is going to take a while (estimated time remaining is close to 13 hours).

Thought this was unusually long so I cancelled the render and deleted the file from the sequence and the project bin. I saved the project and exited. I reopened the project and reimported the clip and put it back in the sequence. I tried rendering again and this time it completed in less than 12 minutes. I double checked the source file with MediaInfo to verify I had been working with the 10-bit version and found out I was. The playback was smooth. Still trying to figure out how to get the file to work in Vegas 12. Tried one render option in Vegas but met with no satisfaction.

That's interesting. At least it we're making "some" kind of progress.
Also, another thing I just noticed:
When I started this thread, I showed two different .264 files, the one we're trying to get to work, and one that did, and I said the only difference I could see what that one was 10 bit and the other was 8 bit. That was wrong.
I just noticed this

Working file: "Format profile : High@L4.0"
Non-working file: "Format profile : High 10@L4.1"
Now, I assume that the "10" is for 10 bit, but the "4.1" might mean something. Don't know if it's actually relevant or not, but figured I should add it. I remember encoding a file long ago in Handbrake where I sat the format profile to the absolute highest ( 5.1 or something. No idea what I was doing, just figured that higher = better.) and Vegas wouldn't accept the file. When I then encoded it once more, after only changing the format profile to a lower number, keeping all the other settings the same, it worked.

 

[kenrivers]

This - https://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19368 - is a tutorial on Handbrake's H.264 levels. That the file is L4.1 instead of L4.0 might indeed be the problem with the file. I will try the file in Handbrake and see what happens. That is see if you can retain the 10 bit format but only at L4.0. I do see that in Handbrake if you use the Normal profile it will use H.264 Level 4.0 and if you use the High profile it will use H.264 Level 4.1. Never mind, it did not work. The exported file was 2KB in size. In Handbrake it shows the duration as 00:00:00.

 

[Ohjuler]

This - https://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=19368 - is a tutorial on Handbrake's H.264 levels. That the file is L4.1 instead of L4.0 might indeed be the problem with the file. I will try the file in Handbrake and see what happens. That is see if you can retain the 10 bit format but only at L4.0. I do see that in Handbrake if you use the Normal profile it will use H.264 Level 4.0 and if you use the High profile it will use H.264 Level 4.1. Never mind, it did not work. The exported file was 2KB in size. In Handbrake it shows the duration as 00:00:00.

Well, it was worth a try. =/

 

[kenrivers]

Not quite sure what to do next. If I come up with anything I will post it as soon as I find it.

 

[Ohjuler]

Not quite sure what to do next. If I come up with anything I will post it as soon as I find it.

Do you know anyone on the forum that could help?
Also, on a different topic, I know that K-lite is utter toxic for editing softwares, but what about Shark007's Advanced Codecs For Windows?
I don't have any problems playing video files, but I can't render h264 files at all, so I thought that his codecs *might* fix it. (But it deletes all previous codecs in the process, so I'm not sure.)

 

[kenrivers]

I'm sure the is someone who can help but I don't know of anyone off hand. Have you tried anything like ffdshow? You can find a little more info about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ffdshow
I have it installed on my main editing machine. There are 32 bit and 64 bit versions available.

 

[Ohjuler]

I'm sure the is someone who can help but I don't know of anyone off hand. Have you tried anything like ffdshow? You can find a little more info about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ffdshow
I have it installed on my main editing machine. There are 32 bit and 64 bit versions available.

I have ffdshow, although I might try and download the ffdshow tryout version, since it's apparently much more up to date.