Codec problems?

I received a call the other day from a deputy who was having codec issues. It seemed that Premiere Pro was the only program that could work with a particular AVI file, but he wasn't all that proficient in Premiere Pro. He was looking for an answer as to why Premiere would work with a file and his other programs wouldn't. He was also looking to see if he could somehow convert the file for use in his preferred program.

Sure. No problem. Let's see how this could work.

If Premiere Pro can handle the file, then chances are the computer has the necessary "Direct Show" codecs installed. If this is the case, then VirtualDub should be able to handle it as well. VirtualDub is not an editor like Premiere Pro, but it does work really well at stripping codecs and making an AVI easier to work with (using the "standard" Microsoft codec). Version 1.8.8 is the current stable build.

Once stripped, or saved as a "generic" AVI file, the file can be read in most editors.

The best news of all ... VirtualDub is free, though donations are appreciated by the programmer.

Enjoy.