AVI wrapper issues with Premiere

[txishvn]

I searched the forums and found no answer to this. The VT5 manual has been no help.

I have two identical type pc's, brand new. One has VT5, the other has Premiere, AE. I capture a live service with VT5, edit the content, then bring the edited content into Premiere to make a final show. Premiere has all my motion graphics, titles, etc. We have two people doing different work so this is the workflow we use. Currently, I have to render the edited content from VT5 to get it to premiere. I've tried to use the "AVI wrapper" but Premiere will not recognise the AVI file.

I'm not sure how the AVI wrapper is supposed to get created or if I'm doing it right. I've got the concept down of how it functions, just not creating.

I've tried to save my project from VT5 as an avi, it creates an avi file and a VTP file with the same name. I go to my other pc and try to open the avi file with premiere or AE, nothing. Unsupported or damaged file error is what I get.
I have both Premiere Pro 2 and CS3, same results.

This would help my workflow tremendously if I could resolve it.

Thanks!

[UnCommonGrafx]

The avi wrapper seems to not work with any of the CS3 programs. :( I was thoroughly disappointed with this.

I have to ask for some clarification, though. If you mean:
I save as an AVI file then take that to the other computer.
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That won't work as the Save As is to create a shell-type program for other apps on the same computer to see your timeline as an AVI.

To that end, you would want to Export in order to move to another machine.

Our issues aren't the same it would seem.

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To "Save As" is to make an avi-shell, not a 'real' avi.
To "Export" is to save out an avi, mov or some such computer file of what's on the timeline.

The first option is the one I am not having luck with.



To resolve your issue you will need to render the timeline to a codec of your choice for AE to use. Big files...
Good luck.

[ScorpioProd]

Ah, the simpler version of what Robert was saying:

The AVI Wrapper is just a virtual AVI, you can't copy that to another PC and use the project in another application, that's not how it works. There's nothing in the file but pointers.

All the files in your project have to be there for the AVI Wrapper to work. So if you had Premiere Pro on your VT system, then it should work. Any bugs not withstanding.

[txishvn]

Ok, I understood both of your explanations, believe it or not, and was what I basically understood avi wrapper to work like. However, I'm not importing the avi to Premiere by moving the avi to a different computer. I'm saving the avi from VT5 to a networked computer, and neither it nor the raw files are being moved. So I would assume that if I import into premiere the file at it's original location, it would still work. I thought I saw some people on here saying they were doing that with different networked computers. I'm really just trying to get out of having to render.

Is there some reason why both Vt5 and Premiere have to be on the same computer for it to work?

[Paul Lara]

Is there some reason why both Vt5 and Premiere have to be on the same computer for it to work?

Yes.
Networked computers and drives use relative paths. I believe the avi wrapper is using a fixed path to an internal drive.

[billmi]

I'm saving the avi from VT5 to a networked computer, and neither it nor the raw files are being moved. So I would assume that if I import into premiere the file at it's original location, it would still work.

If Premiere is running on a different computer than the VT[5], then you are importing it to another machine.

The AVI wrapper will only function on the computer that has VT[5] installed.

[SBowie]

I suppose one could replicate the path and content on the second system succesfully, no? (But then, perhaps it would also need a VT mounted?)

[rbartlett]

If it was an AVI that pointed to pre-rendered media in some NewTek proprietary format then it might be worth trying to wrestle with drive letters and by copying content from your NewTek machine to your Adobe machine.

This isn't what the AVI wrapper was intended for at all and this is a no go the way it works today. The ancient VT1.0 wrapper for RTV renders was slightly more portable but the project AVI wrapper in VT-Edit is a whole different animal. (just the fact that this old method existed once is probably why there is some lack of clarity even from the old-hands here) ;)

What the AVI pointer file does is to call in a codec that itself knows how to command VT to open up the project file and start generating AV based on the VT-Edit session. It forces VT-Edit to open in the background and deliver AV to the video subsystem that we expect for commonality between all apps that support AVI.

To attempt do this and deliver the content over to the Adobe machine is essentially a redundant activity. Please forget that idea. It is better to spend your time rendering to a low compression format that is common to both platforms. Optionally the SpeedHQ codec could be turned to and NewTek support use of that on your Adobe machine. Otherwise RGB or YUV uncompressed, MJPEG, DV or I-Frame MPEG-2 might suffice.

Alternatively de-activate the Adobe software on your Adobe centric PC and load it up on your NewTek PC. Quite often this is possible but watch for MainConcept overlaps and DLL priority issues (VT[5] should be the least likely to affected due to it's newness)

If the render and copy is a problem to your workflow you might reduce some delay by rendering (on the NewTek NLE PC) to an output file that resides on a network folder (on the Adobe PC).

[M_Shea]

Lots of great tech info, but to summerized this to a narrower need.

Is it that, if I had Premiere/AE CS3 and VT[5] on the same machine and I captured a live event with the VT and did a quick edit and EXPORTED as an .avi and then IMPORTED it into Premiere/AE it would reconize it and would work without rendering?

I wonder if the reverse can be done too?

Any and all thoughts are appreciated

[ScorpioProd]

We diverged a bit into whether the AVI Wrapper could work in general at all on a different computer...

But back to a more important point, AFAIK, it does NOT work with any of the Adobe CS3 products, period. As Robert pointed out.