Vid Disaster! Help?

[hells_half_acre]

Disaster has struck my vid! Move Maker has decided that it doesn't like .mp4 files. It loads them, lets me play with them for a bit, and then tells me that they are corrupt - thus not only ruining all the work I just did, but wasting my time.

My vid has now dropped down to only 30 seconds complete again, and I've lost about 3 hours of work. 

I'm going to see if I can get the encorder to save them as .m4v files and see if that's any better...

In the meantime though, if anyone knows of any free software that will change .mkv files into .avi files, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. Or alternatively, if anyone has a link for downloading .avi copies of the episodes in DVD/Bluray quality - that would avoid these problems altogether! - PLEASE LET ME KNOW. 

ETA: IT LOOKS LIKE SO FAR THE .m4v VERSIONS ARE WORKING! So, let's cross our fingers that they continue to do so!  I have now got the video back up to 44 seconds! Yay!

Sigh...

So sad.

Also, Jared's dog died...which is far worse than my vidding problems.

Comments

[ramblin_rosie]

I'm not 100% sure of all the file formats it can convert among, but I do know that the free version of RealPlayer has a good conversion feature. I've used it to convert .flvs from YouTube to WMVs for use in PowerPoint.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind. I may have found another one too. *crossing fingers*

It was all going so well until this little hiccup *shakes fist*

[khek.livejournal.com]

I'm on an emachine at my sister's house, so I can't check for specifics, but at home I use Jodix, and free software I downloaded, to change file extensions. You could google it for details...

Good luck!

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Thanks!!

[risenshine22.livejournal.com]

Haven't checked your file formats, but I use "Any Video Converter". I always try to work with avi files because if the software has to convert it during editing it, the preview doesn't work smoothly.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my preview isn't working properly - I've got a mix of .avi and .m4v files now. Sigh. Hopefully it'll run smoothly once I publish it. I don't really want to do all the work of editing the bits together again just to have a smooth preview.

[risenshine22.livejournal.com]

You may render those parts you've already edited and won't change any more to (uncompressed) avi files and work with them.
Now I'm kinda excited what you're working on! :D

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Oh man...I don't think I know how to do that. I'm REALLY new at this.

I'm excited for what I'm working on too! I just wish I knew that the heck I was doing. :P

[risenshine22.livejournal.com]

I use a different softare, but I can mark a part of my editing and render it without having to render all of it.

If you don't know what you're doing doesn't mean you're not good at it (that's a weird proverb I love!)

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Haha, is that an actual proverb? Or did you just make it up? I love it!

Well, I think I've found .avi files of the rest of the episodes I need - so, I'm going to stop working with the other kinds of files. I'll see if I can render the clips I've already cut of them.

I can't find logo-free versions of the latest episodes, but that's a small quibble at this point really. Not everything can be perfect.

[risenshine22.livejournal.com]

someone probably made it up - when I first stumbled upon this on the net it clearly hit home!
Maybe I should print it on a shirt?!? Like my all-time favorite: It's not obsession - it's enthusiasm!
So, good luck with whatever you're vidding ;)